Acoustic-optic devices manipulate light through mechanical waves interacting with a medium. Acoustic waves expanded and compressed within this supporting medium cause changes to optical refractive index.
Acousto-optic devices have many uses in laser Q-switching, telecom and spectroscopy applications; however, their limitations for high power laser use must be considered carefully.
Acousto-optic devices have many uses in laser Q-switching, telecom and spectroscopy applications; however, their limitations for high power laser use must be considered carefully.
1. Frequency Dependence
Frequency dependence of acousto-optic devices is an inherent disadvantage of high-power laser applications, where frequency shifters, couplers, switches and spectrum analyzers must operate smoothly at variable frequencies. Acoustic-optic modulators and beam deflectors used as frequency modulators/beam deflectors function as fixed and variable frequency shifters/couplers/switches/spectrum analyzers respectively.
Acousto-optic devices employ an unusual method for operating: they produce index gratings from acoustic waves interacting with crystals. Their period and depth of modulation can be electronically controlled to act either as fixed frequency shifters or variable frequency shifters depending on the input signal.
As such, acousto-optic devices are commonly employed as pulse pickers and fast switches in laser diodes, and also widely employed by pulsed lasers as Q-switches, cavity dumpers, and mode lockers.
Acoustic-optic modulators can also serve as frequency shifters by altering the amplitude of their acoustic waves – something particularly relevant to heterodyning applications and laser cooling.
These devices have several drawbacks in high-power laser applications, including power instability and drift. However, some acousto-optic devices have shown significant improvements in these parameters.
One example of an excellent acousto-optic device is an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). An AOTF’s wavelength range may be much greater than any diode laser and its switching times between random wavelengths as low as 1 millisecond.
Acoustic optic deflectors (AODs) have demonstrated significant advancements in performance parameters as an acousto-optic device, particularly when compared with bulk alternatives due to shorter interaction length between light and acoustic waves.
An acousto-optic deflector (AOD) is an excellent solution for many optical applications where beam directing or positioning control are crucial, such as fluorescence microscopy or interferometric scattering mass spectrometry. A recent article in Optics Express details a phased array AOD that offers flexible beam shaping and steering capabilities with its phased arrays.
The authors present a straightforward and efficient setup suitable for on-board devices, such as compact atomic clocks. Their setup measures both frequency and time domain performance using Allan standard deviation.
Acousto-optic devices employ an unusual method for operating: they produce index gratings from acoustic waves interacting with crystals. Their period and depth of modulation can be electronically controlled to act either as fixed frequency shifters or variable frequency shifters depending on the input signal.
As such, acousto-optic devices are commonly employed as pulse pickers and fast switches in laser diodes, and also widely employed by pulsed lasers as Q-switches, cavity dumpers, and mode lockers.
Acoustic-optic modulators can also serve as frequency shifters by altering the amplitude of their acoustic waves – something particularly relevant to heterodyning applications and laser cooling.
These devices have several drawbacks in high-power laser applications, including power instability and drift. However, some acousto-optic devices have shown significant improvements in these parameters.
One example of an excellent acousto-optic device is an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). An AOTF’s wavelength range may be much greater than any diode laser and its switching times between random wavelengths as low as 1 millisecond.
Acoustic optic deflectors (AODs) have demonstrated significant advancements in performance parameters as an acousto-optic device, particularly when compared with bulk alternatives due to shorter interaction length between light and acoustic waves.
An acousto-optic deflector (AOD) is an excellent solution for many optical applications where beam directing or positioning control are crucial, such as fluorescence microscopy or interferometric scattering mass spectrometry. A recent article in Optics Express details a phased array AOD that offers flexible beam shaping and steering capabilities with its phased arrays.
The authors present a straightforward and efficient setup suitable for on-board devices, such as compact atomic clocks. Their setup measures both frequency and time domain performance using Allan standard deviation.
2. Diffraction Efficiency
Acousto-optic devices utilize acoustic waves to modulate the optical properties of crystals. Acoustic frequency changes alter its diffraction characteristics, providing quick wavelength tuning and spectral control across multiple laser lines. Acousto-optic devices can be used in a range of applications from electronic tunable filtering through to confocal microscopy or as an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF).
Acousto-optical devices are commonly constructed of materials like fused quartz, tellurium dioxide, chalcogenide glasses and lithium niobate. The selection of such materials depends on their elasto-optic coefficients and attenuation rates – which determine both its efficiency and figure of merit – among other parameters.
Acousto-optic devices’ diffraction efficiency can be defined as the ratio between energy from a diffraction peak that can be extracted using diffracted light versus total incident and reflected beam energy; and this ratio. This value depends on both material properties as well as acoustic power levels – high power waves may reach 95% efficiency with respect to this metric.
However, at short optical wavelengths high-diffraction efficiency is often limited by material figure of merit and attenuation effects; typically shorter wavelengths have lower figures of merit compared to longer ones.
Apart from its diffraction efficiency, an acousto-optic device’s performance is limited by material transparency range and optical damage threshold; as a result, these devices tend only to work well with narrow spectrum applications.
Acousto-optic devices suffer from relatively poor focusability due to acoustic waves not being contained within the same layers as optical waveguides within their devices, potentially altering their spectral properties and decreasing focusability.
To increase focusability, materials must be selected which allow acoustic waves to remain confined within the same layers as optical waves. There are some promising material platforms available such as zinc oxide1, gallium arsenide2, aluminum nitride3 and lithium niobate4, with low optical and acoustic losses, high piezoelectric coefficients5-10 and very low losses overall.
Acousto-optical devices are commonly constructed of materials like fused quartz, tellurium dioxide, chalcogenide glasses and lithium niobate. The selection of such materials depends on their elasto-optic coefficients and attenuation rates – which determine both its efficiency and figure of merit – among other parameters.
Acousto-optic devices’ diffraction efficiency can be defined as the ratio between energy from a diffraction peak that can be extracted using diffracted light versus total incident and reflected beam energy; and this ratio. This value depends on both material properties as well as acoustic power levels – high power waves may reach 95% efficiency with respect to this metric.
However, at short optical wavelengths high-diffraction efficiency is often limited by material figure of merit and attenuation effects; typically shorter wavelengths have lower figures of merit compared to longer ones.
Apart from its diffraction efficiency, an acousto-optic device’s performance is limited by material transparency range and optical damage threshold; as a result, these devices tend only to work well with narrow spectrum applications.
Acousto-optic devices suffer from relatively poor focusability due to acoustic waves not being contained within the same layers as optical waveguides within their devices, potentially altering their spectral properties and decreasing focusability.
To increase focusability, materials must be selected which allow acoustic waves to remain confined within the same layers as optical waves. There are some promising material platforms available such as zinc oxide1, gallium arsenide2, aluminum nitride3 and lithium niobate4, with low optical and acoustic losses, high piezoelectric coefficients5-10 and very low losses overall.
3. Extinction Ratio
Acousto-optic devices are essential components in many optical systems. Through acoustic interaction, they can modify light’s intensity, frequency and polarization properties by altering parameters of its waves such as their amplitude, phase and frequency.
Acousto-optical devices (AODs) have many uses in laser teleorientation, image processing and RF spectrometry applications; additionally they can also be built as large aperture AO tunable filters for increasing signal-to-noise ratio.
However, acousto-optic devices present some constraints when used for high-power laser applications. First is power density limitation of devices like AOM. Power densities for small AOM may fall as low as 100mW/mm2.
The second limitation of an acousto-optic device is extinction. The extinction coefficient depends on both crystal material and frequency of drive signal; for most crystals, its quadratical relationship indicates its correlation.
At frequencies exceeding 1 GHz, devices will lose significant energy, which may lead to significant optical distortion and can lead to serious transmission losses.
To overcome this problem, acousto-optic modulators are typically connected to an RF driver, an amplifier capable of amplifying low-level output from signal generators up to the power levels necessary for driving an acousto-optic modulator.
Another key limitation of acousto-optic modulators is their modulation bandwidth, typically limited to 25% of their midband acoustic frequency; larger devices like transducers may require more powerful drive circuitry for effective operation.
Acousto-optic devices are often embedded on thin-film lithium niobate, an emerging platform for photonic integration. These devices can be useful in various photonic applications such as microwave-to-optical converters, optical isolators, and tunable filters.
Due to these reasons, acousto-optic devices have become an increasingly popular choice in numerous optical applications. They are particularly well suited for high-speed Q-switched distributed feedback lasers as well as mode-locked all-fiber lasers.
Acousto-optical devices (AODs) have many uses in laser teleorientation, image processing and RF spectrometry applications; additionally they can also be built as large aperture AO tunable filters for increasing signal-to-noise ratio.
However, acousto-optic devices present some constraints when used for high-power laser applications. First is power density limitation of devices like AOM. Power densities for small AOM may fall as low as 100mW/mm2.
The second limitation of an acousto-optic device is extinction. The extinction coefficient depends on both crystal material and frequency of drive signal; for most crystals, its quadratical relationship indicates its correlation.
At frequencies exceeding 1 GHz, devices will lose significant energy, which may lead to significant optical distortion and can lead to serious transmission losses.
To overcome this problem, acousto-optic modulators are typically connected to an RF driver, an amplifier capable of amplifying low-level output from signal generators up to the power levels necessary for driving an acousto-optic modulator.
Another key limitation of acousto-optic modulators is their modulation bandwidth, typically limited to 25% of their midband acoustic frequency; larger devices like transducers may require more powerful drive circuitry for effective operation.
Acousto-optic devices are often embedded on thin-film lithium niobate, an emerging platform for photonic integration. These devices can be useful in various photonic applications such as microwave-to-optical converters, optical isolators, and tunable filters.
Due to these reasons, acousto-optic devices have become an increasingly popular choice in numerous optical applications. They are particularly well suited for high-speed Q-switched distributed feedback lasers as well as mode-locked all-fiber lasers.
4. Focusability
Acoustic-optic devices can be used to modulate laser beams in several ways. They may change its intensity, shift its optical frequency or deflect its path in specific directions – an integral feature of any acousto-optic device.
An acousto-optic crystal is a material that responds to an acoustic wave by changing its optical properties. An acoustic wave compresses and relaxes lattice structures at regular intervals, producing refractive index fluctuations as a result of compression or relaxation; or alternatively manifested as partial deflection of incident light similar to what occurs with diffraction gratings.
Acoustic-optic interactions between an acoustic wave and optical waves depend on its wavelength, or “l”, which determines its diffraction order. Bragg diffraction is one type of acousto-optic diffraction often observed with relatively high acoustic frequencies and long interactions (typically greater than 1 cm).
Acousto-optic devices used in high-power laser applications present several limitations that affect their performance. They must be designed carefully in order to deliver maximum intensity through one diffracted beam and should also have a relatively small diameter at their point of interaction in order to limit bandwidth.
Researchers are developing innovative materials and devices to increase the focusability of acousto-optic devices used in high-power laser applications, including thin-film lithium niobate as an emerging material platform for integrated photonics. Heterogeneously integrating acousto-optic modulators onto this material may increase efficiency by creating more opportunities to interact with acoustic waves.
Thin-film lithium niobate platforms provide another significant advantage, in that they can easily be heterogeneously integrated with other high-performance optical components on a single chip. This feature makes the platform especially useful for increasing modulator performance and could potentially be applied across many applications such as microwave-to-optical converters, optical isolators, tunable filters or future laser devices.
Thin-film lithium niobate material’s acousto-optic properties enable it to efficiently generate acoustic waves, while glasses with large acousto-optic coefficients can magnify this effect. Maximizing their acousto-optic efficiency in high-power laser applications will significantly contribute to their success.
An acousto-optic crystal is a material that responds to an acoustic wave by changing its optical properties. An acoustic wave compresses and relaxes lattice structures at regular intervals, producing refractive index fluctuations as a result of compression or relaxation; or alternatively manifested as partial deflection of incident light similar to what occurs with diffraction gratings.
Acoustic-optic interactions between an acoustic wave and optical waves depend on its wavelength, or “l”, which determines its diffraction order. Bragg diffraction is one type of acousto-optic diffraction often observed with relatively high acoustic frequencies and long interactions (typically greater than 1 cm).
Acousto-optic devices used in high-power laser applications present several limitations that affect their performance. They must be designed carefully in order to deliver maximum intensity through one diffracted beam and should also have a relatively small diameter at their point of interaction in order to limit bandwidth.
Researchers are developing innovative materials and devices to increase the focusability of acousto-optic devices used in high-power laser applications, including thin-film lithium niobate as an emerging material platform for integrated photonics. Heterogeneously integrating acousto-optic modulators onto this material may increase efficiency by creating more opportunities to interact with acoustic waves.
Thin-film lithium niobate platforms provide another significant advantage, in that they can easily be heterogeneously integrated with other high-performance optical components on a single chip. This feature makes the platform especially useful for increasing modulator performance and could potentially be applied across many applications such as microwave-to-optical converters, optical isolators, tunable filters or future laser devices.
Thin-film lithium niobate material’s acousto-optic properties enable it to efficiently generate acoustic waves, while glasses with large acousto-optic coefficients can magnify this effect. Maximizing their acousto-optic efficiency in high-power laser applications will significantly contribute to their success.
