Image transformation caused by wide-angle acousto-optic interaction

The problem of diffraction of divergent image-transfer light beams by an acoustic wave is considered. Expressions that describe the transfer function as a function of spectral and angular coordinates and are valid for any birefringence are obtained for the first time. The main characteristics of wide-angle acousto-optic tunable filters (angular and spectral bandwidths) are calculated and compared with the experimental data. The dependence of the transfer function on the angle of light incidence is investigated and a fundamental change in its topology is shown.