Evaluation of the Tellurium Dioxide Crystal Shear Acoustic Wave Attenuation at 40–140 MHz Frequency

The attenuation of slow shear acoustic waves in the (110) plane of tellurium dioxide (TeO₂) crystals was investigated. The strong acoustic anisotropy of TeO₂ crystals results in a non-uniform acoustic power distribution, which can introduce errors in conventional acousto-optic testing methods. In this study, we propose a general method to measure the acoustic power distribution along the propagation direction of acoustic waves in non-collinear acousto-optic tunable filters (AOTFs). Additionally, we analyze the errors introduced by the non-uniform acoustic field resulting from strong acoustic anisotropy in acousto-optic testing methods. The measurements were carried out for a crystal cutoff angle of 6.5° from the [110] axis, for the ultrasound frequency range from 40 to 140 MHz. The attenuation coefficients were determined and their quadratic dependence on ultrasound frequency was confirmed.