Abstract

The behavior of spatially bounded beams diffracted by superposed volume gratings is investigated by using a recently reported multiple-scattering method.¹ This method provides a numerically efficient and physically meaningful approach to deriving and evaluating the fields diffracted by multiple gratings inclined at arbitrary angles with respect to each other. In particular, we consider Gaussian-beam incidence and examine both the near and far scattered fields. We then find that each diffracted beam undergoes a displacement, a distortion in the intensity profile, and an efficiency loss. These effects are most pronounced if the width of the incident beam spectrum is wider than that of the grating response spectrum. Quantitative examples will be given, and the significance of the beam-modification effects for applications in holography and optical interconnects will be discussed.

© 1990 Optical Society of America