Open AccessInverse design and demonstration of high-performance wide-angle diffractive optical elements
Author(s) -
Dong Cheon Kim,
Andreas Hermerschmidt,
P. N. Dyachenko,
Toralf Scharf
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.394442
Subject(s) - diffraction efficiency , optics , diffraction , fabrication , inverse , materials science , computer science , optical power , optoelectronics , physics , laser , medicine , alternative medicine , geometry , mathematics , pathology
Diffractive optical elements are ultra-thin optical components required for constructing very compact optical 3D sensors. However, the required wide-angle diffractive 2D fan-out gratings have been elusive due to design challenges. Here, we introduce a new strategy for optimizing such high-performance and wide-angle diffractive optical elements, offering unprecedented control over the power distribution among the desired diffraction orders with only low requirements with respect to computational power. The microstructure surfaces were designed by an iterative gradient optimization procedure based on an adjoint-state method, capable to account for application-dependent target functions while ensuring compatibility with existing fabrication processes. The results of the experimental characterization confirm the simulated tailored power distributions and optical efficiencies of the fabricated elements.