Diffraction Properties and Beam-Propagation Analysis of Waveguide-Type Acoustooptic Modulator Driven by Surface Acoustic Wave

摘要

A waveguide-type acoustooptic modulator (AOM) driven by a surface acoustic wave (SAW) in a tapered crossed-channel waveguide on a 128°-rotated Y-cut LiNbO_3 substrate has been proposed for an optical wavelength of 1.55 μm. In this study, to clarify the conditions for a higher diffraction efficiency and a lower driving power, the diffraction properties of the waveguide-type AOM were measured and simulated. First, an AOM with an AO interaction region length of 3 mm was fabricated and the diffraction efficiency of 65% was obtained. Next, the measured values of the SAW power required for 100% diffraction (P_(100)) for the driving frequencies of 125 MHz and 200 MHz were found to be in agreement with the calculated P_(100), which shows that there is an optimum driving frequency. Furthermore, optical frequency domain ranging using a frequency-shifted-feedback fiber laser with the waveguide-type AOM was demonstrated. Finally, the diffraction properties of the waveguide-type AOM are simulated using a beam-propagation method (BPM) and compared with the experimental results.