Structured metal double-blazed dispersion grating for broadband spectral efficiency achromatization.

The majority of spectrometers use reflective dispersion gratings with a metal-coated blazed grating profile for spectral decomposition. They achieve high diffraction efficiency at the design wavelength, which decays considerably in the adjacent longer and shorter wavelength ranges. We introduce a structured metal double-blazed grating with a high diffraction efficiency for a broadband spectral range, consisting of a sawtooth-like structured metal surface filled with a first dielectric transparent material. The planarized upper surface is covered with a second blazed profile of a different transparent material. We present a systematical theoretical analysis of the diffraction efficiency in reflection geometry, based on a scalar approach involving fundamental dispersion parameters such as Abbe numbers and relative partial dispersions of the materials. We find material combinations reducing the profile heights down to 1-2 µm.

Modeling of light-emitting diode wavefronts for the optimization of transmission holograms.

The objective of applying transmission holograms in automotive headlamp systems requires the adaptation of holograms to divergent and polychromatic light sources like light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this paper, four different options to describe the scalar light waves emitted by a typical automotive LED are regarded. This includes a new approach to determine the LED's wavefront from interferometric measurements. Computer-generated holograms are designed considering the different LED approximations and recorded into a photopolymer. The holograms are reconstructed with the LED and the resulting images are analyzed to evaluate the quality of the wave descriptions. In this paper, we show that our presented new approach leads to better results in comparison to other wave descriptions. The enhancement is evaluated by the correlation between reconstructed and ideal images. In contrast to the next best approximation, a spherical wave, the correlation coefficient increased by 0.18% at 532 nm, 1.69% at 590 nm, and 0.75% at 620 nm.

Influence of oblique illumination on perfect Talbot imaging and nearly perfect self-imaging for gratings beyond five diffraction orders.

The Talbot self-imaging effect of amplitude gratings is afflicted with aberrations that distort the self-image. This occurs especially if the grating period p is only a few times larger than the illumination wavelength λ. For example, for lithographic applications of the Talbot effect these aberrations lower the lateral writing resolution and should be minimized. Noponen found, however, some discrete ratios of p/λ in the interval of 2.0

Quantitative analysis of imperfect frequency multiplying in fractional Talbot planes and its effect on high-frequency-grating lithography.

Fractional Talbot images of amplitude line gratings, with small opening slits compared to the period, are characterized by an integer multiple of the gratings' spatial frequency. We investigate the formation of fractional Talbot images analytically within a scalar framework and give a comprehensible insight into the paraxial limits involved. Particular attention is paid to nonparaxial effects on the intensity distribution at fractional Talbot planes and their lateral periodicities. We present a comparison between the measured intensity distributions and a numerical implementation of our analytical method. Both ways reveal the paraxial limits of frequency multiplication on fractional Talbot images. The use of fractional Talbot images for lithography results in ghost diffraction orders. We roughly estimate the ghost orders quantitatively with a simple numerical model for monochromatic and polychromatic illumination.

Flexible mask illumination setup for serial multipatterning in Talbot lithography.

A flexible illumination system for Talbot lithography is presented, in which the Talbot mask is illuminated by discrete but variable incidence angles. Changing the illumination angle stepwise in combination with different exposure doses for different angles offers the possibility to generate periodic continuous surface relief structures. To demonstrate the capability of this approach, two exemplary micro-optical structures were manufactured. The first example is a blazed grating with a stepsize of 1.5 µm. The second element is a specific beam splitter with parabolic-shaped grating grooves. The quality of the manufacturing process is evaluated on the basis of the optical performance of the resulting micro-optical elements.

Analysis of the influence of the passive facet of blazed transmission gratings in the intermediate diffraction regime.

Blazed diffraction gratings are of enormous practical importance for imaging and analyzing hybrid optical systems. The intermediate diffraction regime is characterized by the transition from the scalar to the rigorous electromagnetic theory. An effect known as shadowing occurs and reduces the diffraction efficiency. Based on rigorous calculations for optimized sawtooth-shaped and binary-multilevel blaze profiles, we deduce a semianalytical model describing the shadowing phenomenon for the general case of oblique incidence. We discuss illumination both from air and from the substrate. Though a multilevel blaze possesses a discrete substructure, our shadowing model remains valid, if substructural effects are neglected. We find that electromagnetic effects due to the passive blaze facet lead to the efficiency reduction, and the blazing efficiency shows a linear dependence on the ratio of blaze wavelength to grating period. Our shadowing model is applied to predict the performance of a Littrow-like blazing condition in transmission geometry as, e.g., for a diffractive solid immersion lens.

Rigorous analysis of shadowing effects in blazed transmission gratings.

Blazed transmission gratings have become crucial components in many hybrid optical systems. Shadowing effects are known to occur at their passive blaze facets, which may impair the system's efficiency performance. For optical designs, it is desirable to have a simple but accurate description of this phenomenon. We show that the efficiency reduction in low diffraction orders is dominated by a linear dependence on the ratio of wavelength to grating period rather than a quadratic dependence as proposed in extended scalar theory. The strength of the electromagnetic shadowing will be determined using rigorous diffraction methods and discussed with respect to imaging optical components. Results are compared to existing ray-optical models.

Diffraction-based solid immersion lens.

A solid immersion lens based on diffraction (dSIL) is proposed as an alternative to the conventional design based on refraction. A design analogous to a Fresnel zone plate is derived in accordance with the Huygens-Fresnel principle. Fabrication of a binary dSIL is achieved by electron-beam lithography and reactive-ion etching on LaSF35, with index n = 2.014. Measurement of the point-spread function is performed with near-field optical microscopy. The results are in accord with the expected resolution enhancement of a factor n with respect to the diffraction limit.