Future advanced communications systems will utilize lasers which operate at 1.55μm
backed up by an RF links. To the extent that such systems utilize a common aperture,
dual IR/RF windows and domes will be required. The durability of such windows, with
respect to rain and sand erosion damage, is an important consideration as damaged
surfaces will lead to significant optical degradation for operation at 1.55μm. This
requirement drives the materials choices toward more durable materials such as ALON®
optical ceramic, spinel and sapphire. Single layer windows, with appropriately selected
thicknesses of these materials can be used for narrow RF wavebands, but are not
adequate for applications requiring broadband RF transparency. To this end, multilayer
windows, with durable outer layers of ALON have been developed, and built. Recent
results will be presented.
Surmet continues to invest in and expand its manufacturing capability for ALON®
Optical Ceramic, as the market demand for this material increases. The biggest demand
and opportunity continues to be in the area of transparent armor, however, the market for
sensor domes and windows, made from ALON, continues to grow at an impressive rate
as well.
ALON® Transparent Armor's unsurpassed ballistic performance, combined with the
robustness of ALON's manufacturing process and reproducibly high material quality
make ALON the leading candidate for many future armor systems. Recent results for
ALON armor windows will be presented.
Advances being made in Surmet's production capability to support the very large
quantities of material required by the transparent armor market also benefit the sensor
market. Improvements in quality, quantity and manufacturability of ALON material,
combined with improvements being made in optical quality, ensure a robust supply of
high quality material for high volume window and dome applications. Recent
advancement in ALON® window and dome blanks, as well as in optical fabrication will
be presented.
The demand for large ALON® windows has continued to increase since the material transitioned to Surmet Corporation for commercialization. Two applications which represent opposite ends of the requirements spectrum in terms of required optical
performance and cost sensitivity are Reconnaissance windows and transparent armor. Consequently, the approaches to producing large area windows for both applications are quite different. While Recce applications require windows of the highest possible optical
quality and stringent refractive index homogeneity across the large aperture sizes of Recce sensors, the optical requirements for transparent armor windows are substantially looser. Furthermore, optical performance is paramount for Recce applications while
transparent armor applications are more strongly driven by cost considerations. Surmet has developed processes for producing large (i.e., up to ~17x30-in) ALON® window blanks of extremely high optical quality and refractive index homogeneity, for Recce applications. This material has been optically fabricated into finished windows and characterized for transmitted wavefront and homogeneity. Recent results will be presented.
Large area transparent armor windows have been produced using a tiling approach. Since transparent armor laminates consist of multiple layers (i.e., ALON/Glass/Polycarbonate) Smaller ALON® tiles can be face bonded onto the underlying glass and polycarbonate
layers to produce very large windows. Excellent ballistic results have been obtained using a tiled configuration. Recent results will be presented.
Future advanced communications systems will utilize lasers which operate at 1.55 μm
backed up by an RF links. To the extent that such systems utilize a common aperture,
dual IR/RF windows and domes will be required. The durability of such windows, with
respect to rain and sand erosion damage, is an important consideration as damaged
surfaces will lead to significant optical degradation for operation at 1.55 μm. This
requirement drives the materials choices toward more durable materials such as ALON® Optical ceramic, spinel and sapphire. Single layer windows, with appropriately selected
thicknesses of these materials can be used for narrow RF wavebands, but are not
adequate for applications requiring broadband RF transparency. To this end, multilayer
windows, with durable outer layers of ALON have been developed, and built. Recent
results will be presented.
Aluminum Oxynitride (ALONTM Optical Ceramic) is a transparent ceramic material which combines transparency from the UV to the MWIR with excellent mechanical properties. ALON’s optical and mechanical properties are isotropic by virtue of its cubic crystalline structure. Consequently, ALON is transparent in its polycrystalline form and can be made by conventional powder processing techniques. This combination of properties and manufacturability make ALON suitable for a range of applications from IR windows, domes and lenses to transparent armor.
The technology for producing transparent ALON was developed at Raytheon and has been transferred to Surmet Corporation where it is currently in production. Surmet is currently selling ALON into a number of military (e.g., windows and domes) and commercial (e.g., supermarket scanner windows) applications.
The capability to manufacture large ALON windows for both sensor window and armor applications is in place. ALON windows up to 20x30 inches have been fabricated. In addition, the capability to shape and polish these large and curved windows is being developed and demonstrated at Surmet. Complex shapes, both hyper-hemispherical and conformal, are also under development and will be described.
To optimize system performance, several factors must be considered in the design of IR window assemblies. These include -- but are not limited to -- transmission shading and bondline effects. If not properly considered, these factors can easily limit the performance of modern thermal imaging systems. This paper discusses the aforementioned factors in detail and illustrates, by way of examples, how they can be minimized.
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