Abstract

By merging traditional thin-film optics with diffractive and waveguide optics, it has been shown theoretically that optical reflection filters can be designed with 100% efficiency, symmetrical lineshapes, near-zero nonoscillatory sidebands over extended wavelength regions, narrow (or wide) controllable linewidths, and other favorable attributes [1]. Thus, single- and multilayer reflective filters with near ideal features have been theoretically demonstrated by utilizing anti-reflection design to suppress reflections adjacent to the resonance peak [2]. In addition, a transmission bandpass filter can be designed using guided-mode resonance effects with a highly reflecting dielectric multilayer stack [3]. This new transmission filter produces broad-range low-transmission sidebands with nearly 100% transmission efficiency at the passband. Numerous applications have been identified including laser resonator frequency-selective polarizing mirrors, laser cavity tuning elements, mirrors and phase-locking elements for vertical-cavity surface emitting laser arrays, and sensor elements [4]. Experimental results verifying the theoretically predicted high resonance efficiencies for reflection filters have been reported in the optical spectral region [5,6], in the millimeter wave region [7], and in the microwave region [8].

© 1996 Optical Society of America