Effect of polarization ellipticity of the incident optical wave on acousto-optic diffraction efficiency and intensity modulation: case of TeO2 crystals

The present work is devoted to the experimental study of the effect of polarization of the incident optical wave on the efficiency of acousto-optic diffraction in optically active paratellurite crystal. We found that the maximum efficiency occurs when the ellipticity of the incident optical wave's polarization matches the ellipticity of the polarization of the eigenwave involved in the acousto-optic interaction. In this work, we have experimentally demonstrated that by modulating the ellipticity of the incident optical wave, it is possible to modulate the intensity of the diffracted optical wave. Therefore, a new type of modulation of the acousto-optically diffracted optical wave, to our knowledge, is revealed.