초록 ▼

A laser warning receiver is disclosed which has up to hundreds of individual optical channels each optically oriented to receive laser light from a different angle of arrival. Each optical channel has an optical wedge to define the angle of arrival, and a lens to focus the laser light onto a multi-w

A laser warning receiver is disclosed which has up to hundreds of individual optical channels each optically oriented to receive laser light from a different angle of arrival. Each optical channel has an optical wedge to define the angle of arrival, and a lens to focus the laser light onto a multi-wavelength photodetector for that channel. Each multi-wavelength photodetector has a number of semiconductor layers which are located in a multi-dielectric stack that concentrates the laser light into one of the semiconductor layers according to wavelength. An electrical signal from the multi-wavelength photodetector can be processed to determine both the angle of arrival and the wavelength of the laser light.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A laser warning receiver comprising a plurality of optical channels, with each optical channel having optics comprising a lens, a stepped light baffle and at least one optical wedge, with the optics for each optical channel being optically oriented to receive laser light at a

What is claimed is: 1. A laser warning receiver comprising a plurality of optical channels, with each optical channel having optics comprising a lens, a stepped light baffle and at least one optical wedge, with the optics for each optical channel being optically oriented to receive laser light at an angle of arrival which is different for each optical channel and to direct the laser light onto a multi-wavelength photodetector located in each optical channel to generate an electrical signal wherefrom a wavelength of the laser light and the angle of arrival of the laser light can be identified, and with the angle of arrival of the laser light in each optical channel being limited to a few degrees or less by the stepped light baffle. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lens and the optical wedge each comprise glass or a polymer. 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the optics for all of the plurality of optical channels are provided as a molded plate with each lens being located on one side of the molded plate and with each optical wedge being located on the other side of the molded plate. 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the light baffle is located between the optics and the multi-wavelength photodetector. 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each multi-wavelength photodetector comprises a plurality of semiconductor layers which are stacked up and spaced apart within a multi-layer dielectric stack which includes a resonant cavity formed about each semiconductor layer to separate the laser light according to wavelength and to concentrate a majority of the laser light at each different wavelength into one of the semiconductor layers to identify the wavelength of the laser light. 6. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising another molded plate comprising an additional optical wedge for each optical channel located above the molded plate containing each lens. 7. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a metal mirror located beneath each multi-wavelength photodetector. 8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein each semiconductor layer comprises silicon or germanium. 9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the multi-layer dielectric stack comprises dielectric layers of two different materials. 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the dielectric layers of the two different materials comprise a first dielectric material and a second dielectric material with the first dielectric material having an index of refraction which is different from the index of refraction of the second dielectric material. 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the first dielectric material comprises silicon dioxide, and the second dielectric material comprises titanium dioxide. 12. A laser warning receiver, comprising: a plurality of optical channels which each receive laser light from a different angle of arrival, with each optical channel having a lens located on one side of a transparent plate and an optical wedge located on an opposite side of the transparent plate, and a stepped light baffle to limit the angle of arrival of the laser light in each optical channel to a few degrees or less; and a multi-wavelength photodetector located in each optical channel to detect the laser light received by that optical channel and to generate therefrom an electrical signal indicative of the angle of arrival of the laser light and a wavelength of the laser light. 13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising another optical wedge for each optical channel which is located on another transparent plate located proximate to the transparent plate containing each lens. 14. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the multi-wavelength photodetector comprises a plurality of semiconductor layers which are located within a multi-layer dielectric stack which includes a resonant cavity formed about each semiconductor layer to concentrate a majority of the laser light at each different wavelength into one of the semiconductor layers based on the wavelength of the laser light. 15. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a substrate whereon each multi-wavelength photodetector is located, with the substrate comprising a signal processor which receives the electrical signal from each multi-wavelength photodetector to determine therefrom the angle of arrival of the laser light and the wavelength of the laser light. 16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the multi-layer dielectric stack is divided into a plurality of sections with one of the sections of the multi-layer dielectric stack separating each adjacent pair of the semiconductor layers, and with each section of the multi-layer dielectric stack comprising a plurality of alternating layers of two different dielectric materials each having a different index of refraction. 17. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising an alarm operatively connected to the signal processor to signal a detection of the laser light. 18. A laser warning receiver, comprising: a plurality of optical channels to receive laser light, with each optical channel being optically oriented to receive the laser light from a different angle of arrival; a multi-wavelength photodetector located in each optical channel to generate an electrical signal from the laser light received by that optical channel, with the multi-wavelength photodetector comprising a plurality of semiconductor layers stacked up within a multi-layer dielectric stack which concentrates a majority of the laser light into one of the semiconductor layers which is determined by a wavelength of the laser light; and a signal processor to receive the electrical signal from each multi-wavelength photodetector and determine therefrom the angle of arrival and the wavelength of the laser light. 19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein each optical channel includes a lens and at least one optical wedge. 20. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising an alarm operatively connected to the signal processor to provide an audible alarm signal to signal a detection of the laser light. 21. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the laser warning receiver further comprises a radio-frequency or microwave transmitter to transmit a warning signal to a receiver whenever the laser light is detected. 22. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the multi-layer dielectric stack includes a resonant cavity formed about each semiconductor layer, with the resonant cavity comprising a plurality of alternating dielectric layers formed from two different dielectric materials, and with each of the two different dielectric materials having a different index of refraction. 23. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein each optical channel includes a baffle to reject light outside of the angle of arrival for that optical channel.