Constraint on the optical constants of bilayer film-substrate external-reflection retarders for given substrates and incidence angle

B. E. Perilloux

doi:10.1117/12.944314

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29 June 1988 Constraint on the optical constants of bilayer film-substrate external-reflection retarders for given substrates and incidence angle

B. E. Perilloux

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Proceedings Volume 0891, Polarization Considerations for Optical Systems; (1988) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.944314
Event: 1988 Los Angeles Symposium: O-E/LASE '88, 1988, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Given two transparent films of refractive index n₁ and n₂ on a given arbitrarily absorbing substrate of complex refractive index N₃ = n₃-jk₃, at a given oblique angle of incidence 0, solution sets for the film indices n₁ and n₂ are determined where the bilayer film-substrate external-reflection retarder system achieves a specified differential phase shift Δ and has equal p and s polarization reflectances where R_p = R_s. n₁, n₂ solution sets are presented in graphical form as solution zones in the n₁, n₂ plane for 0 = 45°, and Δ = ±90° and ±180°, corresponding to quarterwave and halfwave retarders (QWR and HWR), respectively. These n₁, n₂ solution sets are specifically found for two commonly utilized substrate materials in the visible and infrared wavelength regions, namely, fused silica and silver, respectively. Values of the normalized film thicknesses 1 and 2 , and the polarization-independent reflectance are separately inserted at various internal and boundary solution points, in the n1, n2 solution zones, on the n₁, n₂ graphs. For each n₁, n₂ solution set, there are two sets of film thicknesses r 1a' 2a and r 1b' 2b that allow equal p and s polarization reflectances and the specified differential phase shift A. For fused silica (where k3 = 0) and = ± 180°, the two sets of normalized film thicknesses satisfy the relationships 1, 2a c2b = 1 and gz(r 1 a, for each n₁,n₂ solution set.

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B. E. Perilloux "Constraint on the optical constants of bilayer film-substrate external-reflection retarders for given substrates and incidence angle", Proc. SPIE 0891, Polarization Considerations for Optical Systems, (29 June 1988); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.944314

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