Advances and new applications using the acousto-optic effect in optical fibers - review paper
Pohl, A.
; Oliveira, R.A.
; Silva, R. Ezequiel
; Marques, C.
; Neves, P.T.
; Cook, K.
; Canning, J.
;
Nogueira, R.N.
Photonic Sensors Vol. 3, Nº 1, pp. 1 - 25, March, 2013.
ISSN (print): 1674-9251
ISSN (online): 2190-7439
Scimago Journal Ranking: 0,98 (in 2013)
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1007/s13320-013-0100-0
Abstract
This work presents a short review of the current research on the acousto-optic mechanism applied to optical fibers. The role of the piezoelectric element and the acousto-optic modulator in the excitation of flexural and longitudinal acoustic modes in the frequency range up to 1.2 MHz is highlighted. A combination of the finite elements and the transfer matrix methods is used to simulate the interaction of the waves with Bragg and long period gratings. Results show a very good agreement with experimental data. Recent applications such as the writing of gratings under the acoustic excitation and a novel viscometer sensor based on the acousto-optic mechanism are discussed.
