High-efficiency compression gratings based on total internal reflection (TIR) are promising alternatives of compressor gratings because of their high diffraction efficiency, potential high damage resistant ability, and compact structure. However, there is little information about global extrema of diffraction efficiency and it is not conducive to the applications of the TIR gratings in high-energy laser systems.Researchers at Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics(SIOM/China)  extended this work by designing a high-efficiency diffraction grating used for pulse compressor at 1053 nm.[Current Applied Physics 11(1),21-27, 2011]

In this paper, they offered a more intuitional view on the -1 order diffraction through three-dimensional slicing plots instead of the two-dimensional ones, and by analyzing on the performances of different grating parameters in detail, including the grating period, etching depth, and duty cycle. Two different points of view were obtained. One was that similar spectral bandwidth and angle bandwidth could be achieved by different grating parameters for both TE- and TM-waves; the other one was that TIR gratings were more favorably used under the illumination of TE-waves for lower intensity enhancement ratio.