Small-angle scattering during formation of periodic structures in light-sensitive films subjected to laser radiation

Patterns of small-angle scattering that appear in thin AgCl films containing granular silver upon the formation of spontaneous periodic structures by p-polarized and circularly polarized laser beams (He-Ne laser, P=8 mW, λ = 632.8 nm) are studied. It is found that, at angles of incidence exceeding 4° regardless of the type of polarization, the diffraction of the waveguide modes excited by the dominant C gratings from neighboring microgratings with the vectors K ≠ K c dominantly contributes to the small-angle scattering. In the case of circularly polarized light, the pattern of small-angle scattering becomes more complicated as a result of the formation of S _? gratings and related secondary regular gratings.