Perspectives on MeV astronomy instrumentation

Although remarkable progress has been made in gamma ray astrophysics recently (witness the recent advances in understanding gamma ray bursts) many of the early scientific objectives remain unfulfilled. This is due primarily to the rather modest improvement in sensitivity (several hundred) from the pioneering balloon observations in the 1960s to the Compton Observatory and INTEGRAL missions. Important objectives related to supernovae, novae and the search for line emissions from compact objects will benefit from another factor of 100 improvement in sensitivity. Several instrumental techniques to achieving dramatic improvements will be discussed. These include advanced Compton telescopes using detectors with high spectral and spatial resolution, and concepts for Laue collectors and focusing gamma ray telescopes.