Irl Smith, PhD

Dr. Smith has extensive experience in optics, electro-optics, and electronics, and has been employed at Raytheon since 1974. At present his major responsibility is for overall concept development and system design of optical beam-pointing and -shaping systems, especially those based on optical phased arrays. Such systems are currently under development at Raytheon for optical communications, directed energy, and optical sensors.

Prior to his taking on these tasks Dr. Smith had design and then management responsibility for GaAs-based mixed-signal circuits at the Raytheon Research Division. He has also made contributions in high-power pulsed lasers for laser radar and laser designators and in ring laser gyroscopes now in use for precision inertial navigation systems.

Dr. Smith is a co-inventor of techniques for wide-angle beamsteering using holographic elements and optical phased arrays. He holds about 25 patents in diverse technologies and has published about 25 papers.