Abstract

Both acoustooptic (AO) and electrooptic (EO) interactions can be generated simultaneously in piezoelectric crystals to produce an acousto–electrooptic (AEO) effect. Because these crystals are anisotropic, the AEO interaction is affected by factors such as the crystal cut and polarization of both the optical and acoustic signals. We have developed a general theory to describe such interactions while treating pure AO and EO modulation as special cases. The contributions of both longitudinal and transverse components of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and EO transducers are developed separately; this theory also describes AEO interactions in isotropic media such as gallium arsenide, which is of interest for integrated optics applications. In particular, because of the anisotropic nature of the crystals, the diffracted light intensity is strongly polarization dependent. The position of the Bragg diffracted orders and the angular bandwidth of the interaction are also affected. We quantitatively studied these effects in lithium niobate and performed computer simulations of the diffracted light intensity in various conditions. In addition, our theory indicates that anisotropic media may exhibit optical properties similar to isotropic crystals in certain conditions.

© 1988 Optical Society of America