title: Fast spatial beam shaping by acousto-optic diffraction for 3D non-linear microscopy.
abstract: Acousto-optic deflection (AOD) devices offer unprecedented fast control of the entire spatial structure of light beams, most notably their phase. AOD light modulation of ultra-short laser pulses, however, is not straightforward to implement because of intrinsic chromatic dispersion and non-stationarity of acousto-optic diffraction. While schemes exist to compensate chromatic dispersion, non-stationarity remains an obstacle. In this work we demonstrate an efficient AOD light modulator for stable phase modulation using time-locked generation of frequency-modulated acoustic waves at the full repetition rate of a high power laser pulse amplifier of 80 kHz. We establish the non-local relationship between the optical phase and the generating acoustic frequency function and verify the system for temporal stability, phase accuracy and generation of non-linear two-dimensional phase functions.
authors.forename: Walther
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Akemann
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Léger
authors.forename: Cathie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ventalon
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathieu
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dieudonné
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bourdieu