Diffraction Gratings 101: Types and Applications

[@Minecraftmigapiku]

What are prisms with diffraction grating on one side used for?

[@thorlabs]

Wasatch Photonics Photonics does a great job illustrating what Grisms (Grating film coated onto prisms) are and what they are used for: wasatchphotonics.com/technologies/grisms-uses-advantages/#:~:text=A%20grism%20is%20a%20compound,deflects%20red%20more%20than%20violet “A grism is a compound optical element composed of a GRating and prISM(s). It is a dispersive element that permits an in-line optical layout by cleverly exploiting the differences between gratings and prisms. The prism deflects violet light more than red, while a diffraction grating deflects red more than violet. By combining the two, light can be separated into its components while canceling out the beam deviations caused by each element. Light is dispersed, but the impact to overall direction of beam travel is minimized, reducing impact on the optics of your system.” You can basically achieve the dispersion you require in a setup without dealing with walk-off deviation effects. “This property can transform a camera into an imaging spectrograph, and is widely used in astronomical telescopes to produce high resolution, spectrally selective images. It may also be integrated into a typical spectrometer layout to avoid turning of the beam, or for spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM). These use cases often employ a prism on both the input and output surfaces to maintain alignment to an optical axis while still achieving dispersion from the grating for spectral selection or imaging.” Hope this helps!

[@ShopperPlug]

What is "Volume Bragg Gratings"?

[@thorlabs]

Thanks for your question! Volume Bragg Gratings are synonymous with Volume Phase Holographic gratings. An optical Bragg grating is a transparent optic with a periodic variation of the refractive index.