Acousto optical modulators

  • Thread starter Thread starter Niles
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Optical
AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on the operation of acousto-optical modulators (AOMs) in the Bragg regime, specifically regarding the frequency shift of the diffracted wave. The frequency shift Ω is determined by both the driving frequency of the AOM and the angle of incidence of the incoming light, which affects the angle θ of the diffracted beam. A point of confusion arises regarding the relationship between the frequency shift and the phonon frequency, as the latter is constant. Participants share their experiences with different textbooks, with one recommending Boyd's "Nonlinear Optics" for its comprehensive coverage of acousto-optics. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding the interplay between angle and frequency in AOM operation.
Niles
Messages
1,834
Reaction score
0
Hi

Say I am looking at an AOM working in the Bragg regime (i.e., only a single diffracted beam). It is easy to show using Bragg's law that the frequency-shift Ω of the diffracted wave is given by
<br /> \Omega = 2n\omega \frac{v}{c}\sin(\theta)<br />
Here Ω is *also* the frequency the AOM is driven with, in other words the LHS is constant in the sense that in does not depend on the incoming light (so the frequency-shift imparted on the wave is constant). However, the RHS does depend on the incoming light, since the angle θ of the diffracted beam is equal to the angle of incidence of the incoming beam, so I can change it easily by e.g. turning the AOM.

In my book it says that the shift Ω is zero for forward scattering and maximum for backscattering. This is what I don't understand: The shift Ω is the same as the frequency of the phonons in the material, which is *constant*. So how can I change the frequency shift of the diffracted wave by changing the angle on incidence? Niles.
 
Last edited:
Science news on Phys.org
OK, I understand my error now.
 
What book are you using? I have one by Korpel, and it's not working for me...
 
I am using Boyd's Nonlinear Optics, it has a nice chapter on spontaneous light-scattering including Acoustooptics. I hope it works out. Niles.
 
Thread 'A quartet of epi-illumination methods'
Well, it took almost 20 years (!!!), but I finally obtained a set of epi-phase microscope objectives (Zeiss). The principles of epi-phase contrast is nearly identical to transillumination phase contrast, but the phase ring is a 1/8 wave retarder rather than a 1/4 wave retarder (because with epi-illumination, the light passes through the ring twice). This method was popular only for a very short period of time before epi-DIC (differential interference contrast) became widely available. So...
I am currently undertaking a research internship where I am modelling the heating of silicon wafers with a 515 nm femtosecond laser. In order to increase the absorption of the laser into the oxide layer on top of the wafer it was suggested we use gold nanoparticles. I was tasked with modelling the optical properties of a 5nm gold nanoparticle, in particular the absorption cross section, using COMSOL Multiphysics. My model seems to be getting correct values for the absorption coefficient and...
After my surgery this year, gas remained in my eye for a while. The light air bubbles appeared to sink to the bottom, and I realized that the brain was processing the information to invert the up/down/left/right image transferred to the retina. I have a question about optics and ophthalmology. Does the inversion of the image transferred to the retina depend on the position of the intraocular focal point of the lens of the eye? For example, in people with farsightedness, the focal point is...
Back
Top