Acousto Optic Deflectors

Acousto optic deflectors AOD . An acousto-optic deflector (AOD) spatially controls the optical beam. In the operation of an acousto-optic deflector the power driving the acoustic transducer is kept on, at a constant level, while the acoustic frequency is varied to deflect the beam to different angular positions. The acousto-optic deflector makes use of the acoustic frequency dependent diffraction angle.AODs are essentially the same as acousto-optic modulators (AOMs). In both an AOM and an AOD, the amplitude and frequency of different orders are adjusted as light is diffracted.