This calculator computes the second order (GDD) and third order (TOD) dispersion of a double-pass grating pair compressor in Treacy configuration. Additionally, the calculator gives the Littrow angle, which is the incidence angle optimized for highest diffraction efficiency in blazed transmission gratings. The angle of diffraction θd for diffraction order m=−1 is calulated using the sign convention for transmission gratings. Finally, the calculator also gives the angular dispersion, i.e. how many degrees the diffracted beam spreads per nanometer of spectral width.
The formulas for second and third order dispersion are
where N is the number of passes (in this case 2), m=−1 is the diffraction order, λ is the center wavelength, d is the grating period (inverse of the line density), L is the physical distance between the two parallel gratings, and θi is the incidence angle.
Littrow angle is calculated as
θL=arcsin(2dλ)
and the angle of diffraction is computed from the grating equation as
θD=arcsin(sinθi+mdλ)
Finally, the angular dispersion is found by differentiating the grating equation with respect to wavelength