Surface-emitting electroholographic SAW modulator

Abstract

We report the design and operation of a surface-emitting surface acoustic wave (SAW) acousto-optical modulator which behaves as a cm-scale linear hologram in response to an applied electronic waveform. The modulator is formed by an optical waveguide, transducer, and out-coupling surface grating on a 1 mm-thick lithium niobate substrate. We demonstrate the ability to load and illuminate a 9-region linear hologram into the modulator's 8 mm-long interaction region using applied waveforms of 280-320 MHz. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a monolithically-integrated, surface-emitting SAW modulator fabricated using lithographic techniques. Applications include practical implementations of a holographic display.