Acousto-optic device with electrode having different transverse edge positions

A telecentric-confocal AOTF-based imaging system, comprising:

• an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF), comprising:
• an AO interaction crystal for receiving and propagating a light ray along an optical propagation direction (OPD);
• a piezoelectric transducer on at least one surface of said AO interaction crystal for receiving an electrical signal and emitting an acoustic wave into said AO interaction crystal, and
• an electrode on said piezoelectric transducer for coupling said electrical signal to said piezoelectric transducer,
• wherein said electrode is a patterned electrode that includes a plurality of different transverse edge positions, and
• wherein said plurality of different transverse edge positions span a position range of at least five percent of an average height (Havg) of said electrode,
• an aperture stop positioned at an input (S1) and a beam stop (S2) positioned at an output of said system at a distance from respective lenses equal to focal lengths f1 and f2 associated with said respective lenses, and
• a photodetector positioned to detect a beam transmitted through said beam stop.