We have devised a nonmechanical beam-scanning system to subdivide a large field of regard into smaller fields of view and then to image these individual fields of view with high resolution. Selection of the individual fields of view is performed by spatially multiplexing the fields of view through an optical relay system onto a single camera. Selection of a particular field of view is accomplished by a series of ferroelectric liquid-crystal half-wave plates. We designed our beam-scanning system to cover a 3 degree multiplied by 12 degree field of regard in the mid-infrared waveband, and we built a proof-of-concept prototype to verify system performance. The prototype is a scalable building block that can be used to fabricate a two-dimensional system to scan a large field of regard at high resolution, low power, and high speed. We also describe how such a beam-scanning system can be combined with galvanometer-driven mirrors to produce a hybrid system that incorporates the advantages of both types of systems and minimizes the drawbacks of either system for very large fields of regard.

Date Published: 7 July 1997
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 3131, Optical Scanning Systems: Design and Applications, (7 July 1997); doi: 10.1117/12.277744

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3131:
Optical Scanning Systems: Design and Applications
Leo Beiser; Stephen F. Sagan, Editor(s)