DUAL CHANNEL OPTICAL SYSTEM FOR USE WITH LOW VOLTAGE KERR CELL

摘要

A working model of a dual channel window has been constructed which, when used in conjunction with a low-voltage Kerr cell, should provide a useful flash blindness protection device. This first-phase program has demonstrated that a large area window structure using a dual-beam approach is feasible provided that an almost Brewster angle beam splitter arrangement is used with dual entrance windows. The resulting apparatus turns out to be too large to be applied to aircraft, but the size should not provide a serious limitation for such applications as ground vehicles. Some preliminary work is also reported which bears on the utility of thin layer liquid crystal systems for application as Brewster mirrors.