Polarization-insensitive high-dispersion total internal reflection diffraction gratings

We report the first experimental realization of total internal reflection (TIR) diffraction gratings. Performance of less than 0.7-dB insertion loss (IL) for both TE and TM polarizations and 0.5-dB polarization-dependent loss (PDL) are predicted over a 50-nm spectral bandwidth with simultaneous fabrication tolerances on the depth and the duty cycle of binary gratings of +/-5% and +/-14%, respectively. Nineteen gratings were fabricated that met these specifications, yielding IL and PDL values less than 0.6 and 0.2 dB, respectively, across the entire 50-nm bandwidth. Measurements made under the Littrow configuration resulted in high efficiency and low PDL across a 100-nm bandwidth, with up to 100% diffraction efficiency within the experimental measurement error. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.