Optical arrangement, method of use, and method for determining a diffraction grating

Abstract

An optical arrangement includes a light source which emits coherent light of a wavelength λ, and a diffraction grating which has a multiplicity of diffraction structures which follow one another periodically at the spacing of a grating period d and are arranged along a base surface, the individual diffraction structures respectively having a blaze flank and an antiblaze flank, the blaze flanks being arranged at an angle β and the antiblaze flanks being arranged at an angle α to the base surface, and respectively neighbouring blaze and antiblaze flanks enclosing an apex angle γ, and an incident light beam being arranged at a Littrow angle θrelative to a grating normal of the diffraction grating. The angle β of the blaze flanks to the base surface is selected as a function of the Littrow angle θsuch that the diffraction efficiency is at least approximately maximal in one of the largest diffraction orders m, which still fulfils the condition (2((m+1)/m)−1)sin θ≧1, and for at least one polarization direction.