Patent ID: 7349599

Claim:
A method, comprising: formulating a simulated design input optical signal propagating toward and through a diffracting volume from a designed optical input port as a diffraction-guided optical beam; formulating a simulated design output optical signal propagating through and away from a diffracting volume to a designed optical output port as a diffraction-guided optical beam; computing an interference pattern between the simulated input and output optical signals over a design diffracting surface in the diffracting volume; computationally deriving an arrangement of a set of diffractive elements on the design surface from the computed interference pattern, so that when the diffractive element set is formed on a substrate surface substantially conforming to the design surface, the diffractive element set would route, as an output optical signal propagating to the output optical port, a diffracted portion of an input optical signal propagating from the input optical and incident on the diffractive element set that is diffracted by the diffractive element set; forming at a desired mask size scale a mask with a mask pattern corresponding to the derived arrangement of the diffractive element set; forming the diffractive element set on the substrate surface by projecting the mask pattern onto the substrate surface at a desired projection size scale.