Acoustooptic interaction of two light beams in a paratellurite crystal

Double acoustooptic diffraction of light in a paratellurite crystal is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The anisotropic Bragg interaction with three diffraction maxima is considered in the case when two monochromatic light beams are incident on the crystal simultaneously. For each beam, double diffraction is realized, so that the propagation direction of one of the beams coincides with the propagation direction of the second-order diffracted ray for the other beam. It is shown that the diffraction pattern consists of three diffraction maxima: two of these are formed by the zero- and second-order diffracted rays, while the third maxima is formed by the first-order diffracted rays. The possibility of summation of the radiation intensities at the diffraction maxima is analyzed.