Dynamic optical transfer function of an acoustooptic modulator with a damped sound wave

Abstract

Based on a spatially dependent dynamic optical transfer function of an acoustooptic modulator, a dynamic model of light modulation by a sound signal under conditions of acoustic damping is developed. A system of equations describing the dynamics of the acoustooptic interaction is given. Solutions of this equation for arbitrary power level and spatial-time structure of a sound signal are found. It is shown that acoustooptic damping has the strongest effect in a nonlinear modulation regime. Here, the dissipation of an acoustic signal suppresses the higher harmonic of the dynamic optical transfer function. An analytical model of the dynamic optical transfer function for a low level of acoustooptic coupling is given. It is shown that when the pump beam aperture is much greater than the spatial size of an acoustic signal, the time response of the acoustooptic modulator response is identical within a phase factor to the amplitude profile of a pump beam apodized by the exponential dependence of the amplitude of a damped sound wave. Otherwise, the sound damping produces almost no distortions of a plane top of the acoustooptic modulator response to a pulsed signal and shows itself only under phase mismatch conditions. Here, the asymmetry of overshoots at the edges of the acoustooptic modulator response is observed. Calculated plots are presented, which illustrate the aforementioned specific features of the transient process under conditions of acoustic damping in the acoustooptic interaction in paratellurite.