Electronically tuneable light source

Claim 2

An electronically tuneable light source comprising: (a) a source of white light; (b) an acousto-optic modulator having a transparent medium and means for generating an acoustical travelling wave in said medium; (c) means for collimating light from said source and directing the collimated beam of said white light onto said medium at a preselected angle θ/2 to the perpendicular to the direction of travel of the travelling acoustic wave whereby said beam is diffracted by the acoustic wave; (d) means for selecting a band of the diffracted beam the midpoint of which band is at an angle of approxi-. mately θ to the direction of incidence of the collimated beam.

Claim 3

An electronically tuneable light source comprising: (a) a source of white light; (b) an acousto-optic modulator including a transparent medium and a transducer coupled to said medium for generating an acoustical wave in said medium by means of a periodic electrical signal applied to the transducer of a selectable frequency and amplitude; (c) means for collimating light from said source and directing the collimated beam of said white light onto said medium at a preselected angle θ/2 to the perpendicular to the direction of travel of the acoustical wave whereby said light is diffracted by the acoustical wave; (d) means for selecting a band of the diffracted beam, the midpoint of which band is at an angle of approximately e to the direction of incidence of the collimated beam.

Claim 4

An electronically tuneable light source comprising: (a) a source of white light; (b) an acousto-optic modulator including a transparent medium and a transducer coupled to said medium for generating an acoustical wave in said medium by means of a periodic electrical signal applied to the transducer of a selectable frequency and amplitude; (c) means for collimating light from said source and directing the collimated beam of said white light onto said medium at a preselected angle θ/2 to the perpendicular to the direction of travel of the acoustical wave whereby said light is diffracted by the acoustical wave; (d) means for selecting a band of the diffracted beam, the midpoint of which band is at an angle of approximately e to the direction of incidence of the collimated beam.

Claim 5

An electronically tuneable light source as defined in claim 2, wherein said periodic electrical signal is sinusoidal and whereby the light emerging from the band will have a wave length and intensity related to the amplitude and-frequency of the applied sinusoidal electrical signal.

Claim 6

An electronically tuneable light source as defined in claim 3, wherein the width of the band of the diffracted light beam is equal to approximately 1/4 of the total width of the visible light which is diffracted.

Claim 7

An electronically tuneable light source as defined in claim 1, 3 or 4 wherein the light source is a Xenon arc.

Claim 8

An electronically tuneable light source comprising: (a) a source of white light; (b) an acousto-optic modulator including a transparent medium and a transducer coupled to said medium for generating an acoustical wave in said medium in response to a sinusoidal electrical signal applied to the transducer; (c) means for simultaneously applying a plurality of sinusoidal waves of generally different amplitudes and frequencies; (d) means for collimating light from said source and directing the collimated beam of said white light onto said medium at a preselected angle e/2 to the perpendicular to the direction of travel of the acoustical wave whereby said beam is diffracted by the acoustical wave; (e) means for selecting a band of the diffracted beam the midpoint of which band is at an angle of approximately θ to the direction of incidence of the collimated beam; whereby the light emerging from the band will be a mixture of light components with each component having a wavelength and intensity related to the frequency and amplitude of a corresponding associated sinusoidal wave.

Claim 9

An electronically tuneable light source comprising: (a) a source of white light; (b) an acousto-optic modulator including a transparent medium and a transducer coupled to said medium for generating an acoustical wave in said medium in response to a sinusoidal electrical signal applied to the transducer; (c) means for simultaneously applying a plurality of sinusoidal waves of generally different amplitudes and frequencies; (d) means for collimating light from said source and directing the collimated beam of said white light onto said medium at a preselected angle e/2 to the perpendicular to the direction of travel of the acoustical wave whereby said beam is diffracted by the acoustical wave; (e) means for selecting a band of the diffracted beam the midpoint of which band is at an angle of approximately θ to the direction of incidence of the collimated beam; whereby the light emerging from the band will be a mixture of light components with each component having a wavelength and intensity related to the frequency and amplitude of a corresponding associated sinusoidal wave.

Claim 10

An electronically tuneable light source as defined in claim 6, wherein the light source is a Xenon arc.

Claim 11

An electronically tunable light source as defined in claim 1, or 2 further including three primary light filters for filtering light from said light source into three respective spectral bands of wavelength τ 1 ,τ 2 and τ 3 , respectively, before entering said modulator, each filter selectably, removably insertable between said modulator and said light source in response to an external control signal wherein the frequency of said acoustical wave generated in said modulator is selected in accordance with the wavelength of the spectral band of light to be transmitted so as to deflect light of said spectral band through an angle e.

Claim 12

An electronically tunable light source as defined by claims 3, 4 or 5 further including three primary light filters for filtering light from said light source into three respective spectral bands of wavelengthsτ 1 ,τ 2 and τ 3 , respectively, before entering said modulator, each filter selectably, removably insertable between said modulator and said light source in response to an external control signal wherein the frequency of the sinusoidal signal applied to said modulator is selected in accordance with the wavelength of the spectral band of light to be transmitted so as to deflect the light of said spectral band through an angle 0.