Abstract:
A data plane and a method of analyzing the data stored therein for use in a data signal recording and correlating system whereby received data signals are written into the data plane in a twodimensional spatial relationship (along X, Y axes). The data plane includes a magnetizable recording medium which provides, upon readout, a Faraday rotation of orthogonally incident light beams that spatially conform to the received data signals. The degree of Faraday rotation is a function of the degree or level of the partial switching of the recording medium''s magnetization through the thickness thereof and is, along the orthogonally oriented X, Y axes of the data plane, a linear function only if the received data signals are of a prescribed waveform. With such a linear Faraday rotation, the parallel light beams are passed through a quarter wave plate, an analyzer filter, and suitable optics to be focused upon a detector array. The detector array presents, as an output, signals that are indicative of the X, Y axes parameters.