Bulk acoustic wave integrated optical deflector and monolithic A/D converter using such deflector

A monolithic optical analog-to-digital (A/D) converter comprising:

• a common substrate having a general direction and a surface plane;
• an optical waveguide formed on said substrate in said phase and along said surface adapted for passing guided light therethrough;
• an array of ultrasonic transducer elements integrated with said optical waveguide in a zone of acoustic interaction therewith across said general direction for generating bulk acoustic waves normally of said optical waveguide in said zone and for interaction with the guided light;
• phase shifter means integrated with said optical waveguide and associated with said transducer elements for introducing cummulative phase shifts of identical relative magnitude between consecutive transducer elements of said array thereby to cause deflection of the guided light;
• said phase shifter means being controlled by an analog signal to establish a deflection angle for said guided light in relation to the magnitude thereof;
• an array of photo-detecting devices integrated with said waveguide for receiving guided light deflected by said phase shifter devices;
• and
• means responsive to said photo-detecting devices for generating a digital signal in relation to said deflection angle and said analog signal.