High‐Quality Acousto‐Optic Modulators with High Diffraction Efficiency, Polarization Extinction Ratio, and Small Insertion Loss Based on a Novel BaO–TeO2–WO3 Glass

Abstract

AbstractThe Q‐switched material and device have attracted extensive attention due to their irreplaceable role in pulsed lasers. In this paper, BaO–TeO2–WO3 glass (BTW glass) with sound velocity and sound attenuation coefficient of 3422 m−1 s and 0.653 dB cm−1 is successfully selected and fabricated as acousto‐optic material. Both free‐spaced and fiber‐coupled acousto‐optic modulation devices based on BTW glass are designed and fabricated. The primary parameters such as diffraction efficiency, polarization extinction ratio, and insertion loss are comparable to or even surpassed that of commercial devices. A 1064 nm pulsed laser is successfully realized with a BTW glass free‐spaced acousto‐optic modulator. The maximum optical conversion efficiency, the narrowest pulse width, and the maximum single pulse energy of the 1064 nm pulsed laser are 32%, 54 ns, and 242.6 µJ, respectively. Both the device and laser performance indicate that the BTW glass is a remarkable acousto‐optic material.