Abstract: A superconductor device includes a high superconductivity transition temperature enhanced from the raw material transition temperature. The superconductor device includes a matrix material and a core material. The enhancing matrix material and the core material together create a system of strongly coupled carriers. A plurality of low-dimensional conductive features can be embedded in the matrix. The low-dimensional conductive features (e.g., nanowires or nanoparticles) can be conductors or superconductors. An interaction between electrons of the low-dimensional conductive features and the enhancing matrix material can promote excitations that increase a superconductivity transition temperature of the superconductor device.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for servicing a lawn sprinkler head removed from a sprinkler system. Included within a servicing kit is a controller that may be used to regulate the flow of water through the sprinkler head remotely from the sprinkler system, a plug to secure the hole in the sprinkler system from where the sprinkler head was removed, a spacer that may be used to retain the nozzle of the sprinkler head in the deployed position, and a cleaning tool that may be used to dislodge debris from the nozzle water exit perforations. Other features are disclosed.

Abstract: A first lens produces a Fourier transform of the wavefront distorted optical image at the Fourier transform plane. A phase encoded filter is positioned at the transform plane and a second filter is tandemly positioned with respect to the first filter, the second filter having a transmittance which is statistically similar to the reciprocal spatial frequency spectrum of the Fourier transform of the distortion function, to in turn produce an intermediate signal at the transform plane, which is now Fourier transformed by a second lens to recover the optical image having a substantially reduced degree of distortion.

Abstract: An all optical photorefractive holographic joint transform correlator provides a first correlation plane output port using two-beam coupling, and a second correlation plane output port employing four-wave mixing. With appropriate input beam intensity ratios, the first port output is capable of high discrimination, while simultaneously the second port offers a low discrimination output.

Abstract: Image derogating optical noise due to light scattering of an object under examination, embedded in a light scattering medium, is substantially reduced by passing a modulated signal laser beam through the scattering medium, and interfering the emerging signal with a coherent modulated reference beam to produce a hologram in a photorefractive member of the object, which in turn is read out of the crystal by a third unmodulated coherent beam to retrieve a clear image of the object. A smart pixel image convertor light valve may be substituted for the photorefractive member.

Abstract: Image derogating optical noise due to light scattering of an object under amination, embedded in, or positioned in front of a light scattering medium, is substantially reduced by employing a two-dimensional all optical phase sensitive holographic detector and vibrating the light scattering material at an ultra-sonic frequency to produce both signal sidebands and noise sidebands. Homodyne and hetrodyne techniques are used to filter out sidebands due to the light scattering noise and pass the desired signals, thereby to output a clear image of the object free of optical scatter noise. A smart pixel image converter light valve may be substituted for the photorefractive member.

Abstract: A fully parallel, self-aligning, nonlinear and all optical joint transform correlator utilizes a photorefractive four wave mixer positioned to record the joint transform spectrum interfering with a reference beam together with a phase conjugator which directs a readout beam at the four wave mixer. The signal readout of the mixer is Fourier transformed and can be recorded upon an image sensor to detect the correlation spots indicating the degree of similarity of the two input images.

Abstract: Limiting quadratic processing and compansion in photorefractive two beam coupling is disclosed. Two-beam coupling in photorefractive barium titanate employs the imaged intensity of the signal to amplify the reference beam while maintaining the phase of the reference beam. The phase distorted signal beam is converted to that of the controlled phase of the reference beam. The high pump limit of amplification in this two-beam coupling device produces an amplitude compressed output to reduce multiplicative noise. Lost contrast of the image is thereafter restored. Beam clean-up of a non-intelligence bearing beam can be carried out by a similar process; a low pass filter consisting of a pinhole plate can be used in place of the second photorefractive crystal in the Fourier plane and only the planar wavefront portion will pass through the pinhole and may be collimated by a lens to provide a cleaned planar output beam.

Abstract: An object beam is passed through an aberrating medium to produce a diffraction distorted image therein, which is imaged upon a spatial light modulator. A probe beam measures the phase aberrated wavefront within the aberrating medium and is used to produce an interference pattern which is employed to produce phase encoding signals to be fed back to the spatial light modulator for compensating in part for the phase distortion of the phase aberrated wavefront. The result is an output image having a substantially reduced degree of distortion.

Abstract: A novelty filter utilizes self-nulling and self-aligning of reflection and transmission phase conjugate beams. A photorefractive crystal is arranged so that the contributions to the phase conjugate are equal and opposite in the steady state to produce destructive interference when the input image is stationary, and thus no output image is displayed. If the image moves, then the gratings will rewrite and erase themselves, each with their own response times, total destructive interference will not occur, and transient enhancement and surpression of the phase conjugate output signal will indicate the direction of motion of the input image.

Abstract: A joint transform correlator has modulators for temporally modulating a first optical input signal at a first frequency and a second optical input signal at a second frequency. An image sensor in the Fourier plane forms a product signal modulated by temporal sum and difference frequencies of the first and second frequencies. The product signal is thereafter demodulated at the temporal sum or difference frequency and the resulting optical signal is inverse Fourier transformed to recover the desired cross correlation signals.

Abstract: An all-optical nonlinear joint transform correlator has been implemented for the first time without using a spatial light modulator and digital processing in the Fourier plane. The correlator utilizes energy transfer from two-beam coupling in the Fourier plane. A compressional nonlinearity in the hard-clipped regime is implemented by pumping a weak plane wave with the intense joint spectrum of the reference and signal images. Operation of this device rivals or exceeds that of the phase-only filter for detecting objects in cluttered noise. Experimental results are compared with both plane wave and beam propagation simulations.

Abstract: An associative memory apparatus having a 2f Fourier transform optical correlation configuration wherein the correlation spots produced in the correlation plane are projected back by a mirror through the inverse Fourier transform lens and a phase correction reference image filter to produce the output image representing the best match between the input image and the associative memory reference images. A 4f Fourier transform embodiment projects the correlation spots forward through a second filter and transform means and the output image can be fed back to the input image display SLM to enhance the output image.

Abstract: Spatially variable nonlinear optical thresholding in the Fourier plane reduces signal-dependent noise, such as scalar multiplicative noise. Coherent artifact noise reduction by a factor of four is attained using deamplifying photorefractive two-beam coupling. A variable light transmittance threshold across a spatially thresholded light modulating element such as a photorefractive crystal is utilized for this purpose.

Abstract: A degenerate four-wave mixing arrangement employs a photorefractive crystal as a real time holographic recording medium to record a hologram of the noisy optical signal. The signal passes through the crystal and is phase conjugated by a self pumped barium titanate phase conjugator, and the resulting phase conjugate beam reads out the hologram and multiplicative noise is substantially reduced in the optical output signal.

Abstract: Method of demultiplexing a composite signal light beam includes the steps of directing the composite signal light beam and a reference light beam at a photorefractive material, modulating the reference beam at a frequency about equal to the modulation frequency of a selected signal beam to be demultiplexed, and recovering the phase conjugate signal produced by interference of the reference beam with the composite signal light beam within the photorefractive material. The method also enables optical phase detection of the selected signal beam with respect to the reference beam.

Abstract: Devices and methods for imparting a nondirectional finish to brake rotors and similar articles. Such devices include two disks which are suspended against the rotor faces. The device suspends the disks with freedom of rotation in all directions and freedom of translation in a direction parallel to the rotational axis of the rotor. A follower presses each disk against its corresponding rotor face at a place located in the area between the disk centers and the rotor rotational axis. Rotor rotation causes the disks to spin, and an abrasive surface on the inside face of each disk provides a nondirectional finish as the disks float freely on the rotor surfaces about their follower contact points.

Abstract: A waste container has two dividers which are adjustably mounted in the interior of the container to compartmentalize the interior for receiving segregated types of trash. Guides are provided to adjust the angle of orientation of each divider, while a detachable coupling is provided in the bottom of the container for optionally removing the dividers and allowing for pivotal movement thereof to adjust the angular orientation.

Abstract: A glass-forming machine controller permits substantially instantaneous updating of the operating times of the machine components without the complex circuitry required of prior controllers. In the controller, a dual port random access memory (RAM) is provided for storing the on/off statuses of the machine components at each of the increments of time into which each cycle of operation of the machine may be divided. The controller accommodates simultaneous access to the RAM for changing the timing of the machine components and operating the machine components. The memory locations of the RAM may be grouped to provide multiple addressable locations for each increment of time. An address group generator develops sequential address group signals to access each of the multiple addressable memory locations in each increment of time and to obtain the on/off statuses of all of the machine components in each increment of time.