Experimental Study of Optical Characteristics of an Acousto-Optic Filter in a Wavelength Interval of 450–1700 nm

An acousto-optic (AO) tunable filter based on a paratellurite (TeO 2 ) crystal with two piezoelectric transducers that provides arbitrary spectral addressing in a wavelength interval of 450–1700 nm is developed. The geometric parameters of the crystal are calculated from the condition for minimization of the chromatic shift of image in the confocal optical system of the spectrometer within the entire working spectral interval. The resolution and transmittance are experimentally studied versus the aperture of the AO filter and the working wavelength. Examples of spectral images of test objects obtained with the aid of a prototype of a video spectrometer based on the AO filter are presented.