Measurements of the photoelastic tensor components and figures of merit of several materials selected for possible application in acoustic light modulators and scanners are presented. The most important results are that GaP is superior to fused quartz by nearly two orders of magnitude for modulation and scanning of visible light of wavelength longer than 0.58 &mgr;, and that GaAs is similarly superior at wave‐lengths longer than about 1 &mgr;.