INFRARED SIGNAL COMBINING TECHNIQUES FOR MULTI-COLOR PROJECTOR APPLICATIONS

ASSESSMENT OF MULTI-SPECTRAL WEAPON SYSTEMS REQUIRES GENERATION OF MULTI-SPECTRAL SCENES. THESE SCENES ARE GENERATED BY DIFFERENT SOURCES WHICH ARE THEN COMBINED. BEAM COMBINATION OF SCENES WITH A FIELD OF VIEW OF FEW DEGREES INVOLVES LARGE AND COSTLY BEAM COMBINERS, MOREOVER, AVAILABLE MATERIALS FOR BEAM COMBINERS ARE LIMITED IN THEIR SPECTRAL RANGE. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT PROVIDES CONCEPTUAL DESIGN AND LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION OF SIGNAL COMBINATION TECHNIQUE WHICH WILL OPERATE FROM THE UV TO THE FAR IR SPECTRUM, ALLOWING FOR A TRUE MULTI-SPECTRAL SCENE TO BE GENERATED. THIS TECHNIQUE WILL YIELD A COST EFFECTIVE BEAM COMBINATION FOR PROJECTORS WITH FIELDS OF VIEW LARGER THAN THE FIELD OF VIEW OF THE UNITS UNDER TEST. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE WIDE FIELD OF VIEW AND MULTI-SPECTRAL SCENE GENERATIONS IN AN ECONOMICAL METHOD, WITH LARGE FLEXIBILITY IN BEAM COMBINATION RATIO AND INSENSITIVITY TO ANGLE OF INCIDENCE.