Ultraviolet groove efficiency of a holographic grating: implications for a dual-order spectrograph.

The ultraviolet groove efficiency for a holographically ruled diffraction grating with a trapezoidal profile has been measured. The efficiencies for the +/-1 and the zero orders are in good agreement with those derived from scalar theory. The +/-1 orders have equal efficiency as a function of wavelength. The peak of the sum of fitted groove efficiency functions is 76%, a level that is competitive with the groove efficiency of a mechanically blazed grating. We suggest that a normal-incidence grating mount with detectors at both orders will offer a system with twice the efficiency and provide a built-in redundancy. We discuss design considerations for reducing astigmatism equally in both orders in such dual-order mountings.