We present a new technique for light scanning by use of viscoelastic-based deformable phase diffraction gratings. Mechanical stretching of the grating permits control of its spatial period, and thus the orders of diffraction can be spatially deflected. In the experiments the viscoelastic gratings with triangular and rectangular profiles have been characterized at lambda = 633 nm. It is demonstrated that the reversible elongation can exceed 20% of the initial length. For the triangular profile grating, the diffraction angle of the first order changed from 6.6° to 5.4° while the diffraction efficiency remained almost constant at ∼17%. Dynamic scanning of a laser beam at frequencies of ∼1 kHz is demonstrated by use of electromechanically driven viscoelastic gratings.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

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