Theory of acoustooptical filtration of light beams in the inhomogeneous acoustic field

The theory of acoustooptical (AO) interaction between light beams in the longitudinally inhomogeneous acoustic field is constructed with allowance for conditions typical of AO filtration. In the case of smooth acoustic inhomogeneities, analytical expressions for the spatially spectral characteristic relating the spatial spectra of incident and diffracted light beams are derived. The situation where a Gaussian light beam undergoes filtration in the acoustic field excited by a rectangular transducer is discussed in detail. The narrowband quasi-collinear AO filter based on a paratellurite crystal is simulated. It is demonstrated that the maximum diffraction efficiency and transmission-function shape distortion (with respect to the plane-wave model) of the given device depend to the greatest extent on the misalignment between the directions of the group velocities of interacting light beams.