JP2681384B2 - Electro-optical reading method and apparatus for electrostatic pattern information - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electro-optical reading method of electrostatic pattern information, in which an electrostatic pattern is read using an electro-optical element such as liquid crystal or an electro-optical effect material. It relates to the device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, silver halide photography, electrophotography, television photography, photography using a solid-state image sensor (CCD, etc.) have been used as high-resolution photography techniques. If the resolution is high, the processing steps are complicated, and if the steps are simple, there is a lack of a storage function or a basic deterioration in image quality.

The applicant responded to these questions with high quality, high resolution, simple processing steps, long storage times, and the ability to store the stored text, line drawings, images, and code (1,0) information according to the purpose. A method of forming an electrostatic latent image on a charge storage medium by voltage application exposure, which can arbitrarily repeat recording and reproduction with high image quality, has already been proposed (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-121592).

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The electrostatic pattern in the charge holding medium according to the above application is characterized by having an extremely high resolution, but it is extremely difficult to read this with high accuracy. For example, in the method of potential reading, the scanning density of the reading head is It is not possible to perform high-resolution reading because it depends on it.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and provides an electro-optical reading method and apparatus of electrostatic pattern information capable of reading the electrostatic pattern of a charge-retaining medium having high resolution with molecular level accuracy. The purpose is to

[Means for solving the problem]

Therefore, in the present invention, the electro-optical element formed of a liquid crystal element having a memory property and the electrodes of the charge holding medium are short-circuited to store the charge pattern information in the liquid crystal element, and then the light is incident on the liquid crystal element through the polarizing plate. The reflected light is read through a polarizing plate.

Further, the present invention is an electro-optical element in which a liquid crystal layer having a memory property is formed on an electrode, a charge holding medium in which an insulating layer is formed on an electrode, and a short-circuit means for short-circuiting both electrodes,
A polarizing plate is provided for allowing light to enter the liquid crystal element and for extracting reflected light from the liquid crystal element.

[Action]

According to the present invention, an electro-optical element such as a liquid crystal or an electro-optical effect material is arranged in proximity to a charge holding medium on which an electrostatic pattern is formed, and an optical property of the electro-optical element is changed by an electric field generated by accumulated charges of the charge holding medium. By reading this change in optical property with reflected light, it becomes possible to read the electrostatic pattern with molecular level accuracy and high sensitivity.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining an electro-optical reading method and apparatus for electrostatic pattern information according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an electrostatic pattern recording method on a charge holding medium. Is. In the figure, 101 is an electrostatic pattern reading device, 101a and 101h are antireflection layers, 101b and 101g are glass, 10
1c is a transparent electrode, 101d and 101f are alignment layers, 101e is a liquid crystal, and 103
Is a charge holding medium, 103a is an insulating layer, 103b is an electrode, 103c is a glass support, 103d is an antireflection layer, 105 and 107 are polarizing plates, 10
Reference numeral 9 is a photoconductor, 109a is a support, 109b is an electrode, and 109c is a photoconductive layer.

In FIG. 1, the charge holding medium 103 includes a transparent glass support 103c, a transparent electrode 103b, and an insulating layer 103a, and an antireflection layer 103d formed on the back surface.
The charges are image-wise accumulated on the 103a by a method described later. The electrostatic pattern reading device 101 disposed in close proximity to and facing the liquid crystal display device 101 has, for example, a liquid crystal 101e as alignment layers 101d and 101.
f, sandwiched with glass 101b, 101g, in a structure further provided with an antireflection layer 101a, 101h on the surface side of the glass, further in the present invention a transparent electrode 101c is provided between the glass 101b and the alignment layer 101d, electrostatic. The short circuit is made with the patterned electrode 103b of the charge holding medium. Alignment layer 101
Since d and 101f are arranged so that their orientation directions are orthogonal to each other by 90 °, the molecules of the liquid crystal are twisted by 90 ° between the orientation layers 101d and 101f, so that, for example, light polarized in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface is antireflection. When the light enters from the layer 101h side, 90 ° rotation occurs in the liquid crystal and the light is emitted from the antireflection layer 101a as light polarized in the direction parallel to the paper surface.

As shown in FIG. 3, an electrostatic pattern is formed on the insulating layer 103 by imagewise exposure through a photoconductor.

In FIG. 3, a transparent photoreceptor electrode 1 made of ITO having a thickness of 1000 Å is formed on a photoconductive layer support 109a made of glass having a thickness of 1 mm.
09b is formed, and a photoconductive layer 109c having a thickness of about 10 μm is formed thereon to form the photoconductor 109. For this photoreceptor 109,
The charge holding medium 103 is arranged with a space of about 10 μm. As the charge holding medium 103, an ITO electrode 103b having a thickness of 1000 Å is formed by vapor deposition on an insulating layer support 103c made of glass having a thickness of 1 mm, and an insulating layer 103a having a thickness of 10 μm is formed on the electrode 103b. Then, the electrode E applies a voltage between the electrodes 103b and 109b. In a dark place, since the photoconductive layer 109c is a high resistance material, no change occurs between the electrodes. When light is incident from the side of the photoconductor 109, the photoconductive layer 109c at the portion where the light is incident has conductivity, and discharge is generated between the photoconductive layer 109c and the insulating layer 103a to accumulate charges on the insulating layer. In this embodiment, the antireflection layer 103d is provided on the back surface side of the charge holding medium 103 so that light can be emitted from the charge holding medium while the charge holding medium and the electro-optical element are kept close to each other so that electro-optical reading can be performed. ing.

The electric charge thus accumulated on the insulating layer 103a causes the electrode
A charge of opposite polarity is induced in 103b, and a charge of opposite polarity to the surface charge is similarly induced in electrode 101c of the reading device connected to this electrode and having the same potential. As a result, electric lines of force extend from the accumulated charges to the electrode 101c as shown in the figure,
Due to this electric field, the molecular alignment of the liquid crystal in the portion facing the position where the charges are accumulated changes, and the light incident from the antireflection layer 101h side is not swirled by 90 °.

Now, assuming that the liquid crystal 101e has a memory property, even if the liquid crystal 101e is separated from the charge holding medium, the electrostatic pattern is stored as disorder of the liquid crystal. As shown in FIG. 2, polarizing plates 105 and 107 are arranged on both sides of the electrostatic pattern reading device 101 so that their polarization directions are orthogonal to each other. In this state, since the polarization direction is not swung by 90 ° in the portion where the molecular arrangement is disturbed by the influence of the electric charge, the polarized light passing through the polarizing plate 107 is
However, in the portion where the charge pattern is not formed and the molecular arrangement is not disturbed, the light passes through the polarizing plate 105 because 90 ° rotation occurs. Therefore, the polarizing plate 105
When viewed from the side, the portion where the charge is formed looks dark, and the portion where the light passes looks bright, so that the electrostatic pattern can be observed. Although it has a memory property, when the reading device is separated from the charge holding medium to remove the influence of the electric field on the liquid crystal, the disorder of the molecular alignment is no longer continuous, and at a field strength higher than a certain level. The turbulence remains almost as it is, and the turbulence hardly remains at the electric field strength below a certain level, so that the observed image becomes a binary image. Therefore, in order to read as a photographic image, it is necessary to face the charge holding medium and read in a state where the electrodes are short-circuited. For that purpose, the charge holding medium 103 is transparent and the antireflection layer 1 is provided on the back surface.
It is necessary to have 03d.

In the above embodiment, the light transmitted through the electro-optical element of the reading apparatus has been mainly described, but reflected light may be used, in which case the electrode 101c does not need to be transparent, and may be an Al electrode, Further, the antireflection layer 101a can be omitted.

Further, instead of the liquid crystal, an electro-optic effect material whose refractive index is changed by an electric field may be used, and the phase difference of light due to the change of the refractive index is obtained by comparing, for example, incident light with a reference signal, The electric pattern can be easily obtained.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the high-resolution electrostatic pattern formed on the charge holding medium is converted into the change in the optical property of the electro-optical element, and the change in the optical property is optically read. This makes it possible to read with high accuracy at the molecular level and with high sensitivity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining an electro-optical reading method and apparatus for electrostatic pattern information according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an electrostatic pattern recording method on a charge holding medium. Is. 101 ... Electrostatic pattern reader, 101a, 101h ... Antireflection layer, 101b, 101g ... Glass, 101c ... Transparent electrode,
101d, 101f ... Alignment layer, 101e ... Liquid crystal, 103 ... Charge holding medium, 103a ... Insulating layer, 103b ... Electrode, 103c ... Glass support, 103d ... Antireflection layer, 105, 107 ... Polarizer.

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-2-54425 (JP, A) JP-A-50-134379 (JP, A) JP-A-60-149029 (JP, A) JP-A-57-136627 (JP , A) JP 2-178612 (JP, A) JP 2-125280 (JP, A) JP 2-125264 (JP, A) JP 2-143778 (JP, A) JP 2-127649 (JP, A)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electro-optical element comprising a liquid crystal element having a memory property and electrodes of a charge holding medium are short-circuited to store charge pattern information in the liquid crystal element, and then light is incident on the liquid crystal element through a polarizing plate. An electro-optical reading method for electrostatic pattern information, which comprises reading reflected light through a polarizing plate. 2. The electro-optical reading method of electrostatic pattern information according to claim 1, wherein antireflection layers are provided on both surfaces of the electro-optical element. 3. An antireflection layer is provided on the surface of the charge holding medium opposite to the electro-optical element, the electrodes of the charge holding medium and the electro-optical element are short-circuited, and then light is incident through the charge holding medium. The electro-optical reading method of electrostatic pattern information according to claim 1. 4. The electrostatic pattern element according to claim 1, wherein the electro-optical element is made of an electro-optical effect material having a memory property, and the charge pattern information is read by utilizing a change in the refractive index of the electro-optical effect material due to an electric field. Electro-optical reading method of electric pattern information. 5. An electro-optical element in which a liquid crystal layer having a memory property is formed on an electrode, a charge holding medium in which an insulating layer is formed on an electrode, a short-circuit means for short-circuiting both electrodes, and a liquid crystal element An electro-optical reading device for electrostatic pattern information, which includes a polarizing plate for making light incident and reflecting light from a liquid crystal element.