Feasibility study and design effort for new extremely efficient wideband large time-bandwidth product and low spurious response acousto-optic Bragg cells are proposed. An advanced bulk slow shear wave Bragg cell with 70 micro-second delay time and 45 MHz bandwidth will be designed and fabricated for in-house evaluation. This device will be delivered to the army for further evaluation at the end of this proposed program. Exploration of surface acoustic waves on TeO(2) will be conducted both analytically and experimentally. The investigation include launching of SAW on TeO(2), physical properties of SAW on TeO(2), interaction with laser beam, and advanced techniques. Possibility of optical guidewave acousto-optic devices will also be studied. Sample of the best SAW launching unit on TeO(2) will be delivered for further evaluation. The analytical and experimental results will be presented in the final technical report. These results will be employed for recommendation of Phase II effort.
Benefits: The improved Bragg cell will be useful for DoD acousto-optic signal processing application such as Geolocation, SAR return processing, EW and Elint receivers. Low drive power high time-bandwidth product deflectors are useful for commercial applications such as scanning laser microscope, color laser printer, semiconductor pattern generation, deposition, and repair equipments
