title: Single-point diamond turning and replication of visible and near-infrared diffractive optical elements.
abstract: High-fidelity diffractive surfaces have been generated with single-point diamond-turning techniques. A key to the success of this technique is the ability to shape the diamond tool tip to provide the optimum phase-relief profile, given manufacturing constraints. Replication technology is used to transfer the phase-relief surface into a thin epoxy or photopolymer layer on a glass substrate. Diffraction efficiency results for a wide range of zone widths are presented to provide the reader with a baseline of expected performance for replicated visible and near-infrared diffractive optical elements. In addition, a new method for analyzing diffractive surface structures is presented. The ray-trace algorithm quickly provides accurate results of predicted diffraction efficiency for arbitrary zone profiles, which is extremely valuable in predicting manufacturing errors.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Blough
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Michaels