Abstract

Many optical signal processing and computing applications require the availability of a fast analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. As a basic building block, an electro-optic directional coupler was used for an optical A/D converter implementation. Previously we have shown that an optical theta-modulation effect could be used for an optical A/D conversion application. In this presentation, an acousto-optic theta-modulation A/D conversion architecture is proposed. An acoustooptic device is used as an optical FM modulator that maps input voltage to an output beam deflection angle. To cast the deflected optical intensity its binary format, a prefabricated intensity-coded A/D conversion mask is used. By means of a commercially available GaP acousto-optic deflector, a 1 new acousto-optic, theta-modulation A/D device in various optical signal processing and computing applications will be addressed.

© 1990 Optical Society of America