Cryogenic tests of volume-phase holographic gratings: results at 100 K

We present results from cryogenic tests of volume-phase holographic (VPH) gratings at approximately 100 K. The aims of these tests are to see whether the diffraction efficiency as a function of wavelength is significantly different at a low temperature from that at room temperature and to see how the performance of a VPH grating is affected by a number of thermal cycles. We have completed ten cycles between room temperature and 100 K and find no clear evidence that the diffraction efficiency changes with temperature or with a successive thermal cycle.