Acoustic Optic Deflectors (AODs) offer laser scanning microscopy an effective alternative to mechanical scanners in terms of high-speed imaging without mechanical wear and tear, noise pollution or drift issues. AODs allow high-speed nonmechanical imaging at higher frequencies with no wear-and-tear issues associated with mechanical scanners – an advantage not found with mechanical scanners.
AODs rely on birefringent crystals modified by interactions with acoustic waves to enable rapid wavelength tuning; any delays due to transit time across the crystal may prevent quick tuning.
AODs rely on birefringent crystals modified by interactions with acoustic waves to enable rapid wavelength tuning; any delays due to transit time across the crystal may prevent quick tuning.
How do acousto-optic deflectors work?
Laser scanning microscopy relies on acousto-optic deflectors to guide laser beams into their desired positions for imaging. Acousto-optic deflectors typically consist of opposing pairs of acoustic diffraction gratings referred to as AOLs that allow rapid focussing and deflection without moving mechanical components.
AOLs are constructed using either tellurium dioxide or quartz crystals with refractive index differences of up to approximately 0.002nm (AAOE, 2014). When tuned to an RF frequency, when an acoustic wavelength is set that travels through AOD crystals at different rates it produces two orthogonal ramps with differing amplitudes that diffract a light beam into two output rays that return into the crystal itself.
Acoustic waves traveling through an AOD crystal typically take the same time to pass through as their aperture size (acoustic transit distance). Typical aperture size devices have transit times that span milliseconds or less; depending on other configuration properties such as transducer position on crystal.
These acoustic waves can be electronically adjusted by switching the applied radiofrequency frequency between different frequencies, or using a piezoelectric transducer with variable frequency output that produces an acoustic wave with variable frequency output. A piezoelectric transducer offers greater compactness compared to traditional diffraction gratings and can output multiple ramps from a single RF drive source.
An acousto-optic tunable filter offers many advantages over its mechanical counterpart, including its rapid tuning speed which is limited only by transit time of the acoustic wave in crystal and piezoelectric transducer bandwidth. This makes tunable filter great for lighting control as switching randomly specified wavelengths in microseconds becomes possible.
Rapid wavelength switching can be combined with external control of acoustic frequency, as well as synchronization with other aspects of the microscope such as automated specimen measurement, stage movement and strobed illumination – making an acousto-optic transducer and filter an excellent way to provide rapid illumination control in microscopy applications.
AOLs are constructed using either tellurium dioxide or quartz crystals with refractive index differences of up to approximately 0.002nm (AAOE, 2014). When tuned to an RF frequency, when an acoustic wavelength is set that travels through AOD crystals at different rates it produces two orthogonal ramps with differing amplitudes that diffract a light beam into two output rays that return into the crystal itself.
Acoustic waves traveling through an AOD crystal typically take the same time to pass through as their aperture size (acoustic transit distance). Typical aperture size devices have transit times that span milliseconds or less; depending on other configuration properties such as transducer position on crystal.
These acoustic waves can be electronically adjusted by switching the applied radiofrequency frequency between different frequencies, or using a piezoelectric transducer with variable frequency output that produces an acoustic wave with variable frequency output. A piezoelectric transducer offers greater compactness compared to traditional diffraction gratings and can output multiple ramps from a single RF drive source.
An acousto-optic tunable filter offers many advantages over its mechanical counterpart, including its rapid tuning speed which is limited only by transit time of the acoustic wave in crystal and piezoelectric transducer bandwidth. This makes tunable filter great for lighting control as switching randomly specified wavelengths in microseconds becomes possible.
Rapid wavelength switching can be combined with external control of acoustic frequency, as well as synchronization with other aspects of the microscope such as automated specimen measurement, stage movement and strobed illumination – making an acousto-optic transducer and filter an excellent way to provide rapid illumination control in microscopy applications.
Acoustic diffraction
Scanning Acoustic Microscopy (SAM) is a form of laser scanning microscopy that uses an acoustic wave to image surfaces of materials. This causes ripple patterns on reflective surfaces to form, which is then scanned by a focused laser beam to produce images that can be analyzed to reveal internal elastic structures or inhomogeneities within materials.
SAM imaging can be used to image various materials, including plastics, semiconductors, ceramics and composites. It provides a powerful method for characterizing material properties such as impedance, magnetic susceptibility, van der Waals forces and friction; however it may not be well suited for imaging biological samples due to vacuum requirements.
First commercially available acoustic imaging system was the scanning laser acoustic microscope, using an ultrasonic signal to scan ripple patterns produced by an insonified surface. As elastic structures modulate its amplitude, its ripple pattern presents itself in grayscale form on an acoustic image of interior spaces.
Another acoustic imaging technique uses time-locked single laser pulses to ‘freeze’ acoustic waves that would otherwise propagate across acousto-optic deflectors (AODs). Since AODs are typically oriented in either the x or y directions, one optical pulse per AOD filling period serves to effectively limit pixel acquisition rate.
Utilizing an Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF) as an optical microscopy diffraction filter provides for rapid adjustment of intensity and wavelength of diffracted light, eliminating traditional devices like diffraction gratings and prisms which only offer limited tuning possibilities in terms of intensity and wavelength adjustment. By contrast, an AOTF offers versatile tuning modes with multiple wavelength output at once – this capability enables various useful applications within Confocal Microscopy such as:
Acoustic wavefront shaping can be achieved through either changing the frequency of acoustic pulses, or by applying fixed amplitude acoustic energy at set levels in order to generate waves that are constrained within certain regions in both space and time. Furthermore, rapid shaping may also be achieved using frequency ramps which modify scan trajectory while maintaining AOD bandwidth.
SAM imaging can be used to image various materials, including plastics, semiconductors, ceramics and composites. It provides a powerful method for characterizing material properties such as impedance, magnetic susceptibility, van der Waals forces and friction; however it may not be well suited for imaging biological samples due to vacuum requirements.
First commercially available acoustic imaging system was the scanning laser acoustic microscope, using an ultrasonic signal to scan ripple patterns produced by an insonified surface. As elastic structures modulate its amplitude, its ripple pattern presents itself in grayscale form on an acoustic image of interior spaces.
Another acoustic imaging technique uses time-locked single laser pulses to ‘freeze’ acoustic waves that would otherwise propagate across acousto-optic deflectors (AODs). Since AODs are typically oriented in either the x or y directions, one optical pulse per AOD filling period serves to effectively limit pixel acquisition rate.
Utilizing an Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF) as an optical microscopy diffraction filter provides for rapid adjustment of intensity and wavelength of diffracted light, eliminating traditional devices like diffraction gratings and prisms which only offer limited tuning possibilities in terms of intensity and wavelength adjustment. By contrast, an AOTF offers versatile tuning modes with multiple wavelength output at once – this capability enables various useful applications within Confocal Microscopy such as:
Acoustic wavefront shaping can be achieved through either changing the frequency of acoustic pulses, or by applying fixed amplitude acoustic energy at set levels in order to generate waves that are constrained within certain regions in both space and time. Furthermore, rapid shaping may also be achieved using frequency ramps which modify scan trajectory while maintaining AOD bandwidth.
Acoustic beam steering
An acousto-optical deflector is an optical component used to change the direction of light beams. It can be found in many imaging applications, including scanning microscopy and multiphoton laser scanning microscopy; more specifically in multi-photon laser-scanning microscopy where its presence acts as a diffraction grating that separates out multichromatic ultrashort light pulses laterally from each other.
An acousto-optical deflector features an effective width proportional to the wavelength of multi-chromatic light being deflected by it and an index gradient perpendicular to its path, providing it with wide steering angle potential.
However, this flexibility is restricted by acoustic wave speed in an acousto-optical deflector and to correct for moving acoustic waves it is necessary to use a time-locked single laser pulse that freezes out an acoustic wavefront before being scanned by the deflector.
This approach has been successfully applied to wavefront shaping with acousto-optic deflectors and has proved useful for providing fast voxel acquisition rates in high-speed 3D random access microscopy, in addition to correcting for higher-order aberrations that may be difficult to produce using other techniques.
Beam scanning can be accomplished with linear-orientation acousto-optic deflectors by ramping the rf signal that drives transducers. Acoustic deflection patterns may also be controlled in various ways such as assigning command functions to transducers or applying a mechanical tilting wedge.
Beam scanning can also be achieved using a beam of monochromatic, single-photon laser pulses that is scanned along a beam-steering axis using a galvanometric mirror or similar.
These acousto-optical beam steering apparatuses may be employed in various laser scanning microscopy applications, including those requiring fast (x-axis) or slow (y-axis) scanning speeds. Furthermore, monochromatic single photon pulses may also be directed along their y axis using a diffraction grating.
An acousto-optical deflector features an effective width proportional to the wavelength of multi-chromatic light being deflected by it and an index gradient perpendicular to its path, providing it with wide steering angle potential.
However, this flexibility is restricted by acoustic wave speed in an acousto-optical deflector and to correct for moving acoustic waves it is necessary to use a time-locked single laser pulse that freezes out an acoustic wavefront before being scanned by the deflector.
This approach has been successfully applied to wavefront shaping with acousto-optic deflectors and has proved useful for providing fast voxel acquisition rates in high-speed 3D random access microscopy, in addition to correcting for higher-order aberrations that may be difficult to produce using other techniques.
Beam scanning can be accomplished with linear-orientation acousto-optic deflectors by ramping the rf signal that drives transducers. Acoustic deflection patterns may also be controlled in various ways such as assigning command functions to transducers or applying a mechanical tilting wedge.
Beam scanning can also be achieved using a beam of monochromatic, single-photon laser pulses that is scanned along a beam-steering axis using a galvanometric mirror or similar.
These acousto-optical beam steering apparatuses may be employed in various laser scanning microscopy applications, including those requiring fast (x-axis) or slow (y-axis) scanning speeds. Furthermore, monochromatic single photon pulses may also be directed along their y axis using a diffraction grating.
Acoustic focusing
Laser scanning of specimens uses an extremely fast scanning rate; an image line is updated every 0.488 millisecond (one millisecond is equivalent to one thousandth of a second). This scanning rate makes the technology particularly suitable for producing time-lapse sequences of changes in fluorescent markers such as protein expression or its expression from fluorescent markers; which in turn allow researchers to examine various cellular processes like protein-protein interactions or macromolecular complex assembly dynamics.
Many systems also provide high-resolution, repetitive imaging that can be useful for simultaneously analyzing multiple stained specimens. However, doing this requires numerous bracketed exposures, repeated scans, and three-dimensional sectioning processes to be conducted on these stained samples.
To address this problem, acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) can be utilized for beam steering. These devices can be designed to steer multiple fluorophores at high frame rates through one pulsed laser source for multiphoton imaging purposes.
These acoustic optical deflectors use the “convection beam steering” principle, in which laser beams emit acoustic waves which resonate with its polarization to travel along an AOD’s length and be deflected off course by an AOD’s wavefront; its shape depends on factors like deflector shape, distance from laser and position in beam path.
AODs have long been used for a wide range of applications, such as laser material processing. Their adjustable beam can be tailored to accommodate various sample types by altering its amplitude or phase; additionally they may incorporate additional optical elements such as prisms or lenses or include a pixel-based control module into the laser system.
Confocal microscopy requires AODs to steer laser lines past multiple fluorophores in a lateral direction, varying the acoustic ramp’s slope in xy-plane to change this behavior and enable discontinuous RAMP point measurements or continuous axial line scanning.
Deflectors not only allow for quick and easy laser beam positioning in various locations, they can also be utilized as two-dimensional (2-D) acoustic scanning devices for multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy (MPLSM). While this approach offers some advantages over standard line scan methods, its use is subject to both temporal and spatial dispersion due to the acoustic nature of AO materials causing dispersion in the laser beam; therefore we developed methods of compensating dispersion effects caused when pulsed radiation passes through an AO deflector.
Many systems also provide high-resolution, repetitive imaging that can be useful for simultaneously analyzing multiple stained specimens. However, doing this requires numerous bracketed exposures, repeated scans, and three-dimensional sectioning processes to be conducted on these stained samples.
To address this problem, acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) can be utilized for beam steering. These devices can be designed to steer multiple fluorophores at high frame rates through one pulsed laser source for multiphoton imaging purposes.
These acoustic optical deflectors use the “convection beam steering” principle, in which laser beams emit acoustic waves which resonate with its polarization to travel along an AOD’s length and be deflected off course by an AOD’s wavefront; its shape depends on factors like deflector shape, distance from laser and position in beam path.
AODs have long been used for a wide range of applications, such as laser material processing. Their adjustable beam can be tailored to accommodate various sample types by altering its amplitude or phase; additionally they may incorporate additional optical elements such as prisms or lenses or include a pixel-based control module into the laser system.
Confocal microscopy requires AODs to steer laser lines past multiple fluorophores in a lateral direction, varying the acoustic ramp’s slope in xy-plane to change this behavior and enable discontinuous RAMP point measurements or continuous axial line scanning.
Deflectors not only allow for quick and easy laser beam positioning in various locations, they can also be utilized as two-dimensional (2-D) acoustic scanning devices for multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy (MPLSM). While this approach offers some advantages over standard line scan methods, its use is subject to both temporal and spatial dispersion due to the acoustic nature of AO materials causing dispersion in the laser beam; therefore we developed methods of compensating dispersion effects caused when pulsed radiation passes through an AO deflector.
