Lead Molybdate: A Melt-Grown Crystal With a High Figure of Merit for Acousto-Optic Device Applications

Crystalline lead molybdate PbMoO4 has been found to be well suited for acousto-optical device applications. This material has desirable properties similar to the previously reported α-iodic acid α-HIO3. However, PbMoO4, unlike α-HIO3, is insoluble in water and can therefore be readily fabricated into devices and its optical surfaces do not require protection from the atmosphere. The elastic, photoelastic, optical, and thermal properties of PbMoO4 have been measured. These data have been used in the design of several acousto-optic devices. An example consisting of a two stage (horizontal and vertical) acoustically driven light deflector is described. Each stage of this deflector has an 80-MHz bandwidth and can deflect over 50% of an incident laser beam (5145 Å) with less than 1 W of electrical drive power.