Ultrahigh resolving electrooptic prism array light deflectors

A type of light deflector that shows ultrahigh resolving power is proposed. This light deflector consists of arrayed electrooptic prisms. The resolving power of this deflector isNtimes larger than that of a single electrooptic prism, whereNis the number of arrayed prisms. If the voltages applied on each crystal are all the same, the deflecting angle is discontinuous. But if the voltages are not equal to each other, it can be continuous. Experiments were done using a simple deflector. The experimental results agreed with the theory. The experimental deflector showed 50 resolved individual spots when maximum applied voltages were ± 600 V. It is clear that we can have a light deflector that shows over 600 resolvable spots easily. Current techniques are sufficient to manufacture such deflectors.