Acousto-electro-optic phase gratings for optical signal processing applications

Electrooptic and acoustooptic phase gratings perform many useful operations and often compete with each other for similar applications. Using piezoelectric crystals, it is possible to generate a simultaneous acoustoelectro- optic (AEO) grating, which has advantages over applying either effect separately. The AEO effect using surface acoustic waves and electrooptic interdigital transducers is discussed. Coupled mode theory has been used to analyze the resulting diffraction effects, and experimental results in both the Bragg and Raman-Nath regimes are reported. The device can perform fundamental operations such as convolution, correlation, and optical matrix processing. We propose AEO components for use in spread spectrum systems, hybrid optical bistability, and adaptive phased array antenna control.