A modal method for the analysis of surface relief gratings made with anisot
ropic material is presented. The structure is decomposed into a series of c
ascaded discontinuities between planar waveguides with stratified anisotrop
ic dielectric. The basic problem is formulated by an integral equation whic
h is solved numerically by the method of moments. The mode functions of the
periodic region are assumed as basis functions to represent the unknown fi
eld on the junctions. Each junction is viewed as a waveguide junction probl
em and has been characterized by the generalized scattering matrix (GSM). T
he diffraction efficiencies of the grating are determined by combining the
various GSM. In this way, the analysis method is stable and can be applied
also to deep gratings.