Generation of acoustic vortices and acousto-optic interactions with acoustic vortex beams.

We demonstrate the generation of acoustic vortex beams with the aid of an acoustic spiral phase plate and an acoustic grating having a fork-like bifurcation of its slits. The acoustic vortex beam generated in this manner influences the particles floating on a water surface and rotates them. Our experiments show that the intensity of the acoustic vortex beam increases from zero in its center to a certain maximal value near the shell of the beam.

Experimental determination of full matrices of the piezo-optic and elasto-optic coefficients for PbGeO crystals.

We determine full matrices of piezo-optic and elasto-optic coefficients for lead germanate crystals, , using Dixon-Cohen and interferometric methods. Two different types of samples are studied, single- and multi-domain. We show that the correct data for the crystals can be obtained only with single-domain samples, since the domain structure induces a number of features that make the final results unreliable.

Anisotropy of acousto-optic figure of merit for the case of a Bragg-diffracted wave propagating along an optic axis in optically biaxial crystals: TlAsS crystals.

In the present work, we analyze acousto-optic (AO) interactions under the condition when a diffracted optical wave propagates along one of the optic axes in optically biaxial crystals. We find that the number of AO interaction types is reduced from nine, which is typical for the most general case, to six, since some of the isotropic and anisotropic diffraction types manifest themselves simultaneously. We reveal that, in the case of the interactions of quasi-ordinary and quasi-extraordinary optical waves, the dependences of effective elasto-optic coefficients and AO figure of merit on the tracing angle of an incident optical beam around the optic axis are symmetric with respect to the plane that is perpendicular to the plane of optic axes and contains the principal axis .

Anisotropy of acousto-optic figure of merit for LiNbO crystals-anisotropic diffraction: erratum.

We address the errors found in our recent analysis of anisotropy of the acousto-optic figure of merit performed for the case of LiNbO crystals [Appl. Opt.55, 2439 (2016)APOPAI0003-693510.

Anisotropy of acousto-optic figure of merit for LiNbO crystals: anisotropic diffraction.

We have developed a method for the analysis of anisotropy of an acousto-optic figure of merit (AOFM), which is valid for the case of anisotropic diffraction in the trigonal crystals of the point symmetries 3m, 32, and 3¯m. The method is verified via the example of LiNbO crystals. The relations for the effective elasto-optic coefficients and the AOFM are obtained for the three types of acousto-optic (AO) interactions peculiar for the anisotropic AO diffraction: the interaction of a so-called type VII with a quasi-longitudinal acoustic wave and the interactions of types VIII and IX with two quasi-transverse acoustic waves.

Anisotropy of the acousto-optic figure of merit for LiNbO₃ crystals: isotropic diffraction.

We have developed an approach for analyzing the anisotropy of the acousto-optic figure of merit (AOFM) for lithium niobate crystals in the case of isotropic acousto-optic (AO) diffraction. The working relations for the effective elasto-optic coefficients and the AOFM have been derived. We have found that, under the conditions of isotropic AO diffraction, the maximum AOFM value for LiNbO3 is equal to 11.

Anisotropy of acousto-optic figure of merit in optically isotropic media.

We suggest a new approach for analyzing spatial anisotropy of an acousto-optic figure of merit (AOFM). The relations for the effective elasto-optic coefficients and the AOFM are derived for all possible types of acousto-optic (AO) interactions in optically isotropic media, including nonsolid-state and solid-state amorphous media and crystals belonging to the cubic system. Our approach allows for finding the optimal geometries of AO interactions characterized by the highest AOFM for a given material.