Published Articles

MLD vs. Transmission Gratings for the Highest-Efficiency, Most-Compact Pulse Compressors

Contrary to popular belief MLD gratings can be designed with a wide range of periods to provide the highest overall efficiency pulse compressors that are as compact and flexible as those based on transmission gratings. Learn More »

Advantages of Out-of-plane Pulse Compression Gratings

In this paper, we show both theoretically and experimentally that most practical multilayer dielectric (MLD) and gold reflection grating designs can be used with quite substantial beam-deviation angles—as large as even 30°—by mounting the grating out-of-plane and choosing the optimal polarization. Learn More »

Manufacturing Large Spherical and Cylindrical Laser Focusing Gratings by Scanning Beam Interference Lithography

Volume production of large gratings with excellent efficiency and wavefront performance is well established, making them a simple, low-cost alternative to large lenses, in addition to offering advantages only obtainable by freeform and diffractive optics. Learn More »

Large Area Pulse Compression Gratings Fabricated Onto Fused Silica Substrates Using Scanning Beam Interference Lithography

Large area multilayer-dielectric (MLD) gratings for high energy pulse compression have been manufactured using a new exposure method called scanning beam interference lithography (SBIL). Learn More »

Reactive Ion Beam Etching of Large Diffraction Gratings

Large area Multilayer Dielectric (MLD) diffraction gratings are essential components for temporal pulse compression in high energy laser systems. MLD grating designs typically consist of a silica grating layer on top of a dielectric multilayer reflector. A reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) process using a gridded radio frequency (RF) ion source was developed to uniformly etch the silica grating layer through a binary photo-resist mask on large size optics. Learn More »

Reducing the Stress of Hafnia/Silica Multilayers with Ion Assisted Deposition for Use in High-Power Diffraction Gratings

Multilayer dielectric optical films are used to achieve high laser-induced damage threshold coatings for mirrors in high energy lasers. These coatings, usually made without ion-assisted deposition (IAD), can have low stress in a typical laboratory atmosphere on any substrate material. Learn More »

Plymouth Grating Laboratory is dedicated to making the highest-quality diffraction gratings available today. Our focus is on lasers and laser systems. PGL gratings offer exceptionally high diffraction efficiency and laser damage threshold, combined with superior wavefront error and uniformity over large areas. This performance is made possible by PGL’s exclusive use of the Nanoruler, based on the proprietary Scanning Beam Interference Lithography technology developed at MIT, and PGL’s industry-leading process expertise. The company occupies 20,000 sq. ft. of dedicated manufacturing, engineering, and office space in Carver, MA, just outside of Plymouth, and about 45 miles south of Boston.

5 Commerce Way, Carver, MA 02330, USA|+1.508.503.1719|sales@plymouthgrating.com