A reflection grating with a binary surface profile is presented that h
as high diffraction efficiency. The measured intensity for the +1st di
ffracted order was 77%. The binary grating is composed of a minilattic
e with feature sizes comparable with the wavelength of the incident li
ght. The overall structure is designed in such a way that it imitates
a conventional blazed grating. The grating also has interesting polari
zation properties. The main part of the TE-polarized light is diffract
ed into the lst diffracted order, and most of the TM-polarized light r
emains in the 0th diffracted order. The measurements of the grating ar
e compared with rigorous diffraction theory and found to be in reasona
ble agreement.