Fabrication and characterization of short-period double-layer cross-grating with holographic lithography

A cross-grating with short period and double layer is designed, and a method combining holographic lithography and lithography-etch-lithography-etch is proposed to manufacture it. The scalar diffraction theory and the rigorous coupled wave analysis are employed to analyze the diffraction characteristics of the double-layer cross-grating (DLCG). It reveals that the efficiencies of the (±1,±1) orders possess perfect complementarity under normal incidence. The equivalent high efficiency for TE and TM polarization can be realized which means the high signal-to-noise ratio and fringe contrast can be simultaneously achieved for heterodyne grating interferometers (HGIs). Furthermore, a gold-coated DLCG with grating pitch of 2 µm and pattern area of 60 mm×60 mm etched on the quartz substrate is fabricated with the proposed method. The displacement resolution, measurement range and long-term stability can be reliably guaranteed for HGIs with this grating. The characteristics of the DLCG are also experimentally tested and compared with the theoretical analysis. Reasonable consistency is obtained and the capabilities of both the DLCG and the fabrication method are verified.