JPS62244022A - Optical scanning and recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form the titled device which is excellent in its durability and vibration resistance, can be easily adjusted, has a high light utilization efficiency, can execute a scan precisely, and can be made small in size, by providing a sub-scanning means for moving relatively a photosensitive body and a laminated body in the direction roughly vertical to the arranging direction of an energy applied part. CONSTITUTION:A semiconductor laser 17 is driven and a laser beam 14' is emitted into an optical waveguide layer 11 and converted to parallel rays 14 by a waveguide lens 16, and the rays 14 advance in the arranging direction of diffraction gratings G1-Gn in a waveguide mode in the optical waveguide layer 11. When a current I is allowed to flow successively to electric heating bodies H1-Hn, each electric heating body is heated successively, a substrate 10 is heated, its light refractive index falls, and when the optical waveguide layer 11 becomes an asymmetrical waveguide, the light is emitted to an adjacent layer 12 side, emitted to the outside of the adjacent layer 12 by a diffracting action of the diffraction gratings G1-Gn, and a photosensitive body 18 is scanned in the direction X by the emitted rays 14. When an endless device 19 is driven by synchronizing with a main scan by a clock signal CLK, and a sub-scan is executed by moving the photosensitive body 18 in the direction as indicated with an arrow Y, a two-dimensional image carried by an image signal S is recorded in the photosensitive body 18.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an optical scanning recording device, and more particularly, to a thermo-optic material, an electro-optic material, etc., by applying an external field or adding energy (hereinafter collectively referred to as energy addition). The present invention relates to an optical scanning recording device that performs optical scanning using a material that changes the optical refractive index.

(Prior Art) As is well known, various optical scanning recording apparatuses have been conventionally provided which scan a photoreceptor with light and record a continuous tone image or a black and white binary image on the photoreceptor. Conventionally, as an optical scanning device that scans the recording light one-dimensionally in such a recording device, there is a device that uses a mechanical optical deflector such as a galvanometer mirror or a polygon mirror (rotating polygon mirror) to scan the optical beam in a single direction. , ■ An optical deflector that uses a solid-state optical deflection element such as an EOD (Item Optical Deflector) or an AOD (Acousto-Optical Deflector) to deflect a light beam, ■ Liquid Crystal Arrayer P
A shutter array such as an LZT array and a line light source are combined, a drive circuit is individually connected to each shutter element of the shutter array, and 0N10Ff4 is selected and simultaneously opened according to an image signal to perform line sequential scanning. In general, ■ Many light emitting elements such as LEDs - g! C) by connecting a drive circuit to each light emitting element individually and depending on the image signal.
'J, by selecting 10FF and making them emit light at the same time, II! A device that performs 11th order scanning is known.

However, the mechanical optical deflector described in ■ above is weak against photography.
It also has the drawbacks of low mechanical durability and troublesome adjustment. There is also the problem that the optical system becomes large because it roughly captures and deflects the light beam, leading to an increase in the size of the recording device.

Furthermore, even in the case of an optical scanning recording apparatus using the EOD1'AOD described in (2), there is a problem that the apparatus tends to be large because the light beam is captured and deflected in the same manner as described above. Especially the above EOD? Since AOD cannot have a large optical deflection angle, ■
The optical system tends to be much larger than when using a mechanical optical deflector.

On the other hand, in the optical scanning recording apparatus using seven shutter rays (2), since it is necessary to use two polarizing plates, there is a problem that the light utilization efficiency of the light source is extremely low.

Furthermore, the optical scanning recording device using a large number of light emitting elements arranged side by side (2) has the problem that it is not suitable for precise scanning because the light emitting intensity of each light emitting element varies.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has excellent durability and photographic resistance, easy adjustment, high light utilization efficiency, and precision scanning. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical scanning recording device that can be made compact.

(Structure of the Invention) The optical scanning recording device of the present invention has an optical waveguide 1 (path) on a substrate.
, a laminate in which adjacent layers are laminated in this order in close contact with each other, and the substrate and/or the adjacent layer are made of materials whose optical refractive index can be changed by applying energy and which can mutually have the same optical refractive index. a plurality of energy adding means provided on the substrate and/or the adjacent layer along the optical path of the guided light propagating into the optical waveguide layer; and adding energy to the surface of the adjacent layer by at least the energy adding means. a diffraction grating provided in each portion corresponding to the location; a light source that causes light to enter the optical waveguide layer so as to travel along the energy addition locations arranged; and one of the plurality of energy addition means. One of them is sequentially and selectively set to a state in which the optical refractive index of the substrate and the adjacent layer in the portions corresponding to the energy application points are different from each other, while the other energy application means are set to differ from each other. a drive circuit that sets the optical refractive index of the substrate and the adjacent layer in corresponding portions to be equal to each other; a photoreceptor disposed at a position to be irradiated with light emitted from the laminate; and the laminate; and a modulation means that modulates the light emitted from the laminate according to an image signal.

Materials that change the optical refractive index by adding energy include:
Electro-optic materials that change the optical refractive index by an electric field, thermo-optic materials that change the optical refractive index by heat, acousto-optic materials that change the optical refractive index by ultrasonic waves, magneto-optic materials that change the optical refractive index by a magnetic field, etc. can be used. .

(Function) As described above, when one of the plurality of energy applying means is set to a state in which the optical refractive index of the part of the substrate corresponding to the energy applying part and the adjacent layer are different from each other, in this part, While the optical waveguide 1 becomes a so-called asymmetric waveguide, if the other energy adding means are set so that the optical refractive indexes of the substrate and the adjacent layer at the portions corresponding to the energy adding points are made equal to each other. ,
In those portions, the optical waveguide 1 becomes a so-called symmetrical waveguide, and the guided light can be extracted to the outside only from the asymmetrical waveguide portion. If the portion that becomes the asymmetric waveguide is sequentially and selectively changed as described above, the guided light extraction position from the optical waveguide layer will be continuously changed, and the light will be
It becomes possible to scan dimensionally.

To explain in more detail, as shown in FIG. 1, the optical scanning recording apparatus of the present invention has a substrate 10 made of, for example, a thermo-optic material, and an optical waveguide 111 adjacent to it! 112, a plurality of electric heating bodies H are arranged in parallel on the lower surface of the substrate 10, and each electric heating element H is arranged on the upper surface of the adjacent layer 12.
Diffraction gratings G are provided at positions facing each other, and the optical refractive index n of the substrate 10 when not heated is
3. Optical refractive index n2 of optical waveguide @11. It is assumed that the relationship n2 > nl n3 holds between the optical refractive indexes n1 of 112 adjacent lenses. In this case, the degree of asymmetry jla of the leading wave @11 is a=(nt” n3
")/(n2z nt"), and the relationship between the thickness of the optical waveguide 111 and the effective refractive index is shown in the graph of FIG. 2 in addition to this a. Note that in this graph, m is the mode order of the guided light 14. Therefore, −
For example, when the mode of the guided light 14 is 0th order, since nl-n3 is a-0 as described above, the dispersion curve in that case becomes as shown in the actual plot in FIG. In this case, the effective refractive index of the optical wave @ 11 is n eff, and the optical wave is also guided! 111
If the approximate thickness of the waveguide light 14 is Tc, the field distribution (electric field distribution) of the guided light 14 is expressed as shown in Fig. 4 (a).
Figure (a) shows that although the guided light 14 slightly seeps into the adjacent layer 12 and the substrate 10, it does not interact with the diffraction grating G, and the guided light 14 hardly leaks outside. It shows the state in which the wave is progressing in wave @11.

Next, a flow of one electric heating element Hkmlt is supplied to heat it, and the optical refractive index of the portion of the substrate 10 facing this electric heating element H is set to n3.
to n3-Δn. Then, the value of a changes from O to a positive value, and the dispersion curve in FIG. 3 changes as indicated by a broken line. In other words, the effective diffraction index of the optical waveguide 111 is equal to the optical diffraction '$n1 of the adjacent layer 12. At that time, the field distribution of the guided light 14 changes as shown in FIG. 4(b), and the adjacent @
As a result, the seepage light of the guided light 14 to the diffraction grating G sufficiently interacts with the diffraction grating G. As a result, the seepage light in the diagonally shaded area of the figure is directed upward (or downward depending on the type of the diffraction grating G). or both upward and downward), and finally most of the guided light 14 is taken out to the outside.

As explained above, since the guided light 14 can be extracted to the outside of the laminate 13 at the portion heated by the electric heating body H, the electric heating body H is provided so as to extend in a line along the optical path of the guided light 14. If a heating current is selectively supplied to each electric heating body H, light will be emitted from the laminated body 13 while changing the emitting position, and optical scanning will be performed.

As described above, in addition to forming the substrate 10 from a thermo-optic material and changing its optical refractive index n3, conversely, the adjacent @ 12 is formed from a thermo-optic material and the electric heating body H is provided there.
Optical refractive index n! of 12! The optical waveguide @11 may be changed from a symmetrical waveguide to an asymmetrical waveguide by changing the optical waveguide @11. are made of thermo-optic material, both are provided with an electric heating holiday, and the optical refractive index of both is n3.
, nl may be changed. When the electric heating element H is provided on the surface of the adjacent @12, the electric heating element H can be formed by forming the diffraction grating G from a transparent electric heating element, for example.

As mentioned above (when changing the optical refractive index n1 of the adjacent @12, the optical refractive index nu of this adjacent @12 and the substrate 10,
From the state where n3 are equal to each other, the optical refractive index n! of adjacent @12! It is preferable to make the optical waveguide @11 an asymmetric waveguide by increasing the
The optical refractive index n1 approaches the optical refractive index n2 of the optical waveguide @11, or the relationship between the optical refractive indexes is n2≦n! It becomes possible to extract the guided light 14 to the outside by utilizing the resulting change in the effective refractive index of the optical waveguide @11. Regarding the fact that the guided light 14 is extracted to the outside by changing the relationship between the optical refractive index n2 of the leading wave 111 and the optical refractive index n1 of the adjacent wave @12, it is disclosed in the patent application filed by the applicant in 1983.
A detailed description is given in the specification of No. 0-74061 and the like.

Also, in order to change the state of nl = n3 to the state of n1φn3 and make the optical waveguide @11 a symmetrical waveguide, it is necessary to make the optical waveguide @11 adjacent to the substrate 10 as described above! 112 and 112 are normally made of materials with the same optical refractive index, and by heating them, applying an electric field, etc., they are made into nl "n3," and by heating them, applying an electric field, etc., they are made into nl - n3, and the heating and It is also possible to set n1#=n3 by canceling the application of the electric field or the like.

Roughly speaking, by appropriately selecting the structure of the diffraction grating G,
adjacent! The guided light 14 extracted from l112 is parallel light,
It is possible to use either focused light or diffused light. For example, if the structure of the diffraction grating G is a condensing diffraction grating, the extracted light can be condensed to one point and prevented from being dissipated.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

5 and 6 show an optical scanning recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First, the optical scanning section 20 of this recording apparatus will be explained. On the substrate 10, an optical waveguide @11 and an adjacent @12 are laminated in close contact with each other to form a laminate 13. Note that the substrate 10
is made of thermo-optic material. Then, optical waveguide @11, VJ contact @12 so that light can travel within the optical waveguide @1 layer.
, and the substrate 10 are each made of a material that satisfies the relationship of optical refractive index n2 > nl, n3 and where nl = j13 so that the leading wave @11 is normally a symmetrical waveguide.

Note that n2 and nu are the optical waveguide layer 11, adjacent, and 11, respectively.
2, and n3 is the optical refractive index of the substrate 10 when it is not heated. Such adjacency! ! ! 12. Examples of combinations of materials for the optical waveguide @ 11 and the substrate 10 include those shown in 2 below.

Adjacent @12 ... Optical glass made by Schott (West Germany) 51 hood thickness 5 μm nu -1,503 Δn/Δ1-=+5. X10, /℃ leading wave @11・
... Cord made by Corning (USA) ~ Q7059 Glass hood thickness approx. 0.1 μm n2-1.544 Δn, /ΔT-+4xlO, /”C Substrate 10 ... Diethylene glycol hisallyl carbonate Thickness 0.51111!l Hodoku n3-
1.5()3 Δn/ΔT −−100xlo, 7℃(nl, n
2, n3 is the refractive index for He-11e laser with a wavelength of 6328 nm) The above Δn and /ΔT are absolute temperature coefficients at +20 to +40°C. Regarding optical waveguides, for example,
Tamir (T, Tam1 r) llr Inch Grated Optics (Integrated 0pti
cs) * (Topics in Applied Physics (Topics in, Apl) tied P
hysics) Volume 7) Springer Verlag (
Published by Springer-Verral (1975)
; Co-authored by Nishihara, Haruna, and Suhara [Photonic Integrated Circuits 2 published by Oichimusha (1
In general, the optical waveguide 111, the adjacent @ 12, and the substrate 10 each have a height of 0.5.
~10μm, 1~5077m, 1, 1 on czmiX.
: Formation saler is not limited to this.

On the surface of the adjacent @12, diffraction gratings G1, G2, G3, . . . , Gn made of a transparent material are arranged in a row. Examples of this transparent material include TazO! (light refractive index: 1.9). Note that the diffraction grating G1~(3n
The size is, for example, 10×10 μm to 0.2×511I
I! The distance between each diffraction grating 01 to 3n is approximately 100 to 200 μm, and the thickness is approximately 0.2 μm.
: Set. As shown in the side view of FIG. 6, the lower surface of the substrate 10 is provided with each of the above-mentioned diffraction gratings G1. G2, G
3...(Electric heating bodies H1, H2, H3.-Hn are provided at positions facing 3n, respectively.

On the other hand, in the optical waveguide 111, a waveguide lens 16 is formed on the extension of the direction in which the diffraction gratings G1 to Gn are arranged.
A semiconductor laser 17, which emits a laser beam (radiation beam) 14', is directly coupled. And adjacent @
An endless belt device 19 as a sub-scanning means is disposed at a position away from 12 upward in the figure. It is designed to be transported in a perpendicular direction).

FIG. 7 shows a control circuit of the recording apparatus including the drive circuit 21 of the optical scanning section 20. As shown in FIG. The operation of the optical scanning section 20 will be explained below with reference also to FIG. First, the aforementioned semiconductor laser 17 is driven, and the laser beam 14' is the leading wave! Injected into 111 layers. This laser beam 1
4' is converted into parallel light 14 by the waveguide lens 16, and this light 14 passes through the diffraction grating G1 in the waveguide mode within one layer of the optical waveguide layer.
~ (progresses in the direction in which the heating elements H1 to Hn are lined up (see Fig. 5). Current ■ from the heating power source 22 is applied to the electric heating elements H1 to Hn via the driver 15. This driver 15 receives a clock signal. It operates in response to the output of the shift register 23 which operates in synchronization with @CLK, and sequentially selects electric heating holidays 1 to Hn to supply current (1) one by one to supply current.

In other words, first, only the first electric heating element H1 out of n electric heating elements H1 to Hn, then only the second electric heating element H2, etc.
····and! ! Stream I is supplied. Thus electric heating holiday 1
When the current I is sequentially applied to ~Hn, each electric heating holiday 1~+ns
The part of the board 1 that is in contact with the electric heating element that generates heat sequentially
(l) is heated and its light (2) refractive index decreases. Therefore, in this part, n3≠nl, and the optical waveguide @11 becomes an asymmetric waveguide. Then, as mentioned above, the guided light 1
4 is the leading wave @ in this asymmetric waveguide part.
11 to the adjacent @12 side, and the diffraction gratings 01 to (3n
The diffraction effect of the light 14 (the light 14 is emitted to the outside of the adjacent @12. In other words, the output position of the light 14 is first from the diffraction grating G1, then from the diffraction grating G2, then after the diffraction grating Gn, and then back to the original position from the diffraction grating G1. As the light changes sequentially, the photoreceptor 18 is scanned by the emitted light 14 in the direction of the arrow X in FIG.
−・−(3n−*G (n−1) −+G (n−2)
The current supply to the electric heating bodies H1 to Hn may be controlled so as to change as follows). As shown in FIG. 7, a driver for the semiconductor laser 17? 4 is controlled by the modulation circuit 25 to modulate the laser beam 14' based on the image signal S, so that one main scanning line of the image carried by the image signal S is recorded on the photoreceptor 18. At this time, the timing of the modulation is controlled by the zero clock signal CLK and synchronized with the timing of optical scanning. Then, as well as performing main scanning as described above, the OFF signal C
If the endless belt device 19 is driven by LK in synchronization with the cough main scan and the photoreceptor 18 is moved in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. 5 to perform sub-scanning, the photoreceptor 18 receives the image signal S The two-dimensional image it carries is &! When the substrate 10 is heated by each of the electric heating bodies H1 to Hn as described above, the optical waveguide @11 in close contact with the substrate 10 is heated.
Although the adjacent layer 112 will also be slightly heated, if the substrate 10° optical waveguide @ 11
,adjacent! ! 1? If the temperature coefficient Δ of the substrate 10 is
n, /ΔT, that of the optical waveguide @11 and the adjacent layer 12 is less than 1/10;
The change in the optical refractive index can be virtually eliminated.

For example, when the substrate 10 made of the above-mentioned material is heated to 100°C, its optical refractive index n3 decreases by 0.01.
11. Optical waveguide @1 ignoring the previous diffraction index change of the adjacent layer 12
When calculating the degree of asymmetry fj[a of 1, a=(nx2
n32), /(nz” nt2) (1,5032-
1,5022><1.5442-1.503") -0,024.

In this embodiment, the diffraction gratings 01 to 3n provided on the surface of the adjacent @12 are formed as collimator diffraction gratings, and the light 14 emitted from the diffraction gratings G1 to Gn is transmitted to the photoreceptor 18 as parallel light. This collimator diffraction grating has linear gratings arranged approximately parallel to each other and at approximately equal intervals in a direction approximately perpendicular to the traveling direction of the guided light 14 within one layer of the optical waveguide. This arrangement provides the above-mentioned collimating effect.

Further, the semiconductor laser 17 may not be directly coupled to the end face of the optical waveguide 111, but the light may be made to enter the optical waveguide 111 via a lens, a coupler prism, a crating coupler, or the like. Furthermore, the semiconductor laser 17 may be made integrally with the optical waveguide 1 when it is formed. In general, the light source that generates the scanning light is not limited to the above-mentioned semiconductor laser 17, but other sources such as a gas laser or a solid-state laser may also be used.

Further, in the actual WaS device described above, the optical refractive index n3 of the substrate 10 is lowered to reduce n! By setting ≠03, optical waveguide @
Although the optical waveguide 11 is made into an asymmetrical waveguide, on the contrary, the optical waveguide @11 may be made into an asymmetrical waveguide by increasing the optical refractive index n3 of the substrate 10 to form a rim dipping n.

Next, referring to FIG. 8, the second embodiment of the present invention! The aspect will be explained. In this FIG. 8, elements equivalent to those in FIG. 5 are given the same numbers, and explanations thereof will be omitted (the same applies hereinafter).

In the optical scanning section 40 of this second embodiment device, adjacent! 112 is made of a thermo-optic material that normally exhibits the same optical refractive index as the substrate 10, and the diffraction gratings G1 to Gn are made of a transparent electrothermal material. Examples of such transparent electrothermal materials include those made of In2O3 and 5nOz. In this optical scanning section 40, the diffraction gratings G1 to Gn are sequentially and selectively heated in the same manner as the electric heating bodies H1 to 1-1n are sequentially and selectively heated in the apparatus shown in FIG. .

By doing this, each of the diffraction gratings 01 to Gn is adjacent to each other in the opposing portions! By sequentially changing the optical refractive index n1 of the optical waveguide 112, the optical waveguide @11 is made into an asymmetric waveguide, and it becomes possible to sequentially extract the light 14 from that portion and scan it. In this case, it is possible to set n1≠n3 even if the optical refractive index n1 of the adjacent layer 12 is increased or decreased, but it is preferable to set nlφn3 by increasing 01 as described above.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the optical scanning section 50 of the third embodiment device, the adjacent layer 12 is always formed of an electro-optic material exhibiting the same optical diffraction index as the substrate 10, and the adjacent layer 12 is provided with diffraction gratings 01 to 01 (opposed to 3n). Place the electrode pair (
C1, Dl>, (C2°C2>, (C3, C3)・(
Cn, Dn) are buried. Note that the electrodes 01 to On are common electrodes that are electrically connected to each other, and the electrodes D1 to On are individual electrodes that are independent from each other. Then, the optical waveguide @1 waveguide light 1 within the layer
4 can proceed, the substrate 10, the optical waveguide @11, and the adjacent layer 12 are formed of materials satisfying the optical refractive index relationship n2 > n, , n3. Note that nl is the optical refractive index of the adjacent @12 when no electric field is applied, and is nl Wn3 as described above. An example of such a combination of materials is something like manure.

Adjacent @12 ・=L I N bo3rll -2,
200 hood thickness approx. 10μm Optical waveguide! 111...LfNt) (h Tt diffusion n2
-2,205! II thickness approximately 0.2 μm substrate 10 −
L! N bo3n3-2,200 drops, smm
FIG. 10 shows the drive circuit 51 of the optical scanning section 50. The operation of this optical scanning recording apparatus will be explained below with reference to FIG. A voltage (2) generated from a voltage generating circuit 52 is applied via a driver 15 to the common electrodes 01 to Cn and the individual electrodes D1 to ()n.

Here, the driver 15 operates in response to the output of the shift register 23 which operates in synchronization with the clock signal CLK, and applies voltage to the individual electrodes D1 and the common electrodes 01 to Cn.
.about.Dn are selected one by one and the above voltage is applied. That is, at first, only between the first individual electrode D1 of n individual electrodes D1 to [)n and the common electrode C1, then two
Only between the th individual electrode D2 and the common electrode C2...
. . . and voltage V is applied. Each electrode pair (CI, 01) to (Cn) to which a voltage was applied in this way.

An electric field is generated between the electrodes of Dn), and the optical refractive index n! of the area adjacent @12 to which the electric field is applied is generated. changes (decreases or increases) and becomes nt-4-n3. As a result, the optical waveguide 111 sequentially becomes an asymmetric waveguide in the portions facing the diffraction gratings 01 to Gn, and the guided light 14 is extracted to the outside while changing the output position, and optical scanning is performed. Since the laser beam 14' is modulated and sub-scanned in the same manner as in the first embodiment,
A two-dimensional image carried by the image signal S is recorded on the photoreceptor 18.

In the optical scanning and alignment apparatus of the present invention, it is also possible to modulate the scanning light while keeping the intensity of the light incident on the optical waveguide layer 11 constant. FIG. 11 shows the control circuit of another embodiment of the device of the invention so constructed.

The voltage generating circuit 62 in the control circuit of FIG.
A pulsed voltage V is generated and the selected individual electrode D1~
This pulsed voltage V is applied between Dn and the common electrodes C1 to Cn. Therefore, from each of the diffraction gratings 01 to 3n of the adjacent layer 12, light 1 is transmitted in a pulsed manner.
4 is emitted, and this pulsed light 14 causes the photoreceptor 18 to be
Each scan point of is scanned. And the voltage generating circuit 62
The modulation circuit 25 generates an image signal S at each electrode pair.
It is controlled to change the number of voltage pulses or pulse width depending on the voltage. Therefore, the number of pulses or pulse width of the light 14 that scans the photoreceptor 18 is changed for each scanning point (for each pixel).
It is changed according to the image signal S, and a continuous tone image is recorded on the photoreceptor 18. Such a modulation method can be used to create continuous @tonal images &! It can be applied not only to recording, but also to recording black and white binary images. That is, if the drive voltage applied from the voltage generation circuit 62 to the driver 15 is turned ON-OFF according to the image signal Sk, the shift register 23
Individual electrodes D1 to ontf to which voltage is applied according to signals from
j! Even if the fI order is selected, no voltage is applied to the predetermined electrode pair, and the leading wave @11 to the adjacent @1
A binary image is recorded on the photoreceptor 18 by controlling light emission to the photoreceptor 18.

Note that instead of forming the adjacent layer 12 from an electro-optic material as described above, the substrate 10 is formed from an electro-optic material, a voltage applying electrode pair is provided on this substrate 10, and the optical refractive index n3 of the substrate 10 is changed. Of course, it is also possible to take out the guided light 14 as nlφn3. Also, the board 10
and the adjacent layer 12 are made of an electro-optic material, and by changing the optical refractive indexes n1 and n3 of both, nt'
:1-n3 may be used to extract the guided light 14. In this case, the substrate 10 and the adjacent @ 12 are made of a material whose optical refractive index decreases and a material whose optical refractive index increases when an electric field is applied, so that a large difference in optical refractive index is generated by applying a small voltage. Of course, when using the thermo-optic material mentioned above or other materials whose optical refractive index is changed by the addition of energy, both the substrate 10 and the adjacent layer 12 are formed of such materials, and the material changes by the addition of energy. Both optical refractive indexes n1 and n3 may be changed to be n1φn3.

Above, we have described an example in which the optical waveguide @11 is a symmetrical waveguide when no energy is added, and the optical waveguide @11 is made into an asymmetrical waveguide by applying energy to the substrate 10 and/or the adjacent layer 12. and the adjacent @12 are formed from materials that normally exhibit different optical refractive indexes (that is, when no energy is added), and when energy is added, optical waveguide! It is also possible to form 111 into an asymmetric waveguide. In other words, in this case, the drive circuit first sets all of the energy adding means to nl = n3 at a predetermined energy adding point, and then sequentially sets the energy adding means to the energy addition release state, so that the energy addition is released. nl-603 in part
What is necessary is to configure it so that

Further, it is not always necessary to collimate the light 14 emitted from the adjacent layer 12 as described above, and depending on the case, convergent light or diffused light may be used to
8 may be scanned. The light 14 emitted from the adjacent @12 can be shaped by selecting the structure of the diffraction grating G, by providing an appropriate optical system between the adjacent @12 and the photoreceptor 18, or by a combination of both. It can be done arbitrarily. For example, the focused light is the above-mentioned real M! consisting of a linear grating. By replacing the collimator diffraction grating of the embodiment with a condensing diffraction grating made of a quadratic curved grating, or by providing a condensing optical system such as a Selfoc lens array between the adjacent @ 12 and the photoreceptor 18. or a combination of both.

Further, the endless belt device 19 serves as a sub-scanning means.
For example, other known devices such as a rotating drum may be used. Of course, this sub-scanning means may be one that moves the photoreceptor, or one that moves the optical scanning section along the surface of the photoreceptor that is placed still. In particular, in the device of the present invention, since the optical scanning section is constituted by a simple stacked body 13 having no mechanically operating parts, the optical scanning section can be easily moved.

Furthermore, the optical scanning recording device of the present invention can also be formed so that a plurality of rows of diffraction gratings 01 to 3n, which are the scanning light extraction portions, are lined up so that a plurality of scanning light beams can be extracted simultaneously. If this is done, it becomes possible to use it for color image recording by, for example, combining color filters such as R, G, and B for each row of energy application points, or light sources with different emission colors. .

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in detail above, since the optical scanning recording device of the present invention uses a single light source, there is almost no problem of variations in light emission intensity of the light source, which is seen in the LED array, etc. , precision scanning becomes possible, and the light utilization efficiency of the light source is also increased. In addition, since the optical scanning recording device of the present invention does not include any mechanically operating parts, it has excellent durability and vibration resistance, and is easy to adjust.Since the optical scanning recording device of the present invention can scan without taking a large beam of light, it is possible to use an optical scanning system. It is possible to avoid increasing the size of the device and make it compact.

Moreover, in the optical scanning recording device of the present invention, the scanning light is extracted from the leading wave 1 by changing the symmetrical waveguide to the asymmetrical waveguide, so that the optical refraction change has a positive effect on the energy addition. The wide availability of both materials and negative materials facilitates design. Roughly speaking, since the device of the present invention performs scanning light extraction as described above, there is no need to greatly change the optical refractive index of the substrate and/or the adjacent layer for light scanning, and in this respect, material selection is also possible. This increases the degree of freedom of use and consumes less energy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram explaining the optical scanning mechanism of the device of the present invention, Figure 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the optical waveguide thickness, effective refractive index, and degree of waveguide asymmetry according to the present invention, and Figure 3. is a graph showing the dispersion curve of the configuration of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the electric field distribution of guided light in the configuration of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are graphs of the first actual mtg of the present invention FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit of the optical scanning recording device, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are a second embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the electrical circuit of the third embodiment device; FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the electrical circuit of the optical scanning recording device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram. 10... Substrate 11... Optical waveguide layer 12
...Adjacent @13...Laminated body 14-94 light 15...Driver 16
... Waveguide lens 17 ... Semiconductor laser 18
...Photoreceptor 19.-Endless belt device? 0.40.50... Optical scanning unit 21.51... Drive circuit? ? ...Heating power supply? 3... Shift register 25... Modulation circuit 30... Lens array 31... Lens array @52.62... Voltage generation circuit 01-Cn... Common electrode D1-[)n.
...Individual electrodes G1-Gn...Diffraction grating H1-Hn.
...Electric heating element Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 4 (b)

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) An optical waveguide layer and an adjacent layer are laminated on a substrate in close contact with each other in this order, and the substrate and/or the adjacent layer can change the optical refractive index by applying energy and have the same optical refractive index. a plurality of energy adding means provided on the substrate and/or the adjacent layer along the optical path of the guided light traveling into the optical waveguide layer; and a surface of the adjacent layer. a diffraction grating provided at least in a portion corresponding to the energy application location by the energy application means; and a light source that causes light to enter the optical waveguide layer so as to travel along the arranged energy application locations. , One of the plurality of energy applying means is sequentially and selectively set to a state in which the optical refractive indexes of the substrate and the adjacent layer in the portions corresponding to the energy applying points are different from each other, while the other energy applying means is set to be different from each other. a driving circuit that sets the adding means to a state where the optical refractive indexes of the substrate and the adjacent layer in the portions corresponding to the energy adding points are equal to each other; and a driving circuit arranged at a position where the light emitted from the laminate is irradiated. a sub-scanning means for relatively moving the photoreceptor and the laminated body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the energy application points; and a modulation means for modulating the light emitted from the laminated body according to an image signal. An optical scanning recording device consisting of. (2) The substrate and the adjacent layer are usually formed of materials exhibiting the same optical refractive index, and the drive circuit is configured to sequentially and selectively set the energy applying means to a predetermined energy applying state. An optical scanning recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that: (3) The substrate and the adjacent layer are usually formed of materials exhibiting different optical refractive indexes, and the drive circuit sets all of the energy applying means to a predetermined energy applying state and applies the energy to the substrate at the energy applying point. and the adjacent layer are made equal to each other, and then the energy applying means are sequentially and selectively set to the energy application release state. Optical scanning recording device. (4) The material is a thermo-optic material that changes the optical refractive index by heating, and the energy adding means is an electric heating means,
Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the energy application point is a heated point by the electric heating means, and the drive circuit is formed to supply heating current to the electric heating means. The optical scanning recording device according to any one of the items. (5) The material is an electro-optic material that changes the optical refractive index by applying an electric field, the energy applying means is an electrode pair, the energy applying location is a gap between the electrodes of the electrode pair, and the drive circuit is the 4. The optical scanning recording device according to claim 1, wherein the optical scanning recording device is configured to apply an electric field between the electrodes of the pair of electrodes.