Angular and power characteristics of noncollinear acousto-optic tunable filters

The angular and the power characteristics of noncollinear acousto-optic tunable filters are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The dependencies of the acoustic wave frequency, the bandpass width and the diffraction efficiency of the filter are studied as functions of the angle of incidence of the optical wave and of the acoustic signal power density. These dependencies are illustrated and tested on the basis of a realized such a filter based on tellurium dioxide (TeO₂). A good agreement of theory and experiment is demonstrated, which indicates that the approach used can be effective in designing such devices.