Abstract

The combined interaction of a probing laser beam with an ideal stationary reference grating (SRG) and a traveling grating produced by a surface acoustic wave (SAW) has been reported elsewhere.¹ This intermodulation effect has been used previously to determine the divergence of the probing laser beam.² Recent observations of the detected intensity modulation at the fundamental SAW frequency using a transmission configuration with an imperfect rectangular phase SRG (where both the SRG and the SAW had periods of ~40 µm) have produced data that show unexpected proximity dependence for the primary orders of diffraction. These results do not fit the analysis of the transmission experiment where an idealized rectangular phase reference grating is assumed. This suggests the possible application of this technique for examining grating imperfections.

© 1989 Optical Society of America