IR-FIBER COUPLE DETECTOR/DEWAR ASSEMBLY

MANY IRE SENSOR SYSTEMS USING CONVENTIONAL OPTICS INCORPORATE A COMPLEX DESIGN FOR THE DETECTOR ELEMENT OR ARRAY GEOMETRY, AND IN MANY CASES USE MULTIPLE DETECTOR/DEWARS PER SYSTEM IN ORDER TO SATISFY THE FIELD OF VIEW AND RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS. WITH THE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF IR OPTICAL FIBERS, SYSTEMS DESIGNERS NOW HAVE THE OPTION OF COLLECTING THE INCOMING RADIATION WITH SHAPED, ORIENTED FIBER BUNDLES AND ROUTING THE ENERGY TO SIMPLER DETECTOR STRUCTURES. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN LOWER COAT, HIGHER PERFORMANCE, HIGHER RELIABILITY SYSTEMS, ASSUMING HIGH TRANSFER EFFICIENCY OF THE IR ENERGY. THIS PROJECT WILL EXTEND AND FURTHER DEVELOP A UNIQUE EXPERTISE AT ELECTRO-OPTICAL SYSTEMS INC. FOR INTERFACING THE IRE FIBERS TO DETECTORS IN CRYOGENIC PACKAGEE. THE RESULTING DESIGN AND CAPABILITY WILL BE ADAPTABLE TO A VARIETY OF FIBER TYPES AND SIZES, AND DETECTOR CONFIGURATION. A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND DELIVERED TO DEMONSTRATE THE DESIGN PERFORMANCE, CONSISTING OF A 32 ELEMENT TWO-WAVELENGTH DETECTOR DEWAR.