Diffraction Pattern of a Rotated Grating

Abstract

Diffraction patterns of a rotated grating are investigated from both theoretical and experimental points of view. It is shown that as the grating rotates, the angle of deviation of each diffracted line relative to the incident light goes through a minimum, and that the angle between any two successive diffracted lines goes through a minimum value which is the same for all adjacent diffracted lines. It is also shown that the angle between diffraction lines with n=1 and n=-1 is not sensitive to small variations of the grating from being normal to the incident light. Finally, a method is suggested for determining the line distance of a diffraction grating with high accuracy.