Glossary
- Diffraction: divergent nature of a wave due to its limited size
- Grating: optical device made of periodically spaced out diffractive elements
- Pitch ( grating ): distance between adjacent diffractive elements of a grating corresponding to the period of the diffracting pattern
- Wavelength ( of a light wave ): distance between two consecutive identical states of the electric ( or magnetic ) field
- Littrow angle: for a reflective grating, angle of incidence for which the diffracted wave in the order 1 propagates in the same direction than the incident wave