The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 27, 1988
Filed:
Feb. 17, 1987
Joseph F Revelli, Rochester, NY (US);
Douglas G Stinson, Fairport, NY (US);
Stuart D Perry, Leroy, NY (US);
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY (US);
Abstract
Disclosed herein are an improved method and apparatus for optically reading pre-recorded magnetic information on a magneto-optic recording element. The invention addresses the technical problem of minimizing the adverse effect of unpredictable variations in the state of polarization of the beam of radiation used for read-out. Such variations may be produced, for example, by birefringence variations in a transparent layer or substrate through which the recorded information is recovered. According to the invention, the undesired polarization variations are sensed from the system's output signal, and an error signal representative of such variations is produced. Such error signal is used to adjust the state of polarization of the read-out beam prior to detection by the system's detector elements. Preferably, the read beam is directed through the combination of a quarterwave plate and a Faraday rotator, and the error signal is used to control the magnetic field of the Faraday rotator. In effect, the combination of the quarterwave plate and Faraday rotator behaves like a variable phase retardation plate as far as the resultant output signal is measured by differential detection is concerned.