ANOFA: DEVICE FOR LASER EYE PROTECTION

PROTECTION OF SOLDIER'S EYES FROM LASER HAZARDS TO FREQUENCY AGILE PULSED LASERS IS AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM. THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF A NOVEL IMAGE INTENSITYTHRESHOLDING DEVICE CALLED ANOFA (ACTIVE NONLINEAR OPTICAL FIBER ARRAY). RECENT FOSTER-MILLER RESEARCH HAS DEMONSTRATED NONLINEAR OPTICAL LIMITING AT THE PICOSECOND LEVEL USING OPTICAL FIBERS COMBINED WITH ORGANIC NLO LIQUIDS. ANOFA EXTENDS THIS CONCEPT OF 2D FIBER OPTIC IMAGING ARRAYS. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL EVALUATE A NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVE STRUCTURES AND NONLINEAR MATERIALS FOR INCORPORATION IN ANOFA AND TEST THE RESULTING STRUCTURE FOR ENHANCED OPTICAL NONLINEARITY. PHASE II RESEARCH WILL CONSTRUCT AND DEMONSTRATE A FUNCTIONAL OPTICAL INTENSITY LIMITER WITH A GEOMETRY SUITABLE FOR INCORPORATION IN HEADGEAR OPTICAL SYSTEM. ANOFA TECHNOLOGY MAY YIELD AN ENTIRE FAMILY OF LASER PROTECTION DEVICES, POTENTIALLY APPLICABLE TO A WIDE RANGE OF SENSOR OR PERSONNEL VIEWING SYSTEMS. RESPONSE TIMES OF A FEW PS, INTENSITY THRESHOLDS ON THE ORDER OF 1 W/CM(2), IMAGE ATTENUATION ON THE ORDER OF 3 DB IN NORMAL USE AND WAVELENGTH RESPONSE THROUGHOUT THE VISIBLE AND NEAR IR APPEAR TO BE POSSIBLE.