Composite acousto-optic modulation interferometer driven by a single radio frequency source

We present a robust composite acousto-optic modulator (AOM) interferometer driven by one radio-frequency (RF) source. This design inherits the merits of classical dual-RF configurations-namely, high diffraction efficiency and broad operational bandwidth-while also achieving long-term stability through the inherent synchronization provided by the single-RF configuration itself. This is particularly advantageous when high-performance RF sources or synchronization devices are unavailable. Also, the introduced external phase shifter enables rapid amplitude modulation of the diffracted beam through voltage tuning, demonstrating its ability to achieve high-speed phase control with significantly enhanced bandwidth compared to conventional internal methods. Furthermore, we have theoretically and experimentally relaxed the requirement for the diffraction efficiency of the two AOM components by introducing a complementary condition. This robust single-RF-based AOM interferometry shows great promise for applications in precision metrology, quantum optics, and optical communications.