Modeling the reflection of a laser beam by a deformed highly reflective volume bragg grating

A model is presented for analyzing volume Bragg gratings having large diffractive strength that may become distorted upon the passage of high-power laser light. One result of this analysis is that very little distortion in a volume Bragg grating can greatly reduce the reflectivity. This is a critical issue in the design of systems in which these devices are used to combine high-power laser beams.