Conical Diffraction from Uniaxial Gratings

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Abstract
We develop a method for solving the problem of conical diffraction at a corrugated interface between an isotropic medium and a uniaxial crystal. The method, based on the Rayleigh hypothesis, is valid for gratings with shallow grooves, arbitrary orientations of the optic axis, and arbitrary orientation of the plane of incidence with respect to the main section of the cylindrical corrugation. The theoretical formalism is applied to model the conversion between polarization states of electromagnetic waves reflected at the sinusoidally corrugated interface between a uniaxial crystal and an isotropic dielectric or metal, for incidences from the isotropic side or the uniaxial one. The combined effect of conical diffraction and material anisotropy on polarization conversion is exemplified in both cases.