Abstract

Electro-optical sensors can measure a variety of properties important in manufacturing and industrial processes such as temperature, species concentrations, particle sizes, flow velocities and rates, surface characteristics and velocities, and part geometry. The performance improvements available from next-generation electro-optical sensors will be due in part to the integration of some forms of artificial intelligence into the system. For example, we are interested in sensors which might autonomously adapt themselves to optimal or near-optimal configurations as dictated by the instantaneous measurement context. Many schemes for adaptive control of sensor systems can utilize spatial light modulator technology whereby the spatial distribution of an optical field can be controlled. We are investigating laser diffraction particle sizing systems where the angular distribution of scattered light is collected at multiple angles for use in an inverse scattering calculation. Spatial light modulators (SLM) can be used to create programmable detector geometries which can be optimized depending on the particular particle size distribution under analysis. In this paper we the discuss the integration of Faraday-effect magneto-optic spatial light modulators into adaptive laser diffraction particle sizing instruments.

© 1988 Optical Society of America