COHERENT INFRARED FIBER OPTIC IMAGE BUNDLE FOR AIRCRAFT IR IMAGING SYSTEMS

THE EXACT PLACEMENT AND PACKAGING OF INFRARED IMAGING SENSORS ABOARD HIGH PERFORMANCE AIRCRAFT IS LIMITED BY CONCERNS FOR AIRCRAFT RADAR CROSS SECTION, AIRCRAFT AERODYNAMICS AND THE FACT THAT EACH SENSOR MUST BE CLOSED-COUPLED TO ITS MATED DETECTOR/DEWAR MODULE. PRESENT TECHNOLOGY LIMITS THE ABILITY TO TRANSMIT IR IMAGE QUALITY LIGHT SIGNALS FROM OPTICS TO AN IMAGE INFORMATION VIA A COHERENT BUNDLE OF OPTICAL FIBERS DRAWN FROM NEW MATERIALS - HEAVY METAL FLUORIDE GLASSES (HMFG) - UNDER DEVELOPMENT BY THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY FOR ULTRALOW LOSS REPEATERLESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LINKS. THESE HMFG FIBERS EXHIBIT LOS LOSSES IN THE 3 TO 5 MICROMETER WAVELENGTHS, AN IMPORTANT WINDOW FOR ON-BOARD IMAGE SYSTEMS. SUCH A TRANSMITTING LINK WILL ALLOW A NUMBER OF SENSORS TO BE REMOTELY CONNECTED TO A CENTRALLY LOCATED DETECTOR/DEWAR MODULE, WHICH WOULD BE TIME-SHARED THROUGH OPTICAL MULTIPLEXING TECHNIQUES. A COHERENT LINEAR BUNDLE OF THESE FIBERS WILL BE FABRICATED AND EVALUATED AGAINST BENCHMARKS DETERMINED FOR PHASE I. THE BUNDLE WILL BE TESTED USING A THERMAL IMAGING RADIOMETER. AN APPROXIMATE COMPARATIVE MTF WILL BE MEASURED. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL CONCLUSIVELY DEMONSTRATE WHETHER COHERENT BUNDLES OF IR TRANSMITTING OPTICAL FIBERS ARE TECHNICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE FOR AIRCRAFT IR IMAGING SYSTEMS.