Abstract

An acoustooptic system can be characterized in terms of the spatial impulse response or a transfer function which relates the angular plane wave spectrum of the output light field to that of the input light field. A general methodology for calculating the acoustooptic impulse response and transfer function is briefly explained. This methodology is then specifically applied to the case of acoustooptic cells with and without Hamming apodization of the sound field. Results obtained are compared to analytical expressions for the conventional Bragg cell for typical ranges of the Klein-Cook Q parameter¹ and typical sound intensities. Implications of the results relating to beam distortion² in the scattered light field are discussed.

© 1989 Optical Society of America