Abstract

When light diffracts from sound waves in an acoustooptic (AO) device the diffraction process results in a nonlinear amplification or reduction of the acoustic signal strength in the device which, in turn, alters the intensity of the diffracting optical beams.¹ We describe recent experiments using prototype AO devices designed to optimize this nonlinear response. In particular we show that the overall diffraction efficiency of these devices may be increased more than one hundred times under illumination by pulsed optical beams with intensities in the 1 MW/cm² range. This large increase in diffraction implies that we have provided again mechanism that more than compensates for the usual attenuation experienced by high frequency acoustic waves in AO media, thus providing the potential for optically pumped acoustic oscillation. After describing our experiments and the theoretical underpinnings of these phenomena, we discuss some potential device applications of the novel AO nonlinearity.

© 1991 Optical Society of America