摘要 |
A laser ranging and detection system includes a laser for generating a coherent outgoing beam and a telescope. The telescope includes a primary mirror with an aperture for receiving the coherent outgoing beam and for passing an incoming, incoherent, backscattered light. A focal system is positioned between the laser and the telescope and focusses the coherent outgoing beam so as to create a reduced beam-waist cross section at a focal plane. A beam separator is positioned at the focal plane and in a first path between the focal system and the telescope. The beam separator includes a reflective surface arranged to reflect the incoherent backscattered light to a second path for detection. The beam separator further has an optical aperture positioned in the first path, that exhibits a cross sectional area approximately equal to the reduced beam-waist cross section. The size of the optical aperture is such that it enables the beam separator to reflect greater than 90 percent of incoming incoherent light to the detector.
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