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Briefs Photonics/Optics
Effect of Laser Noise on an Analog RF/Photonic Link
Aset of equations has been formulated to enable quantification of several aspects of the performance of an analog photonic communication link as affected by laser noise. A procedure for...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Cleaning and Protecting Large Mirrors Using a Polymer Solution
Cleaning and protecting optics is a challenge — contamination must be removed without damaging the surface. Preventing recontamination for extended periods of time after...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Advances in Materials for Photonic Applications
Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Aprogram of research has addressed multiple topics in the design, development, characterization, and utilization of new...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Compact Megawatt Infrared Free-Electron Laser Amplifier
A proposed high-gain free-electron laser (FEL) amplifier, conceived primarily for use in a maritime environment, would be capable of average output power of the order of a megawatt at one...
Tech Transfer Reports Photonics/Optics
Mirror-Steering System Eliminates Vibration in Optical Devices
For optical systems used in communications and instrumentation applications in space and on the ground, eliminating vibration can be a difficult task. Left Hand Design Corp. (LHDC,...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Research on Quantum Communication Repeaters
A program of research during the years 2001 through 2006 was devoted to building theoretical and practical foundations for the development of quantum repeaters as means of overcoming losses of photons in long-distance quantum communication systems. The idea underlying this research was to investigate...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Apparatus Generates CE-Phase-Stable Two-Cycle Optical Pulses
A n apparatus that includes two optical parametric chirped pulse amplification stages has been built as a means of generating few-cycle, common-envelope (CE)-phase-stable, high-energy...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Terahertz Fiber-Optic Lasers for Detection of Explosives
Fiber-optic lasers of a proposed type would serve as sources of coherent radiation at frequencies between 0.5 and 4.0 THz and output power levels ≥100 mW. In the original application...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Optical-Fiber Infrasound Sensors
Optical-fiber infrasound sensors (OFISs) are being developed for detecting acoustic pressures in the frequency range from a few millihertz to a few hertz. As explained below, these sensors were conceived to...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Study of Membrane Optics for Lightweight Space Telescopes
Astudy has been performed to establish a foundation for the analysis, design, and further development of inplane- actuated deformable membrane mirrors for lightweight spaceborne...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Miniature Hyperspectral Sensors for Imaging on Small UAVs
As unmanned vehicles get smaller and smaller, operational expectations and mission objectives demand a much broader array of platform capabilities — a necessity even with reduced...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Photonic Analog-to-Digital Converters
Early steps have been taken toward the development of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that would incorporate photonic quantizers based on the technology of InP semiconductors. These photonic ADCs are...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Photonic-Crystal-Based Devices for Commercial Applications
Several analog-to-digital converter (ADC) devices and part of a multispectral receiver have been designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate their feasibility as part of an effort...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Infrared Data Link Using an MQW Modulator on a Retroreflector
A n infrared data link between a ground station and a small uninhabited helicopter in flight has been demonstrated in an effort to develop a type of system for free-space optical...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Continuous-Wave Atom Laser
Progress has been made toward realization of a continuous-wave, phase-andamplitude- stable atom laser based on magnetic guiding, magnetic compression, and continuous distributed evaporative cooling of a sparse cloud...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Adaptive Optoelectronic Eyes
Aprogram of research has built a technological foundation for further development of systems that could be characterized, variously, as "smart" cameras or adaptive optoelectronic eyes. A system according to this...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Heterodyne RF/Optical Links Utilizing Integrated Photonics
A program of research and development has been directed toward the goals of demonstrating (1) ultra-low-noise communication links in which information is conveyed by phase-modulated...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Fast Liquid-Crystal-on-Silicon Spatial Light Modulators
Stressed-liquid-crystal (SLC) light-modulating devices suitable for use as liquidcrystal- on-silicon (LCOS) spatial light modulators (SLMs) that could operate in nearand mid-infrared...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Detecting Change in 3D by Use of an Evidence Grid
Astudy has been undertaken to evaluate a method of detecting change in a three-dimensional (3D) terrain map generated from data acquired by an imaging ladar system carried aboard a moving...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Patterned Gallium Arsenide Devices for Infrared Countermeasures
The US Air Force has a need for improved tunable laser sources—both in the midinfrared region, for developing infrared countermeasure (IRCM) applications, and in the longinfrared...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Cyberspace Security via Quantum Encryption
Perfect information- theoretical security requires that the meaning of an encrypted message transmitted from point A to point B be statistically independent of the ciphertext in which that message is...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Dynamic Cavity Formation Imaging
When an Air Force bomber drops a penetrating munition, what happens as the warhead travels underground to the target? AFRL researchers at the Advanced Warhead Experimentation Facility (AWEF) recently captured...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Surface-Emitting Laser Arrays Bring Light to the Top
Laser diodes are an integral part of everyday life, incorporated into commonplace items as diverse in function as laser pointers, fiber-optic communications systems, and DVD players....
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