Light modulation by acoustic signals for high diffraction efficiency

Abstract

A theoretical discussion is presented on strong Bragg acoustooptic interaction AOI of light beams in the dynamic field of an acoustic signal. A system of integrodifferential equations is formulated to describe the evolution of the angular and frequency spectra of the beams in the AOI region for a high level of acoustooptic coupling. The third-order approximation in the perturbation method is used to obtain an analytic solution. Calculations are presented on the modulation of monochromatic beams by acoustic pulses having rectangular envelopes and propagating in a lithium niobate crystal, and the same for a signal having linear frequency modulation LFM in a paratellurite crystal, which demonstrate the broadening of the beam spectrum as the depth of the acoustooptic coupling increases, together with the occurrence of an asymmetry specific to strong AOI in the response of the light field to the symmetrical acoustic signal.