Abstract

In perhaps no other field than acoustooptics have so many concepts been rediscovered and so many devices reinvented. The reason for this is that, with the appearance of the laser, acoustooptics suddenly changed from an esoteric mathematics discipline into a relevant engineering technology. In the rush to exploit useful applications, ranging from beam deflectors to signal processors, it was often easier—and always more exciting—to reinvent new devices rather than read old articles. Also, mathematics had dressed the once earthy body of acoustooptics with layer on layer of increasingly frivolous theories that applied to decreasingly realistic models. It, therefore, often made good sense to start all over again guided by physical intuition. Unavoidably then, many concepts were rediscovered, such as the Debye-Sears wave vector diagram of phase synchronous interaction, Brillouin’s rescattering interpretation of multiple orders, and Van Cittert’s cascaded grating approach to strong interaction. As regards experiments, devices, and systems, a similar situation developed, as exemplified by the repeat (along modern lines) of Ali’s frequency shift measurement, the reemergence of the Scophony system of TV display, and the rediscovery of Ocolicsanyi’s highly original ideas about signal processing. I trace some of the links that connect present-day acoustooptic theory and practice to the past and speculate on how they may extend into the future.

© 1988 Optical Society of America