Diffraction in grating optical filters with angular-selective light transmission

Abstract

The effect of diffraction on the directional light transmittance of grating optical filters designed for smart windows is studied. The filter has an angular selective light transmission due to two thin-film gratings formed by "non-transmissive" (absorptive, reflective or scattering) parallel strips on the surfaces of a single or double glazed window. Methods are considered for calculating the op-timal slope angle of two filter’s gratings, their relative position on the opposite window surfaces and the widths of the strips of both gratings to minimize light transmission on a specific date and time of day for a given latitude and longitude of the building and azimuth of the window. A meth-od has been developed for calculating the diffraction at the input and output gratings of the filter with regard for a complex movement of the Sun relative to the window and a corresponding change in the incidence angle of the solar beams on the gratings. To evaluate a decrease in the light transmittance of the filter due to diffraction, an additional factor is introduced into the calcu-lation equation. Geometric parameters of the filters and diffraction are calculated. The values of the diffraction factor are 0.9999992 and 0.9999998 for single or double glazed windows, respec-tively, i.e., the influence of diffraction on the light transmittance of the grating filter can be ne-glected.