Optically contacted acousto-optic device and method of making the same

1. A beam positioner, comprising:

a first acousto-optic (AO) deflector (AOD) operative to deflect a beam of laser light, wherein the first AOD comprises a first AO cell and a first transducer attached to the first AO cell;

second AOD operative to deflect the beam of laser light, wherein the second AOD comprises a second AO cell and a second transducer attached to the second AO cell; and

a wave plate between the first AOD and the second AOD, wherein the wave plate is optically contacted to the first AOD and to the second AOD such that optically contacted surfaces of the wave plate and the first AOD are spaced apart by a distance that is less than a wavelength of the beam of laser light and such that optically contacted surfaces of the wave plate and the second AOD are spaced apart by a distance that is less than the wavelength of the beam of laser light.

2. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the wave plate is a half-wave plate.

3. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the wave plate includes at least one quarter-wave plate.

4. The beam positioner of claim 3 , wherein the at least one quarter-wave plate includes two quarter-wave plates.

5. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the first AOD is arranged and configured to deflect the beam of laser light along a first axis and wherein the second AOD is arranged and configured to deflect the beam of laser light transmitted by the first AOD along a second axis different from the first axis.

6. The beam positioner of claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one galvanometer mirror configured to deflect the beam of laser light sequentially transmitted by the first AOD, the wave plate and the second AOD.

7. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the AO cell of the first AOD is formed of the same material as the wave plate.

8. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the AO cell of the first AOD and the wave plate are formed from different materials.

9. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the AO cell of the first AOD is formed of germanium.

10. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the AO cell of the first AOD is formed of tellurium dioxide.

11. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the AO cell of the first AOD is formed of crystalline quartz.

12. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the wave plate is formed of crystalline quartz.

13. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the wave plate includes a material formed of zinc selenide.

14. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the AO cell of the second AOD is formed of the same material as the AO cell of the first AOD.

15. The beam positioner of claim 1 , wherein the no anti-reflective coating is present between the first AOD and the wave plate.