E-BEAM LIQUID CRYSTAL INFRARED TARGET SIMULATION SYSTEM

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A NEW, LOW-COST, HIGH-PERFORMANCE INFRARED TARGET SIMULATION SYSTEM BASED ON AN ELECTRON-BEAM-ADDRESSED FABRYPEROT LIQUID CRYSTAL LIGHT MODULATOR. THIS NEW DEVICE DIRECTLY MODULATES AN INFRARED READOUT SOURCE, AND SO NO AUXILIARY OPTICAL DEVICE REQUIRED. THE PROPOSED MODULATOR INTERFACES WITH A COMPUTER AND IS EXPECTED TO OFFER REAL-TIME, FLICKERLESS SCENE SIMULATION WITH LARGE DYNAMIC-RANGE RATIO, HIGH CONTRAST, HIGH RESOLUTION, AND LARGE NUMBERS OF STATIC AND FAST-MOVING TARGETS. THIS DEVICE OVERCOMES THE LOW RESOLUTION, SLOW FRAME RATES AND DYNAMIC-RANGE LIMITATIONS OF THERMAL DEVICES SUCH AS THE BLY CELL AND RESISTOR ARRAYS, AND THE STRUCTURAL AND OPERATIONAL COMPLEXITIES OF THE E-BEAM DKDP LIGHT VALVE. SINCE LOW-RESOLUTION VISIBLE LIGHT MODULATION HAS ALREADY BEEN DEMONSTRATED WITH A CRUDE E-BEAM-ADDRESSED LIQUID LIGHT MODULATOR, THE PHASE I OBJECTIVES ARE TO ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPMENT OF A MODIFIED PROTOTYPE FOR THE 3-5 MICRON AND 8-12 MICRON WAVELENGTH RANGES. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM, THEREFORE, INCLUDES MODULATOR DESIGN AND MODELLING, AND COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING. THE PHASE I PROTOTYPE MODULATOR IS EXPECTED TO EXHIBIT 250X250 RESOLUTION ELEMENTS, FRAMING RATES OF ABOUT 30HZ, AND A DYNAMIC RANGE RATIO OF ABOUT 1000. THE BASIC DEVICE DESIGN CHOSEN IS SUCH THAT THE MODULATOR CAN SIMULATE TARGETS OVER A WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE (UV TOMID IR). THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MODULATOR CAN BE IMPROVED IN THE PHASE II PROGRAM TO REALIZE A SYSTEM OF 25MM ACTIVE AREA WITH 10 TO THE 6TH POWER PIXELS, AND A DYNAMIC RANGE RATIO OF 10 TO THE FOURTH POWER.