Method and signal generator for driving an acousto-optic element

A method for driving an acousto-optic element with an acousto-optic crystal and a piezoelectric transducer for setting the acousto-optic crystal in a mechanical vibration, the method comprising:

• driving the piezoelectric transducer with a drive signal with at least one drive frequency,
• wherein the at least one drive frequency in alternation takes on a plurality of different values around a center frequency during a passage of a mechanical vibrational wave through the acousto-optic crystal, such that a grating that is produced owing to density fluctuations in the acousto-optic crystal exhibits different grating spacings at the same time, the grating having grating constants that change from zone to zone across the acousto-optic crystal, and
• wherein, at a point in time during the passage of the mechanical vibrational wave through the acousto-optic crystal, the grating constants repeat such that non-adjacent ones of the zones exhibit a same grating spacing.