RF SEEKER NEAR FIELD MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A RF-SEEKER, NEAR-FIELD MEASUREMENT SYSTEM, BASED UPON NEWLY ESTABLISHED ELECTRO-OPTIC (EO) TECHNOLOGY, IS PROPOSED. THE NEW EO APPROACH REPRESENTS A SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT UPON CONVENTIONAL EO FIELD MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREAOF NONPERTURBATION OF THE RF FIELD, A CRITICAL PROBLEM IN NEAR-FIELD MEASUREMENTS CLOSE TO SEEKER RADOME COMPONENTS. THE PHASE I STUDY WILL INCLUDE PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION AND LABORATORY TESTS/DEMONSTRATIONS. THE APPROACH UTILIZES SIMPLE, -100 UM-SIZED, ALL-DIELECTRIC SENSORS BONDED TO -100 UM DIAMETER OPTICAL FIBERS. THE SENSOR SYSTEM(TRANSDUCER, FIBER, AND RECEIVER) WILL PRODUCE A FREQUENCY-DOWNSHIFTED SIGNAL PROPORTIONAL TO A SINGLE POLARIZATION COMPONENT OF THE COMPLEX RF ELECTRIC FIELD. THE EXPECTED SENSITIVITY WILL ALLOW COMPLETE CHARACTERIZATION OF LOCAL AREA INSERTION PHASE DELAY AND TRANSMISSION LOSS USING EITHER LOW-POWER CWOR ELSE LOW-DUTY-CYCLE PULSED-RADIATION SOURCES. DETAILED ANALYSES ATID. PREDICTIONS OF PERFORMANCEWILL BE MADE. TESTING WILL BE USED BOTH TO ANSWER VARIOUS CRITICAL QUESTIONS AND TO DEMONSTRATE A PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM. A COMPLETE PHASE II PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE DESIGNED AND COSTED, INCLUDING DATA ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS EQUIPMENT AND SUGGESTED PROCEDURES.