Polarization effects at collinear acousto-optic interaction

Collinear acousto-optic diffraction of an arbitrarily polarized optical radiation is studied theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that in the general case the diffracted light spectrum at the acousto-optic cell output consists of four components with different frequencies and polarizations. Beatings of these components lead to intensity modulation of the light passed through an output analyzer. Dependences of output intensity components on ultrasound frequency and acoustic power are examined for different orientations of the polarizer and the analyzer. Experimental investigations are carried out with a collinear acousto-optic cell fabricated with calcium molybdate single crystal.

► Collinear acousto-optic diffraction of arbitrarily polarized light is studied.
► The diffracted spectrum consists of four components with different frequencies.
► Their beatings lead to intensity modulation of output light.
► Influence of frequency and power of ultrasound on the diffracted spectrum is examined.
► Experimental investigations are carried out with a collinear calcium molybdate cell.