The availability of low cost but relatively high power laser pointers (hundreds of mW) has led to misuse with potentially dangerous consequences, such as dazzling aircraft which has raised concerns about aircraft safety. A low cost laser detection system based on coherence detection has been developed and is able to detect weak, continuous laser sources even against bright background light. In this paper, we introduce the use of a cone mirror to extend the horizontal field of view of the detector (originally at 3°) to 360° to detect incoming beams from different directions. With the additional use of a camera in the system, we also determine the direction of the incoming laser beam. Finally, the sensitivity between the original system and the cone mirror system are compared: the new system showed promising results with a sensitivity below 100nW.

Date Published: 7 October 2019
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 11161, Technologies for Optical Countermeasures XVI, 111610H (7 October 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2532560

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11161:
Technologies for Optical Countermeasures XVI
David H. Titterton; Robert J. Grasso; Mark A. Richardson, Editor(s)