Fluctuations of optical phase of diffracted light for Raman–Nath diffraction in acousto–optic effect.

The Raman–Nath diffraction in acousto–optic effect was studied theoretically and experimentally in the paper. Up to now, each order of diffracted light in Raman–Nath diffraction was still considered simply to be just frequency-shifted and to be a plane wave. However, we find that the phase and frequency shifts occur simultaneously and individually in Raman–Nath diffraction. The findings demonstrate that, in addition to the frequency shift, the optical phase of each order of diffracted light is also shifted by the sound wave and fluctuates with the sound wave and is related to the location in the acoustic field from which the diffracted light originates. As a result, the wavefront of each order of diffracted light is modulated to fluctuate spatially and temporally with the sound wave. Obviously, these findings are significant for applications of Raman–Nath diffraction in acousto–optic effect because the optical phase plays an important role in optical coherence technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]