Optical phase shifting with acousto-optic devices

A novel optical phase-shifting method based on a well-known acousto-optic interaction is proposed. By using a pair of acousto-optic modulators (AOMs) and properly aligning them, we construct an optical phase shifter that can directly control the phase of a collimated beam. The proposed phase shifter is insensitive to the polarization of the incident beam when polarization-insensitive AOMs are used, and no calibration is necessary. The proposed approach is confirmed with experimental results. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.