Design considerations for acousto-optic devices

The design and fabrication of wide-band bulk acousto-optic modulators (temporal modulation) and beam deflectors (spatial modulation) are described. Optimized device parameters can be obtained systematically for given specifications of the desired modulation bandwidth, throughput efficiency and number of resolvable elements. As the device operating frequency goes beyond a few hundred megahertz, the acoustic transducer response becomes sensitive to the intermediate metal layers between the piezoelectric transducer and the acoustooptic interaction medium. Transducer bandwidth and impedance matching can be optimized using computer modeling programs. Criteria for material selection based on performance requirements and propagation loss are presented. Practical considerations for the fabrication of high performance devices and specific device parameters are discussed.