Abstract: A read/write head for an optical storage medium is provided. The read/write head comprises a waveguide having an end face and a plasmon-enhanced device provided on the end face of the waveguide. The plasmon-enhanced device comprises a metal film having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being fixed to the waveguide end face, the metal film having an aperture provided therethrough. The metal film has a periodic surface topography provided on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the metal film. Light incident on one of the surfaces of the metal film interacts with a surface plasmon mode on at least one of the surfaces of the metal film thereby enhancing transmission of light through the aperture in the metal film which is directed onto and/or collected from the optical storage medium. A read/write head with an integral light source is also provided.

Abstract: The apparatus includes a semiconductor laser diode, a mounting for the laser diode and a casing with a window through which light from the diode passes. The casing hermetically seals the diode. A magneto-optical member is provided between the end face of the laser diode and the window. The magneto-optical member has a spontaneous magnetization oriented in the direction of the light transmission and a magnetic field is applied to saturate the magneto-optical member.

Abstract: In a light wavelength separating modulator there is provided a crystal manifesting an electro-optical effect which rotates the principal axes of the refractive index ellipsoid of the crystal, a plurality of juxtaposed electrodes formed on the crystal in the direction of transmission of light and having different periods, and means for applying modulation signals to respective electrodes. When light generated by a light source, having a light spectrum where half value bandwidth exceeds 100A, is transmitted through the modulator, a light wavelength multiplex signal transmitting apparatus is obtained; whereas when a birefringence body is located on the output side of the modulator, a light wavelength separating switch is obtained.

Abstract: A laser beam facsimile apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus utilizes a slit to define the light of a scan line. A laser beam is subjected to amplitude modulation and rapidly deflected toward the slit in a sub-scanning direction by an accousto-optic modulator (AOM) cell. An aperture of the slit is selected to be larger than the diameter of the deflected beam and smaller than the deflection scan in the sub-scanning direction. The light beam passed through the slit is focused on a light-sensitive medium by an optical system, whereby the optical intensity across the entire width of the scan line is constant without losing the sharpness at the edges of the scan line.

Abstract: Relatively large hologram storage plates, e.g., those storing a large number of discrete entries such as character definitions for a large character set, comprise an array of mini-holograms arranged in different memory plate sections.A different photodiode array is associated with each hologram plate section (for efficiency, some elements of different diode arrays may be common). When the stored contents of any mini-hologram are interrogated by a coherent light beam, the stored information is derived via the associated photodiode array and converged (as by OR logic) to memory output terminals.

Abstract: A hologram graphic tablet apparatus is described which has an improved resolution. The apparatus includes a hologram plate which includes a plurality of mini-holograms having position code data therein. The hologram plate is sequentially illuminated by a reference laser and an array of vernier lasers. The light from the laser that is diffracted by the mini-holograms is detected to form a reconstructed image of the position data, and the detected information is processed to produce a positional code that has a greater number of bits, and hence greater position resolution, than that directly obtained from the mini-hologram, depending on whether the output codes from the detector are the result of irradiation of the mini-hologram by the reference laser or by the vernier laser array.