Design of a radio frequency compensation system, using the electrical characterisation of a multi-transducer acousto-optical tunable filter

Acousto-Optical Tunable Filters (AOTFs) make use of the interaction between sound and light. To generate an ultrasound diffraction grating, a Radio-Frequency (RF) signal is applied to a piezoelectric transducer. The optical pass band can be controlled by adapting the properties of this transducer and the RF-signal. To achieve more precise...

Acousto-Optical Tuneable Filter design for efficient diffraction of unpolarised light

Diffraction of optical waves by an acoustic grating is a well-known phenomenon that enables the design of very versatile devices useful in photonic systems. For example, Acousto-Optic Tuneable Filters (AOTFs) can be dynamically tuned by radio-frequency signals. Among possible material choice, tellurium dioxide crystal is often used for practical...

Enhancing the AOTF-based NO2 camera with light polarization sensitivity for aerosol retrievals

The AOTF-based NO2 camera is a remote sensing instrument primarily aimed at imaging and quantifying the NO2 field above cities or in industrial plumes. The measurement principle consists in acquiring a number of spectral images of the scene at selected wavelengths. Each pixel is therefore recording a discrete spectrum of the radiance collected...

The design of a flexible RF generator for driving Acousto-Optical devices in space applications

Acousto-Optical (AO) devices are not only used for filtering purposes in spectral<br/>imaging, but also in optical communications and spatial tracking systems. Some AO devices with space applications are AO Tunable Filters (AOTFs), Modulators (AOMs), Deflectors (AODs) and Frequency Shifters (AOFSs). Though these device’s applications differ,...

Performance of the AOTF-based NO2 camera for urban pollution imaging

An instrument capable of imaging the field of NO2 in various open-air situations has been designed, manufactured, and tested. It is an improved version of the NO2 camera relying on an AOTF (acousto-optical tunable filter) which has demonstrated, amongst other things, its capability to quantify the NO2 released by power plant smokestacks. The...