Acousto-optic collinear diffraction of arbitrarily polarized light

Collinear acousto-optic diffraction of arbitrarily polarized light is studied. It is shown that in the general case, the diffraction spectrum at the output of an acousto-optic cell contains four components, which have different frequencies and polarizations. Beats of these components lead to modulation of the intensity of light transmitted through the output analyzer. The amplitudes of the transmitted light components are analyzed as functions of the frequency and power of the acoustic wave for different polarizer and analyzer orientations. Experimental investigations are carried out in a calcium molybdate collinear cell.     

Dynamic two-frequency interferometry for small displacement measurements

Two-frequency interferometry for small displacement measurements is examined from a practical point of view. A laser beam that is modulated sinusoidally in intensity by an acousto-optic Bragg cell provides signal and reference optical waves to produce dynamic interference. The output signal of a photodetector receiving the interference is composed of optical homodyne and heterodyne components. The heterodyne component carries a vibrational displacement to be detected on its amplitude. A sinusoidal vibration amplitude is measured down to 0.5 nm.     

Effect of chromaticity on quarter-wave retarder performance

When a polarized polychromatic beam passes through a birefringent medium, the constituent spectral components suffer different change of state of polarization. As a result when the beam passes through an analyzer, the intensity of the resultant beam changes depending on the orientation of the analyzer, state of polarization of the input beam, spectral and spatial intensity distribution of the source and the polarizing properties of the birefringent medium. In the present study the intensity variation of the resulting beam passing through a quarter-wave retarder plate is observed theoretically with the variation of the azimuthal angle of the analyzer for monochromatic and polychromatic source of light. A simple experiment is conducted to observe the intensity variation for an incandescent lamp and HeNe laser as polychromatic and monochromatic source of light passing through a birefringent polymer-based quarter-wave retarder plate. The experimentally obtained values are compared with theoretical values and a good agreement is observed.     

Polarizer-Free Acousto-Optic Monochromators

Monochromators based on a noncollinear acousto-optic filter without external polarizers have been studied. As an element to select an operating diffracted light beam, (1) a spatial filter-telescope and (2) an output plane of a filter crystal rotated in a diffraction plane have been used. In the latter case, dispersion of the acousto-optic filter crystal is compensated using a correcting prism made from the same crystal and placed behind an output filter plane along a path of a filtered light beam. As a result, the transmission coefficient of the monochromator is increased upon an effective compensation of the angular drift of the filtered light beam, the monochromator design is simplified, and its sizes are decreased.

     

Simple method for simultaneous determination of the phase retardation and fast axis of a wave plate

A simple method for simultaneous determination of the phase retardation and fast axis of a wave plate is presented. In this method, double light path compare system is adopted to achieve better accuracy. In the main optical path, laser beam passes successively through a polarizer, a wave plate to be measured, an analyzer, and then is incident on a detector. In the reference optical path, another detector is used to monitor the fluctuation of the light source. With rotation of the wave plate, the maximum and minimum output light intensity, rotation angle of the wave plate are detected in the main light path; corresponding light intensity are simultaneously detected in the reference light path. Based on the light intensity and the rotation angle, the phase retardation and fast axis of the wave plate can be determined simultaneously. The main advantage of this method is its simplicity of apparatus, easy operation, low cost, and high accuracy. We believe that the method reported in this paper should be a useful approach to measure a wave plate without requiring any complex and expensive components.     

The quantum acousto-optic effect in Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate the interaction between a single mode light field and an elongated cigar shaped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), subject to a temporal modulation of the trap frequency in the tight confinement direction. Under appropriate conditions, the longitudinal sound like waves (Faraday waves) in the direction of weak confinement acts as a dynamic diffraction grating for the incident light field analogous to the acousto-optic effect in classical optics. The change in the refractive index due to the periodic modulation of the BEC density is responsible for the acousto-optic effect. The dynamics is characterised by Bragg scattering of light from the matter wave Faraday grating and simultaneous Bragg scattering of the condensate atoms from the optical grating formed due to the interference between the incident light and the diffracted light fields. Varying the intensity of the incident laser beam we observe the transition from the acousto-optic effect regime to the atomic Bragg scattering regime, where Rabi oscillations between two momentum levels of the atoms are observed. We show that the acousto-optic effect is reduced as the atomic interaction is increased.     

MULTL-ORDER AND MULTI-PARAMETER ACOUSTO-OPTIC BISTABILITY

Dynamic equations applicable to the acousto-optic bistable states arepresented, from which a criterion of bistability with multi-order and multi-parameter isdeduced. It has been shown that a traveling wave Raman-Nath acousto-optic bistablesystem with the first order diffraction as the feedback exhibits bistability and hysteresisin multi-order diffractions whatever the input parameter is light intensity or biasingvoltage.     

Spatial structure of acousto-optic phase matching in uniaxial crystals

The spatial structure of Bragg angles and the transfer functions of an acousto-optic cell are calculated for the cases of isotropic and anisotropic light diffraction in a uniaxial crystal. Their change with ultrasound frequency is traced. The possibility of image processing by acousto-optic filtration of the spatial spectrum of an image is considered. The results of experimental visualization of the transfer functions of a calcium molybdate crystal cell are presented.     

基于布拉格声光衍射场的光强非均匀空间分布研究

为了保证合成孔径激光雷达测试中信号光的光束质量,从波动方程出发,推导出传统的衍射光源布拉格声光作用的耦合波方程。根据测试对光束质量的不同要求,借助有限差分方法分析衍射场光强的空间三维分布,发现声场振幅的不均匀分布会影响声光衍射场的光强分布,光强分布不均造成实验中信息光源的探测难度。通过光强空间分布研究增大有效通光孔径到3 mm,解决了声光调制器光束衍射质量问题,改进后的光束质量达到实验要求。该研究方法适用于改进声光器件工作参数。     

快速测量扭曲向列相液晶盒盒厚

提出了一种利用圆偏光仪测量扭曲向列相液晶盒盒厚的新方法,即:圆偏光仪组成为两端是一对起偏器和检偏器,中间放置一对四分之一波片.起偏器和检偏器平行或垂直放置,其中一个四分之一波片的快轴和起偏器透光轴成45°,另一个四分之一波片的快轴和起偏器透光轴成－45°.液晶盒样品直接插入到两四分之一波片中间,无需调整方向.不同于旋转液晶盒或偏振片寻找输出光强最大值或最小值的方法,圆偏光仪测量盒厚不需要旋转任何光学元件或液晶盒观测输出光强的变化,只需要观测检偏器在平行和垂直方向的两个强度值,能够实现快速测量,简洁而且有效.     

Influence of light polarization on characteristics of a collinear acoustooptic diffraction

The collinear acoustooptic diffraction of arbitrarily polarized radiation is studied. It is shown that the spectrum of diffracted light at the exit of an acoustooptic cell generally consists of four components, which have different frequencies and polarizations. Beats of these components lead to the modulation of the light passed through an analyzer installed at the exit of the system. Dependences of the amplitudes of components of the passed radiation on the frequency and power of an acoustic wave are studied for different orientations of the polarizer and analyzer.

     

An all-optical parallel scheme for the exclusive-or operation

In this letter, we propose an all-optical parallel scheme for the exclusive-or (XOR) logic processing, in which the bright and dark pixels of an image source are adopted to represent the binary data. Two orthogonally polarized coherent light beams are overlapped using a 50/50 beam splitter, and are then checked using a polarization analyzer. The distribution of light intensity of final output image is the result of the XOR logic operation on the input pixels.     

Bragg diffraction of light by ultrasonic shear waves in a plane-parallel layer

We have studied anisotropic Bragg diffraction of light by ultrasonic shear waves in an optically isotropic plane-parallel layer. We have established the analytical dependences of the relative intensities and polarization azimuths of reflected and transmitted diffracted waves on the intensity of the ultrasound, the layer thickness, the angle of incidence, and the polarization azimuth of the incident light. We show that rotation of the plane of polarization of the diffracted wave is determined by the different Fresnel reflection of the s and p polarized components of the incident light in the plane-parallel layer. We have determined that in mismatched acousto-optic structures, deep amplitude modulation of transmitted and reflected light is possible which is an order of magnitude greater than the usual modulation in matched structures.     

Coherent acousto-optic mode coupling in dispersion-compensating fiber by two acoustic gratings with orthogonal vibration directions

The acousto-optic mode coupling from core to LP11(cl) mode of a dispersion-compensating fiber excited by two acoustic waves with orthogonal perturbations is studied by use of a novel composite piezoelectric transducer. Highly polarization-dependent mode-selective spectra are observed that are due to coherent acousto-optic coupling between the core and various constituent cladding modes. Potential applications for implementing an all-fiber wavelength-tunable polarization analyzer are also discussed.     

基于声光效应的光束偏转控制理论研究

基于参量互作用观点及声光互作用原理,构建了入射光为高斯光并且存在声波吸收情况下的声光偏转器模型.基于此模型研究了超声波频率、声波功率和光束入射角对衍射光的影响.对比了有声波吸收和无声波吸收两种情况下上述三个参量对衍射光产生的不同影响.计算结果表明,同无声光吸收时相比,当存在声波吸收时,偏转器的衍射效率将减小,导致衍射波形畸变,光强峰值位置发生偏移.     

Acousto-optic interaction of diverging Gaussian beams in anisotropic media

A strong acousto-optic interaction of bounded light and sound beams of a Gaussian shape is considered for different geometries permitting long-term interaction. The anisotropic spreading of an acoustic beam in the course of its propagation is taken into account. The spectra of light beams are described by a Gaussian-polynomial expression, and a set of differential equations is derived which allows one to describe various geometries of acousto-optic diffraction. It is demonstrated that the transmission function of an acousto-optic cell essentially depends on the ratio between the dimensions of the light and sound beams and on the angle between the propagation direction of the diffracted beam and that of the incident beam. The degree of spreading of the acoustic beam noticeably affects the suppression of the transmission side lobes.     

Control of light polarization by acousto-optic diffraction from leaky acoustic wave in LiNbO₃

The acousto-optic control of light polarization due to diffraction by leaky acoustic waves in ZX-LiNbO? has been demonstrated. The randomly polarized light of 633 nm wavelength is converted by the anisotropic diffraction into two beams with mutually orthogonal polarizations, the relative intensities of which depend on the light incidence angle and acoustic frequency. Variation in acoustic frequency from 108 to 112 MHz rotates the polarization of the output optical beam by 90°. The acousto-optic control is accomplished entirely by electronic means and can be applied for implementation of fast polarization converters.     

Acousto-optic modulator of depolarized laser radiation on the paratellurite crystal

An original acousto-optic modulator of depolarized laser radiation is based on a paratellurite crystal in the regime of anisotropic diffraction by a slow acoustic wave. Two acoustic waves with different frequencies are simultaneously excited in a single acousto-optic cell. Two diffraction orders of orthogonal polarizations at the exit from the cell are diffracted in opposite sides relative to the zero order. A polarization prism that is placed immediately behind the cell transforms the diffraction orders into a single output depolarized beam. The total efficiency is 96%.     

Acousto-optic interaction with leaky surface acoustic waves in Y-cut LiTaO3 crystals

The acousto-optic interaction with leaky surface acoustic wave radiation into the bulk of YX-cut LiTaO₃ crystals has been investigated. The light incidence and diffraction angles corresponding to the strongest acousto-optic interaction were calculated and measured as functions of the acoustic wave frequency. The dependencies of the diffracted light intensity on the amplitude of radio-frequency voltage applied to the interdigital transducer (IDT) were studied. Our acousto-optic measurements revealed generation, by the IDTs, of slow shear bulk acoustic waves propagating at different angles depending on their frequency. A secondary acousto-optic interaction from the bulk waves radiated by the receiving IDT has been studied.     

Acousto-optic interaction in a non-homogeneous acoustic field excited by a wedge-shaped transducer

The article is devoted to theoretical analysis of light diffraction in a non-homogeneous acoustic field created by a wedge-shaped piezoelectric transducer. Relationships describing electrical, acoustic and acousto-optic properties of the acousto-optic cell are derived in the approximation of a small thickness of the piezoelectric plate. Principal characteristics of acousto-optic interaction are examined such as dependences of the light diffraction efficiency on the phase mismatch and the acoustic wave amplitude. It is shown that the acoustic field has a complicated amplitude-phase structure changing with the acoustic frequency. It is demonstrated that the diffraction efficiency in the Bragg regime can approach 100% in spite of a noticeable phase mismatch. The appropriate optimal values of ultrasound power and incidence angles of light are found.