Acousto-optic Effect Research Articles

Recent progress of dynamic mode manipulation via acousto-optic interactions in few-mode fiber lasers: mechanism, device and applications

Abstract The burgeoning advances of spatial mode conversion in few-mode fibers emerge as the investigative hotspot in novel structured light manipulation, in that, high-order modes possess a novel fundamental signature of various intensity profiles and unique polarization distributions, especially orbital angular momentum modes carrying with phase singularity and spiral wave front. Thus, control of spatial mode generation becomes a crucial technique especially in fiber optics, which has been exploited to high capacity space division multiplexing. The acousto-optic interactions in few-mode fibers provide a potential solution to tackle the bottleneck of traditional spatial mode conversion devices. Acousto-optic mode conversion controlled by microwave signals brings tremendous new opportunities in spatial mode generation with fast mode tuning and dynamic switching capabilities. Besides, dynamic mode switching induced by acousto-optic effects contributes an energy modulation inside a laser cavity through nonlinear effects of multi-mode interaction, competition, which endows the fiber laser with new functions and leads to the exploration of new physical mechanism. In this review, we present the recent advances of controlling mode switch and generation employing acousto-optic interactions in few-mode fibers, which includes acousto-optic mechanisms, optical field manipulating devices and novel applications of spatial mode control especially in high-order mode fiber lasers.

Acousto-optic tunable flat top filter based on one-dimensional coupled-cavity photonic crystals

In this paper, an acousto-optic tunable flat top filter is proposed by using one-dimensional coupled-cavity photonic crystal, and two kinds of materials, i.e. magnesium fluoride and tellurium dioxide, are selected. Based on the theory of acousto-optic effect, the thickness and refractive index of one-dimensional coupled cavity photonic crystal acousto-optic medium are changed by varying the ultrasonic frequency. After the parameters of acousto-optic medium are changed, the central wavelength of flat top filter of transmission spectrum shifts toward the short wave direction, thus realizing tunable filtering function. Based on the transfer matrix method and the theory of acousto-optic effect, the theoretical model of the flat top filter is established. The rectangularity, passband bandwidth, insertion loss and tunability of flat top filter are simulated by COMSOL software. The results show that the tuning effect can be achieved by applying a certain frequency of ultrasound in the case of different ultrasonic amplitudes. The decreasing trends of transmittance are basically identical in the process of changing ultrasonic frequency in the case of different amplitudes. When the central wavelength of the flat top filter increases from 1510 nm to 1514 nm, the transmissivity corresponding to the central wavelength increases sharply from 37% to 90%; when the central wavelength of the flat top filter continuously increases to 1562 nm, the transmittance corresponding to the central wavelength increasing gently from 90% to 97% in the case of different amplitudes. Considering the transmissivity required to exceed 90% in the passband of flat top filter and the cost of ultrasonic generator, the ultrasonic wave with an amplitude of 0.4 nm is selected as the research object. The flat top filter with 5–6 nm central wavelength and 1514–1562 nm tunable flat top filter can be realized by applying ultrasonic wave with the frequency in a range of 6–11 MHz. In the tunable range, the highest insertion loss is only 2.23 dB, the lowest is only 0.78 dB, and the lowest rectangularity is 1.4. In a practical flat top filter with machining error within 5 cm, the deviation of center wavelength, rectangularity, insertion loss and passband bandwidth of flat top filter are all very small. The flat top filter has the characteristics of easy design and integration, flat passband, wide tunable range, stable passband bandwidth, low insertion loss and high quality factor. It has important applications in optical communication fields such as optical switch, tunable fiber laser and fiber sensing.

Reflection-mode acousto-optic imaging using a one-dimensional ultrasound array with electronically scanned focus.

.Significance: Practical implementation of acousto-optic imaging (AOI) encounters difficulties that prevent it from rapid adoption in clinical use. In many practical medical applications, the region of interest may be accessed only from one side, and using a water tank for coupling is not feasible. The solution might be to use reflection-mode imaging with an electronically scanned ultrasound (US) focus. Such an approach, however, entails considerable challenges.Aim: The possibilities of detecting and localizing light-absorbing inclusions inside turbid media by combining reflection-mode AOI conducted using a one-dimensional US array with electronic scanning of the US focus are investigated experimentally and signal processing algorithms that could be used for this purpose are introduced.Approach: We determine the speckle contrast decrease due to the acousto-optic effect as a function of the US focal point coordinates. Different signal postprocessing techniques are investigated.Results: A significant decrease in the determined speckle contrast difference values is observed due to the presence of light-absorbing inclusions. However, local minima occur in the plots only under specific conditions. Subtracting individual distributions and determining symmetry deviations allow for localizing the inclusions.Conclusions: Detection and localization of optically distinct regions are possible using the introduced approach. Signal postprocessing is required in a general case.

The interaction of polymer dispersed liquid crystal sensors with ultrasound

Polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) have been shown to be sensitive to ultrasound through the acousto-optic effect. The acousto-optic response of PDLCs was studied over a broad frequency range (0.3–10 MHz). We demonstrate that the displacements required to produce acousto-optic clearing of PDLC films can be as low as a few nanometers, which is at least 103 times smaller than the PDLC droplet size, is 105 times smaller than the PDLC layer thickness, and of the order of the molecular size of the liquid crystal constituents. This suggests that the acousto-optic effect in PDLCs is due to the microscopic effects of the LC reorientation under torques or flows rather than the LC reorientation through macroscopic droplet deformation. The displacement required for clearing is related to the frequency of operation via an exponential decay. We attribute the observed frequency response to a freezing out of the rotational motion around the short axis of the liquid crystal. The reported frequency dependence and displacements required indicate that the effects and materials described here could be used for ultrasound visualization in a non-destructive testing context.

Research on acousto-optic switch based on optical tamm state

An acousto-optic switch scheme based on optical tamm state (OTS) is proposed. The acousto-optic switch’s structure is one-dimensional photonic crystal heterostructure, which is composed of three materials: silicon dioxide, gallium arsenide and tellurium dioxide. All three materials are acousto-optic materials, which can ensure the acousto-optic effect when the ultrasonic wave and the light wave are incident at the same time. Due to the acousto-optic effect, the refractive index and thickness of one-dimensional photonic crystal heterostructures are changed by ultrasonic. The acousto-optic switch changes the ultrasonic amplitude to shift the intrinsic wavelength of OTS to the shorter wave direction. With the increase of ultrasonic amplitude, the intrinsic wavelength of OTS hardly changes after the amplitude exceeds 0.4 nm. This means that the ultrasonic wave with an amplitude of 0.4 nm can shift the intrinsic wavelength to 1538 nm. The acousto-optic switch realizes the on-off function within the permitted range. In this paper, the theoretical model of the acousto-optic switch is established. The propagation of ultrasonic wave in one-dimensional photonic crystal heterostructure is analyzed by theoretical model. The propagation of light in the medium after acousto-optic effect is analyzed by transmission matrix method. The simulation is carried out through COMSOL Multiphysics software. The results show OTS exists and localization can be seen in the electric field diagram. The acousto-optic switch of 1548.8–1551.7 nm can be realized by applying certain amplitude of ultrasonic or not. In this wavelength range, the extinction ratio is not lower than 12 dB and the insertion loss is not higher than 0.97 dB. The maximum extinction ratio is 13.17 dB, and the minimum insertion loss is only 0.65 dB. The acousto-optic switch of 1536.6–1543.3 nm can be realized by applying ultrasonic wave with amplitude corresponding to the length of incident light. In this wavelength range, the extinction ratio is not lower than 12 dB, and the insertion loss is not higher than 0.99 dB. The maximum extinction ratio is 13.15 dB, and the minimum insertion loss is only 0.65 dB. The response time of the acousto-optic switch is less than 13 ns. The acousto-optic switch has the characteristics of high extinction ratio and low insertion loss. It has a good application prospect and can be effectively applied in future optical communication.

Investigation of the possibility of using a system of two acousto-optical crystals to determine the parameters of pulsed signals

The work explores the possibility of using the acousto-optical effect to demodulate a sequence of radio pulses. Measuring setup circuits for determining sequence parameters are proposed. The methods for analyzing the diffraction pattern that relate the intensity distribution to the signal characteristics are described. Experimental and theoretical curves are constructed. Based on the data obtained, a conclusion is made regarding the requirements for the materials of crystals which is the main part of acousto-optic cells. The conditions for the appearance of uncertainty regions are described.

Influence of exterior acoustic noise on narrow linewidth laser measurements using self-homodyne optical fiber interferometer

Spectral linewidth measurements of a HeNe laser were obtained by using a self-homodyne optical fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer located in a vacuum controlled chamber. The data showed an apparent broadening of the highly-coherent laser linewidth from few hertz up to kilohertz with the change in the air chamber pressure, evincing an influence of external acousto-optic effects on the interferometer optical fiber. To support the results, a theoretical harmonic acoustic analysis was developed and then related to the correspondent interferometer phase noise spectrum measurements. Lorentzian approximations of the experimental laser apparent linewidth suggest that the interferometer was working in a quasi-coherent regime for all tested chamber air pressure.

Enhancement of diffuse correlation spectroscopy tissue blood flow measurement by acoustic radiation force.

The current research on acousto-optic effects focuses on the interactions of acoustic waves with static optical properties rather than dynamic features such as tissue blood flow. Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is an emerging technology capable of direct measurements of tissue blood flow by probing the movements of red blood cells (RBCs). In this article, we investigated the relations between the acoustic radiation force (ARF) and ultrasonic patterns by the finite element simulations. Based on the outcomes, we experimentally explored how the ultrasound-generated ARF enhance the DCS data as well as the blood flow measurements. The results yield the optimal pattern to generate ARF and elucidate the relations between the ultrasonic emission and flow elevations. The flow modality combing the DCS with ARF modulations, which was proposed in this study for the first time, would promote disease diagnosis and therapeutic assessment in the situation wherein the blood flow contrast between healthy and pathological tissues is insufficient.

Characterization and modeling of acousto-optic signal strengths in highly scattering media.

Ultrasound optical tomography (UOT) is an imaging technique based on the acousto-optic effect that can perform optical imaging with ultrasound resolution inside turbid media, and is thus interesting for biomedical applications, e.g. for assessing tissue blood oxygenation. In this paper, we present near background free measurements of UOT signal strengths using slow light filter signal detection. We carefully analyze each part of our experimental setup and match measured signal strengths with calculations based on diffusion theory. This agreement between experiment and theory allows us to assert the deep tissue imaging potential of cm for UOT of real human tissues predicted by previous theoretical studies [Biomed. Opt. Express8, 4523 (2017)] with greater confidence, and indicate that future theoretical analysis of optimized UOT systems can be expected to be reliable.

Acoustic pressure field estimation methods for synthetic schlieren tomography.

Synthetic schlieren tomography is a recently proposed three-dimensional (3D) optical imaging technique for studying ultrasound fields. The imaging setup is composed of an imaged target, a water tank, a camera, and a pulsed light source, which is stroboscopically synchronized with an ultrasound transducer to achieve tomographically stationary imaging of an ultrasound field. In this technique, ultrasound waves change the propagation of light rays by inducing a change in refractive index via the acousto-optic effect. The change manifests as optical flow in the imaged target. By performing the imaging in a tomographic fashion, the two-dimensional tomographic dataset of the optical flow can be transformed into a 3D ultrasound field. In this work, two approaches for acoustic pressure field estimation are introduced. The approaches are based on optical and potential flow regularized least square optimizations where regularization based on the Helmholtz equation is introduced. The methods are validated via simulations in a telecentric setup and are compared quantitatively and qualitatively to a previously introduced method. Cases of a focused, an obliquely propagating, and a standing wave ultrasound field are considered. The simulations demonstrate the efficiency of the introduced methods also in situations in which the previously applied method has weaknesses.

Equivalent source model from acousto-optic measurements and application to an acoustic pulse characterization

The paper describes an equivalent source model of acoustic sources from optical measurements using refracto-vibrometry. The acousto-optic effect is used to characterize the acoustic source in a non-invasive manner. The equivalent source model is constructed with a volumic distribution of monopole sources: its radiation should produce an acouto-optic effect which match with the measured one. The solution of this inverse problem gives the monopole strengths. This method is applied to the characterization of an acoustic pulse source. It is shown that the reconstructed pressure with the equivalent source matches the measured one within a 2 dB range. Moreover, the equivalent source dimensions, spatial location and directivity are in good accordance with expected characteristics of the real source.

Nadir and omnidirectional limb imaging spectrometer based on acousto-optic tunable filter

Imaging spectrometers for atmospheric detection usually split the beam by using prisms or gratings. However, owing to their spectroscopic principle, these spectrometers can only detect the atmosphere via single mode and single detection. The acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) is an electronic filter developed based on the acousto-optic effect of crystal with a field of view that is not limited by the slit. This paper introduces the spectroscopic principle of the AOTF and deduces its diffraction equation. By using the AOTF as a spectroscopic device, this paper also designs a new imaging spectrometer for atmospheric detection. This spectrometer has two fields of view and can detect the hyperspectral atmospheric data in 10°nadir field of view, 360°limb field of view, and 0 km to 100km limb height. The optical system of this imaging spectrometer comprises a front objective lens, an AOTF spectroscopic system, and a relay lens. As an instrument for atmospheric, this spectrometer has the characteristics of dual observation modes, full coverage in the limb field of view, and high spectral resolution.

Novel on chip rotation detection based on the acousto-optic effect in surface acoustic wave gyroscopes

An Acousto-Optic Gyroscope (AOG) consisting of a photonic integrated device embedded into two inherently matched piezoelectric surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators sharing the same acoustic cavity is presented. This constitutes the first demonstration of a micromachined strain-based optomechanical gyroscope that uses the effective index of the optical waveguide due to the acousto-optic effect rather than conventional displacement sensing. The theoretical analysis comparing various photonic phase sensing techniques is presented and verified experimentally for the cases based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, as well as a racetrack resonator. This first prototype integrates acoustic and photonic components on the same lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) substrate and constitutes the first proof of concept demonstration of the AOG. This approach enables the development of a new class of micromachined gyroscopes that combines the advantages of both conventional microscale vibrating gyroscopes and optical gyroscopes.

Direct measurement of the sound velocity in seawater based on the pulsed acousto-optic effect between the frequency comb and the ultrasonic pulse.

We present a new method to measure the velocity of sound in pure water and seawater using the Raman-Nath diffraction caused by acousto-optic effect between the optical frequency comb and the ultrasonic pulse. In the Mach-Zehnder interferometry system we established, the measurement and reference arms are tagged with sharp negative pulses caused by the pulsed ultrasound passing through them. The difference in optical path between the two parallel beams is twice the flight distance of the ultrasonic waves. The span between the two negative pulses reflects the time interval. At the same time, the distance between the two arms can be measured precisely using the femtosecond laser interferometry. Consequently, the time interval and the distance can be used to measure the sound velocity. The experimental results show that, the uncertainty of the sound speed measurement can achieve 0.03m/s@1482m/s in pure water and 0.029m/s@1527m/s in seawater, respectively, compared with the commercial sound velocity profiler (SVP). More importantly, benefiting from the faster and cleaner response of the acousto-optic effect than the piezoelectric effect which is widely adopted in direct sound velocity measurement method, our method provides a new idea for the metrology of sound velocity in seawater.

An approach to the measurement of the nonlinear refractive index of very short lengths of optical fibers

A method for the measurement of the nonlinear-refractive index coefficient in single-mode optical fibers is presented. It takes advantage of the high sensitivity of the acousto-optic interaction effect in optical fibers to the fiber properties. Direct measurement of the nonlinear-refractive index change resulting from cross-phase modulation between a probe and a pump signal is obtained from the fiber's acousto-optic interaction performance. It is a non-interferometric method in which a very short length of fiber (<0.25 m) is required.

Influence of Acousto-Optic Resonances in Electro-Optical Modulator on Fiber Optic Gyro Performance and Method for Its Compensation

The electro-optical modulator is one of the most important parts of the fiber optic gyroscope. Unfortunately, the integral implementation of the modulator has a number of undesirable effects such as parasitic amplitude modulation, phase drift, and acousto-optical resonance effects. Influence of the first two effects on the gyroscope operation has been described in a number of works, but at the moment, there are no published papers aimed at investigating the relationship between the presence of acousto-optic resonances in modulators and changes in the performance of a fiber optic gyroscope. There are several design solutions that provide damping of undesired acoustic waves in electro-optical modulators. However, the use of these solutions requires a method to estimate their effectiveness. The main purpose of the article is to describe such a method and to evaluate the correctness of its application. We also offer an additional way to reverse the effect of the mentioned resonant effects on the characteristics of the fiber gyroscope.

Theoretical study on the stimulated Brillouin scattering in a sub-wavelength anisotropic waveguide: acousto-optical coupling coefficients and effects of transverse anisotropies

A theoretical study on the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a sub-wavelength anisotropic waveguide is conducted. The optical, photoelastic and mechanical anisotropies of the waveguide materials are all taken into account. First, the integral formulae for calculating the acousto-optical coupling coefficients (AOCCs) due to the photoelastic and moving interface effects in SBS are extended to an optically anisotropic waveguide. Then, with the extended formulae, the SBSs in an elliptical nanowire with strong transverse anisotropies are simulated. In the simulations, the elastic fields are computed with the inclusion of mechanical anisotropy. Observable effects of the strong transverse anisotropies are found in numerical results. Most notably, the SBS gains of some elastic modes are found to be very sensitive to the small misalignment between the waveguide axes and the principal material axes. Detailed physical interpretations of this interesting phenomenon are provided. This interesting phenomenon implies an attractive way for more sensitive tuning of the SBS gain without significantly changing the phononic frequency.

Photoelastic and acousto-optic effects in 65GeS2-25Ga2S3-10CsCl glass

The peculiarities of photoelastic and acousto-optic effects are first tested in chalcohalide 65GeS2-25Ga2S3-10CsCl glass exploring the interferometry method. The determined piezo-optic coefficients occur to be (in Br) π11=2.8±0.6, π12=6.0±0.9 and π44=−3.2±1.1. In respect to maximal acousto-optic figure of merit М2=55.6·10−15s3/kg proper for longitudinal acoustic wave propagation and polarization along X2 (і=2) direction, this glass seems more perspective for photoelastic and acousto-optic modulation in visible and near IR ranges, than many alternative candidates, such as crystalline quartz, LiNbO3, CaWO4, PbMoO4, β-BaB2O4, etc. For the first time it has been shown that piezo-optic effect of isotropic solids is anisotropic, and the degree of anisotropy is the difference of π11–π12 coefficients.

Ultrasound field characterization using synthetic schlieren tomography.

Synthetic schlieren imaging, also known as background oriented schlieren imaging, is used to determine the acoustical field of a focused ultrasound transducer operating at 1.01 MHz frequency with peak pressure amplitude of 0.97 MPa. The measurement setup is composed of a commercial off-the-shelf digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera with an ordinary objective, a high power light-emitting diode driven in pulsating mode, water tank, ultrasound transducer, rotation stage, and driving electronics. Measurements are performed in tomographic fashion by rotating the ultrasound transducer within the water tank and photographing an imaged target behind the ultrasound field. The photographs are processed with a Horn-Schunck-type algorithm, commonly used in optical flow analysis, in order to determine the deflection of light rays as caused by ultrasound field induced acousto-optic effect. Inverse Radon transform is then used, with the deflection data, to obtain three-dimensional spatial distribution of the pressure field gradient, from which an approximation of the ultrasonic pressure field is computed. The pressure field obtained with synthetic schlieren tomography is then compared to hydrophone measurements mainly qualitatively.

Nonlinear Acousto-Optic Coupling in Tapered Fiber Optics: Model and Experiment

In this letter, a complete model and experimental verification of the nonlinear acousto-optic coupling between a co-propagating core and lowest-order cladding modes in tapered fiber optics are presented. The methodology presented in previous works have been extended to construct a full model, based on the local bending effect to compute the linear and nonlinear variations in the refractive index, which explains the influence of the acousto-optic effect in nonlinear pulse propagation. We show that there is good agreement between the results of the model and experiment.