Scanners and Recorders for Imagery Transmission

The current trend toward higher bandwidths, finer resolutions, and the desire for dry rapid film processing will require new approaches toward scanning and recording of imagery. This paper will first discuss present technology in high bandwidth, high resolution laser recording. These devices can achieve resolutions up to 200 lp/mm at recording rates up to 340 X 10 6 Hz. It will be shown that little improvement can be expected over today's technology due to fundamental component and physics limitations. The remainder of the paper will describe a new approach that employs integrated optics in the development of modulators and scanners. An integrated optic scanner could conceivably scan light at information rates exceeding 1 gbs (109 bits/sec) without any mechanical motion.