Evaluation of Acoustic Waves in Acousto-Optical Devices by Ultrasonic Imaging

Abstract

The structure of the acoustic field defines the key parameters of acousto-optical (AO) devices. To confirm their compliance with the expected values in the presence of multiple real factors, AO crystalline cells require accurate experimental investigation of the acoustic field after being totally assembled. For this purpose, we propose to detect and quantify all the acoustic waves propagating in AO cells using an impulse acoustic microscopy technique. To validate this approach, we have analyzed both theoretically and experimentally the modes, amplitudes, propagation trajectories, and other features of the ultrasonic waves generated inside an AO modulator made of fused quartz. Good correspondence between theoretical and experimental data confirms the effectiveness of the proposed technique.

Special Issue: Optical Properties of Crystals and Thin Films

“…Crystalline materials and coatings can be found almost everywhere in the modern world. Crystals are used, for instance, in acoustooptical devices [1], Pockels' cells [2], Qswitches [3], optical parametric oscillators [4], optical switches for gigahertz frequencies [5], optical spatial low-pass filters [6], tunable filters [7], as a material for holographic information recording [8], laser matrixes [9], optical waveguides [10], and as photorefractive and photoconductive material [11]. Crystalline materials displaying a number of properties are used in two-wave and four-wave mixing [12], optical phase conjugation [13], phase and frequency shifters [14], real-time holography [15], optical data storage [16], electro-optical modulation [17], X-ray information and dosimetry [18], active material of electromagnetic calorimeters [19], deflectors [20], scanners [21], and valuable active centers of Raman lasers [22].…”