Generalized formulation for the design of phase array Bragg cells in uniaxial crystals

Presented is an exact generalized formulation that describes the behavior of phased-array Bragg cells in birefringent uniaxial crystals. It can be seen as a combination of the two enhancement techniques of phased-array beam steering and tangential phase matching. The design procedure allows for the center frequency, relative bandwidth, acoustic mode, and interaction plane to be selected arbitrarily within a specified range. This flexibility gives it a distinct advantage over tangential phase-matching designs. In addition, the birefringent phased-array design eliminates several of the major disadvantages of conventional birefringent designs, which include the acoustooptic degeneracy at center frequency, the dependence of the acoustic mode on the center frequency, and acoustic walkoff in and normal to the interaction plane