Acoustic wave diffraction for array processing

Many coherent optical processing techniques that are based on wave diffraction can be carried out using acoustic waves. An array of acoustic transducers serves as a coherent radiation source, spatial modulator, and lens. Complex input data are entered by amplitude and phase modulation of the RF transducer drives. The output is retrieved from a second transducer array. This paper discusses the surface acoustic wave (SAW) implementation of space and time Fourier transforms, the effect of material anisotropy, and the results of an experimental SAW RF spectrum analyzer fabricated on LiNbO3.