Abstract

The possibility of controlling the diffracted response of a periodic structure is investigated by using dual-period arrays, i.e., periodic arrays with a compound unit cell. We consider wire gratings in which each period comprises several cylinders with circular cross sections and all the cylinder axes are contained in the same plane. It is shown that this kind of structure permits one to control the diffracted response, regardless of the cylinder material and the incident polarization. Our numerical results suggest that the effect produced by wire gratings with dual-period characteristics is basically a geometric effect, and it can be present for other shapes of individual scatterers within each subarray.

© 2008 Optical Society of America