Acousto-optical imaging spectropolarimetric devices: new opportunities and developments

Abstract

We report design and prototype performance of an acousto-optical imaging spectropolarimeter aimed for the 2.5 m telescope at Caucasian Mountain Observatory of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Special geometry of the acousto-optical interaction provides two diffracted beams polarized along the slow and the fast axes of the crystal. The optical system of the spectrometer consisting of plane and elliptical mirrors delivers the images of the object with two orthogonal polarizations to a single CCD matrix, increasing the focal ratio of the telescope.