Comparison Of Acousto-Electric And Acousto-Optic Signal Processing Devices

Developers of surface-wave acoustooptic (AO) and acoustoelectric (AE) devices are currently competing with one another by conducting feasibility demonstrations which suggest substantial analog signal-processing capabilities. The development of one AE surface-acoustic-wave device, a wideband convolver, is currently in a more advanced state in terms of system-worthiness than are AO and other AE devices. However, in terms of future potential in most systems applications, it has not been apparent whether either class of devices has had a clear advantage. In this paper, figures of merit as well as design tradeoffs in the two technologies are compared. These comparisons focus on those areas of the competing technologies which will be most stressed as the devices become system-worthy components in the near future. Projections are made for the realization of practical devices capable of providing, with adequate dynamic range, the signal-processing gains suggested by the feasibility demonstrations. It is concluded that each system application must be considered individually to determine whether AE or AO devices are the most advantageous.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.