OPTICAL-RESPONSE OF BLAZED AND OVERHANGING GRATINGS USING OBLIQUE CHANDEZON TRANSFORMATIONS

In this work we present a new oblique transformation technique which a llows the modelling of the optical response of highly blazed and overh anging grating surfaces using a differential method. The new technique when implemented as computer code is an order of magnitude faster tha n the conventional differential method when applied to blazed gratings with no overhang. Applying it to severely blazed overhanging gratings , which cannot be modelled with the conventional approach, yields new insight into an area of grating theory which has previously remained l argely unexplored.