Optical window with integrated temperature sensing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12274044-B2
Application number	US-202318369573-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2023
Priority date	Aug 9, 2019
Publication date	Apr 8, 2025
Grant date	Apr 8, 2025

Abstract

A method of controlling a temperature profile of an optical window comprising: measuring a temperature-dependent electrical property of a thermally sensitive material included in the optical window using an embedded electromagnetic interference shield in the optical window to determine the temperature profile of the optical window, the embedded electromagnetic interference shield including a two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires; and based on the measurements, selectively biasing at least one wire of the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires to locally alter the temperature-dependent electrical property of the thermally sensitive material in at least one selected spatial region of the optical window to control the temperature profile of the optical window.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling a temperature profile of an optical window comprising:
measuring a temperature-dependent electrical property of a thermally sensitive material included in the optical window using an embedded electromagnetic interference shield in the optical window to determine the temperature profile of the optical window, the embedded electromagnetic interference shield including a two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires; and
based on the measurements, selectively biasing at least one wire of the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires to locally alter the temperature-dependent electrical property of the thermally sensitive material in at least one selected spatial region of the optical window to control the temperature profile of the optical window.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring a current flow through the thermally sensitive material or at least one selectively biased wire to determine a local temperature across the optical window.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively biasing the at least one wire includes applying a voltage bias to induce resistive heating of the at least one wire and the thermally sensitive material in the at least one selected spatial region.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the resistive heating is used to selectively heat specific regions of the optical window.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein selectively applying the voltage bias to the at least one wire includes locally altering an electrical resistance of the thermally sensitive material in a region proximate to the at least one wire.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a Schottky contact with at least two wires of the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires, and applying an electrical bias between the wires to produce a measurable current through the Schottky contact, the measurable current being a function of temperature.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring the temperature-dependent electrical property of the thermally sensitive material includes measuring electrical resistance of the thermally sensitive material.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising mapping one or more resistance changes due to the temperature profile.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively biasing the at least one wire is based on the temperature profile of the optical window.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating the measurements continuously or periodically to dynamically update the temperature profile over time.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires includes a first plurality of electrically conductive wires and a second plurality of electrically conductive wires.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing thereon instructions for controlling a temperature profile of an optical window, the instructions instructing at least one processor to:
measure a temperature-dependent electrical property of a thermally sensitive material included in the optical window by using an embedded electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield in the optical window, the EMI shield including a two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires;
determine the temperature profile of the optical window based on the measured temperature-dependent electrical property of the thermally sensitive material included in the optical window; and
based on the measured temperature-dependent electrical property of the thermally sensitive material included in the optical window, selectively bias at least one wire of the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires to locally alter the temperature-dependent electrical property of the thermally sensitive material in at least one selected spatial region of the optical window to control the temperature profile of the optical window.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to:
measure a current flow through the thermally sensitive material or the at least one wire to determine a local temperature across the optical window.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to:
control a driver to apply a bias voltage to resistively heat the at least one wire in the at least one selected spatial region.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 wherein, to apply the bias voltage, the driver is configured to alter an electrical resistance of a portion of the thermally sensitive material in a region proximate to the at least one wire.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein a Schottky contact is formed between at least two wires of the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires to produce a current through the Schottky contact, the current being a function of temperature, and wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to measure the current at the Schottky contact.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to:
measure a resistance of the thermally sensitive material to use in measuring the temperature-dependent electrical property.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to:
map changes in the resistance of the thermally sensitive material.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to:
determine a bias to selectively bias the at least one wire based on at least the temperature profile of the optical window.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the two-dimensional array of electrically conductive wires includes a first plurality of electrically conductive wires and a second plurality of electrically conductive wires.

Assignees

• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Grosse Kyle L
• Frazier Gary A
• Trent Catherine

Classifications

• H05K9/0086

  comprising a single discontinuous metallic layer on an electrically insulating supporting structure, e.g. metal grid, perforated metal foil, film, aggregated flakes, sintering · CPC title

• H05K9/0005

  Shielded windows · CPC title

• G01K1/14

  Supports; Fastening devices; Arrangements for mounting thermometers in particular locations · CPC title

• G01K7/16

  using resistive elements · CPC title

• G01K2213/00

  Temperature mapping · CPC title