Efficiencies and Bandwidths of Intracavity Acousto-optic Devices

Acousto-optic devices based on isotropic and anisotropic acoustic Bragg diffraction will be discussed in terms of their efficiency and bandwidth. The conflicting requirements on the width W of the acoustic column with regard to efficiency and bandwidth determine the basic limitations of the devices. A scheme using the acousto-optic devices within a flat-field conjugate (FFC) angularly degenerate laser cavity has been experimentally demonstrated. The bandwidth of the new scheme is limited by the field angle of the FFC cavity instead of by W
⁻¹
. The width W can be made as large as possible to increase the diffraction efficiency without decreasing the bandwidth. The new scheme provides means for high efficiency and large bandwidth in optical deflection and signal processing systems.