Resonant scattering from two-dimensional gratings

changes of diffraction efficiency over a small parameter range have been observed by rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The peak reflection or transmission efficiencies can approach unity. This phenomenon is explained in terms of the coupling between the incident plane wave and guided modes that can be supported by the two-dimensional-grating waveguide structure. Because of the double periodicity, the incident field can be coupled into any direction in the grating plane. The guided modes supported by two-dimensional gratings are found by rigorous solution of the homogeneous problem associated with the scattering (inhomogeneous) problem. The complex propagation constants for the guided modes provide estimates of both the resonance angle and width. In addition, to illustrate the implication of the radical change in the phase and amplitude of the propagating waves, we report a study of finite-beam diffraction in the resonant scattering region. Applications for the structures include polarization-independent narrow-band filters and bandwidth-tunable filters. It is shown that, because of the double resonance, the polarization-independent narrow-band filters have a large angular tolerance. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America