In situ amplification of a signal stored upon a dielectric surface

Electrostatic latent image development (ELID) is a method of amplifying storage tube information in which electronic charge patterns stored upon a target may be enhanced by secondary emission upon the incidence of a flood beam. Experimental evidence is given for this effect, using the WX-4384 electrostatic slow scan vidicon and the WX-5074 Optechon storage camera tube, showing measured gains greater than 16 times. There has been demonstrated gain which brought a signal, originally completely obscured by target disturbance, up to a level that is easily discernible. There is a definite increase in signal-to-noise ratio. The analytical expression derived for the gain as a function of electron charge incident on the storage surface during the action and the voltage of the first crossover indicates that large gains may be possible for small stored signals.