Binary diffractive beam splitters with arbitrary diffraction angles

Diffractive optical beam splitters designed with iterative Fourier transform type algorithms can produce only certain diffraction angles given by the spatial frequencies used for the computations, which are multiples of a certain base spatial frequency. We have developed a design algorithm that overcomes this limitation and can be used to compute binary diffractive elements with arbitrary diffraction angles. The simulated and experimentally measured properties of optical elements producing beam arrays in circular arrangements are presented and discussed.