Acousto-optic tunable band-pass filter
Electro-Optical Products

An Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter is a solid-state, electronically tunable bandpass filter which uses the acousto-optic interaction inside an anisotropic medium. The filters can be used with multi-line sources (mixed gas lasers, laser diodes, etc.) or with broadband light sources (Xenon, Halogen lamps, etc.). They allow the user to select and transmit a single wavelength from the incoming light. The main advantage of this technique is that there are no moving parts and the device is stable and reliable.

The RF frequency applied to the AOTF transducer controls the transmitted (filtered in 1st order) wavelength. A complete spectrum analysis can be done by varying the frequency corresponding to the wavelength range.

The RF amplitude level applied to the transducer controls the transmitted (filtered) light intensity level. This is a unique feature provided by the AOTF. The AOTF has a fast response time (several uSec), is accurate, and exhibits a high extinction ratio.

Up to 12 distinct lines can be mixed and separately modulated using a Polychromatic Modulation System.

The AOTFs are based on TeO2 with shear acoustic mode. The filters are designed for best performance in each wavelength range.

Primary applications: spectroscopic analysis (florescence, transmission, etc.), laser displays.