Binary blazed reflection gratings

Abstract

A reflection grating with a binary surface profile is presented that has high diffraction efficiency. The measured intensity for the + 1st diffracted order was 77%. The binary grating is composed of a minilattice with feature sizes comparable with the wavelength of the incident light. The overall structure is designed in such a way that it imitates a conventional blazed grating. The grating also has interesting polarization properties. The main part of the TE-polarized light is diffracted into the 1st diffracted order, and most of the TM-polarized light remains in the 0th diffracted order. The measurements of the grating are compared with rigorous diffraction theory and found to be in reasonable agreement.