METHOD OF CONVERTING OPTICAL SIGNAL TO ELECTRIC ONE Russian patent published in 1995 - IPC

FIELD: optics. SUBSTANCE: coherent light beam is directed from source 1 to interferometer which has beam-splitting prism 2 and mirror 3. Light beam is phase modulated in signal arm of the interferometer by means of element 4. The modulation is transformed into interference pattern oscillations at the region where signal and reference beams cross, and where photoconductor 5 is located. Electric signal is read from load resistor 6. The photoconductor is made of Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ crystal. Low-frequency component of light wave modulation filtration and electric signal forming are carried out at the same element the photoconductor. Adjustment is simplified which is reduced to placing the photoconductor at the region where modulated and reference light beams cross together. High voltage is not applied in the method. EFFECT: reduced s/n ratio; simplification. 1 dwg