Diffractive optical element optimization under wide incident angle and waveband situations

The single-layer diffractive optical elements (SLDOEs) exhibit various advantages with respect to the design, configuration, fabrication, and cost. However, they also rapidly decrease the diffraction efficiency in a wide working waveband and incident angle range. In this study, we propose an optimal design and set up a mathematical model and derive expressions for SLDOE in actual applications to effectively solve this problem. Initially, an optimal SLDOE design can be obtained by establishing the mathematical model and diffraction efficiency expressions for SLDOEs with respect to the incident angle. Finally, the diffraction efficiency within an incident angle range is presented based on three typical designs, and their influences are analyzed. The results denote that the angle bandwidth integrated average diffraction efficiency (ABIAED)-based design can improve the diffraction efficiency over the entire waveband and range of incident angles, while improving the ease of processing of SLDOEs with a minimum microstructure height.