ABSTRACT
Electro-optic (EO) deflection systems are most typically considered in applications where high deflection speed is the paramount selection criteria. The EO deflectors and scanners rely on the EO effect evidenced to some degree by all materials. The EO effect can be utilized in a variety of basic ways, with details seemingly limited only by the imagination of very clever practitioners. The design problem is one of selecting a gross geometry that the beam can traverse, and then selecting the geometry and magnitude of desired index change. EO scanners can be discussed using much of the same terminology as other types of scanners. One of the most basic optical elements is a prism. One way to create a linearly varying spatial index profile is to apply a linearly varying electric field to an EO crystal. There are two ways of achieving an effective linear gradation in index: grading the electric field, or grading the material properties.
