Development of Advanced Beam-Steering for Laser IRCM

We propose the development of a compact laser beam steeringsystem that is specifically designed to meet the Navy's IRCMrequirements. Key features of the beam-steering system willinclude low sensitivity to vibration, the ability tosimultaneously direct beams of different wavelength in thesame direction, large angular coverage (>60¿ half-coneangle), and the ability to use the beam-steering opticalsystem for viewing a target missile with an imaging system.The designs under consideration include a simple Risleyprism pair, an achromatic Risley prism pair, and a novelFresnel mirror or prism design that eliminates chromaticaberration entirely. Combined with this wide anglebeam-steering system is a high-speed, small-angle transducerdesigned to be able to follow vibration and target jitter,and to address the nadir problem. We will be in closecontact with the Technical Monitor throughout the programand final design will be optimized to meet the Navy's latestrequirements. The near-term applications of this technology will beprimarily for use in aircraft and ship borne IRCM systems.Subsequent applications may include compact IR surveillancesystems and industrial applications for monitoring chemicaland/or thermal processes.