Protection device for optical systems exposed to laser beams when used in combat

摘要

The protective device (6), which is designed to prevent damage due to a laser beam (2), has an interchangeable support (7) which permits passage of the light beam in a particular spectral domain. On the support (4) is placed a metallic oxide film (8), which also permits passage of the light beam in a particular spectral domain. The film (8) can be connected by edge electrodes (9,10) to a current source (11) so that in the event of a high density laser beam (2) hitting the film a current is passed through the film and the resulting heat causes the metallic oxide to be reduced into metal which reflects the laser beam. A sensor (12) controlled by a device (13) activates the current source (11) when the laser light beam (2) has a given energy density.