Breault Reasearch - Taking Light Further

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"Stray light test station for measuring point source transmission and thermal background of visible and infrared sensors," Proc. SPIE

Article Type: White Papers
Updated: Aug 12, 2008
Author(s): Gary L. Peterson

Abstract

Breault Research Organization has designed and built a stray light test station. The station measures the point source transmission and background thermal irradiance of visible and infrared sensors. Two beam expanders, including a large 0.89 meter spherical mirror, expand and collimate light from laser sources at 0.658 and 10.6 μm. The large mirror is mounted on a gimbal to illuminate sensors at off-axis angles from 0° to 10°, and azimuths from 0° to 180°. Sensors with apertures as large as 0.3 meters can be tested with the existing facility. The large mirror is placed within a vacuum chamber so cryogenic infrared sensors can be tested in a vacuum environment. A dark cryogenic cold plate can be translated into the field of view of a sensor to measure its background thermal irradiance.

Keywords: stray light, test station, point source transmission

Copyright 2008, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). This paper was published in the proceedings of the August 2008 SPIE Annual Meeting and is made available as an electronic preprint with permission of SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.

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