Abstract

A waveguide grating filter is a new, basic optical device that functions according to the principles of diffractive optics and wave guide optics simultaneously. Theoretically, using a plane wave model, complete energy transfer can be achieved from a forward propagating wave to a reflected wave with arbitrarily narrow linewidths. Physically, this is due to coupling of the externally propagating diffracted fields to the modes of the waveguide. This paper addresses the resonance behavior of waveguide grating filters (or guided-mode resonance filters) when the incident wave has a finite (Gaussian) transverse extent and compares the results to the plane-wave case. The calculated results are obtained by using rigorous coupled-wave theory.

© 1993 Optical Society of America