Abstract

The combined interaction of a probing laser beam with traveling and stationary gratings has been studied previously in the Raman-Nath diffraction regime.^1,2 This analysis was recently extended to include the interaction of diffracted orders from a surface acoustic wave (SAW) with a stationary Bragg regime grating using coupled wave analysis.² That report demonstrated that the modulated intensity of the diffracted orders due to the interaction of the probing beam with a SAW and a Raman-Nath regime reference grating was not necessarily sinusoidal. The resulting intensity modulation for the combined interaction of the beam with a SAW and a Bragg regime reference grating was found to be purely sinusoidal. In fact, for specular and primary diffracted orders from the acoustic grating satisfying the reference grating's Bragg condition simultaneously, the intensity is modulated at the fundamental SAW frequency. This paper summarizes the essential elements of the analysis and discusses experimental configurations used to study the interaction of a probing beam with a SAW and holographic reference gratings recorded in LiNbO₃ and GaAs.

© 1989 Optical Society of America