Application of New Electrooptical Technology to High-Speed Photography

Recent advances in high-speed photography have been dominated by exploitation of modern imaging electron tubes. Basically, these tubes use a photocathode to produce an electron analog of an optical image; the electrons are then accelerated into a scintillating phosphor to produce a second optical image that is recorded photographically. The electron beam can be amplified and manipulated to produce a number of effects: it can serve as a fast optical shutter, produce massive light amplification, and produce moving image displays such as motion-picture sequences and streak records. The simplest image tubes use close spacing (proximity) to focus photon-produced electrons onto a phosphor screen. These tubes can produce modest light amplification when fiber-optic plates are used to transmit images to recording film. Much greater light amplification (up to 100,000×) can be produced when a microchannel plate (MCP), which is an imaging electron multiplier array, is placed between the photocathode and the phosphor screen. More complex tubes use electrostatic or magnetic focusing to image photoelectrons onto a remote phosphor. The electron beam can then be deflected in one or two directions to produce streak records or motion-picture image sequences.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1980-10

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J01558