Beam-width-dependent filtering properties of strong volume holographic gratings

The finite dimension of the incident beam used to read out volume holographic gratings has interesting effects on their filtering properties. As the readout beam gets narrower, there is more deviation from the ideal response predicted for monochromatic plane waves. In this paper we experimentally explore beam-width-dependent phenomena such as wavelength selectivities, angular selectivities, and diffracted beam profiles. Volume gratings in both reflection and transmission geometries are investigated near 1550 nm. Numerical simulations utilizing the technique of Fourier decomposition provide a satisfactory explanation and confirm that the spread of spatial harmonics is the main contributing factor.     

Extreme-ultraviolet polarization and filtering with gold transmission gratings

The polarization and transmission characteristics of freestanding gold transmission gratings, with 200-nm periods, for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) radiation (1 < 200 nm) have been measured. We find that EUV transmission through the gratings is dominated by the waveguide characteristics of the gratings and that polarization efficiencies of 90% for wavelengths of 121.6 nm are achievable. Both the EUV polarization and transmission properties are in good agreement with a complete vector, numerical solution of Maxwell's equations. The fraction of open area to total area of the grating has been measured using a 10-keV proton beam and was found to be in good agreement with the microscopic slit and wire dimensions that were obtained by scanning electron microscopy. The use of these gratings for particle measurements in the presence of intense EUV radiation is briefly discussed.     

Dispersive resonators with volume holographic gratings

A dispersive resonator with volume holographic phase gratings for a tunable laser is described. The experimental results showed advantages of these resonators over the analogous devices using blaze-angle reflection relief gratings.     

Extreme-ultraviolet radiation filtering by freestanding transmission gratings

Measurement of energetic neutral atoms fluxes in space requires efficient suppression of exceptionally strong background extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and UV radiation. Diffraction filters make it possible to separate (transmit) charged and neutral particles from the background radiation (which would be suppressed). Recently developed freestanding transmission gratings look especially promising for implementation in a new family of diffraction EUV/UV filters. The first results of our experimental study of filtering properties of freestanding transmission gratings with a period of 200 nm are presented. The grating transmission was measured in the 52-131-nm wavelength range, and grating polarization properties were determined at 58.4 nm. It is shown that transmission gratings can be used efficiently as filters and polarizers in the EUV/UV spectral range.     

Phenomenological theory of filtering by resonant dielectric gratings

Using a phenomenological theory of diffraction gratings made by perturbing a planar waveguide allows us to deduce important properties of the sharp filtering phenomena generated by this kind of structure when the incident light excites a guided wave. It is shown that the resonance phenomenon occurring in these conditions acts on one of the two eigenvalues of the Hermitian reflection matrix only. As a consequence, we deduce a mathematical expression of the reflectivity and demonstrate that high-efficiency filtering of unpolarized light requires the simultaneous excitation of two uncoupled guided waves. Numerical examples are given.     

Design and characteristics of polarization-insensitive resonant gratings for color filtering

A method of designing polarization-insensitive color filters with guided-mode resonance grating is presented. The influence of incident conditions on exciting waveguide mode is investigated, and we find that polarization insensitivity may occur at the full conical incidence. Using rigorous coupled-wave analysis, we mainly analyze the effects of waveguide thickness and fill factor on the diffracted efficiency of the grating filter. The final structural parameters of the devices for three primary colors are collected after optimization, and the calculated results show that the spectral reflectance of each color filter is basically identical for different polarization states of incident light. Moreover, field analysis by the finite-difference time-domain technique indicates that two symmetric modes are excited between the waveguide layer and substrate under full conical incidence, which is coincident with the previous theoretical study. The reported work will eliminate the restriction of polarization-dependence of color filters and greatly expand their application range.     

Spatial filtering of first-arriving light

The effect of combining low-pass spatial filtering with the first-arriving-light method for imaging through a scattering medium was investigated. The modification is highly effective for media having a significant specular transmission component but is essentially ineffective for media without a specular component.     

Diffraction efficiency of volume gratings with finite size: Corrected analytical solution

Abstract

In order to correct errors in a previously published work on a treatment of two-dimensional coupled-wave theory, a complete derivation of the two-dimensional ‘overlap grating’ coupled wave equations is given. By using the Riemann method, a corrected solution to the equations in closed mathematical form is obtained. On the basis of this solution a brief investigation of the diffraction properties of finite-sized gratings, and in particular the dependence of diffraction efficiency on the geometric size of gratings, is given.     

Spatial filtering in digital holographic microscopy

Abstract

An optical system based on digital holography suitable for microscopic investigations is described. A lensless digital hologram of the object under test is recorded on a CCD faceplate. The reference point source and the object are equidistant from the CCD. The point source for the illumination of the transparent microscopic object is located in another plane some millimetres behind the object. For digital reconstruction of the wavefronts the Sommerfeld propagation relation is used. The particular recording arrangement allows one to perform spatial filtering. Examples of amplitude filtering are presented.     

Angular sensitivities of volume gratings for substrate-mode optical interconnects

The angular sensitivities of slanted volume gratings (VGs) illuminated by three-dimensional (3-D) converging-diverging spherical Gaussian beams for substrate-mode optical interconnects in microelectronics are analyzed by application of 3-D finite-beam rigorous coupled-wave analysis. Angular misalignments about the z, y, and x axes that correspond to yaw, pitch, and roll misalignments resulting from manufacturing tolerances of chips are investigated. Two cases of linear polarization of the central beam of the Gaussian are considered: E perpendicular K and H perpendicular K, where K is the grating vector. From worst-case manufacturing tolerances, the ranges of yaw, pitch, and roll misalignment angles are alpha = +/-1.17 degrees, beta= +/-3.04 degrees, and gamma = +/-3.04 degrees, respectively. Based on these ranges of misalignment angles, the decreases of diffraction efficiencies for slanted VGs that are due to both the yaw and the roll misalignments are relatively small. However, the efficiency of substrate-mode optical interconnects achieved by slanted VGs could be reduced by 61.04% for E perpendicular K polarization and by 58.63% for H perpendicular K polarization because of the pitch misalignment. Thus the performance of a VG optical interconnect is most sensitive to pitch misalignment.     

Spatial frequency filtering in holographic image reconstruction

We show that reconstructing a hologram by its object beam leads to spatial filtering, namely, to the suppression of spatial frequency components that are perpendicular to the plane of the recording beams. We conduct experiments by rotating the transparencies of Ronchi gratings and crossed gratings and measuring the corresponding diffraction efficiencies. Good agreement is found with a theory based on image reconstruction with a beam that does not quite satisfy the Bragg condition.     

Formation of a planar coarse wavelength-division multiplexer and demultiplexer with reflection volume phase gratings

A compact configuration for a coarse wavelength-division multiplexer (CWDM) and a coarse wavelength-division demultiplexer (CWDDM) that are based on reflection volume phase gratings is formed. The design and calculated results for four-channel CWDM and CWDDM configurations in the region near 800 nm are presented. Theoretical predictions are experimentally verified with a four-channel CWDDM whose channels are centered at 775, 800, 825, and 850 nm.     

Pulse shaping properties of volume holographic gratings in anisotropic media

Based on a modified coupled wave theory, the pulse shaping properties of volume holographic gratings (VHGs) in anisotropic media VHGs are studied systematically. Taking photorefractive LiNbO(3) crystals as an example, the combined effect that the grating parameters, the dispersion and optical anisotropy of the crystal, the pulse width, and the polarization state of the input ultrashort pulsed beam (UPB) have on the pulse shaping properties are considered when the input UPB with arbitrary polarization state propagates through the VHG. Under the combined effect, the diffraction bandwidth, pulse profiles of the diffracted and transmitted pulsed beams, and the total diffraction efficiency are shown. The studies indicate that the properties of the shaping of the o and e components of the input UPB in the crystal are greatly different; this difference can be used for pulse shaping applications.     

Fast convergence with spectral volume integral equation for crossed block-shaped gratings with improved material interface conditions

For block-shaped dielectric gratings with two-dimensional periodicity, a spectral-domain volume integral equation is derived in which explicit Fourier factorization rules are employed. The Fourier factorization rules are derived from a projection-operator framework and enhance the numerical accuracy of the method, while maintaining a low computational complexity of O(NlogN) or better and a low memory demand of O(N).     

Spatial distribution of power coupling in self-pumped photorefractive reflection gratings

The spatial distribution of the power transfer achieved by contradirectional two-beam coupling using self-pumped photorefractive reflection gratings is investigated in two materials with different photorefractive gain coefficients, LiNbO3:Fe and KNbO3:Fe. Incremental portions of the volume grating are erased optically by inducing thin optical damage planes, reducing the overall two-beam coupling efficiency. By monitoring the effect of local grating disruption, the distribution of power transfer is spatially resolved throughout the crystal, and the results are found to be in agreement with our theoretical predictions.     

Spatial distributions of cone inputs to cells of the parvocellular pathway investigated with cone-isolating gratings

Receptive fields of midget ganglion cells and parvocellular lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons show color-opponent responses because they receive antagonistic input from the middle- and long-wavelength sensitive cones. It has been controversial as to whether this opponency can derive from random connectivity; if receptive field centers of cells near the fovea are cone-specific due to midget morphology, this would confer some degree of color opponency even with random cone input to the surround. A simple test of this mixed surround hypothesis is to compare spatial frequency tuning curves for luminance gratings and gratings isolating cone input to the receptive field center. If tuning curves for luminance gratings were bandpass, then with the mixed surround hypothesis tuning curves for gratings isolating the receptive field center cone class should also be bandpass, but to a lesser extent than for luminance. Tuning curves for luminance, chromatic, and cone-isolating gratings were measured in macaque retinal ganglion cells and LGN cells. We defined and measured a bandpass index to compare luminance and center cone-isolating tuning curves. Midget retinal ganglion cells and parvocellular LGN cells had bandpass indices between 0.1 and 1 with luminance gratings, but the index was usually near 1 (meaning low-pass tuning) when the receptive field center cone class alone was modulated. This is strong evidence for a considerable degree of cone-specific input to the surround. A fraction of midget and parvocellular cells showed evidence of incomplete specificity. Fitting the data with receptive field models revealed considerable intercell variability, with indications in some cells of a more complex receptive structure than a simple difference of Gaussians model.     

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.