Electronic Tuning, Amplitude Modulation of Lasers by a Computer-Controlled Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter

A novel, compact, all-solid-state, computer-controlled acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) which has no moving parts has been developed. The filter can be successfully used not only for the rapid tuning and amplitude-modulation of the multiwavelength laser beam but also for the stabilization of the power of the diffracted beam regardless of whether it is a continuous single wavelength or a modulated multiwavelength beam. The potential applications of this filter to the spectrochemical methods of analyses are discussed.