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 Optical Holography
Materials, Theory and Applications

Edited by
PIERRE-ALEXANDRE BLANCHE, PHD
Research Professor
College of Optical Sciences
The University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona, United States

]
OPTICAL HOLOGRAPHY-MATERIALS, THEORY AND APPLICATIONS ISBN: 978-0-12-815467-0
Copyright Ó 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other
than as may be noted herein).

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List of Contributors

Pierre-Alexandre Blanche, PhD Silvio Montresor, PhD

Research Professor Le Mans Université
College of Optical Sciences LAUM CNRS 6613
The University of Arizona Le Mans, France
Tucson, AZ, United States
Izabela Naydenova, PhD, MSc
V. Michael Bove, Jr., SB, SM, PhD Professor
Principal Research Scientist School of Physics and Clinical and Optometric Sciences
Media Lab College of Sciences and Health
Massachusetts Institute of Technology TU Dublin
Cambridge, MA, United States Dublin, Ireland

Marc Georges, PhD Pascal Picart, PhD

Doctor Professor
Centre Spatial de Liège e STAR Research Unit Le Mans Université
Liège Université LAUM CNRS 6613
Angleur, Belgium Le Mans, France
Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Ingenieurs du Mans
Tom D. Milster, BSEE, PhD Le Mans, France
Professor
College of Optical Sciences Vincent Toal, BSc, MSc, PhD
University of Arizona Centre for Industrial and Engineering Optics
Tucson, AZ, United States Dublin Technological University
Professor Dublin, Ireland
Electrical and Computer Engineering Director for Research
University of Arizona Optrace Ltd.
Tucson, AZ, United States Dublin, Ireland

v
Preface
More than 70 years after its discovery, holography is still
mesmerizing the public with its ability to display 3D
images with crisp depth rendering and shimmering
colors. Today, holograms are more than a curiosity, and
they have found applications in a large variety of prod-
ucts ranging from security tags to head-up displays and
gun sights. In addition to mirrors and lenses, holograms
have become an essential tool that enables scientists to
control light in novel ways.
However, one application eludes our quest: the
highly anticipated holographic television. The reason
holographic televisions are not available at your local
electronics store, explained in detail in this book, is the
extraordinarily large amount of information that must
be processed and displayed in order to generate dynamic
holograms. Fortunately, the emergence of new display
technologies such as spatial light modulators and
micromirror devices are helping engineers develop pro-
totypes that are becoming more convincing. It is my
belief that holographic television will emerge very soon.
Working in the field of holography is extremely
gratifying because the research is at the forefront of some
very exciting new techniques and developments. In
recent years, we have seen the appearance of the holo-
graphic microscope, the holographic optical tweezers,
and holographic sensors.
In this book, seven accomplished scientists explain
where in their own field holography occupies a center
stage. They guide the reader from the essential concepts
to the latest discoveries.
The first chapter by Pierre-A Blanche is an introduc-
tion to the world of holography. It starts with a short
history and takes the approach of describing holography
using diffraction gratings, which can easily be general-
ized. This chapter explains the basic concepts such as
thick vs. thin holograms or transmission vs. reflection
geometries. The scalar theory of diffraction with its
rigorous mathematical expressions is developed next.
This chapter concludes with a section describing the
major optical configurations that have been developed
for recording holograms and how they produce holo-
grams with different characteristics.
The second chapter, also by Pierre-A Blanche,
describes holographic recording material and their
processing. To understand the different material char-
acteristics and metrics, this chapter starts by explaining
the terminologies used in this field. Permanent mate-
rials that can only record the hologram once are
introduced first, followed by refreshable materials
where the hologram can be recorded, erased, and
recorded again. This chapter also reviews electronic
devices that can dynamically record or display
holograms.
Chapter 3 by Tom D. Milster details algorithms that
can compute holographic patterns, such as the
GerchbergeSaxton iterative Fourier transform algo-
rithm. Starting from this seminal work, Milster discusses
its convergence property and then expands to more
modern variations that are now used to reduce noise and
improve computational speed.
Michael Bove authored Chapter 4 about holographic
television. After a brief overview of the different tech-
niques that have been developed, the chapter discusses
the limitations due to the very large spatiotemporal
bandwidth required to generate dynamic holograms. As
a way to overcome this limitation, different technologies
of light modulators and microdisplays are introduced
and their performance compared in the prospect of their
use for the future holographic television. This chapter
concludes with a very interesting take on holographic
augmented and virtual reality.
In Chapter 5, Marc Georges presents the holographic
interferometry technique. This technique allows the
measurement of the phase of an object or a scene, which
evolves over time, and is used to detect defects in lami-
nated material. It can also be used for measuring the
vibration modes of industrial components such as tur-
bine blades. After defining the characteristics of an ideal
system, Georges reviews the different implementations
that have been proposed, moving from analog systems
to the more modern electronic speckle pattern interfer-
ometry. Because the sensor resolution keeps improving,
it is now possible to detect the interference fringes
directlyþ, which leads to the most recent digital
vii
viii PREFACE
holographic interferometry techniques, which are
described at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 6, written by Pascal Picart and Silvio
Montresor, is dedicated to digital holography. Digital
holography is the inverse problem of a computer-
generated hologram and is about digitally reconstruct-
ing the optical wavefront from a recorded interference
pattern. Picart and Montresor start by introducing the
fundamentals of Fourier optics and then move to the
different configurations for the recording of digital
holograms, followed by the description of different
algorithms for the numerical reconstruction of digital
holograms. Finally, the noise in digital holographic
images is discussed, and different techniques for its
reduction are compared.
Holographic sensors are introduced in Chapter 7,
where Izabela Naydenova describes this unique and
fascinating aspect of holograms. Starting with a brief
historical overview, the chapter describes holograms as a
sensor platform, the fabrication of the photonic struc-
tures, and the different approaches to functionalize the
holographic materials. The chapter ends by listing the
challenges facing the future development of holographic
sensors.
Chapter 8 is dedicated to the use of holography for
security. In this chapter, Vincent Toal explains the
problem of counterfeit products and its prevention using
security tags such as holograms. This application is
enabled by the mass production of holograms as well as
their serialization, which are both described. What
makes holograms so interesting for security is that they
can be used in a nonimaging way such as match filtering
and joint transform correlation. Toal also explains how
encryption methods can be used to make the security
even more unbreakable. Finally, holographic techniques
for the imaging of concealed objects are presented.
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Holographic
PIERRE-ALEXANDRE BLANCHE, PHD
A SHORT HISTORY
Welcome to the beautiful world of holography. With
their shimmering color and ghostlike appearance, holo-
grams have taken a hold in the popular imagination,
and buzz marketing alike. This is a rare accomplishment
for a scientific technique, that worth to be noted.
Together with this general appreciation, comes the
misinterpretation. The word “hologram” is sometimes
associated to the phenomena that have nothing to do
with the scientific usage of the term. It is not problem-
atic in everyday life, but it can become conflicting
when the technology penetrates the market. We have
all heard about holographic glass, holographic how
from deceased artists, holographic television, princess
Leia hologram, etc. Some are holograms indeed, some
are not. This book will help demystify holography,
and I hope it will help you gain a new appreciation
for the technique that can be applied in a lot of different
circumstances.
There exist three possible ways to alter or change the
trajectory of light: reflection, refraction, and diffraction.
In our everyday experiences, we mostly encounter reflec-
tions from mirrors and flat surfaces, and refraction when
we look through water, or wear prescription glasses. Sci-
entists have used reflection and refraction for over
400 years to engineer powerful instruments such as tele-
scopes and microscopes. Isaac Newton [1] championed
the classical theory of light propagation as particles,
which accurately described reflection and refraction.
Diffraction, on the other hand, could not be explained
by this corpuscular theory, and was only understood
much later with the concept of wave propagation of
light, first described by Huygens [2], and extensively
developed later by Young [3] and Fresnel [4].
Wave propagation theory predicts that when the
light encounters an obstacle such as a slit, the edges
do not“cut” a sharp border into the light beam, as the
particle theory predicted, but rather there is formation
of wavelets that propagate on the side in new directions.
Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815467-0.00001-3
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
This is the diffraction phenomenon. Eventually, the par-
ticle and wave points of view will be reconciled by the
quantum theory, and the duality of wave particle was
developed by Schrödinger [5] and de Broglie. [6,7].
While the light propagation from mirrors and lenses
can be explained with the thorough understanding of
reflection and refraction, holography can only be
explained by recognizing diffraction. A hologram is
nothing but a collection of precisely positioned aper-
tures that diffracts the light and forms a complex wave
front such as a three-dimensional (3D) image. In addi-
tion because the light is considered as a wave in these
circumstances, both the amplitude and the phase can
be modulated to form the hologram. Amplitude modu-
lation means local variation of absorption, and phase
modulation means a change in the index of refraction
or thickness of the material. In the latter case of phase
modulation, the holographic media can be totally
transparent, which account for a potentially much effi-
cient diffraction of the incident light. We will describe
the different properties of holograms in Section 2.
Holograms are very well known for the awe-
inspiring 3D images they can recreate. But they can
also be used to generate arbitrary wavefronts. Examples
of such wavefronts are focalization exactly like a lens, or
reflection exactly like a mirror. The difference of the ho-
logram from the original element (lens or mirror) is
that, in both cases, diffraction is involved, not reflection
or refraction. That type of hologram, called holographic
optical element, is found in optical setups where for
reason of space, weight, size, complexity, or when it is
not possible to use classical optical elements. Some ex-
amples include combiner in head-up display, disper-
sion grating in spectrometers, or spot array generators
for cameras and laser pointers.
There are two very different techniques for
manufacturing holograms. One can either compute it
or record it optically. Computing a hologram involves
the calculation of the position of the apertures and/or
1
2 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications
phase shifters, according to the laws of light propagation
derived by Maxwell [8]. This calculation can be fairly easy
for simple wavefronts such as a lens, for extremely
complicated for high-resolution 3D images. On the other
hand, optically recording a hologram implies the regis-
tration of both the amplitude and the phase of the wave-
front. Capturing the light intensity was first achieved
with the invention of photography by Niépce in 1822.
But recording the phase eluded scientists until 1948.
Although the concept of optical interference was known
for ages, it is only when Dennis Gabor introduced the
concept of making an object beam interfere with a refer-
ence beam that recording the phase became possible
[9,10]. Indeed, when two coherent beams intersect,
constructive and destructive interferences occurs accord-
ing to the phase difference, this transforms the phase in-
formation into intensity information that can be
recorded the same way photographs are taken. In some
sense, the reference beam is used to generate a wave car-
rier that is modulated by the information provided by
the object wave (similarly to AM radio).
Gabor coined the term holographic from the Greek
words holos: “whole” and graphe: “drawing” because
the technique recorded for the first time the entire light
field information: amplitude and phase. Gabor used the
technique to increase the resolution in electron micro-
scopy and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971
for this discovery.
Owing to the very short coherence length of the light
sources available to Gabor at the time, the object and
reference beams required to be colinear. Unfortunately,
this configuration yield to very poor imaging quality
because the transmitted beam and
1 diffracted orders
were superimposed, leading to high noise and a “twin-
image” problem.
Holographic imaging will have to wait for the inven-
tion of the visible light laser in 1960 by Maiman [11],
and for Leith and Upatnieks to resolve the twin-image
problem [12,13]. Using a long coherence length laser
source, one may divide a beam into two partsdone to
illuminate the object (the object beam) and the other
(the reference beam) is collimated and incident at an
angle to the hologram recording material. As a result of
the high degree of coherence, the object and reference
beams will still interfere to form the complex interference
pattern that we call the hologram. On reconstruction, a
monochromatic beam is incident to the recorded holo-
gram and the different diffracted waves are angularly
separated. This way, the 0, þ1, and 1 orders can be
observed independently, solving the problem of both
noise and twin images observed in in-line holograms.
Section 6 will describe the different configuration to re-
cord holograms.
In parallel, and independently to Leith and Upat-
nieks, Denisyuk worked on holograms where the object
and reference beams are incident the hologram plane
from opposite directions [14e16]. Such holograms
are formed by placing the photosensitive medium be-
tween the light source and a diffusely reflecting object.
In addition of being much simpler and more stable to
record, these reflection holograms can be viewed by a
white light source because only a narrow wavelength re-
gion is reflected back in the reconstruction process. We
will see the fundamental reason for this selectivity in
Section 2.3 about the characteristics of thick holograms.
Once high-quality imaging and computer-generated
holograms (CGHs) were demonstrated [17,18], the
research on holography experienced a phenomenal
growth, expanding to encompass a large variety of appli-
cations such as data storage [19], information processing
[20], interferometry [21], and dynamic holography [22]
to cite only a few. Today, with the widespread access to
active LCoS and MEMS devices, there is a rejuvenation
of the holographic field where a new generation of re-
searchers is applying the discoveries of the past decades
to electronic-controlled spatial light modulators. New
applications are only limited by the imagination of scien-
tists and engineers, and developments are continuously
being reported in the scientific literature.
This chapter will continue by developing the theory
of thick and thin diffraction gratings. Once these bases
have been established, we will move to the scalar theory
of diffraction that shows how to calculate the light field
from a diffractive element, and vice versa. We will finish
by describing several important experimental setup
used to record holograms.
DIFFRACTION GRATINGS
Waves and Interference
A great deal can be understood about holography
without the complication of imaging, and by simply
looking at the properties of diffraction gratings. Diffrac-
tion gratings are particular holograms where the inter-
ferences fringes, or Bragg’s planes, are parallel. As
such, they transform one plane wave into another plane
wave with a different direction. This simple action on
the light beam makes the mathematical formalism
much easier to understand.
After the analysis of simple gratings, holographic im-
ages can simply be viewed as the superposition of
several planar wavefronts, and the hologram itself can
be viewed as the superposition of several gratings,
much like Fresnel and Fourier decompositions.
Maxwell’s equation defines the properties of the elec-
tromagnetic field. In addition, for most holographic
 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Holographic 3

applications, the magnetic field can be neglected When two plane waves of the form of Eq. (1.3) cross
without loss of generality. In that case, only the Helm- each other, interference occurs. The total field can be
holtz equation remains to define the electric field E: described as:


2 
1 v E Utotal ðr; tÞ ¼ A1 exp½iðk1 $ r  u1 t þ f1 b
a1
 V2 E ¼ 0 (1.1) (1.5)
c2 vt 2 þ A2 exp½iðk2 $ r  u2 t þ f2 b
a2

with c being the speed of light and bold face font used
to represent vectors. where the subscripts number 1 and 2 describing the two
A solution of this differential equation has the form waves.
of a plane wave: In this formulation, we can see that the pattern is not
necessarily static but change as a function of time. It is
Eðr; tÞ ¼ Acosðk$r  ut þ fÞ (1.2) only in the special case where u1 ¼ u2 that Eq. (1.5) be-
comes time invariant and can be expressed in a simpler
where A is an imaginary vector describing the direction form, where the total intensity is
of the electric field oscillation, and contain the polariza- Z
tion information, k is the wave vector pointing in the di- IðrÞ ¼ Utotal ðr; tÞUtotal ðr; tÞ
rection of light propagation which magnitude is related
fA21 þ A22 þ 2A 1 A2 jb
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a1 $ b a1 $ b
a 2 jcos½ðk1  k2 Þ $ r þ argðb a 2 Þ
to the wavelength jkj ¼ 2p/l. r is the position vector
¼ I1 þ I2 þ 2 I1 I2 jb a1 $ b a1 $ b
a 2 jcos½ðk1  k2 Þ $ r þ argðb a 2 Þ
defining the position at which the field is calculated,
(1.6)
u is the frequency, and f the phase of the wave. Two
equivalent representation of a plane wave are illustrated To maximize the contrast between dark (destructive
in Fig. 1.1. It has to be noted that a spherical wavefront interference) and bright (constructive interference) re-
is also solution of the Helmholtz equation. gions of the interference pattern, the polarization of
Using Euler’s formula exp(ix) ¼ cosx þ i sinx, the the wave should be identical ba1 ¼ b
a 2 , and the equation
plane wave solution can be rewritten as: reduces to the familiar form:
Uðr; tÞ ¼ A exp½iðk $ r  ut þ f b
a (1.3) pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
IðrÞ ¼ I1 þ I2 þ 2 I1 I2 cos½ðk1  k2 Þ $ r (1.7)
where the polarization vector b a has been extracted from This intensity modulation can be recorded inside a
the amplitude vector A which is now the scalar A. material as an index modulation or absorption modula-
One need to keep in mind that the actual electric field tion pattern to form a diffraction grating.
E is the real part of the complex notation U in Eq. (1.3): Eq. (1.7) describing the intensity modulation in
1 1 space, can be recast as a static plane wave with a wave
Eðr; tÞ ¼ <½Uðr; tÞ ¼ Uðr; tÞ þ U ðr; tÞ (1.4)
2 2 vector defined as:

where the * denotes the complex conjugate. K ¼ k1  k2 (1.8)

FIG. 1.1 Plane wave representation as (A): plane of equal field intensity or (B): oscillation of the amplitude of
the field along the wave vector k.
4 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications

Similar to the definition of k1 and k2 that are the

wave vectors of the light beams, K is the grating vector
of the interference pattern. The magnitude of the grating
vector k2 is related to the spacing L between two planes
of equal magnitude, also called the Bragg’s planes:
  2p
K ¼ (1.9)
L

During the reading of a diffraction grating, an inci-

dent plane wave defined by the wave vector ki encoun-
ters the recorded grating K and is diffracted in the
direction kd according to the K-vector closing condition:
jKj ¼ kd  ki (1.10)
The K-vector closing condition is identical to the grating
equation devised from crystallographic measurements
where the modulation planes were actually rows of
atoms:
l
sinðqd Þ  sinðqi Þ ¼ m (1.11)
L

where qd is the angle of diffraction, qi is the angle of inci-

dence, and m is an integer number that defines the
diffraction order.
Both geometries are shown in Fig. 1.2 with the defi-
nition of the angles.
The angular dispersion as a function of the frequency
can be directly derived from the grating Eq. (1.11)
dqd m
¼ (1.12)
dl Lcosqd
FIG. 1.2 Definition of the angles and vectors for the beam
From Eq. (1.12), it can be seen that the lower fre- interference geometry, and K-vector closing condition for
quencies (red) are diffracted at a larger angle than the the same geometry.
higher frequencies (blue). This is the reverse from
what is observed with a refractive prism (with normal indication on the intensity of the wave being diffracted,
index dispersion), where higher frequencies exit at a only the direction and frequency. The calculation of the
larger angle. This opposition can be used to make an wave intensity, or diffraction efficiency, according to
optical system achromatic, with the diffractive element the grating parameters will be derived in Section 2.3
compensating the dispersion of the refractive lens. for thick volume grating, and in Section 2.4 for thin or
The direction of the diffraction maximums are given surface relief grating with different format modulation.
by the Bragg’s law that can be understood as the condi-
tion for constructive interference for the light interacting Point Source Interference
with two successive diffraction planes: Armed with the general equation for the interference be-
l
tween two waves (Eq. 1.7), let us derive some specific
sinðqB þ 4Þ ¼ m (1.13) cases and observe the pattern formed by the fringes.
2nL

where qB is the angle of incidence for which there is a Two-plane waves

maximum of diffracted intensity, also called Bragg’s In the case of two-plane wave that have different inci-
angle, 4 is the slant angle of the grating, that is, the angle dence angles, the phase and intensity are respectively
between the grating vector and the normal to the grating given by:
surface (see Fig. 1.2). 2p
It should be noted that the grating equations fi ¼ x sin qi
l (1.14)
expressed in Eqs. (1.10)e(1.13) do not give any Ii ¼ 1
 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Holographic 5

Inserted into Eq. (1.7), we found for the interference with Dx ¼ x1  x2.
pattern: This expression only became interesting by looking
  at particular cases such as the two that follow.
2p
IðxÞ ¼ 2 þ 2 cos xðsin q1  sin q2 Þ (1.15)
l
which is identical to the grating Eq. (1.11) with a Side-by-side point sources
pattern frequency of: For point sources that are located side by side along the
x axis, with a separation distance of Dx, and if we
sin q1  sin q2 consider a constant intensity, we can describe the phase
L¼ (1.16)
l and intensity as:
The geometry of this configuration along with the 2sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3


2p 4 Dx 2
interference pattern formed is shown in Fig. 1.3. fi ðx; yÞ ¼ x
þ y2 þ z2 5
We can see that the interference pattern only varies l 2 (1.19)
along one dimension (x). The recording of this pattern Ii ¼ 1
inside a material forms a diffraction grating.
So the interference pattern becomes a relatively sim-
Arbitrary point sources ple expression:
Instead of using plane waves, we can use spherical " sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi


waves with arbitrary origins (xi, yi, zi). Their phase and 2p Dx
IðPÞ ¼ 2 þ 2 cos x þ y2 þ z2
intensity is now described by: l 2
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

 !# (1.20)
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
2p Dx
fi ¼ ðx  xi Þ2 þ ðy  yi Þ2 þ ðz  zi Þ2  xþ þ y2 þ z2
l 2

2 (1.17)
Ai
Ii ¼ The geometry of this configuration along with the
ri
interference pattern formed is shown in Fig. 1.4.
In all generalities, the interference pattern is

2
2
2
2 Collinear point sources
A1 A2 A1 A2
IðPÞ ¼ þ þ2 For point sources that are located on the z axis but at
r1 r2 r1 r2
2 sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi

2


different distances, and considering a constant intensity,
4 2p Dx Dy 2 Dz 2 the phase and intensity are given by:
cos x þ y þ z
l 2 2 2
2p p  2
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3 fi ðx; yÞ ¼ zi þ x þ y2



ffi l lzi (1.21)
Dx 2 Dy 2 Dz 2 5
 xþ þ yþ þ zþ Ii ¼ 1
2 2 2

(1.18)

FIG. 1.3 Geometry and interference pattern produced by two-plane waves incident at different angles.
6 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications

FIG. 1.4 Geometry and interference pattern formed by two point sources located side by side.

The interference pattern is


p 1 1 2
IðPÞ ¼ 2 þ 2 cos  y þ z2 (1.22)
l z1 z2
The geometry of this configuration along with the
interference pattern formed is shown in Fig. 1.5. We
will see an identical pattern when we will study the
Gabor zone plate in Section 3.4.4.
It has to be noted that from the perspective of the
point sources, the two cases we just developed are iden-
tical. The two interference patterns are formed either on
the side, or along the axis of separation of the two sources.
Thick Grating’s Characteristics
The interference pattern formed by two-plane waves
was introduced in Fig. 1.3. Once this pattern is
recorded inside a material, it forms a diffraction
grating. The direction of the diffracted wave can be
determined using the grating Eq. (1.11). Now we are
going to study the distribution of energy around the
Bragg’s angle and the Bragg’s wavelength for thick
diffraction gratings.
These distributions have first been derived by Kogel-
nik in his coupled wave theory [23]. Another derivation
that also give very good results is called the parallel
stacked mirror model and has been introduced by
Brotherton-Ratcliffe [24,25]. These two models give
analytical solutions in the case when the grating satisfies
the Bragg’s condition for “thick” gratings.
Thick grating criteria
This thick grating condition is somewhat misnamed
because it is not based on the physical thickness of
the material, but on the premise that most of the energy
is concentrated in the first diffraction order. This condi-
tion of operation is also called the Bragg regime and is
indeed observed in gratings and holograms for which
the recoding media are rather thick. This is because, in
this condition, the incident beam interacts several times

FIG. 1.5 Geometry and interference pattern formed by two point sources located along the axis of light propagation.

with the grating structure, and there is a progressive
transfer of energy into the diffracted beam.
By contrast, “thin” gratings operated in the Raman-
Nath regime of diffraction where an appreciable
amount of energy can be found in higher orders of
diffraction. Owing to their smaller thickness, the trans-
fer of energy is not restricted to the first orders. The en-
ergy distribution diffracted by thin grating cannot be
calculated using the Kogelnik theory or the parallel
stacked mirror model and requires the more extensive
and laborious rigorous coupled wave analysis devel-
oped by Moharam and Gaylord [26].
There is not a clear dividing boundary between thin
and thick gratings. Instead, several criteria have been
devised according to the approximations used in solv-
ing the coupled wave equation, and according to the re-
sults observed experimentally.
Two of the most used criteria to distinguish between
thick and thin gratings are the Klein and Cook criteria
[27], and the Moharam and Young criteria [28].
Klein and Cook criteria:
2pld
Q0 ¼ (1.23)
nL2 cos q
with Q0 < 1 for thin gratings, and Q0 > 10 for thick
gratings.
The Moharam and Young criteria:
l2
r¼ (1.24)
nDnL2 cos q
where Dn is the material index modulation, and r < 1
defines thin gratings, when r  1 defines thick gratings.
We can see that this criterion does not even take the
physical thickness (d) of the grating into account.
To satisfy the thick grating criterion, the Bragg’s
planes need to extend to a certain volume inside the
material (thus the name). Such a diffraction structure
cannot be just overlaid on the surface. The advantage
of thick grating is that most of the diffracted energy is
found in the first order. For that reason, thick grating
are of particular interest in holographic imaging and en-
gineering because one does not have to deal with light
present in higher diffraction orders, which induce noise
and reduce efficiency in the desired first-order image.
Efficiency of thick gratings
The manufacturing of thick grating generally involves
the recording of an interference pattern using an optical
setup, techniques that will be detailed in Section 6. The
reason for optical recording is that the diffractive struc-
tures need to be embedded inside the volume of the
material, which is difficult to access otherwise. It is
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Holographic 7
also possible to produce diffractive structures that
satisfy the thick grating conditions using multilayer
coating of dielectric layers. Such structures are better
known as dichroic mirrors or interference filters.
The rigorous derivation of thick grating diffraction
efficiency, expressed as the ratio between the wave in-
tensity in the first order and the incident intensity, can
be found in the original publications [23,24]. Here,
we will summarize the principal results in the special
cases of unslanted (4 ¼ 0 or p/2), phase (Dn), and
amplitude (Da) sinusoidal modulation. For these spe-
cific conditions, the mathematical expressions simplify
dramatically, and it is helpful to keep in mind the gen-
eral trend as they give a good intuition for other cases.
In addition to the modulation format (phase and
amplitude), two different configurations of the grating
will be discussed: transmission and reflection. Illustra-
tion of these two geometries are shown in Fig. 1.6,
where a slant angle 4 has been introduced for the sake
of generality.
In transmission geometry, the diffracted light exits
the grating by the opposite side of the incident light:
the light goes through the grating. To do so, the Bragg’s
planes are oriented more or less orthogonal to the
grating surface. The grating frequency in transmission
geometry range from 300 to 3000 line pairs per mm
(lp/mm) for visible light.
In the reflection geometry, the diffracted light exits the
grating by the same side of the incident light, the light re-
flected back from the grating. In this geometry, the
Bragg’s planes are oriented more or less parallel to the
surface, and the grating frequency is over 4000 lp/mm.
Phase gratings, where the index of refraction is
modulated, can reach 100% efficiency either in trans-
mission or in reflection. The expression for TE (trans-
verse electrical) mode is respectively given by:



pDn d
hTE ¼ sin2 (1.25)
l cos qi
For transmission configuration and:



pDn d
hTE ¼ tanh2 (1.26)
l cos qi
For reflection configuration.
Plots of these functions according to the index mod-
ulation amplitude (Dn) are shown in Fig. 1.7.
It should be observed that in the case of a transmis-
sion grating, the efficiency is a periodic function (sin)
that reaches its maximum when the phase modulation
equal mp/2 (m being an integer). When the phase mod-
ulation extends past the first maximum, the grating is
said to be overmodulated, and the light starts to be
8 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications

FIG. 1.6 Definition of the angles and vectors for transmission (left) and reflection (right) gratings. The K-vector
closure condition is also drawn for each geometry.

overmodulation possible. The reason is that the light

transferred into the first order exits the media and
does not propagate further into the volume where it
would have had a chance to be coupled back into the
zero order.
Amplitude gratings are less efficient than phase grat-
ings because the modulation is based on the absorption
of a portion of the incident light. Volume amplitude
gratings do exceed 7.2% efficiency. The expression for
TE for a transmission grating is

 


2ad Da d
hTE ¼ exp sinh2 (1.27)
cos qi 2 cos qi

FIG. 1.7 Diffraction efficiency of a phase Bragg’s grating in
transmission or reflection according to the index modulation
amplitude Dn.
coupled back to the zero order, reducing the efficiency.
The minimum is reached when Dn ¼ mp.
In the reflection configuration, the diffraction effi-
ciency monotonically increases, and there is no
where a is the absorption coefficient and can reach
values higher than 1, Da is the modulation of that
coefficient.
Eq. (1.27) exhibits a maximum efficiency of 3.7%
when a ¼ Da ¼ ln 3.
For any value of the absorption a, the maximum ef-
ficiency is achieved when the modulation is maximum:
Da ¼ a.
 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Holographic 9

For the reflection case, the TE efficiency is given by: This is due to the very different Bragg’s plane fre-
" sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi quencies (L) observed for these geometries. In the

2
2  #2
Da2 Da Da transmission geometry, the grating frequency ranges
hTE ¼ A þ A2  coth A2 
4 4 4 from 300 to 3000 lp/mm, whereas in the reflection ge-
(1.28) ometry the grating frequency is more than 4000 lp/mm.
The expressions for phase gratings in TE mode for
where the parameter A denotes the absorption term: the different cases are the following:
A ¼ ad/cos qi.
The efficiency for the reflection amplitude grating
monotonously increases with the modulation, asymp- TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION
totically approaching a maximum of 7.2%. Angular Dispersion
Plots of the diffraction efficiency according to the
modulation when a ¼ Da for transmission (Eq. 1.27)

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pDnd
and reflection (Eq. 1.28) Bragg’s gratings are shown in sin2 Dqi
lB cos qi
Fig. 1.8. hðqi Þ ¼ (1.30)
Dqi
The solutions for the TM (transverse magnetic)
mode should be adjusted from the TE solutions with with the detuning parameter Dqi given by:
the coupling factor kk added to the modulation factor,

2n sin qB ðsin qi  sin qB Þ 2
either Dn or Da: Dqi ¼ 1 þ (1.31)
Dn
kk ¼ cosð2qi Þ (1.29)
Spectral dispersion


pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pDnd
Dispersion of thick gratings sin2 Dli
li cos qB
The coupled wave theory also allows the derivation of hðli Þ ¼ (1.32)
Dli
dispersion for each configuration according to wave-
with the detuning parameter Dli given by:
length and the angular incidence [23]. More impor-
tantly, one needs to recognize that even with the same 2 
32
li li
characteristics of thickness and modulation amplitude, 2n 1  cosð2qB Þ 1 
Dli ¼ 1 þ 4
lB lB 5
transmission and reflection gratings have very different (1.33)
Dn
behaviors when it comes to dispersion and selectivity.

REFLECTION CONFIGURATION
Angular Dispersion

sinh2 ðDqi Ai Þ
hðqi Þ ¼ (1.34)
sinh2 ðDqi Ai Þ þ Dq2i
With the parameter Ai given by:
pDnd
Ai ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (1.35)
jcosqi  cosqB jcosqi lB

And the detuning parameter Dqi is given by:

" #1=2
4n2 ðcos qi  cosqB Þ2 cosqi cos2 qB
Dqi ¼ 1  (1.36)
jcosqi  2cosqB jDn2

FIG. 1.8 Diffraction efficiency of an amplitude Bragg’s

grating in transmission or reflection according to the Spectral dispersion
absorption coefficient, and assuming maximum modulation sinh2 ðDli Bi Þ
amplitude. a ¼ Da. hðli Þ ¼ (1.37)
sinh2 ðDli Bi Þ þ Dq2i
10 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications

With the parameter Bi given by:
pDnd
Bi ¼
cosqB li
And the detuning parameter Dli given by:
" #1=2
4n2 ðli =lB Þ2 cos4 qB ½1  ðli =lB Þ2
Dli ¼ 1 
j1  2ðli =lB ÞjDn2
Note that these dispersion Eqs. (1.30e1.34), (1.37)
can be further approximated by sinc2 functions with the
appropriate detuning coefficients.
Typical angular and spectral dispersion characteris-
tics of reflection Bragg’s gratings are illustrated in
Figs. 1.9 and 1.10. Generally speaking, transmission
grating are diffracting a large bandwidth of wavelengths
each at a very specific angles, they produce a rainbow.
They are wavelength tolerant and angularly selective.
On the other hand, reflection gratings diffract a very
narrow bandwidth at any angle, they act as a notch fil-
ter, reflecting one single color. Reflection Bragg’s grat-
(1.38) ings are wavelength selective and angularly tolerant.
Although these rules of thumb behavior for the
different type of gratings are very useful to keep in
mind, they can be proved wrong for particular cases
such as edge-lit gratings (4 ¼ p/4) that fall in between
(1.39)
the two categories, or for very thick gratings
(d > 100 mm) that are extremely selective in both angle
and wavelength independently of their configuration.
Edge-lit gratings have a slant angle close to 45 (Fig.
1.11). Their name comes from the fact that to achieve
this angle, one of the beams needs to be incident
from the side (edge) of the material. This type of grating
is useful for injecting or extracting the light to and from
a waveguide. This type of configuration, using a
waveguide, has recently gained popularity for solar
concentration application [29], augmented reality see-
through displays [30,31], and head-up display [32].

FIG. 1.9 Typical angular (left) and spectral (right) dispersion of a transmission or reflection Bragg’s gratings.
Generally speaking, transmission gratings are angularly selective, when reflection gratings are wavelength
selective.

FIG. 1.10 Picture of volume phase holographic gratings. (A) Transmission grating that disperses the incident
light into a rainbow. (B) Reflection grating that selectively diffracts the red portion of the spectrum. Both
holograms are made from the same material (dichromated gelatin) and are illuminated by a halogen white light.

FIG. 1.11 Geometry of an edge-lit hologram. The diffracted
beam is evanescent, that is, directed parallel to the surface of
the material.
The angle and frequency selectivity properties of edge-lit
holograms are in between those observed for transmis-
sion and reflection gratings (Fig. 1.9). These properties
are identical either if the edge-lit hologram is used in
reflection (hologram placed at the bottom of the wave-
guide), or transmission (hologram placed at the top of
the waveguide). This is because the hologram parame-
ters, angle and frequency, change only very slightly be-
tween the two orientations.
Multiplexing
Because thick gratings can be made highly selective ac-
cording to the reading angle or wavelength, it is possible
to record multiple holograms at the same location, and
in the same material, which do not interfere with each
other. This means that one hologram can be read
without having any light diffracted by the others holo-
grams. This technique, known as multiplexing, is partic-
ularly useful for data storage where the memory capacity
can be increased thousands of times [33]. It is also used
for creating color holograms from three holograms dif-
fracting individually the red, green, and blue colors
[34]. A particular case of wavelength-multiplexed holo-
gram is the Lippmann photography that will be intro-
duced in Section 6.10.1 [35].
The grating vector K can be modified in two aspects:
magnitude and direction. So, two types of multiplexing
are possible: angular and wavelength. In angular multi-
plexing, the direction of the grating vector is changed by
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Holographic 11
using different incidence angles for each hologram. In
wavelength multiplexing, the magnitude of the grating
vector is changed for each hologram by using different
wavelengths to record them.
As a general rule, the efficiency of each hologram
during multiplexing follows a 1 NH 2 law where N is
H
the number of holograms. Indeed, if the maximum dy-
namic range (amplitude or phase) of the material is
DM each multiplexed hologram is using a portion
of this range, so the modulation per hologram is
DM/NH. As the efficiency is proportional to the square
of the modulation (Eqs. 1.25 and 1.26), we obtain that
hf1 NH 2.
This relationship is only valid for the cases where the
hologram cannot be overmodulated. Overmodulation
means that the optical path difference (Dn$d) that can
be achieved in the material is larger than the p/2 neces-
sary to obtain maximum efficiency: h ¼ 100%. When
the material is extremely thick, or when the modulation
can be made extremely large, it is possible to record
several multiplexed holograms with each one having
100% efficiency for different incident angles or wave-
lengths, of course.
An important metric in multiplexed holograms is the
cross talk. This is the ratio between the sum of the en-
ergies diffracted by the hologram that are not interro-
gated, and the energy diffracted by the holograms that
is being read. The cross talk is part to of signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR) for the system. As such, it is often expressed
in decibel (dB).
Fig. 1.12 shows the angular selectivity of two holo-
grams with the same parameters, but with different slant
angles to shift the diffraction peaks by 3.5+. Although the
angular separation of the main lobe is larger than their
full-width half max (1+), the cross talk is increased due
to the presence of secondary lobes in the diffraction pro-
file. At zero degree, the cross talk is 4.2% or 27.5 dB. A
lower cross talk could be achieved by using a shift of
either 2.5+ or 4+, where the main lobes would be aligned
with a minimum from the other hologram.
Thin Grating’s Characteristics
Thin gratings operate in the Raman-Nath regime where
the incident wave interacts only a few times with the
modulation. This can be only one single time as for
the case of surface relief gratings. Eqs. (1.23) and
(1.24) mathematically describe the condition for the
thin grating regime. In this mode of operation, a sub-
stantial amount of energy can be coupled in higher
diffraction orders (m > 1). However, this is not always
the case and a thin surface relief grating can be made
highly efficient as we will see in this section.
12 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications

FIG. 1.13 Shape of the modulation format for thin gratings

that are mathematically analyzed in the text.

FIG. 1.12 Angular selectivity of two transmission holograms modulation format will be investigated: amplitude
with 634 lp/mm, in 100 mm thick material, and at 800 nm and phase. We will also consider what happen when
wavelength. Although the angular separation of the holograms the sawtooth profile is digitized into m discrete levels.
is larger than the main lobe full-width half max of 1+, the cross
talk is increased due to the presence of secondary lobes in Sinusoidal amplitude modulation
the diffraction. For a sinusoidal amplitude grating, the modulation
format is given by:
Thin gratings are extremely important because they
DM
can easily be manufactured by printing a structure ob- jtðxÞj ¼ MðxÞ ¼ M0 þ sinðKxÞ
2
tained by computer calculation. Most of the holograms (1.41)
DM DM
encountered in daily life such as security tag on bank- ¼ M0 þ expði KxÞ þ expði KxÞ
4 4
notes and luxury goods fall in that category and are
made by the embossing technique (see Chapter 2 on where M0 ˛ [0,1] is the average transmittance, DM ˛
holographic materials). Thin gratings can also be [0,1] is the transmittance peak to valley modulation,
dynamically displayed using electronically controlled and jKj ¼ 2p/L is the wave vector.
spatial light modulators such as LCoS (liquid crystal The three different terms on the right side of Eq.
on silicon) and DLP (digital light processor). (1.41) are associated with the amplitude of the different
The efficiency of thin gratings depends on the shape diffraction orders: 0, þ1, 1 respectively. There are no
of the modulation [36]. As for thick gratings, one can higher orders for such grating. The diffraction efficiency
distinguish between amplitude or phase modulation, (h ¼ jt
1j2) found in the
1 order for this modulation
but for thin gratings, it is also important to recognize is given by:
the geometrical format of the profile such as square, si-

DM 2
nusoidal, or sawtooth pattern. h
1 ¼ 6:25% (1.42)
4
The rigorous calculation of the efficiency and num-
ber of orders is based on Fourier decomposition of
which is maximum when M0 ¼ DM/2 ¼ 1/2.
the complex amplitude of the transmitted wave func-
The behavior of the diffraction efficiency as a func-
tion t(x) according to the grating modulation M(x). By
tion of the amplitude modulation DM is plotted in
finding an expression of the form:
Fig. 1.14.
X
N Sinusoidal amplitude gratings can be fabricated by
tðxÞ ¼ Am expði mKxÞ (1.40) recording an interference pattern into thin layer of silver
m¼N
halide emulsion and then chemically processed to
 portion of the intensity in the mth order is hm ¼
reveal the latent image.
 2The
A , and the direction of propagation for that order is
m
given by the vector mK. Sinusoidal phase modulation
We are going to analyze six cases that are relevant to For a sinusoidal phase grating, there is no absorption:
today’s holographic manufacturing and displays. These t(x) ¼ 1, but the complex amplitude transmittance is
include the three modulation profiles shown in given by:


Fig. 1.13: sinusoidal, binary (or square), and sawtooth pdM
tðxÞ ¼ expðiM0 Þexp  i cosðKxÞ (1.43)
(or blazed). For each of these shapes, the two possible 2
 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Holographic 13

Sinusoidal phase gratings can be fabricated by

recording an interference pattern into a very thin layer
of photopolymer or dichromated gelatin and process-
ing the emulsion to boost the index modulation.

Binary amplitude modulation

For a binary amplitude grating, the modulation is a
square function, and the Fourier decomposition is
expressed as:
2DM X
N
sin½ð2m  1ÞKx
MðxÞ ¼ M0 þ
p m¼1 2m  1

DM XN
exp½ið2m  1ÞKx þ exp½ ið2m  1ÞKx
¼ M0 þ
p m¼1 2m  1
(1.46)
FIG. 1.14 Diffraction efficiency of thin gratings according to
The terms of this decomposition are all odds due to
the modulation shape (sine, square, sawtooth), format
(amplitude or phase), and modulation amplitude DM.
the 2m  1 expression in the exponential functions. In
consequence, there are no even diffraction orders for
this type of modulation. The diffraction efficiency for
the
1 orders is given by:


where M0 is a constant phase shift, and DM is the peak DM 2
h
1 ¼ 10:1% (1.47)
to valley phase modulation. p
Ignoring the constant phase shift, the right-hand side
of Eq. (1.43) can be expanded in a Fourier series as: Maximum efficiency is achieved when
M0 ¼ DM/2 ¼ 1/2.
X
N

pDM The behavior of the diffraction efficiency according
tðxÞ ¼ Jm expði mKxÞ (1.44)
m¼N 2 to the peak to valley amplitude modulation is shown
in Fig. 1.14.
Binary amplitude gratings have been historically
where Jm is the Bessel function of the first kind with the
manufactured by using office printers on transparent
mth order representing the amplitude of the waves,
films. Nowadays, this type of modulation is found
when the exponential terms represent plane waves di-
when a holographic pattern is displayed on a DLP light
rection, that is, the diffracted orders.
modulator. The DLP pixels are composed of mirror that
From the decomposition given in Eq. (1.44), it can
can be flipped left or right. For the incident light beam,
be seen that there is an infinite number of diffraction or-
the mirrors act as nearly perfect reflector or absorber
ders (one for each term of the sum).
depending of the direction they are oriented.
The diffraction efficiency in the first orders is given
by:
Binary phase modulation

 For a binary phase grating, the complex amplitude
pDM
h
1 ¼ J12 33:8% (1.45) transmittance is given by the following expression:
2
" #
DM XN
sin½ð2m  1ÞKx
which is maximum when dM ¼ 1.18. Note here that tðxÞ ¼ expðiM0 Þexp  ip
2 m¼1 2m  1
this value of dM means that the peak to valley phase
(1.48)
modulation should be slightly larger than p to maxi-
mize the efficiency. The terms of the decomposition are all odds due to
The behavior of the diffraction efficiency according the 2m  1 expression in the exponential functions, so
to the peak to valley phase modulation is shown in there are no even diffraction orders as we have seen in
Fig. 1.14. the case for the amplitude binary grating. However,
14 Optical Holography-Materials, Theory and Applications

conversely to the amplitude case, the phase modulation path length difference is twice as large due to the double
term is now contained in the exponential and needs to pass of the light.
be expanded to find the value of the efficiency. For the

m orders, the efficiency is Discretized sawtooth phase modulation

 For a discretized sawtooth phase grating, the ramp is
m pDM 2
h
m ¼ sinc sin (1.49) composed of m levels spaced apart at equal amplitude
2 2
(see Fig. 1.13). This configuration is important to derive
because, for many manufacturing processes, it is not
with sinc(x) ¼ sin(px)/(px).
possible to reproduce a perfectly smooth sawtooth pro-
For the first orders efficiency, we have
file. Instead, the slope is composed of multiple discrete


2 pDM 2 steps. For example, it is possible to expose and etch
h
1 ¼ sin 40:5% (1.50)
p 2 photo-resin several times to make such a stepped
sawtooth profile. It is also the case of LCoS modulators
which is maximum for DM ¼ 1, that is, a peak to valley that generate that type of modulation where the ramp is
phase modulation of p/2. approximated by the digital dynamic range of the
The behavior of the diffraction efficiency according pixels.
to the phase modulation is shown in Fig. 1.14. For this type of modulation, the diffraction efficiency
Binary phase grating can be manufactured by using for the þ1 or 1 orders given by [37,38]:
single-layer photolithographic process where a photore- " p #2


 sin
sin is selectively exposed and removed. The pattern can 1 DM m
h1 ¼ sin p 1 

 100%
be used as it, in this case, the phase modulation is given p 2 p DM
sin 1
by thickness of the resin layer times its index modula- m 2
tion minus 1: DM ¼ d(n  1). Alternatively, the resin (1.53)
can be covered by a layer of metal that make the struc-
ture reflective. In this case, the modulation is given by Expression 1.53 yields the same result as Eq. (1.52)
twice the thickness of the resin layer due to the double for the limit where m / N.
pass of the light in the grooves: DM ¼ 2d. Similarly than for the blazed profile, the maximum
A counter-intuitive, but nonetheless important, efficiency is achieved when the phase modulation is
result from this decomposition exercise is that the 2p: DM ¼ 2, but it varies with m, the number of levels:
maximum diffraction efficiency in the first orders is

1
larger for square gratings (40.5% for phase, 10.1% for h1 ¼ sinc2 100% (1.54)
m
amplitude) than for sinusoidal gratings (33.8% for
phase, 6.25% for amplitude). It also has to be noted that, because the lateral
spacing between the steps is fixed by the resolution of
Sawtooth phase modulation the process or by the pixel pitch in the case of an
For a sawtooth phase grating, which is also called LCoS LSM, the maximum grating spacing achievable
blazed grating, the complex amplitude transmittance is (L) is divided by the number of levels used to define
" # the ramp. This reduction of the grating spacing limits
DM XN
ð1Þm
tðxÞ ¼ expðiM0 Þexp  ip sinðmKxÞ the maximum diffraction angle achievable by the
2 m¼1 m
diffraction pattern according to the Bragg Eq. (1.13).
(1.51) In Fig. 1.15, we plotted both the behavior of the effi-
ciency, which increases with the number of levels, and
The diffraction efficiency for the þ1 or 1 orders is the diffraction angle, which decreases with the same


DM number. Thus, the user is often confronted to a choice
h1 ¼ sinc2 1  100% (1.52) in selecting either high efficiency or larger diffraction
2
angle.
To maximize the efficiency, the amplitude of the Although the function of Eq. (1.54) is continuous, in
modulation should be DM ¼ 2, which is equal to a the real world, m can only takes discrete values, starting
peak to valley phase modulation of 2p (see Fig. 1.14). at 2. m ¼ 2 is the case of a binary grating, for which Eq.
Note that when phase patterns are used in a reflec- (1.54) logically gives the same value of efficiency
tion configuration, the modulation is half of the one (40.5%) as when computed directly by Eq. (1.49),
obtained for a transmission configuration because the describing binary phase grating.
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which constitutes every member of it the natural protector and entertainer of
lost or bored strangers.
“I am going across the lake for water-lilies,” she went on after a little
hesitation. “If you care to come you may, and pull me about while I gather
them. It is hard work to do it alone.”
“You are very kind,” said Allardyce promptly, “and it is very nice of you
to put it that way. It will be a great favor to me to let me go.”
He rowed her across the water in the direction of the Italian Gardens, and
they found a good deal to say to each other, and she seemed very unaffected
and friendly, although Allardyce fancied once or twice that when she replied
to some of his remarks her voice trembled in an odd way as if she were
secretly amused. But he thought her delightful, and he was very much
obliged to her for taking him off his hands in this way, though he could not
help feeling some surprise at her invitation. Of course he could not imagine
such a thing happening to him on the Continent. No French or German girl
would have the chance or enough savoir faire to treat him as this girl was
treating him. He told her all this in more veiled terms when they had reached
the water-lilies, and he had turned around in his seat and was carefully
balancing the boat while she pulled the dripping, long-stemmed flowers.
Miss Brent laughed outright at his remarks, and Allardyce laughed good-
naturedly too, although what he had said did not strike him as being at all
amusing. But he was glad that she was so easily diverted. He reflected that
perhaps her invitation had not been entirely disinterested—that she
considered it as stupid to go out rowing alone, as he did to wander around
the college without his sister—and that as she had been kind enough to save
him from a solitary afternoon, it was his part to be as amusing and
entertaining as possible.
“You must not consider us in the light of very young girls,” she
explained. “You know this is a woman’s college.”
“That’s what is so nice,” returned Allardyce confidently. “You are girls
with the brains and attainments of women. That is a very delightful
combination.” He gave her an openly admiring, rather patronizing glance.
He did not mean to be superior or condescending, but he reflected that in
spite of her ease of manner she was yet in college, and so must be very
young. He seemed to himself to be quite old and world-worn in comparison.
Miss Brent looked over at the college towering up on the other side of the
lake.
“How do you like it?” she asked politely, after a moment’s silence.
“Oh, I didn’t see anything of it,” replied Allardyce easily, leaning his
elbows comfortably on the unshipped oars. “I got my walking papers
promptly from a young woman up there, and so I left. She rather frightened
me, you know,” he ran on. “Awfully severe-looking, cap and gown, and that
sort of thing. I thought if that was only an undergraduate I didn’t want to
encounter any of the teachers—professors, I believe you call them—and so I
fled. You do have women professors, don’t you?” he inquired with a great
deal of awe.
“Yes,” said the girl.
“Well—they must be pretty awful,” he said cheerfully, after a moment’s
pause.
The girl straightened up cautiously, pulling at the rubber-like stem of an
immense lily.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said carelessly. She was bending over the side of
the boat, and Allardyce could not see her face; but he heard the laugh in her
voice again. “There! there’s a boutonnière for you.”
Allardyce caught the lily she swung toward him by the stem, and stuck it
in his coat.
“I suppose that’s about the size of the Russian Giant’s button-hole
flower,” he remarked frivolously. They were quite good friends now.
Allardyce looked over at the college again.
“You must find it pretty slow up there,” he said confidentially. “Can’t
imagine how you girls exist. You ought to go to a Paris boarding-school. You
can have no end of fun there, you know.” He was nodding his head
enthusiastically at her. “I have a cousin at one in the Avenue Marceau. Went
to see her just before I sailed and it was tremendously amusing. These
French girls are awful flirts! When I went away every girl in that school
came to the windows and looked at me. It was rather trying, but I felt that for
once I knew what popularity was!”
Miss Brent buried her face in the biggest lily of the bunch.
 “And—and what did you do?” she inquired, in suppressed tones.
“Oh—I? Why I bowed and smiled at the whole lot. Must have looked
rather like an idiot, now I come to think of it; and my cousin wrote me she
got into no end of trouble about it. One of the maîtresses happened to see
me. But it was great fun while it lasted. And after all where is the harm of a
little flirting?” he concluded, judicially.
“Where indeed?” assented the girl, with a laugh.
“That’s right—I am glad to hear you say that,” broke in Allardyce,
approvingly. “There’s something wrong with a woman who doesn’t cry or
flirt—it’s a part of her nature,” he went on, with the air of having made a
profoundly philosophic discovery. “You know you agree with me,” he urged,
insinuatingly.
She shook her head.
“Personally I don’t know,” she said; “you see I am so busy——”
“Oh! I say,” cried Allardyce, “you don’t mean you study as hard as that!
Of course,” he added impartially, “it’s all very well for some girls to grind
—” he stopped in alarm as the girl drew herself up slightly.
“I hope my sister doesn’t study too much,” he hastened to add, lamely.
Miss Brent put her handkerchief suddenly to her lips, which were
trembling with laughter.
“I don’t think you need worry!” she said.
Allardyce was considerably mystified and a little offended.
“But she’s very bright,” added the girl, quickly; “especially in
mathematics, where I see most of her; but I believe she is not a very hard
student.”
“Well,” said Allardyce, jocosely; “I’ll tell you a secret. I am the hard
student of the family, and that’s much better than that my sister should be, I
think. I don’t approve of girls working too hard. It makes them old—takes
away their freshness—especially if they go in for mathematics. Do you
know I have never been able to imagine a girl mathematician anyway,” he
ran on, confidentially. “Always seemed like a sort of joke. Now there was
that English girl—what was her name, who was worse than a senior
wrangler? Her photographs were just everywhere. I was in Cambridge that
summer and they were in all the shop-windows, and I would stop and look
carefully to see if they were not different from the ones I had seen the day
before. For they were quite pretty you know, and I was always hoping that
there was some mistake and that they had got some other young woman,
entirely innocent, mixed up with her.”
There was so much genuine distress in his tone that Miss Brent made an
heroic attempt not to laugh.
“Well,” she exclaimed, “don’t say that—some people think I am good at
mathematics myself.”
Allardyce shook his head at her. “I’m sure it’s a mistake—you are trying
to impose on me,” he said, with mock severity. “At any rate I am glad my
sister is guiltless of any such accusation. We are under the impression that
she goes in for a good time at college—at least one would suppose so from
her letters. I got one from her just before I left Paris in which she gave me a
very amusing account of some blow-out here—some class function or other,
and she seemed dreadfully afraid that the faculty would get hold of the
details. She says you stand tremendously in awe of your faculty. Wait a
minute—I’ve got the letter here somewhere,” he went on, fumbling in his
pockets. “Didn’t think much of the affair considered in the light of a scrape,
but she seemed to think it exciting and dangerous to the last degree. That’s
where you girls are so funny—you think you are doing something
immensely wrong and it is just nothing at all. I see I haven’t the letter with
me; but perhaps you were in it all and know a great deal more about it than I
do.”
Miss Brent suddenly twisted herself around in the boat, and reached for
an especially big lily.
“No—” she said, “I—I don’t think I was there. Will you pull a little on
the left oar—a little more, please. It’s that lily I want!”
“There’s another thing about girls,” resumed Allardyce meditatively and
kindly, when the boat had straightened back. “You seem to think it a terrible
calamity, a disgrace, to get plucked in an examination. Now a man takes it
philosophically. Of course, it isn’t a thing one especially cares to have
happen one; but it doesn’t destroy a fellow’s interest in life, nor make him
feel particularly ashamed of himself. He just goes to work with a tutor and
hopes for better luck next time. That’s the best way to take it, don’t you
think? But perhaps you don’t know anything about it. Ever get plucked?—I
beg your pardon,” he added hastily.
But the girl did not appear at all offended.
 “Oh, you mustn’t ask that,” she said, leaning back and laughing at him;
“at any rate,” she added, with an air of careful consideration, “I don’t think I
ever got ‘plucked’ in—mathematics. And now you must take me back.”
Allardyce gave a shudder of mock horror. “Oh, mathematics!” he said,
picking up the oars.
When they were half-way across the lake Allardyce saw a young girl
standing on the shore waving at them.
“Why,” he said, looking intently at the figure, “I believe it is my sister.”
Miss Brent leaned forward.
“Yes, it is your sister,” she said slowly, and she smiled a little.
Miss Allardyce kissed her brother with a great show of affection, and told
him how sorry she was to have missed him. “And I am sure it was very good
of you to have taken care of him,” she went on impressively and gratefully,
turning to Miss Brent. But that young lady disclaimed any merit.
“We’ve had a delightful afternoon,” she declared, “and your brother has
been very good to pull me about and keep the boat from tipping over, while I
gathered these lilies. I am very glad to have met him. Good afternoon.”
“Charming girl!” murmured Allardyce, appreciatively, digging his stick
in the earth, and leaning on it as he looked after Miss Brent.
“We had an awfully jolly time together,” he went on, to the girl beside
him; “sort of water-picnic, without the picnic.”
Miss Allardyce looked sharply at her brother. Something in his manner
made her anxious. “How did you meet her?” she demanded.
“Oh! that’s the best part,” said Allardyce joyously. “Wasn’t introduced at
all. I offered to unlock her boat for her, and I liked her looks so much that I
hated to go away, so I asked her if she was in your class, and she said ‘No,’
but that she knew you, and that I considered was introduction enough. We
just went off together and had a very good time. Lucky for me that
somebody took me up when my own sister went off and left me,” he added
reproachfully.
Miss Allardyce shook her head impatiently. “Never mind about me.” She
looked anxiously at her brother. “What did you say to her?”
“Oh! I don’t remember exactly;” he replied vaguely and cheerfully. “We
talked a good deal—at least I did,” with a sudden realization of how he had
monopolized the conversation. “About French boarding-schools and women
professors and getting plucked in examinations, and I told her about that
scrape you wrote me of. She hasn’t a bit of nonsense about her,” he went on
enthusiastically. “She didn’t say much, but I am sure she agreed with me that
girls are by nature flirts, and not mathematicians.”
Miss Allardyce gave a little gasp. “Well,” she said, with a sort of
desperate calmness, “you’ve done it now! Do you know who that was you
were talking to? That was the assistant-professor of mathematics. Oh! yes, I
know she looks awfully young, and she is young. I suppose you think a
woman has to be fifty before she knows anything. Why she only took her
degree two years ago, and she was so tremendously clever that she went off
and studied a year in Leipsic and then came back as instructor in
mathematics, and this year when one of the assistant-professors was called
suddenly to Europe, she was made assistant-professor in her place, and they
say she’s been a most wonderful success. And I know she is pretty; but that
doesn’t prevent her examinations from being terrors, and I didn’t get through
the last one at all, and if you told her about that scrape, and that women
ought not to be mathematicians——” she stopped breathlessly and in utter
despair.
Allardyce whistled softly and then struck his stick sharply against the side
of the little dock. “Well,” he exclaimed indignantly, “she’s most deceitfully
young and pretty,” and then he turned reproachfully upon his sister. “It’s all
your fault,” he said; “what did you go off walking for?”
 “LA BELLE HÉLÈNE”

Mrs. Olmsted Morrison to Mrs. Franklin Bennett, Rhinebeck-on-Hudson

Baltimore, October 20th.

M Y DEAREST ALMA: As we have been confiding our joys and woes to

each other for the last twenty-five years, it is to you I naturally write
about this new trial which has come into my life. You will probably
think it peu de chose, but I assure you, my dear, that if you really and truly
put yourself in my place you will realize that it is an annoyance. Henry’s
child has at last written to me that she “has finished her studies for the
present” (!) and is coming to America to spend the winter with us. You must
see, Alma, that this is slightly appalling. I have never seen her—not since
she was a little thing with enormous gray eyes and a freckled nose—and I
know absolutely nothing about her except what Henry wrote me from time
to time, when he stopped his eternal wanderings long enough to remember
he had a sister. But judging by the education he gave her—and I consider it
simply deplorable—and the evident taste she had for it, and later for “the
higher education of woman,” I feel distressingly positive that I cannot
approve of the child. I am very sorry now that I did not make an effort to go
to her when her father died in England, five years ago, but she wrote me that
she had friends there who were doing everything for her, and that she was
coming directly to America to enter college according to her father’s wishes,
and that there was really no need to disturb myself about her. I could see,
Alma, the effect of the independent, strange existence she had led, in that
letter. It repelled me. Now, Eleanor, I am sure, would have been completely
prostrated, the dear child!
So she came directly to Boston, and I, being so busy with my own
preparations for taking Eleanor and Margaret to Paris, simply could not
arrange to go on to Boston to see her. As of course you know, we remained
abroad four years, and last year, when we returned and I expected to see
Helen at last, she wrote me a letter which I got just before leaving Paris,
saying that she had decided to go to Oxford for a year to take a course in
mathematical astronomy at the Lady Margaret Hall. So we passed each other
in mid-ocean.
 Fancy, Alma! I knew when I read that letter what kind of a girl she was.
One of your hard students, engrossed in books, without one thought for dress
or social manners! I am afraid she will prove a severe trial. And just when
Eleanor is counting on having such a gay second winter and Margaret is to
début. It is a little hard, is it not, dear? Thank Heaven, I shall never have to
blame myself as Henry would have to do if he were alive. At least I have
seen to it that my daughters have had the education which will fit them to
ornament society, the education that I still believe in notwithstanding all this
talk of colleges for women and advancement in learning, and college
settlements and extensions, and Heaven knows what besides!
My girls have had first, the best of training at Mrs. Meed’s, and then four
years at Les Oiseaux, you know. They speak French perfectly, of course, and
Margaret has even tried Italian and German. They both ride and drive well,
and Eleanor plays and sings very sweetly. But what is the use of my telling
you about them when you know them so well?
I only wish, Alma, you could tell me something about Helen! Just think, I
have never even seen a photograph of her! It is one of her fads not to have
them taken, from which I argue that she is very homely, very opinionated,
and very strange. Eleanor has two dozen in different poses, I am sure. The
only information I have at all about Helen’s looks is from Margaret, who
saw her for an hour in Brookline—it was five years ago—just before we
sailed. She had run up to see a Boston friend for a few days, and of course
she was very young and has probably forgotten, but she insists that Helen
was rather pretty. However, I do not attach the least importance to what
Margaret says, because, as you know, she is so good-natured that she always
says the best of everyone; and then her tastes are sometimes really
deplorable—so unlike Eleanor’s! Besides, her description of Helen does not
sound like that of a pretty girl. She says she wore her hair parted and back
from her face, and was slightly near-sighted. Think of it, Alma! For the hair,
encore passe, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Wenzell have made that so much the
fashion lately that one might forgive it; but short-sighted! Eye-glasses!
Spectacles perhaps! Hard study since may have completely ruined her eyes. I
greatly fear she will show up very badly beside Eleanor’s piquant beauty and
Margaret’s freshness.
She writes me that she will be here in a month, so that it is time I was
seriously considering what I am to do with her. Of course, with the severe
education she has had, she probably dislikes society and could not be
induced to go out, knowing well that she could not shine in it; but as my
brother’s child she must be at least introduced properly, and she can then
subside gracefully. Of course, where there are two such attractive girls in the
house as Eleanor and Margaret, she cannot hope to compete in social honors
with them, and will probably much prefer in any case to continue her studies
or go in for charitable work, or something of that sort.
My dear Alma, I have just read over this letter and am shocked to see
how much I have written about this affair. Forgive me if I have wearied you
and—yes, do give me some good advice.
Are you going to Carlsbad?
The girls are out of town for a few days, or would send love as I do.
Very affectionately yours,
Marian Morrison.
P.S. They say a woman cannot write a letter without a postscript, and I
believe it! Tell me what to do about H. How had I best introduce her to
society? Don’t you think a dinner—where she could sit beside someone
whom I could especially choose as suited to her—and where she would not
be too much en évidence? A dance would not do at all—I doubt if she can
dance, poor girl!
M. M.

Mrs. Franklin Bennett to Mrs. Olmsted Morrison.

October 22d.
My Dearest Marian: How could you think me so cold-blooded as to
consider such a piece of news as your letter contains “peu de chose”? I feel
for you, I assure you. What a dilemma! The dear girls! how do they like the
idea? Margaret, as you say, will probably not mind, but Eleanor—so
exquisitely pretty and stylish! It will be rather a thorn in the flesh, I imagine.
O! how I wish I had children—two such lovely girls as yours would make
life a different thing for me!
Of course, the dinner. How could you think of anything else! Invite some
of the professors from the University for her, and have the rest of the
company of young society people, so that Eleanor and Margaret can enjoy it
too.
 Oh, my dear, I would like to write a long, long letter about this, but I am
in such confusion and hurry! Mr. Bennett has been ordered to Wiesbaden for
the winter, and we sail in a week. I wish I could be in Baltimore to help you,
but it is impossible, of course. I count on your writing me all your plans, and
just how Helen appears, and whether it is all as dreadful as you now fear.
Address to the Langham Hotel until November 25th, after that, care Brown,
Shipley, as usual. Good-by. I have a thousand things to tell you of, but must
put them off until I reach London and have a moment to myself.
As ever,
Devotedly yours,
A. B.
P.S. Don’t look too much on the dark side of things. I knew a
Philadelphia girl once—the niece of old Colonel Devereaux you know—and
she was rather pretty and quite good form, though a college girl. I think,
however, she had been but one year to college.
A. B.

Mrs. Olmsted Morrison to Mrs. Franklin Bennett, the Langham Hotel,

London, W. C.
Baltimore, November 15th.
Dearest Alma: Your note, which was so welcome and which came so
long ago, would have had an earlier answer had I not been a little sick, and
so busy and worried that I have not had time or heart to write even to you.
So you can imagine in what a state I am.
The girls came back to town shortly after I last wrote you, and we held a
sort of family council about Helen. The dear girls were charming, and
Eleanor bore it very bravely. She says she will give Helen hints about her
hair, and will implore her not to wear spectacles, but rimless eye-glasses.
We are very much worried about her gowns. Of course her own taste is
not to be depended upon, and I hardly fancy her income would justify her in
leaving her toilette entirely with a grande couturière, even if she would
dream of doing such a thing, which I very much doubt. Her father, you
know, left the bulk of his fortune to found a library in Westchester. He
always said he never intended to leave Helen enough to tempt anyone to
marry her for her money. Poor Henry—what a strange, misguided man! But
then, of course, he could not foresee that his daughter would be an ugly
duckling, and strong-minded and college-bred, and all that. Oh, yes, of
course he must have known about the college. But at any rate, man-like, he
did not realize how unattractive Helen would be.
Well, as I say, we talked it over, and the girls agree with me that the best
thing is a dinner. Eleanor was for having it a small affair. She said it would
be truer kindness to Helen, but Margaret, who is very blunt sometimes, I am
sorry to say, said she thought “we ought to give Helen a chance,” as she
rather vulgarly expressed it, and insisted so strongly on it that we gave in,
and have decided to have a dinner, and invite some of Eleanor’s friends later
to a small dance. This will relieve Eleanor of some of her more pressing
social obligations, and she will also be able to introduce Margaret to some of
her particular set before she makes her formal début later in the season. A
débutante cannot have too many friends.
And so, after talking it over, we determined to invite Professor Radnor, of
the University. He is a comparatively young man—about forty-five, I judge
—and though far from handsome he is considered very interesting, I believe,
to those who understand him. He is of good family, too—one of the Radnors
of Cliff Hill, you know. He and Helen can talk biology or whatever it is he
professes—I really forget what it is. Then there is Colonel Gray—I shall
invite him because he was an old friend of her father, and though very
grumpy and disagreeable, and apt to bore one to death with his interminable
war stories, still I always invite him to the house once a year, and he is to be
depended upon to come; and indeed, Alma, I am so perplexed to know
whom to invite that I really cannot pick and choose. Then I think I shall have
the new rector at “All Souls.” He is a young man, an Englishman, and as
stupid as the proverbial Britisher; very high church, and as I have not yet
invited him to dinner, I think the choice of him rather diplomatic. It really
has been too much of an exertion to get up a dinner-party for him alone, and
indeed Eleanor cannot bear him, she says; but with her usual sweetness has
consented to have him come if Helen and Margaret will take him off her
hands. He and Helen will doubtless find much to say to each other about Dr.
Bernardo, and the People’s Palace, and that sort of thing. I think with these
three I can safely let the girls take care of the rest, and invite younger people
who will be congenial to them. I say younger people, for Helen must be
twenty-three or four, and she will doubtless seem much older and graver.
You see I shall be prepared; I know this will be an ordeal, but I mean to do
the best for her that I can. I shall have everything as handsome as possible—
the girls are particularly anxious about it—as Eleanor proposes asking young
Claghart, the new artist, you know, who is making such a name for himself.
Helen will be here in a week. I shall send out the invitations in a day or
two, so as to have no refusals—dinner engagements are already getting
numerous. I shall let you know all about Helen and the dinner-party. I know
you are as interested as myself in this, and that you sympathize with me.
Poor Henry! to think that he should have given me a niece who has spent the
best years of her life shut up in colleges, and ruining health and looks in
sedentary, intellectual pursuits!
The Kinglakes were here yesterday and send their kindest regards to you.
Good-by! A thousand best wishes for a happy trip. Do tell Mr. Bennett how
much I hope he will be improved by Wiesbaden.
Write soon to your devoted friend,
Marian M.

Mrs. Olmsted Morrison to Colonel Ralph Gray.

My Dear Colonel: Of course it is to you, Henry’s oldest friend, that I
write first to tell the charming news that his daughter Helen is coming to us
in a week. She has “finished her studies for the present,” so she writes, and
we are at last to see the dear child. We are delighted to have her come, and
feel that she must meet you at once. You will certainly find her to your taste,
as she is so highly educated and not at all like these society girls whom you
justly condemn as utterly frivolous.
We have arranged a little dinner-party for Thursday, the twenty-fourth,
and positively count on you to come and put us all in a good humor with one
of your inimitable war stories.
Most cordially your friend,
Marian V. Morrison.
Friday, November the eighteenth.

Mrs. Morrison to the Reverend Percival Beaufort.

My Dear Mr. Beaufort: Will you give us the great pleasure of seeing
you at dinner on Thursday evening, at half-past eight? Only severe illness
has kept me from asking this favor long ago, so that I very much hope
nothing will prevent your accepting now. Eleanor tells me to remind you that
the Young People’s Guild has been changed to Wednesday evening, so at
least that will not interfere with your acceptance. If you come, virtue will not
be its own reward in this case. I have a niece whom I am particularly anxious
you should meet. She is intensely interested in all charities—especially
London charities—and is very quiet and charming, if not exactly pretty. But
I am sure you agree with me that beauty is often only a snare!
The girls particularly wish to be remembered.
Most truly yours,
Marian V. Morrison.
Friday, November the eighteenth.

Mrs. Morrison to Professor Albert Radnor, Johns Hopkins University,

Baltimore.
November the eighteenth.
My Dear Professor Radnor: Can we persuade you to abandon your
lectures and experiments long enough to dine with us on the evening of the
twenty-fourth? I know we are very frivolous and not at all the people to
interest you, however much you interest us, but I fancy I shall have someone
here whom you will be glad to meet. I want you to know my niece, Miss
Helen Hammersley. She is an immensely clever girl—has taken her degree
at one of our famous women’s colleges, and has just returned from a year of
Oxford and the Bodleian, so that I feel reasonably sure she will be able to
listen intelligently to you, at any rate. She is greatly interested in your
specialty, and will certainly esteem it the greatest privilege to meet such a
noted authority on the subject as yourself.
I will take no excuse.
Very sincerely your friend,
Marian V. Morrison.

Miss Eleanor Morrison to Miss Grace Fairfax, Washington, D. C.

November 19th.
Dearest Grace: We are sending out invitations to dinner and small
dance afterward in honor of a cousin of ours, Helen Hammersley, who is
coming from England to spend the winter with us, and of course we thought
of you first and foremost. You must come and save the situation with your
brilliancy and tact. There! can you refuse me after that? To tell you the truth,
dear, we are all awfully worried about the whole thing. We none of us know
Helen at all, and we are simply au désespoir about her because she is such a
strange girl. She has been at college for five years—first in America and
then at Oxford, and we all feel miserably sure of what an impossible sort of
girl she is. She even took some sort of honor in mathematics at Oxford—just
fancy! What she is going to be like in a ball-room no mortal can guess! So
we have done the best we can—mamma has invited some old fogies to
entertain her, and I propose we make our end of the table as much of a
shining contrast as possible. I shall ask that Canadian you adore so—Reggie
Montrose—for you, and your brother Jerry for Margaret, and shall reserve
Wayne Claghart for myself; so please take warning and let that youth
severely alone. He is my especial property, and I consider him simply the
nicest man I know. He has hinted two or three times that he would like to
sketch my head. He needn’t be afraid of my refusing, if he’d only ask me
outright! I shall tell Helen, of course, that I asked him because he has lately
returned from England, and she has just returned, etc., etc., but I’m afraid
he’ll be so far away from her and she’ll be so busy talking theologies with
Professor Radnor (forgot to tell you mamma has asked him!), and the East
End with Percy Beaufort, that I don’t think she’ll have a chance to stun him
with her learning. Besides, I don’t think he is the man to devote much time
to that sort of a girl.
Now, don’t disappoint me! I count on you. Later there will be a lot of
people in—the usual crowd, you know—and if you’ll say positively you’ll
come, we will make it a small cotillon and you shall lead with Reggie.
I’ll let Margaret write to Jerry—they are such chums, but you be sure and
make him come. Don’t, for Heaven’s sake, let him know about Helen’s
homeliness and flabbergastering attainments, or he won’t stir a foot.
Good-by. Expect you down Wednesday. Telegraph me you will come.
As ever,
Eleanor.

Miss Eleanor Morrison to Reginald Montrose, Esq., Murray Hill Hotel, New
York City.
November 19th.
 Dear Mr. Montrose: Thank you so much for that lovely philopena
present. How charming of you to have thought of that! Won’t you take
dinner with us next Thursday, at half after eight, and let me thank you in
person? After dinner you may dance the cotillon with Miss Fairfax. There! is
not that an inducement? I have a cousin whom I want you to meet, too—she
is just returning to America and is very learned, and not quite your style, I
fear, but she will doubtless be good for you after me!
Most cordially yours,
Eleanor Morrison.

Miss Eleanor Morrison to Wayne Claghart, Esq., Twenty-third Street, New

York City.
Saturday, November 19th.
Dear Mr. Claghart: Do you remember your promise to run down to
Baltimore? Well, I shall expect you to keep it next Thursday. We are to have
a little dinner and a dance afterward (perhaps I should say a dinner and a
little dance—no, the adjective belongs to both), and I shall certainly expect
you to be on hand. Your fame has preceded you, of course, and a great many
very nice young women are simply existing on the thought of meeting Mr.
Wayne Claghart, the artist! Shall I reserve the very prettiest and nicest of
them all to dance the cotillon with you?
Hoping to see you without fail,
Very sincerely yours,
Eleanor Morrison.

Miss Margaret Morrison to Mr. Jeré Fairfax, Washington, D. C.

November 19th.
Dear Jerry: Eleanor has a dinner on for next Thursday, and we want you
to throw over all your numerous engagements for that evening and come to
us. Do, Jerry—and favor me a lot—I forgot to say there was a german
afterward—and be generally nice to your débutante, Margot. As an
inducement I will say that we’ve got a jolly surprise for you. Eleanor don’t
want me to tell, but I’m going to. Our cousin, Helen Hammersley, is coming
to spend the winter with us—it’s for her the dinner is being given—and
mamma and Eleanor are in despair about her. I don’t believe she’s half bad,
but they say she’s awfully ugly, and too smart to be nice. I suppose she is
awfully erudite—is that the word? Wears specs, and dresses like everything,
I suppose. Wonder if she ever danced the german—she can have a sprained
ankle if she don’t know how.
As ever,
Margaret.

Telegram—Miss Grace Fairfax to Miss Eleanor Morrison, Baltimore.

Washington, November 20th.
Delighted to come. Charmed to lead with R. Have two new figures. Order
little French flags for one set favors.
Grace.

Telegram—Miss Grace Fairfax to Miss Eleanor Morrison.

Washington, November 22d.
Terrible attack tonsillitis. Doctor says positively cannot go.
Grace.

Miss Eleanor Morrison to Miss Marie de Rochemont, Charles Street.

My Dear Miss de Rochemont: Much to my surprise and annoyance I
have this moment found an invitation which I thought had been mailed to
you several days ago. It must have slipped out of the other notes some way
and has been lying under some papers here on my desk ever since. Can you
forgive this mischance and accept so tardy an invitation? It will give us all
the greatest pleasure to see you at half after eight. I especially want to
introduce to you a cousin of mine just returned from the other side. She has
been in college all her life, and I want her to meet some of our most
charming society girls to rub her shyness off and make her take more interest
in social life. Perhaps you may convert her! Hoping that no previous
engagement will prevent our seeing you Thursday,
Most sincerely yours,
Eleanor Morrison.

Mrs. Olmsted Morrison to Mrs. Franklin Bennett, care of Brown, Shipley &
Co., London.
 November 25th.
My Dear Alma: What a surprise! I can scarcely collect my thoughts
sufficiently to write intelligently on the subject. I really was never more
surprised in all my life—more intensely and thoroughly surprised. But I
must try and tell you connectedly all about it. To begin with—Helen did not
come on the twentieth as we had expected, but telegraphed us that she was
detained in Boston and would not reach Baltimore until the morning of the
twenty-fourth. This was very annoying, as I was most anxious about her
gown for the dinner, and then I imagined that she would be utterly dragged
out after travelling all night. Dear Eleanor would have been, I am quite sure.
But Helen seems to be one of those distressingly healthy people—no nerves,
no sensitiveness. She quite laughed when I asked her if she were not tired!
Well—she came on the eleven-five train, and, Alma, she is not at all the
kind of person I had expected. She is even handsome after a certain style of
her own—not one that I admire—not at all Eleanor’s style. But certainly it
could be much worse. The men even seemed to find her quite good-looking.
She has certainly preserved her complexion wonderfully well—and as for
her being short-sighted! Between ourselves I am sure it is only an excuse for
using a very beautiful lorgnon, and for looking rather intently at one in a sort
of meditative way which I consider rather offensive, but which Percy
Beaufort told me he found most attractive. He is very disappointing, by the
way; I had expected so much of him, but I find him quite an ordinary young
man.
I was really shocked at Helen’s levity. I had expected from her superior
education that her mind would be above trivialities, but the way she laughed
and seemed to enjoy the conversation of Reggie Montrose and Jerry Fairfax!
and if she had confined her attentions to those boys! But, Alma, she even
tried to infatuate Colonel Gray and Professor Radnor! Two such men! She is
far from being the quiet, thoughtful student I had expected to so enjoy. Why,
she had the audacity to say to Colonel Gray, after one of his irascible
explosions at things in general—“My dear Colonel, you are a living example
of squaring the circle—quite round yet full of angles!” You know how
rotund the Colonel is, Alma. Think of it! To Colonel Gray, whose irritability
is simply proverbial. And he actually seemed to enjoy it! Men of a certain
age seem to be only too willing to make fools of themselves if a young girl
looks at them. And Percival Beaufort, who is so interested in London
charities, could not extract one word from her on the subject, I believe; at
any rate I distinctly heard her giving him an animated account of the last
“Eights Week,” and he was inquiring solicitously who was the coxswain for
Magdalen! Even Professor Radnor seemed to lose his head, though I believe
she talked more sensibly to him than to the others, for he told me that she
was one of the few women he had ever met who seemed to thoroughly
understand Abel’s demonstration of the impossibility of solving a quintic
equation by means of radicals—whatever that means.
By the way, we need not have worried about her gown at all. It was quite
presentable, and had in it a quantity of rare old point d’Alençon which Helen
says Henry picked up in Paris. It quite vexed me to think that I have none of
that pattern—it is especially beautiful.
Eleanor would add a word, but she is feeling quite ill this morning, dear
child! She was so worried over the dinner. At the very last moment Grace
Fairfax failed her, and she was obliged to invite Marie de Rochemont in her
place. We were especially sorry that Grace could not come, and that Jerry
did. He is getting completely spoiled; his assurance and inconsiderateness
are truly wonderful.
By the way, we have changed our plans for the winter slightly. We are
going to the Bermudas for a month, and Helen will visit friends in Boston
for the rest of the winter. Write soon and let me know how Mr. Bennett is
feeling. Address here, all our mail will be forwarded.
As ever, your devoted friend,
Marian Morrison.

Mr. Jeré Fairfax to Miss Grace Fairfax, Washington, D. C.

Baltimore, November 25th.
Dear Grace: I suppose I’ve got to keep my solemn promise to write to
you all about the blow-out, though it’s an awful effort for me to write letters,
and I’m so razzle-dazzled too! You simply weren’t in it! She’s stunning! The
fellows all call her “La Belle Hélène.” Claghart started the name and it took
like wildfire. The fair Eleanor is furious. She looked perfectly insignificant
by the side of that magnificent creature. What the dickens did Margaret
mean by her letter? Why, Helen Hammersley is a perfect beauty. It isn’t
good to spring a surprise like that on a fellow. Bad for one’s nerves. Claghart
is terribly shaken. Found out she had met ever so many celebrated artists,
English and French, and they jawed for hours. Fact is Claghart’s got the
cinch on the rest of us because she’s so awfully interested in art—I heard her
tell him so. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you the joke! You see, Mrs. Morrison
had put her up at her end of the table, with the rector of All Souls on one
side of her—the old duffer!—and that fossil, Professor Radnor, on the other,
and of all people in the world that ante-bellum specimen, Colonel Ralph
Gray, opposite! Think of that, with Montrose and Claghart and myself at the
other end, cut off from her by half a dozen married people! Think of the
injustice, the tactlessness of such a proceeding! Well, I simply determined to
shake things up a bit, so after the bird I said, as sweetly as only yours truly
can say, “Mrs. Morrison, I was at the Dwights’ the other evening to a
progressive dinner-party. Charming idea, don’t you think?” I knew all the
men would back me up, and sure enough Reggie Montrose sang out, “Yes,
indeed, Mrs. Morrison! Why not try it to-night?” and before the words were
fairly out of his mouth, Claghart had jumped up with his wine-glass and his
napkin in his hand, and was moving up one seat nearer “La Belle Hélène.”
Of course there was an awful muss and Eleanor was furious, I could see, but
she pulled herself together and smiled awfully sweetly at Claghart. Marie de
Rochemont turned perfectly green—give you my word of honor. Margaret
was the only one who seemed really not to mind. She’s a nice little thing, but
she won’t have much show in society if Helen Hammersley is around.
I wish I could tell you about “La Belle Hélène,” but I’m not much for
descriptions. She’s different from any girl I ever knew—not very tall, but
awfully good figure—fixes her hair like those stunning girls of Gibson’s you
know, and she’s got a way of looking at a fellow—earnest and yet half
laughing—that’s enough to drive one out of one’s senses. She’s got that je ne
sais quoi, you know—something awfully fetching and magnetic and all that
sort of thing. (You’ll think me a drivelling idiot!) She wore a beauty of a
gown, white satin—or gauze, I’m not sure which. Was going to ask Claghart
—being an artist he’s up to such fine distinctions—but forgot it. I say, Grace,
why don’t your gowns look like that? You’d better ask her who built hers.
Tell you what, she’s just fascinating—not stiff or uppish a bit, but she’s got a
certain sort of dignity you girls don’t seem to acquire, some way or other.
She simply hoodooed old Gray, not to mention Percy Beaufort, the
Professor, and several dozen others, including your devoted brother. There
was one solemn moment at the cotillion when every man in the room was
around her. The other girls looked black, I promise you! What the deuce,
Grace, makes you girls so jealous? I actually believe Eleanor didn’t like her
cousin’s brilliant success at all, and yet you told me she was so anxious
about it. Can’t make you girls out.
You say she’s been to college all her life and is awfully smart? Well, I
suppose she is—she looks that way—but she didn’t come any of it on us.
And yet she’s clever, that’s sure, for she knows all the points of difference
between the Rugby and Association game, and I heard her talking golf with
Claghart and telling Professor Radnor that dancing was a healthful
amusement, and he was asking her, in the most idiotic way, if she’d teach
him the two-step. Wasn’t that rich! And old Gray said to a lot of fellows in
the smoking-room that, “By Jove, she was the handsomest girl he’d seen in a
quarter of a century, and that if she was an example of a college-bred girl he
wished they’d all go to college.”
Well, I must stop. I really believe, Grace, this is the longest letter I ever
wrote, and I want you to put it to my credit—understand? and the next time I
try to arrange a trip to Mount Vernon with certain people, you’ll please be
more amenable to reason—See?
I think I’ve told you everything except that I’m going to stop here for a
few days—they’re always asking me, you know, and I told Margaret last
night that I’d accept this time. Eleanor looked as if she didn’t half like it.
Why not, do you suppose? But I can’t tear myself away. I’m desperately in
love with “La Belle Hélène,” besides I’m awfully interested in watching the
running between Claghart and Montrose. It will be a close finish, I think,
with Claghart in the lead, Montrose a good second, and a full field not far
behind. Excuse sporting instincts and language.
As ever, your aff. brother,
Jerry.
How’s your throat? Better, I hope. Hers is lovely—“like a piece of marble
column”—at least that’s what Reggie confided to me at 3 G. M. this
morning.
J. F.