Abstract

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the problem of diffraction from multilayer-overcoated diffraction gratings. A dielectric multilayer is commonly used on high-power optical elements. Beam sampling may be necessary to monitor the phase and shape of the wave front; however, ordinary beamsplitters frequently cannot survive this intense power level. To overcome this difficulty, a multilayer-overcoated, low-efficiency grating (where the grating amplitude is a few percent of the wavelength) is utilized that diffracts a small fraction of the incident energy for beam diagnostics while achieving enhanced specular reflection of the high-energy beam. Anomalous diffraction effects may result at specific angles of incidence resulting from the incident beam coupling into guided waves supported by the multilayer coating.

© 1988 Optical Society of America