Abstract

The behavior of the first-order diffracted beam of an acousto-optic modulator is investigated under rotation of the acousto-optic crystal about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the incident and diffracted beams. It is found that the diffraction efficiency as a function of this rotation is not symmetric about the Bragg angle of incidence. A unidirectional device for a ring dye laser that uses this effect is demonstrated.

© 1988 Optical Society of America

Acousto-optic modulators as unidirectional devices in ring lasers

Murray K. Reed and William K. Bischel
Opt. Lett. 17(9) 691-693 (1992)

Acousto-optic modulator as an electronically selectable unidirectional device in a ring laser

R. Roy, P. A. Schulz, and A. Walther
Opt. Lett. 12(9) 672-674 (1987)

Explanation of the mechanism for acousto-optically induced unidirectional operation of a ring laser

W. A. Clarkson, A. B. Neilson, and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 17(8) 601-603 (1992)

Single-frequency Q-switched operation of a diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser using an acousto-optic modulator

L. J. Bromley and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 16(6) 378-380 (1991)

High efficiency tunable unidirectional single-longitudinal-mode Er:YAG ring laser based on an acousto-optic modulator

Shuai Huang, Chaoyong Chen, Kaixin Wang, Xu Zhang, Qing Wang, and Chunqing Gao
Opt. Express 29(5) 6445-6452 (2021)