Volume Bragg gratings (VBG) or volume holographic gratings (VHG) consist of a volume where there is a periodic change in the refractive index. Depending on the orientation of the refractive index modulation, VBG can be used either to transmit or reflect a small bandwidth of wavelengths. Bragg's law (adapted for volume hologram) dictates which wavelength will be diffracted:
where  is the Bragg order (a positive integer),  the diffracted wavelength, Λ the fringe spacing of the grating,  the angle between the incident beam and the normal () of the entrance surface and  the angle between the normal and the grating vector (). Radiation that does not match Bragg's law will pass through the VBG undiffracted. The output wavelength can be tuned over a few hundred nanometers by changing the incident angle (). VBG are being used to produce widely tunable laser source or perform global hyperspectral imagery (see Photon etc.).