Optical Radar and Passive Optoelectronic Ranging
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Date
1966-09
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the fundamental technical arrangement involved for optical radar, its resolution, and requirements concerning the light source for use with it. Some basic optical radar problems are explained and pertinent equations are derived.
The paper shows that 1017 quanta per pulse at a repetition rate of 77 per second are sufficient to achieve optical radar. For this a minimum volume of only 1 mm3 is required for a luminescent semiconductor to produce this quanta flux. The light source does not necessarily have to be a laser, since the narrow bandwidth of the lasers cannot, by the present state of the art, be fully utilized with the overall optical bandwidth of such a system. If a source can produce the necessary quanta flux with a bandwidth of not more than about 20 A, the job will be as well performed by this source as by a laser. Very promising luminescent semiconductors for such an endeavor, using the visible spectrum, seem to be the II-VI compounds. An automatic passive optical range-finder system using a special pick-up transducer (conceived by the author) which automatically suppresses any background structure (clouds, etc.) is explained.
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Author Institution: Aerospace Research Laboratories, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
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The Ohio Journal of Science. v66 n5 (September, 1966), 496-507