Infrared imaging bundles with good Image resolution

Amorphous Materials has developed a chalcogenide glass which can be drawn in unclad fibers continuously with diameters as low as 50 mum. The glass, designated C4, was used to form bundles using the stacked ribbon method. The bundles, 1 meter long and containing 4-5 thousand fibers, fitted with relay and objective lenses, produced images using the 3-5 mum Agema 210 camera far superior than observed at Amorphous Materials with previous bundles. Resolution and contrast were markedly improved. Further improvement was observed when a bundle was used with a much more sensitive Raytheon Radiance it 3-5 mum camera. FTIR scans showed the transmission was low in the 8-12 mum range. Images obtained using a Raytheon Palm IR were faint with low contrast. Antireflection coating on the bundles improved 3-5 tm transmission but failed to improve the 8-12 mum performance sufficiently.