Holographic Grating Spectrometers: Wood's Anomalies, Spectral Response Functions, and Their Dependence on Groove Density

Abstract

Presented is a study of plane holographic gratings with sinusoidal groove profiles, focusing attention on the dependence of grating efficiency on groove density. Experimental spectral response curves are given for a number of gratings with different groove densities in an additive-dispersion double monochromator designed for work at visible wavelengths. The Wood's anomalies, both order-passing and resonance type, are characterized in each case. Simple equations are derived for predicting order-passing wavelengths given a fixed angle of deviation between the incident beam and the observed diffraction order. The trend in the strength of the anomalies is compared with theoretical calculations.