Wide-band acousto-optic deflectors with high efficiency for visible range fringe pattern projector

A laser fringe projection system based on a pair of identical acousto-optic TeO2 deflectors operated at the same frequency and using tangential phase matching anisotropic interaction is demonstrated, achieving large bandwidth and high efficiency. A 40 MHz bandwidth and an acousto-optic efficiency higher than 60% have been measured at wavelength of 514 nm. The specific pris-matic configuration of the in-house developed deflectors greatly facilitates optical alignment of the instrument. The spatial period of the interference fringes can be dynamically controlled over almost one decade by tuning the frequency of the acoustic carriers. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.