Abstract: Method and apparatus for depositing durable coatings onto the surface of a substrate without heating the entire substrate to high temperatures by using lasers to heat the substrate and dissociate a deposition gas. The apparatus comprises a deposition chamber for enclosing the substrate upon which a coating is to be deposited, gas delivery means for directing a flow of deposition gas on the substrate, a first laser for heating the substrate, and a second laser for irradiating the deposition gas to dissociate the gas. The method includes placing a substrate within a vacuum deposition chamber and directing a flow of deposition gas on the substrate. Then the substrate is heated with a first laser while the deposition gas is irradiated with a second laser to dissociate the deposition gas.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for rapidly and accurately determining the pressure of a fluid medium in either a static or dynamic state. The pressure is determined by making a measurement of the velocity of a light beam that is directed through the fluid medium along a pathway that enables an integrated pressure measurement to be made along the pathway, rather than making such a measurement only at a single point in the medium. A HeNe laser is configured to emit a beam of two frequencies separated by about 2 MHz. One of these beam frequencies is directed through the fluid medium and is reflected back through the medium to a non-linear diode detector. The other beam frequency is passed directly to a diode detector without traversing said medium. The diode detector is operated to determine the frequency shift or beat frequency between the two beam frequencies.

Abstract: An optical panel 10 includes a plurality of waveguides 12 stacked together, with each waveguide 12 having a first end 12a and an opposite second end 12b. The first ends 12a collectively define a first face 16, and the second ends 12b collectively define a second face 18 of the panel 10. The second face 18 is disposed at an acute face angle relative to the waveguides 12 to provide a panel 10 which is relatively thin compared to the height of the second face. In an exemplary embodiment for use in a projection TV, the first face 16 is substantially smaller in height than the second face 18 and receives a TV image, with the second face 18 defining a screen for viewing the image enlarged.

Abstract: An ultra short (<10 ps), high power laser pulse is temporally characterized by a system that uses a physical measurement of a wavefront that has been altered in a known manner. The system includes a first reflection switch to remove a portion of a pulse from a beam of pulses, then includes a second reflection switch, operating in a mode that is opposite to the first reflection switch, to slice off a portion of that removed portion. The sliced portion is then directed to a measuring device for physical measurement. The two reflection switches are arranged with respect to each other and with respect to the beam of ultra short pulses such that physical measurement of the sliced portion is related to the temporal measurement of the ultra short pulse by a geometric or trigonometric relationship. The reflection switches are operated by a control pulse that is directed to impinge on each of the reflection switches at a 90.degree. angle of incidence.

Abstract: Atmospheric effects on sighting measurements are compensated for by adjusting any sighting measurements using a correction factor that does not depend on atmospheric state conditions such as temperature, pressure, density or turbulence. The correction factor is accurately determined using a precisely measured physical separation between two color components of a light beam (or beams) that has been generated using either a two-color laser or two lasers that project different colored beams. The physical separation is precisely measured by fixing the position of a short beam pulse and measuring the physical separation between the two fixed-in-position components of the beam.

Abstract: A method for remotely inspecting solid structures for discontinuities other than surface imperfections is disclosed. The method comprises vibrating a solid structure to be inspected while utilizing a laser radar doppler receiver to generate a doppler shifted heterodyne signal resulting from detecting the vibrational frequency of a portion of the solid structure to be inspected. The doppler shifted signal is monitored while scanning the surface of the solid structure.

Abstract: A metal compound having a metal radical containing one or more metals, and a radical containing hydrogen and one or more of the elements C, N, O and B is thermally decomposed in the presence of a substrate to form a coating of a metal oxide, nitride carbide or boride on the substrate. In one embodiment of the invention, the metal compound is entrained in a supersonic molecular beam which, upon impact with the surface to be coated, thermally decomposes, forming a refractory metal coating and gaseous by-products.