Dynamic IR Scene Projector Based Upon the Digital Micromirror Device

Abstract

Optical Sciences Corporation has developed a new dynamic infrared scene projector technology called the Micromirror Array Projector System (MAPS). The MAPS is based upon the Texas Instruments Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) which has been modified to project images which are suitable for testing sensor and seekers operating in the UV, visible, and IR wavebands. The projector may be used in several configurations which are optimized for specific applications. This paper provides an overview of the design and performance of the MAPS projection system, as well as example imagery from prototype projector systems.

Research on DMD infrared scene projector with a high contrast ratio infrared prism design

“…Therefore the contrast of IRSP monotonically increases with scene temperature. When the scene temperature is 600 K, IR source temperature reaches as high as about 2400 K. The contrast for this DMD IRSP with a three-element TIR prism design of illumination optics is 108 at 600 K, which is better than other DMD based IRSPs using a two element TIR prism group [9,10].…”

“…3(a), it is easily to get the following formula with Snell's law sin 13 • sin  r1 = n prism n air (9) where n air stands for refractive index of the air, which equals to 1 generally,n prism stands for refractive index of the Prism 1, r1 stands for the refracted angle for the 13 • ray at the prism surface near the DMD. Then, we could deduce that  r1 = arcsin 13 • n prism (10) And the incident angle of the 13 • ray that reached at surface 2 is  1 plus  r1 .…”

A method for testing the spectral responsivity of infrared cameras using tunable lasers

“…3 A typical DMD in commercially-available light projectors has resolution of 600 × 800 or higher. 4 The gray scale for the projected illumination levels is determined by pulse-width modulation: the longer the fraction of the oscillation period during which a given mirror is "on", the brighter its corresponding image point appears. Any image to be projected is entered via the computer to the DMD control electronics, which in turn determines the pulse-widths for all DMD micro-mirrors such that the scene is projected onto the screen.…”

“…A DMD is a commercially-available array of tiny moveable mirrors that forms an image sent to it via computer. 3,4 This technique has the potential to measure responsivity functions referenced to individual pixels in the presence of controlled, non-uniform scenes, and is referred to as PIXel Spectral Irradiance and Radiance Responsivity (PIXSIR) to distinguish it from the uniform scene case of SIRCUS. In Sections 4 and 5 we extend the concept to PIXSIR based on an interferometer and a monochromator, respectively.…”

Long-wave (10μm) infrared light emitting diode device performance

“…At Army Research Laboratory, we have developed an 8 Â 7 LWIR (10 lm) LED array for possible application in IR scene projection. In earlier papers [8,9], we have presented mid-wave IR LED results. The design, fabrication and testing of LWIR LED 2D arrays based on the interband cascade (IC) LED structure and working with peak-emission at 10 lm are reported in this paper.…”