Multichannel acousto-optic correlator for time delay computation

摘要

A first signal acousto-optic (AO) cell together with a first signal source for injecting a first signal therein is disclosed along with a second AO cell together with a second signal source for injecting a second signal therein, to be correlated with the first signal. A first plus one diffracted order beam emerges from the first cell and is directed at a second cell to produce second and third plus one diffracted order beams which overlap and which produce an interference pattern that is focused on a photodetector array which determines the degree of correlation between the first and second signals. A Dove prism is employed between the cells to cause the second and third beams at the array to be counter-propagating and to control the spatial frequency of the interference pattern produced by these beams.