Fractal diffraction gratings built through rectangular domains

Some regular fractals can be obtained as the product superposition of periodic functions. Along this work, the correlation between the method to build fractal gratings and the intensity distribution for diffracted fields in the Fraunhofer region is studied. Adding an exponent to each periodic component we can obtain a system that is then applied in optical information processing, since different combinations can be achieved. The existence of such periodic components can be proved by analyzing the diffracted field near the Fraunhofer region. The characterization of diffracted fields can be related with the corresponding diffracted properties for two-dimensional periodic functions. The applications are developed for the calculation and experimental registration in such region for the Cantor bars, Sierpinski carpet and Sierpinski gasket. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.