Dispersion correction in the advanced volume holographic filter.

Abstract

Thick volume Bragg gratings (VBG) have been used for wavefront selectivity in various applications such as data storage, endoscopy, or astronomic observation. However, a single thick grating is also selective in wavelength, severely limiting the spectral throughput of the system. Recently, our group introduced a two element Advanced Volume Holographic Filter (AVHF) where the first, dispersive Bragg grating is coupled to a thick VBG such that it dramatically improves the spectral bandwidth, and ultimately enhances the signal to noise ratio of polychromatic sources. Still, the two grating AVHF configuration introduced wavelength dispersion which prevents usage of the filter in imaging systems. Here, we present a solution to this problem by introducing a third diffraction grating that compensates for the dispersion of the two initial gratings. Using both simulation and experimental implementation of a visible-based, broadband AVHF system, the spectral dispersion was improved by a factor of up to 41 × compared to our previous system, re-collimating the output filtered beam. This new AVHF system can be utilized in imaging applications with noisy environments requiring filtration of a polychromatic source.