The elliptical gaussian wave transformation due to diffraction by an elliptical hologram

Abstract

Realized as an interferogram of a spherical and a cylindrical wave, the elliptical hologram is treated as a plane diffracting grating which produces Fresnel diffraction of a simple astigmatic gaussian incident wave. It is shown that if the principal axes of the incident beam coincide with the principal axes of the hologram, the diffracted wave field is composed of three different astigmatic gaussian waves, with their waists situated in parallel but distinct planes. The diffraction pattern, observed on a transverse screen, is the result of the interference of the three diffracted wave components. It consists of three systems of overlapped second-order curves, whose shape depends on the distance of the observation screen from the hologram, as well as on the parameters of the incident wave beam and the hologram. The results are specialized for gratings in the form of circular and linear holograms and for the case of a stigmatic gaussian incident wave, as well as for the normal plane-wave incidence on the three mentioned types of hologram.