SYSTEM FOR NIGHT VISION COMPRISING A LANTHANIDE DOPED CRYSTAL CONTAINING COATING AND AN INFRARED LASER ILLUMINATION MEANS

摘要

The invention relates to a night vision system for viewing selected objects, in order to provide improved night viewing of an object such as the refuelling device (21, 41) used in aerial refuelling operations between an aircraft tanker (11) and a receiver aircraft (13), rendering said object visible at night from an observation point, such as the receiver aircraft (13). The system comprises laser-based infrared lighting means (31) for illuminating the object and which are housed in the aircraft tanker (11) when the object to be viewed is the refuelling device (21, 41), one or more portions of the aforementioned object being coated with one or more coatings (51), each containing different concentrations of crystals doped with suitable lanthanides for upconverting the radiation emitted by an infrared laser light into visible light. The invention also relates to the coating (51) and to methods for producing same.