Theory of plane wave diffraction in Fabry-Perot interferometers with built-in thin and thick gratings

摘要

The theoretical investigations of diffraction of light beams on phase sinusoidal diffraction grating placed between parallel mirrors of a Fabry-Perot interferometer are carried out. The problem is solved on the basis of Maxwell equations in the approximation of plane waves. The numerical analysis indicates that the power of beam incident on interferometer with a built-in diffraction grating undergoes strong redistribution between diffraction orders depending on such parameters as angle of incidence, initial detuning from the interference maximum and index of phase modulation. This feature provides the opportunity to use such grating-interferometer as an amplitude-phase modulator and a spatial switch of a new type. If nonlinear optical media are used as an intermediate layer and grating is formed by interferencing light beams, then the parameters of such a modulator can be changed and controlled optically.