Granted Patent B2

US 12,730,221 · App. 17/210,121 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Joseph Marron (Manhattan Beach, CA); Joseph M. Fukumoto (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)

Assignee: Raytheon Company

G01S17/66F41H13/0062G01S7/4814G01S7/4868G01S7/497G01S17/58G01S17/86

Abstract

Claims (75)

1 . A system comprising:

a high-energy laser (HEL) source configured to generate laser energy;

a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) source configured to generate LADAR energy;

a reference laser source configured to generate a reference laser beam;

a beam director configured to direct the laser energy from the HEL source as an HEL laser beam towards a target and to direct the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target;

a LADAR detector configured to sense a received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the laser energy from the HEL source following an optical path towards the LADAR detector;

multiple filters comprising:

at least one first filter configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows the optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector, wherein the at least one first filter is highly transmissive at about 1030 nanometers and highly reflective at about 1080 nanometers; and

at least one second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the multiple filters are arranged in a stacked configuration.

3 . A system comprising:

a high-energy laser (HEL) source configured to generate laser energy at a first wavelength;

a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) source configured to generate LADAR energy at a second wavelength;

a reference laser source configured to generate a reference laser beam;

a beam director configured to direct the laser energy from the HEL source as an HEL laser beam towards a target and to direct the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target;

a LADAR detector configured to sense a received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the laser energy from the HEL source at the LADAR detector reflected from the target;

one or more first filters configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows an optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector; and

a second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam at the first wavelength from the reference source towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target.

4 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising:

a third filter configured to reflect the LADAR energy from the LADAR source towards the beam director.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein:

the second filter is further configured to transmit the LADAR energy; and

the third filter is further configured to transmit the reference laser beam.

6 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising:

a third filter configured to transmit the LADAR energy and reflect the laser energy from the HEL source.

7 . A system comprising:

a high-energy laser (HEL) source configured to generate laser energy at a first wavelength;

a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) source configured to generate LADAR energy at a second wavelength;

a reference laser source configured to generate a reference laser beam;

a beam director configured to direct the laser energy from the HEL source as an HEL laser beam towards a target and to direct the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target;

multiple filters comprising:

at least one first filter configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows an optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the laser energy from the HEL source at the LADAR detector reflected from the target, wherein the at least one first filter is configured to provide an attenuation of the laser energy from the HEL source that is greater than an attenuation of the received portion of the LADAR energy; and

at least one second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensating for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target.

8 . A system comprising:

a high-energy laser (HEL) source configured to generate laser energy at a first wavelength;

a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) source configured to generate LADAR energy at a second wavelength;

a reference laser source configured to generate a reference laser beam;

a beam director configured to direct the laser energy from the HEL source as an HEL laser beam towards a target and to direct the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target;

a LADAR detector configured to sense a received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the laser energy from the HEL source at the LADAR detector reflected from the target;

multiple filters comprising:

at least one first filter configured to attenuate any portion of the laser energy from the HEL source that follows an optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector; and

at least one second filter configured to (i) reflect a majority of the laser energy from the HEL source towards the beam director, (ii) transmit a portion of the laser energy from the HEL source to a phase detector, and (iii) reflect the reference laser beam towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the laser energy from the HEL source and the reference laser beam, wherein the HEL source is configured to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by using the phase difference to reduce errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target;

an auto-alignment source configured to generate an auto-alignment beam;

a reflector configured to reflect the auto-alignment beam; and

a detector configured to sense the reflected auto-alignment beam, wherein each of the auto-alignment source and the detector is associated with one of the HEL source and the LADAR source.

9 . A method comprising:

generating high-energy laser (HEL) energy at a first wavelength;

generating laser detection and ranging (LADAR) energy at a second wavelength;

generating a reference laser beam;

directing the HEL energy as an HEL laser beam towards a target and directing the LADAR energy as a LADAR beam towards the target;

sensing a received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target using a LADAR detector, wherein an amount of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target is lower than an amount of the HEL energy at the LADAR detector reflected from the target;

using one or more first filters, attenuating any portion of the HEL energy that follows an optical path towards the LADAR detector while allowing at least part of the received portion of the LADAR energy reflected from the target to pass to the LADAR detector;

using a second filter, (i) reflecting a majority of the HEL energy towards a beam director, (ii) transmitting a portion of the HEL energy to a phase detector, and (iii) reflecting the reference laser beam at the first wavelength towards the phase detector, wherein the phase detector is configured to measure a phase difference between the portion of the HEL energy and the reference laser beam; and

using the phase difference to pre-compensate for atmospheric distortions or other turbulence by reducing errors in a wavefront of the laser energy from the HEL source at the target.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein each of the one or more first filters is highly transmissive at a wavelength associated with the LADAR energy and highly reflective at a wavelength associated with the HEL energy.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein each of the one or more first filters is highly transmissive at about 1030 nanometers and highly reflective at about 1080 nanometers.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the multiple filters are arranged in a stacked configuration.

13 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

using a third filter, reflecting the LADAR energy towards the beam director.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

using the second filter, transmitting the LADAR energy; and

using the third filter, transmitting the reference laser beam.

15 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

using a third filter, transmitting the LADAR energy and reflecting the HEL energy.

16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the HEL source is configured to generate HEL energy corresponding to a first illumination area on the target;

the LADAR source is configured to generate LADAR energy corresponding to a second illumination area including the target, the second illumination area larger than the first illumination area; and

the one or more first filters provide an attenuation of the HEL energy that is at least ten orders of magnitude greater than an attenuation of the received portion of the LADAR energy.

17 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

generating an auto-alignment beam using an auto-alignment source;

reflecting the auto-alignment beam; and

sensing the reflected auto-alignment beam using a detector.

18 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the HEL laser source comprises a first ytterbium fiber amplifier.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the LADAR source comprises a second ytterbium fiber amplifier.

20 . The method of claim 9 , wherein a ytterbium fiber amplifier is used to generate at least one of the HEL energy or the LADAR energy.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (16)