This paper gives optical design considerations and experimental results of a 20-stage digital light beam deflector consisting of a series of nitrobenzene Kerr cells and birefringent calcite prisms. The laser beam is deflected into a two-dimensional raster of 1024 by 1024 positions with a deflection rate of 500 kHz. The optical transmission of the deflector itself is 79% for green laser light. Data about background light and resolution as well as display examples showing alphanumerics and graphics are given.

A write-read-write magneto-optic memory for random access has been made to work as a feasibility model. The memory is an interim result of the development of a 107–108-bit memory. Design aspects and function of the memory as well as experimental results are summarized. Operation for more than 300 h and more than 109 read-write cycles has not given rise to any degradation.