Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOFGratings are central optical elements for diffraction, dispersion and beam guidance. At Fraunhofer IOF, we develop high-precision grating structures for a wide range of applications - from laser technology to spectroscopy. Our expertise ranges from classical diffraction gratings to innovative solutions for beam combining.
Grating Technologies for Photonics and Spectroscopy
Customized grating solutions for demanding optical applications
Your Partner for Optical Grating Solutions
Whether for high-power lasers, compact spectrometers or complex beam guidance systems - we offer you customized gratings with maximum efficiency and precision.
Our Services and Competencies
Grating Design and Production
We develop the appropriate structure design based on your individual parameters (e.g. wavelength, bandwidth, polarization, angle of incidence and efficiency requirements). We use numerical simulations to optimize the grating structure specifically for your application.
Here is a small gadget for calculating a grating:
If you would like more 2% reflection, please contact us!
Production is carried out using high-precision electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching, which we use to transfer the simulated structures exactly into the desired layer systems. We manufacture on substrates with an aperture of up to 275 × 120 mm², 200 × 200 mm² or on round formats up to 270 mm in diameter. For seamless integration into your optical system, we then cut the grating elements to the desired final format.
For more Information, have a look at our Technologypage!
Substrate with customized grids with chrome mask before separation
Lasergrating
Dielectric reflection grating
Our dielectric laser gratings are specially designed for use in high-power and ultra-short pulse laser systems. They enable efficient beam shaping, splitting or compression with high thermal stability and damage threshold. Typical applications include pulse compression in CPA systems, beam steering in research lasers and use in lasers for inertial confinement fusion experiments. Tailor-made designs and precise manufacturing technologies enable us to achieve diffraction efficiencies of over 95 % across broad spectral bandwidths - with peak values of over 99 % for polarized light.
More information on our Datasheet.
Spectrometer grating
For spectroscopic applications, we offer reflection and transmission gratings with line counts of up to 3500 lines/mm. These gratings cover a broad spectrum from UV to VIS and NIR to SWIR and are designed for both low and high spectral resolutions. Typical applications include environmental analysis, astronomical spectroscopy and industrial process monitoring.
Our focus is the development of customized grating concepts for space missions - such as ESA GAIA or Sentinel 4 - and earthbound astronomy - such as NIRPS. Our gratings are characterized by high efficiency, low polarization sensitivity (<3 %) and high optical quality (wavefront accuracy, scattered light).
The gratings are manufactured using electron beam lithography, which enables the realization of a wide variety of grating concepts, such as binary gratings, blaze gratings and echelle gratings, also taking into account grating optimizations using metastructures.
Further information on the projects can be found here.
Further technical details on the Datasheet.
Qualification model of the Sentinel-4 NIR grating unit
Grating for Beam Combination
Reflection grating for multi-kW beam combination at wavelengths of 2µm
For applications in the field of Spectral Beam Combining (SBC), we develop highly specialized gratings that efficiently combine several laser beams of different wavelengths into a single beam. This technology enables the scalable increase in performance of laser systems - e.g. for industrial material processing, additive manufacturing or large-scale scientific systems. Our SBC gratings achieve efficiencies of up to 97 % (unpolarized) or 99 % (polarized) and are designed for laser powers of over 100 kW (cw). In addition to grating design, we also offer the optimization of complete SBC units - including mechanical integration, backside anti-reflection coating and precise characterization.
More information on the Datasheet.
Markets and Applications for Optical Gratings
Our grating solutions are used in a wide range of markets:
- Laser technology (e.g. for pulse compression or beam combination)
- Spectroscopy (e.g. environmental monitoring, food safety)
- Astronomy and space travel (e.g. for telescopes, spectrometers and optical sensors) for telescopes, spectrometers and optical sensors)
- Medical technology (e.g. for diagnostic systems)
- Quantum technologies
- Application example
- and much more ...
Your Benefits in Working with Us
- Customized grating designs for specific requirements
- Manufacturing in a clean room with maximum precision
- Interdisciplinary expertise in optics, lithography and simulation
- Close collaboration from research to product integration
Technical Equipment for Grating Production and Characterization
Our production takes place in state-of-the-art clean rooms with high-precision lithography, coating and structuring. High-resolution measuring systems are available for comprehensive characterization and quality control: These enable an imaging analysis of the grating structures, a spectrally resolved determination of the diffraction efficiency and an interferometric recording of the planarity of the structured surfaces.
