Microwave frequency electro-optical beam deflector and analog to digital conversion

An optical probe analog to digital converter comprising:

• a light source producing a light beam;
• an optical deflector for reducing the phase velocity of the light beam and deflecting the light beam in an angle proportional to the magnitude of an analog signal to be converted;
• and
• optical detection means for producing a parallel N bit digital output, wherein the digital output depends upon the deflection angle of the light beam.

An optical probe analog to digital converter comprising:

• an optical detection system including N rows corresponding to N bits to be encoded and 2N columns corresponding to 2N digital values to be encoded;
• a light source producing a light beam having a shape that spans N rows of said optical detector system but only one column or less of said optical detection system;
• and
• an optical deflector for slowing the effective phase velocity of said light beam and deflecting said light beam over the range of the 2N columns in response to an analog signal to be converted.

A method for performing an analog to digital conversion of an analog signal, the method comprising steps of:

• applying the analog signal to an optical deflector;
• passing a light beam through the optical deflector;
• slowing the phase velocity of the light beam during said step of passing;
• and
• outputting a digital value that depends upon the angular deflection of the light beam.