Ion beam milled acousto-optic Bragg cells

The author reports the progress made on the development of acousto-optic Bragg cells for use in the 2-3-GHz range. These devices can satisfy a number of one- and two-dimensional analog signal processing applications, including power spectrum, cross ambiguity and Wigner functions, beamforming and matrix transforms. The transducer structure consists of a thin lithium niobate platelet for shear acoustic wave generation. Since the frequency range requires a lithium niobate platelet which is less than 1 mu m thick, ion beam milling was used for the final platelet thinning stage. A phased array transducer was fabricated on the lithium niobate platelet. Isotropic optical diffraction in gallium phosphide was used.<>