Acousto-Optic Modulators

Left: Acousto-optic tunable filters. Right: Acousto-optic deflectors

(Crystal Technology LLC, a Gooch and Housego Company)
Acousto-Optic Effect
• Definition
It is a change of a material's permittivity (ε) due to a mechanical strain

• Materials
Fused silica, arsenic trisulphide, lead silicate, and other materials.
Acousto-Optic Modulator (AOM or
Deflector)
Definition
• A device which can be used for controlling the power, frequency or
spatial direction of a laser beam with an acoustic wave.
 Acousto-Optic Modulators

A schematic illustration of the principle of the acousto-optic modulator.

 Photoelastic Effect
1
 2   pe S
Change n 
Strain
Refractive Photoelastic
index coefficient
The strain changes the density of the crystal and distorts the bonds (and
hence the electron orbits), which lead to a change in the refractive index n.
 Acousto-Optic Modulation Regime

Illustration of (a) Raman-Nath and (b) Bragg regimes of operation for an acousto-optic
modulator. In the Raman regime, the diffraction occurs as if it were occurring from a line
grating. In the Bragg regime, there is a through beam and only one diffracted beam
 Raman-Nath Regime
Acoustic
Beam length wavelength

L << L /l
2

Wavelength of light

Acoustic velocity

L = va/f
Acoustic frequency
Raman-Nath regime, the diffraction occurs as if it were occurring from a line grating,
that is L is very short
 Bragg Regime
Acoustic
Beam length wavelength

L >> L /l
2

Wavelength of light

Acoustic velocity

L = va/f
Acoustic frequency

In the Bragg regime, there is a through beam and only one diffracted beam
 Acousto-Optic Modulators

Definitions of L and H based on the transducer and the AO modulator geometry used
 Bragg Regime

Consider two coherent optical waves A and B being reflected from two adjacent acoustic
wave fronts to become A1 and B1. These reflected waves can only constitute the diffracted
beam if they are in phase. The angle q is exaggerated (typically, this is a few degrees).
 Bragg Regime
A diffracted beam is generated, only when the incidence angle q (internal to the
crystal) satisfies

2Lsinq = l/n ; q  qB

The angle q that satisfies this equation is called the
Bragg angle qB

q is small so that sinq  q

In terms of external angles (exterior to the crystal)

2Lsinq = l/n ; q  qB
 Frequency Shift
Doppler effect gives rise to a shift in frequency

w = w ± W
Acoustic frequency
Diffracted light frequency
Incident light frequency

Frequency is w Frequency is w
We can also use photon and phonon interaction

Incoming Scattered
photon photon

Consider energy and

momentum conservation
Phonon
in the
w = w ± W
crystal
2Lsinq = l/n
 Diffraction Efficiency DE

Ii I1

Diffraction efficiency Acoustic power

I1 
2   L  
1/ 2

DE   sin   M 2 Pa  
Ii  l  2 H  
Figure of merit
M2: Figure of Merit
Photoelastic coefficient
Refractive index

6 2
n p
M2 
v a
3

Density Acoustic velocity

 M2: Figure of Merit
Properties and figures of merit M2 for various acousto-optic materials. n is the refractive index, v is the acoustic
velocity, and pij is the maximum photoelastic coefficient . (Extracted from I-Cheng Chang, Ch 6, "Acousto-
Optic Modulators" in The Handbook of Optics, Vol. V, Ed. M. Bass et al, McGraw-Hill, 2010)

Material LiNbO3 TeO2 Ge GaAs GaP PbMoO4 Fused Ge33Se55As12

silica glass

Useful l (mm) 0.6- 4.5 0.4-5 2-20 1-11 0.6-10 0.4-1.2 0.2-4.5 1.0-14

 (g cm-3) 4.64 6.0 5.33 5.34 4.13 6.95 2.2 4.4

n 2.2 2.26 4 3.37 3.31 2.4 1.46 2.7

(at mm) (0.633) (0.633) (10.6) (1.15) (1.15) (0.633) (0.63)

Maximum pij 0.18 0.34 -0.07a -0.17b -0.151 0.3 0.27 0.21c

(0.63 mm) (p31) (p13) (p44) (p11) (p11) (p33) (p12) (p11, p12)

va (km s-1) 6.6 4.2 5.5 5.3 6.3 3.7 6 2.5

M2 × 10-15 (s3 kg-1) 7 35 181 104 45 36 1.5 248

Notes: a2.0-2.2 mm; b1.15 mm; c1.06 mm
 Analog Modulation

Analog modulation of an AO modulator. Ii is the input intensity, I0 is the zero-order diffraction, i.e. the
transmitted light, and I1 is the first order diffracted (reflected) light.
 Digital Modulation

Digital modulation of an AO modulator

 SAW Based Waveguide AO Modulator

A simplified and schematic illustration of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) based

waveguide AO modulator. The polarity of the electrodes shown is at one instant,
since the applied voltage is from an ac (RF) source.
 AO Modulator: Example
Example: Suppose that we generate 150 MHz acoustic waves on a TeO2 crystal. The RF
transducer has a length (L) of 10 mm and a height (H) of 5 mm. Consider modulating a
red-laser beam from a He-Ne laser, l = 632.8 nm. Calculate the acoustic wavelength and
hence the Bragg deflection angle. What is the Doppler shift in the wavelength? What is the
relative intensity in the first order reflected beam if the RF acoustic power is 1.0 W
Solution
f = Frequency of the acoustic waves
L = Acoustic wavelength

v a ( 4.2  103 m s-1 ) -5

L  6 -1
 2.8  10 m
f (150  10 s )
L2/l =(2.8×10-5 m)2/(0.6328×10-6 m) = 1.2 mm.
L = 10 mm >> 1.2 mm, we can assume Bragg regime
 AO Modulator: Example
Solution
The external Bragg angle is

l (632.8  10-9 m )
sin q   -5
 0.0113
2L 2(2.8  10 m)
so that q = 0.65° or a deflection angle 2q of 1.3°. Note that we could have
easily used sinq  q.
The Doppler shift in frequency = 150 MHz.
The diffraction efficiency into the first order is

I1    L  
1/ 2

DE   sin  
2
M 2 Pa  
Ii  l  2 H   M2 for TeO

   10  10 -3
 
1/ 2

DE  sin 
2

-9  -3
-15
(35  10 )(1)    0.64 or 67%
 (632.8  10 )  2(5  10 )  
 Module 7: Optoelectronic Modulators

Basic principle, Birefringence, Optical Activity, Electro –Optic

modulators, Acousto-Optic modulators, Magneto-Optic
modulators

Reference :
Safa O. kasap, “Optoelectronics and Photonics-Principles
and Practices”, Peasrson India 2009