Simultaneous masking interactions between chromatic and luminance gratings

Simultaneous masking using test and mask gratings composed of isochromatic luminance variations and isoluminant chromatic variations was studied. Masking of chromatic gratings by chromatic gratings shows less spatial-frequency specificity than does masking of luminance gratings by luminance gratings. Luminance gratings mask chromatic gratings of identical space-average luminance and chromaticity little and only when the spatial frequencies of the test and mask gratings are similar. Chromatic gratings, however, profoundly mask luminance gratings with a degree of spatial-frequency specificity akin to that of luminance-luminance masking. The insensitivity of the luminance-color masking results to the relative phase of the chromatic and luminance gratings indicates that the observed asymmetry is not due to local interactions.     

Fabrication and simulation of diffractive optical elements with superimposed antireflection subwavelength gratings

With the aim of reducing surface reflections and increasing the diffraction efficiency we investigated the superposition of subwavelength phase gratings onto blazed phase gratings. With direct-write electron-beam lithography bare blazed gratings and blazed gratings carrying subwavelength gratings were fabricated and their optical performances compared. For TE polarization the subwavelength-carrying gratings showed a maximum diffraction efficiency of 90.6%, whereas the corresponding maximum value for the bare grating was 86.3%. The experiment was simulated with rigorous diffraction theory.     

Guided-mode resonant subwavelength gratings: effects of finite beams and finite gratings

The effects of finite beams and finite gratings on the performance of guided-mode resonant subwavelength gratings are characterized by using the rigorous boundary element method. The gratings are strongly modulated, have a finite number of periods, and are illuminated by normally incident Gaussian beams. Quantitative results are presented for silicon-on-sapphire resonant gratings and gallium arsenide-aluminum arsenide resonant gratings.     

Weak anchoring of nematic liquid crystals on photo-induced surface relief gratings of organic polysilane

Surface relief gratings on organic polysilane thin films are fabricated by holographic exposure of ultra-violet light, and Au gratings are subsequently prepared on polysilane gratings by vapor deposition of Au. The anchoring energies of 4-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) nematic liquid crystal on the fabricated gratings are determined with a saturation voltage method. The anchoring energies of Au gratings are weaker than those of organic polysilane gratings because of suppression of π–π interaction between the liquid crystal and the alignment layer. The polar anchoring energies of Au gratings are also weaker than those reported in literature.     

Wavelength demultiplexing with layered multiple Bragg gratings in LiNbO3:Fe crystal

Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) is an important technology for expanding the capacity of optical network. The optical component based on the superimposed Bragg gratings shows that it can be used as one of advantageous multichannel components because of its excellent angle and wavelength selectivities. An optimized method for recording multiple Bragg gratings for wavelength demultiplexing in optical telecommunication band is proposed to achieve gratings with equal diffraction efficiency. A structure of three layers with twenty four gratings is demonstrated in a LiNbO(3):Fe crystal by employing the optimized recording method. Then an initial wavelength demultiplexing experiment based on the formed gratings is carried out in optical telecommunication C-band. The results obtained by measuring and analyzing the transmitted spectra of the fabricated gratings show that the diffraction efficiencies of the gratings are uniform. It is suggested that this kind of multiple gratings can be used for increasing the number of the demultiplexed wavelengths in recording medium with unit volume for WDM.     

Production and evaluation of silicon immersion gratings for infrared astronomy

Immersion gratings, diffraction gratings where the incident radiation strikes the grooves while immersed in a dielectric medium, offer significant compactness and performance advantages over front-surface gratings. These advantages become particularly large for high-resolution spectroscopy in the near-IR. The production and evaluation of immersion gratings produced by fabricating grooves in silicon substrates using photolithographic patterning and anisotropic etching is described. The gratings produced under this program accommodate beams up to 25 mm in diameter (grating areas to 55 mm x 75 mm). Several devices are complete with appropriate reflective and antireflection coatings. All gratings were tested as front-surface devices as well as immersed gratings. The results of the testing show that the echelles behave according to the predictions of the scalar efficiency model and that tests done on front surfaces are in good agreement with tests done in immersion. The relative efficiencies range from 59% to 75% at 632.8 nm. Tests of fully completed devices in immersion show that the gratings have reached the level where they compete with and, in some cases, exceed the performance of commercially available conventional diffraction gratings (relative efficiencies up to 71%). Several diffraction gratings on silicon substrates up to 75 mm in diameter having been produced, the current state of the silicon grating technology is evaluated.     

Effects of Gap Width on Vacuum-Ultraviolet Transmission Through Submicrometer-Period, FreeStanding Transmission Gratings

The effects of gap width on the transmission coefficient of vacuum-ultraviolet light through submicrometer-period, freestanding transmission gratings are reported. Results from computations and an analytical waveguide model are shown to be consistent with experimental measurements. These results show that thin gratings with narrow gaps and thick gratings with wide gaps are equally effective at eliminating 121.6-nm radiation. The thin gratings with the narrow gaps have the advantage of better attenuation of shorter-wavelength radiation than the thick gratings with the larger gaps.     

Fabrication of chirped gratings on GaAs optical waveguides

After a brief review of the applications and fabrication techniques of gratings in integrated and guided wave optics, a new method of fabricating chirped gratings is presented. The method is based on the interference of two spherical laser beams after spatial filtering by pinholes. The experimental conditions required for fabricating antisymmetric linearly chirped gratings, symmetric quadratically chirped gratings and uniform gratings are presented by way of example. By this method chirped gratings with small variations in the period can be fabricated on GaAs thin film optical waveguides. Profiles and patterns of chemically etched corrugations are quite uniform, mainly because of the direct interference of beams immediately after spatial filtering.     

Diffraction properties of volume holographic gratings for an ultrashort pulsed beam with different polarization states readout

The diffraction properties of volume holographic gratings are studied when the gratings are illuminated by an ultrashort pulsed beam with different polarization states. The developed coupled wave theory of Kogelnik is used. Considering the dispersion effect of the grating media, solutions for the diffracted and transmitted intensities, diffraction efficiencies and the bandwidths of the gratings are given in transmission volume holographic gratings and reflection volume holographic gratings. The bandwidths of the gratings are reduced by the dispersion effect of the grating media. They also have different influences on the diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam with different polarization states. For different values of the ratio of the spectral bandwidth of the input pulse to that of the grating, the changes of the spectral and temporal distributions of the diffracted intensities, as well as the diffraction efficiencies of the gratings are shown.     

Post-hydrogen-loaded draw tower fiber Bragg gratings and their thermal regeneration

The idea of Bragg gratings generated during the drawing process of a fiber dates back almost 20 years. The technical improvement of the draw tower grating (DTG) process today results in highly reliable and cost-effective Bragg gratings for versatile application in the optical fiber sensor market. Because of the single-pulse exposure of the fiber, the gratings behave typically like type I gratings with respect to their temperature stability. This means that such gratings only work up to temperatures of about 300?°C. To increase temperature stability, we combined DTG arrays with hydrogen postloading and a thermal regeneration process that enables their use in high-temperature environments. The regenerated draw tower gratings are demonstrated to be suitable for temperatures of more than 800?°C.     

New noise-suppression technique in photorefractive crystals

On the basis of the idea that signal gratings have a faster formation rate than noise gratings and signal gratings have a slower erasure rate than noise gratings under the same erasing beam, we report a new technique to suppress or eliminate the noise in image processing in photorefractive crystals. A general theoretical analysis and experimental results in LiNbO(3):Fe crystals are given.     

Collimation testing with circular gratings

We investigate the testing of collimation by Talbot interferometry with circular gratings. Circular gratings are immune to misalignment owing to rigid body rotations in a plane perpendicular to the optic axis. Experimental results of the investigation are presented, and they are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Experimental results verify that collimation testing with circular gratings can be superior to that with linear dual-field gratings.     

Diffraction by dual-period gratings

The dynamical characteristics of dual-period perfectly conducting gratings are explored. Gratings with several grooves (reflection) or slits (transmission) within each period are considered. A scalar approach is proposed to derive the general characteristics of the diffracted response. It was found that compound gratings can be designed to cancel as well as to intensify a given diffraction order. These preliminary estimations for finite gratings are validated by numerical examples for infinitely periodic reflection and transmission gratings with finite thickness, performed using an extension of the rigorous modal method to compound gratings, for both polarization cases.     

Effects of modulation strength in guided-mode resonant subwavelength gratings at normal incidence

A comparative study of the reflection spectral resonances in weakly and strongly modulated subwavelength gratings is presented. The effects of strong modulation in resonant subwavelength gratings have been largely ignored in the literature. We show that the spectral stability of resonances as a function of angle of incidence around normal can be greatly enhanced with strongly modulated gratings while the desirable narrow line-width associated with weakly modulated gratings is still maintained.     

Wideband true-time-delay beam former that employs a tunable chirped fiber grating prism

A fiber grating prism that consists of four tunable chirped-grating delay lines for wideband true-time-delay beam forming is proposed and demonstrated. The chirped gratings are produced by use of the grating bending technique in which a uniform grating is surface mounted on a simply supported beam. We obtained chirped gratings with different chirp rates by bending the uniform gratings with different beam deflections. Four linear chirped fiber gratings with identical spectral width but linearly increased grating length are fabricated. The spectra and time-delay responses of the tunable chirped gratings are measured. A chirped-grating prism for wideband true-time-delay beam forming by use of four chirped gratings is constructed and tested experimentally. We obtained different time delays by tuning the wavelength of the optical carrier. The proposed true-time-delay beam former with a four-element phased-array steerer is suitable for continuous beam forming at microwave frequencies up to 20 GHz.     

Nanofibers with Bragg gratings from equidistant holes

We study nanofibers with Bragg gratings from equidistant holes. We calculate analytically and numerically the reflection and transmission coefficients for a single grating and also for a cavity formed by two gratings. We show that the reflection and transmission coefficients of the gratings substantially depend on the number of holes, the hole length, the hole depth, the grating period, and the light wavelength. We find that the reflection and transmission coefficients of the gratings depend on the orientation of the polarization vector of light with respect to the holes. Such a dependence is a result of the fact that the cross-section of the gratings is not cylindrically symmetric.     

Improving the performance of fiber gratings with sinusoidal chirps

Sinusoidal chirps are introduced in fiber gratings to improve their performance as dispersion compensators and multichannel filters. The sinusoidally chirped fiber gratings exhibit a flattop spectrum with steep edges and high reflectivity. The bandwidth utilization defined as the ratio of -1:-30-dB bandwidth could be very high (>0.85). This structure can be applied to the sampled fiber gratings to enhance channel uniformity. We demonstrate 264 uniform channels with a 25-GHz-spacing for high-density-wavelength multiplexing applications. Multichannel dispersion compensations with seven uniform channels of 50-GHz-spacing in short fiber gratings are also demonstrated. The impact of possible fabrication errors on the spectra of the gratings is discussed.     

Fiber mode conversion with tilted gratings in an optical fiber

The mode coupling in double-sided tilted gratings between the LP01 and LP11 modes is analyzed for three different excitation conditions. It is found that a number of modes, including various LP11q modes with different polarization states and TE01, TM01, and HE21 modes, can be formed through the mode conversion process in the gratings and with a linear combination of four different LP11 modes. Efficient single-sided and double-sided tilted gratings are demonstrated. The tilted gratings presented exhibit LP01-to-LP11 mode coupling over a spectral width as wide as 160 nm. The transmission spectra of the tilted fiber gratings agree well with the spectrum predicted by the coupled-mode analysis.     

Characterization of chromatic dispersion and polarizationsensitivity in fiber gratings

Fiber gratings have already become key passive components in fiber optic communication systems. We have characterized gratings used in reflection for dispersion compensation and long period gratings used in transmission for gain flattening using a low-loss, low-noise experimental setup having a picometer optical wavelength resolution. Our measurements include reflection or transmission response, group delay and polarization dependent loss. We have scanned the spectrum of our devices using a very narrow linewidth tunable laser. A network analyzer is used for the chromatic dispersion measurements. Time delays corresponding to the design values have been measured within the useful bandwidth of the gratings for dispersion compensation and the devices have been found to have reasonably small ripples that increase in magnitude toward the shorter wavelength range. The long period gratings for gain flattening have very small group delays. Polarization dependent loss has been measured for the first time in these devices. A polarization analyzer was used and Jones matrix analysis was applied to obtain the measurements. The gratings for dispersion compensation have small a polarization dependent loss within their useful bandwidth, while the long period gratings exhibit higher values and a stronger wavelength dependency in the polarization dependent loss     

Dichromated pullulan diffraction gratings: influence of environmental conditions and storage time on their properties

Investigations of the environmental stability of diffraction gratings, recorded in dichromated pullulan (DCP), are reported. Profile changes of DCP surface relief gratings, under high humidity conditions, were analyzed using an atomic force microscope. It was found that the profile was not altered, while the diffraction efficiency was preserved. The influence of storage life on the diffraction efficiency and surface profile of DCP gratings were also investigated. It was concluded that DCP gratings offer much better stability compared with the dichromated gelatin.