Abstract

The Fourier modal method (FMM) is one of the simplest and most effective methods for modeling diffraction gratings. Burckhardt’s paper¹, published in 1966, marked the beginning of this method. In Burckhardt’s work, a volume grating of lossless, sinusoidally varying permittivity was considered. Later Kaspar² extended Burckhardt’s work to lossy and non-sinusoidal volume gratings. Apparently unaware of Burckhardt and Kaspar’s work, Peng et al.³ also proposed the Fourier modal method; however, they refrained from applying it to surface-relief gratings (see next section). Apparently unaware of the concerns of Peng et al., Knop⁴ extended Burckhardt’s work to rectangular surface-relief gratings. Moharam and Gaylord⁵ took one step further. They applied the FMM to analyze surface-relief gratings of arbitrary profile.

© 1998 Optical Society of America