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Encyclopedia > Diffraction grating
A very large reflecting diffraction grating.

In optics, a diffraction grating is a reflecting or transparent element, whose optical properties are periodically modulated. Most commonly the diffraction gratings are realized as fine parallel and equally spaced grooves or rulings on material surface. When light is incident on a diffraction grating, diffractive and mutual interference effects occur, and light is reflected or transmitted in discrete directions, called diffraction orders. Because of their dispersive properties, gratings are commonly used in monochromators and spectrometers. These devices were first manufactured by German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer in 1821. Worlds largest multilayer dielectric diffraction grating. ... Worlds largest multilayer dielectric diffraction grating. ... Optical redirects here. ... Spheres reflecting the floor and each other. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Parallel is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Interference of two circular waves - Wavelength (decreasing bottom to top) and Wave centers distance (increasing to the right). ... Look up discrete in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Dispersion of a light beam in a prism. ... A monochromator is an optical device that transmits a mechanically selectable narrow band of wavelengths of light chosen from a wider range of wavelengths available at the input. ... // Headline text Bold text:For Acoustic uses in spectrographs of sound waves, see below. ... Joseph von Fraunhofer Joseph von Fraunhofer (March 6, 1787 â€“ June 7, 1826) was a German physicist. ... See also: Other events of 1821 List of years in science . ...

## Contents

Gratings are usually designated by their groove density, expressed in grooves per millimeter (g/mm). The dimension and period of the grooves must be on the order of the wavelength in question. In the optical regime, in which the use of gratings is most common, this corresponds to wavelengths between 100 nm and 10 μm. In that case, the groove density can vary from a few tens of grooves per millimeter, as in echelle gratings, to a few thousands of grooves per millimeter. A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter), symbol mm is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Periodicity is the quality of occurring at regular intervals (e. ... The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer) is 1. ... The word micron has the following meanings: A micrometre (American spelling: micrometer, symbol Âµm), that is, one millionth of a metre. ...

A fundamental property of gratings is that the angle of deviation of all but one of the diffracted beams depends on the wavelength of the incident light. Therefore, a grating separates an incident polychromatic beam into its constituent wavelength components, i.e., it is dispersive. Each wavelength of input beam spectrum is sent into a different direction, producing a rainbow of colors under white light illumination. This is visually similar to the operation of a prism, although the mechanism is very different. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Dispersion of a light beam in a prism. ... Legend: Î³ = Gamma rays HX = Hard X-rays SX = Soft X-Rays EUV = Extreme ultraviolet NUV = Near ultraviolet Visible light NIR = Near infrared MIR = Moderate infrared FIR = Far infrared Radio waves: EHF = Extremely high frequency (Microwaves) SHF = Super high frequency (Microwaves) UHF = Ultrahigh frequency VHF = Very high frequency HF = High frequency... Full featured rainbow in Wrangell-St. ... If a shaft of light entering a prism is sufficiently small such that the coloured edges meet, a spectrum results In optics, a prism is a device used to refract light, reflect it or break it up (to disperse it) into its constituent spectral colours (colours of the rainbow). ...

A light bulb of a flashlight seen through a transmissive grating, showing three diffracted orders. The order m = 0 corresponds to a direct transmission of light through the grating. In the first positive order (m = +1), colors with increasing wavelengths (from blue to red) are diffracted at increasing angles.

When a beam is incident on a grating with an angle θi (measured from the normal of the grating), it is diffracted into several beams. The beam that corresponds to direct transmission (or specular reflection in the case of a reflection grating) is called the zero order, and is denoted m = 0. The other orders correspond to diffraction angles which are represented by non-zero integers m in the grating equation. For a groove period d and an incident wavelengh λ, the grating equation gives the value of the diffracted angle θm(λ) in the order m: Image File history File links Light-bulb-grating. ... Image File history File links Light-bulb-grating. ... Image:Light-bulb-and-filament. ... Green flashlight Flashlight is the NATO designation for the Yakovlev Yak-25 Soviet military jet. ... Diagram of specular reflection Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected onto a single outgoing direction. ...

$d left( sin{theta_m(lambda)} - sin{theta_i} right) = m lambda$

Note that m can be positive or negative, resulting in diffracted orders on both sides of the zero order beam.

The diffracted beams corresponding to consecutive orders may overlap, depending on the spectral content of the incident beam and the grating density. The higher the spectral order, the greater the overlap into the next order.

The grating equation shows that the angles of the diffracted orders only depend on the grooves' period, and not on their shape. By controlling the cross-sectional profile of the grooves, it is possible to concentrate most of the diffracted energy in a particular order for a given wavelength. A triangular profile is commonly used. This technique is called blazing. The incident angle and wavelength for which the diffraction is most efficient are often called blazing angle and blazing wavelength. The efficiency of a grating may also depend on the polarization of the incident light. In electrodynamics, polarization (also spelled polarisation) is the property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the direction of their transverse electric field. ...

When groove spacing is less than half the wavelength of light, the only present order is the m = 0 order. Gratings with such small periodicity are called subwavelength gratings and exhibit special optical properties. Made on an isotropic material the subwavelength gratings give rise to form birefringence, in which the material behaves like birefringent. Isotropic means independent of direction. Isotropic radiation has the same intensity regardless of the direction of measurement, and an isotropic field exerts the same action regardless of how the test particle is oriented. ... A calcite crystal laid upon a paper with some letters showing the double refraction Birefringence, or double refraction, is the division of a ray of light into two rays (the ordinary ray and the extraordinary ray) when it passes through certain types of material, such as calcite crystals, depending on...

Diffraction gratings can be produced by modulating one of the following material properties:

In the fields of optics and spectroscopy, transmittance is the fraction of incident light at a specified wavelength that passes through a sample. ... In optics, reflectivity is the reflectance (the ratio of reflected power to incident power, generally expressed in decibels or percentage) at the surface of a material so thick that the reflectance does not change with increasing thickness; , the intrinsic reflectance of the surface, irrespective of other parameters such as the... The refractive index (or index of refraction) of a material is the factor by which the phase velocity of electromagnetic radiation is slowed in that material, relative to its velocity in a vacuum. ... In telecommunication, the term optical axis has the following meanings: 1. ... Optical axis gratings (OAGs) are gratings of optical axis of a birefringent material. ... A calcite crystal laid upon a paper with some letters showing the double refraction Birefringence, or double refraction, is the division of a ray of light into two rays (the ordinary ray and the extraordinary ray) when it passes through certain types of material, such as calcite crystals, depending on...

## Fabrication

Originally, high-resolution gratings were ruled using high-quality ruling engines whose construction was a large undertaking. Later, photolithographic techniques allowed gratings to be created from a holographic interference pattern. Holographic gratings have sinusoidal grooves and may not be as efficient as ruled gratings, but are often preferred in monochromators because they lead to much less stray light. A copying technique allows high quality replicas to be made from master gratings, thereby lowering fabrication costs. Negative litography stone and positive print of a map of Munich Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface. ... Holography (from the Greek, ÎŒÎ»Î¿Ï‚-holos whole + Î³ÏÎ±Ï†Î®-graphe writing) is the science of producing holograms; it is an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions. ... A monochromator is an optical device that transmits a mechanically selectable narrow band of wavelengths of light chosen from a wider range of wavelengths available at the input. ...

Another method for manufacturing diffraction gratings uses a photosensitive gel sandwiched between two substrates. A holographic interference pattern exposes the gel which is later developed. These gratings, called volume phase holography diffraction gratings (or VPH diffraction gratings) have no physical grooves, but instead a periodic modulation of the refractive index within the gel. This removes much of the surface scattering effects typically seen in other types of gratings. These gratings also tend to have higher efficiencies, and allow for the inclusion of complicated patterns into a single grating. In older versions of such gratings, environmental susceptibility was a trade-off, as the gel had to be contained at low temperature and humidity. Typically, the photosensitive substances are sealed between two substrates which make them resistant to humidity, thermal and mechanical stresses. VPH diffraction gratings are not destroyed by accidental touches and are more scratch resistant than typical relief gratings. Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons of light. ... The refractive index (or index of refraction) of a material is the factor by which the phase velocity of electromagnetic radiation is slowed in that material, relative to its velocity in a vacuum. ... In particle physics, scattering is a class of phenomena by which particles are deflected by collisions with other particles. ...

Semiconductor technology today is also utilized to etch holographically patterned gratings into robust materials as fused silica. In this way, low stray-light holography is combined with the high efficiency of deep, etched transmission gratings, and can be incorporated into high volume, low cost semiconductor manufacturing technology.

## Examples

The grooves of a compact disc can act as a grating and produce iridescent reflections.

Diffraction gratings are often used in monochromators, spectrometers, wavelength division multiplexing devices, optical pulse compressing devices, and many other optical instruments. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1440x1080, 74 KB) en:Interference colors. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1440x1080, 74 KB) en:Interference colors. ... A monochromator is an optical device that transmits a mechanically selectable narrow band of wavelengths of light chosen from a wider range of wavelengths available at the input. ... // Headline text Bold text:For Acoustic uses in spectrographs of sound waves, see below. ... In telecommunications wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes several optical carrier signals on a single optical fibre by using different wavelengths (colours) of laser light to carry different signals. ...

Ordinary pressed CD and DVD media are every-day examples of diffraction gratings and can be used to demonstrate the effect by shining an ordinary laser pointer onto the surface. This is a side effect of their manufacture, as one surface of a CD has many small pits in the plastic, arranged within concentric rings; that surface has a thin layer of metal applied to make the pits more visible. The structure of a DVD is optically similar, although it may have more than one pitted surface, and all pitted surfaces are inside the disc. The Compact Disc logo was inspired by that of the previous Compact Cassette. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that is used for playback of movies with high video and sound quality and for storing data. ... Experiment using a (likely argon) laser. ...

Diffraction gratings are also present in nature. For example, the iridescent colors of peacock feathers, mother-of-pearl, butterfly wings, and some other insects are caused by very fine regular structures that diffract light, splitting it into its component colors. The iridescence of the Blue Morpho butterfly wings. ... Peacock re-directs here; for alternate uses see Peacock (disambiguation). ... A piece of nacre Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is an organic mixture of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of platy crystals of aragonite and conchiolin (a scleroprotein). ... Families Superfamily Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Papilionidae Pieridae Nymphalidae Lycaenidae Riodinidae A butterfly is an insect of the Order Lepidoptera, and belongs to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) or Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). ... Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ...

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## References

• Adapted from a public domain entry in Federal Standard 1037C.
• National Optical Astronomy Observatories entry regarding volume phase holography gratings.
• Palmer, Christopher, Diffraction Grating Handbook, 6th edition, Newport Corporation (2005).

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