Theoretical and experimental properties of a binary linear beam-splitting element with a large fan angle

Diffractive beam-splitting elements with a large fan angle of about 45° were realized as binary phase elements for application in a commercial laser device operating at the wavelength of 635 nm. The fan-out elements designated to split a laser beam into a line of 43 equal power spots were fabricated in silica by means of microstructuring techniques and replicated in acrylate by ultraviolet curing. Two different gratings have been designed using scalar unidirectional iterative methods, based on the iterative discrete on-axis and on the direct binary search algorithms. The optical properties of both gratings obtained by these scalar methods were compared with simulations based on rigorous electromagnetic calculations in order to verify and control the application-relevant specifications. The experimentally measured optical performance of the replicated fan-out elements is in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The complete procedure for realizing the linear beam splitters, that is the design method, the fabrication of the master, and the replication process, will be presented. The optical properties and characteristic data of the replicas will be compared with scalar simulations as well as rigorous calculations; the results will be discussed.