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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Electro-optical system is placed on a satellite to effect communications between two remote stations. The system employs an essentially passive, retrodirective, laser beam modulator-reflector.
Optical birefringent devices - synthesis of lossless networks, double-pass technique, optical amplitude modulator, and naturally birefringent and electro-optic networks
The paper discusses a program designed for the development of a GaAs IOC transmitter consisting of a monolithic surface laser whose output is coupled into patterned channel waveguides. Modulation and switching of the radiation occur in the waveguide circuit and are controlled separately. These structures are to be fabricated monolithically on a single semiconductor chip with each device amenable to integrated low-cost manufacture. The waveguide outputs of the IOC transmitter will be coupled to single mode optical fibers which form a transmission cable. The properties of the semiconductors (Ga,Al)As and (Ga,In)As permit performance of each of the basic functions included in the device considered. The concept of monolithic nondiscrete GaAs diode lasers is examined along with optical stripline channel waveguides and electro-optic channel waveguide modulators and switches.
Broadband low drive power electro-optic laser beam optical intensity modulator design and test results
Laser transmitting information system utilizing optical electronics for communication between space vehicle and launch platform
An on-line spatial light modulator for application as the input transducer for a real-time optical data processing system is described. The use of such a device in the analysis and processing of radar data in real time is reported. An interface from the optical processor to a control digital computer was designed, constructed, and tested. The input transducer, optical system, and computer interface have been operated in real time with real time radar data with the input data returns recorded on the input crystal, processed by the optical system, and the output plane pattern digitized, thresholded, and outputted to a display and storage in the computer memory. The correlation of theoretical and experimental results is discussed.
Laser modulator using gallium arsenide and gallium phosphide electro-optic crystals
An optical data communication system is provided whereby two orthogonal polarization states of a light beam carrier correspond to digital states. In such a system, automatic polarization compensation is provided by applying a dither modulating voltage to a cell exhibiting the electro-optic effect. The cell controls the relative phase of electric field components of an input light beam enabling the dither frequency component of the difference of the instantaneous powers in the two polarization states to be coherently detected. A signal derived from the coherent detection process is fed back to the cell via an integrator to form polarization bias compensating servo loop ot Type 1.
The Microchannel Spatial Light Modulator (MSLM), a versatile, highly sensitive, and optically addressed device being developed for real time optical information processing is discussed. The MSLM operates by converting an input optical image into a charge distribution at the surface of an electro-optic crystal. The charge distribution generates an electric field which modulates the refractive index of the crystal and thereby the phase or intensity of an image readout beam. Prototype devices employing 250 micron thick crystals exhibited a spatial resolution of 5 cycles/mm at 50% contrast, an exposure sensitivity of 2.2 nJ/cu cm and framing rates of 40 Hz with full modulation depth. The image processing operations that have been achieved using the internal processing mode of the MSLM include contrast reversal, contrast enhancement, edge enhancement, image addition and subtraction, analog and digital intensity thresholding, and binary level logic operations such as AND, OR, EXCLUSIVE OR, and NOR.
A variety of applications of electro-optically induced Bragg gratings in integrated optical signal processing and computation devices are shown. The gratings are easy to fabricate, operate efficiently on relatively low voltages and have design principles which are well known and reliable. The component allows a rapid and efficient interaction with an optical wave in a planar electro-optic waveguide. The operation of such gratings and their use as intensity modulators, spatial light modulators, and components in correlators and in a variety of computational units is described.
One possible approach to high speed synthetic aperture radar signal reconstruction involves the utilization of two dimensional real time spatial light modulators as recyclable replacements for photographic film in the input transducer plane of a modified synthetic aperture radar (SAR) coherent optical processor. Leading candidate spatial light modulators include modified Pockels readout optical modulators (PROM), charge coupled devices (CCD) addressed liquid crystal light valves, and CCD addressed membrane light modulators. The fundamental physical limitations affecting SAR processor performance characteristics of such real time devices are under investigation. Current research on PROM is focused on the effects of device operatonal mode, device constitutive parameters, electro-optic crystal orientation, writing wavelength, frame rate/data overwrite/presuming, erasure completeness, and image retention on the overall quality of SAR image formation. Both modulated laser scanning and intensified CRT temporal to spatial input approaches are being examined.
Electro-optical system can scan a large /100 ft./ antenna in 30 seconds. Comparison of the reflected signal with a reference signal from a Pockel-cell modulator driver yields a signal that can be correlated with the distance covered by the laser. A scanning arrangement then enables contour measurement.
Considerations relevant to the monolithic integration of optical detectors, lasers, and modulators with high speed amplifiers are discussed. Some design considerations for representative subsystems in the GaAs-AlGaAs and GaInAs-InP materials systems are described. Results of a detailed numerical design of an electro-optical birefringent filter for monolithic integration with a laser diode is described, and early experimental results on monolithic integration of broadband MESFET amplifiers with photoconductive detectors are reported.
The Space Telescope, planned for orbiting in the early 1980s, is described, with emphasis on its electro-optical image sensing capability. Relative advantages of image tubes and solid state arrays as image detectors are summarized; image tube technology is well characterized, but preference may be given to a more versatile tandem solid state array consisting of one module with high silicon response covering most of the spectrum, and a second intensified array with ultraviolet sensitivity and low noise readout. The classical 'photoelectron noise limit' calculation is reviewed, and a detailed calculation of sensitivity limits adaptable to analysis of image tube or solid state array detectors is also given. In particular, characteristics of a filter to optimize the signal to noise ratio is determined. Typical sensitivity calculations for an image tube detector show that with an exposure of one orbital night (approximately 2000 seconds), 10% photometry may be done to a low limit of visual magnitude.
A study to determine the feasibility of adapting existing electro-optical instruments (designed and sucessfully used for ground operations) for use on a shuttle sortie flight and to perform satisfactorily in the space environment is considered. The suitability of these two instruments (a custom made image intensifier camera system and an off-the-shelf secondary electron conduction television camera) to support a barium ion cloud experiment was studied for two different modes of spacelab operation - within the pressurized module and on the pallet.
Evaluation of a no-moving-parts single-axis star tracker called an electro-optic direction sensor (EODS) concept is described and the results are given in detail. The work involved experimental evaluation of a breadboard sensor yielding results which would permit design of a prototype sensor for a specific application. The laboratory work included evaluation of the noise equivalent input angle of the sensor, demonstration of a technique for producing an acquisition signal, constraints on the useful field-of-view, and a qualitative evaluation of the effects of stray light. In addition, the potential of the silicon avalanche-type photodiode for this application was investigated. No benefit in noise figure was found, but the easily adjustable gain of the avalanche device was useful. The use of mechanical tuning of the modulating element to reduce voltage requirements was also explored. The predicted performance of EODS in both photomultiplier and solid state detector configurations was compared to an existing state-of-the-art star tracker.
Electro-optical shutter for optical pumping experiments using Kerr cell controlled by high voltage modulator
Integrated optic waveguide circuits with a phase bias and modulator on the same chip were designed, fabricated, and tested for use in a fiber-optic rotation sensor (gyro) under development. Single mode fiber-optic pigtails were permanently coupled to the four ports of the chip. The switch format was based on coherent coupling between waveguides formed in Z-cut LiNbO3. The control of the coupling was achieved by electro-optically varying the phase propagation constants of each guide. Fiber-to-chip interfacing required the development of appropriate fixturing and manipulation techniques to achieve the close tolerance needed for high coupling efficiency between a fiber with an approximately 5 micron m core and a channel guide with a roughly 2 micron m by 5 micron m cross section. Switch and chip performance at 0.85 micron m is discussed as well as potential improvements related to insertion loss reduction, switching voltages, and suppression of Li2O out-diffusion.