We propose a method of spatial modulation of inhomogeneous broadening of a quantum-well excitonic resonance based on local generation of defects produced by a focused ion beam. The method is applied to fabrication of excitonic diffraction grating in a single quantum-well InGaAs/GaAs structure by irradiating the sample with a beam of 35-keV He+ ions of exposure doses <1012 cm-2. The spectrum of resonant diffraction on such a structure is narrower than that of reflectivity and decreases much faster with increasing temperature. A proposed model of formation of the diffractive response based on the single scattering approximation well describes the results of the spectral and temperature measurements.