Laser-Acoustic Signal Processing

The variable delay and processing of RF and microwave signals is a current problem of considerable importance both for the many military applications in radar and electronic counter-measures and for the civilian applications in signal processing. The very low velocity of acoustic waves, as compared to the propagation velocity of electromagnetic signals, permits the fabrication of physically compact systems capable of storing and processing electromagnetic signals. Among the several suggestions for obtaining a continuously variable delay, the use of the laser-acoustic interaction has been shown to be among the most promising.