Thin-Film Optical Filters

Written by a world-renowned authority of optical coatings, Thin-Film Optical Filters, Fourth Edition presents an introduction to thin-film optical filters for both manufacturers and users. The preeminent author covers an assortment of design, manufacture, performance, and application topics. He also includes enough of the basic mathematics of optical thin films to enable readers to carry out thin-film calculations. This new edition of a bestseller retains most of the descriptions of older design techniques because of their importance in understanding how designs work. However, this edition includes a substantial amount of new material as well. A new chapter on color takes into account the increasing importance of color in optical coatings. In addition, a new section discusses the effects of gain in optical coatings. This comprehensive yet accessible book continues to offer valuable insight into the principles, techniques, and processes of successful coating design. It provides the sound foundation required to make further advances in the field.Table of ContentIntroductionEarly HistoryThin-Film Filters Basic TheoryMaxwell’s Equations and Plane Electromagnetic WavesThe Simple BoundaryThe Reflectance of a Thin FilmThe Reflectance of an Assembly of Thin FilmsReflectance, Transmittance, and AbsorptanceUnitsSummary of Important ResultsPotential TransmittanceA Theorem on the Transmittance of a Thin-Film AssemblyCoherenceIncoherent Reflection at Two or More Surfaces Theoretical TechniquesQuarter- and Half-Wave Optical ThicknessesAdmittance LociElectric Field and Losses in the Admittance DiagramThe Vector MethodThe Herpin IndexAlternative Method of CalculationSmith’s Method of Multilayer DesignThe Smith ChartReflection Circle Diagrams Antireflection CoatingsAntireflection Coatings on High-Index SubstratesAntireflection Coatings on Low-Index SubstratesEquivalent LayersAntireflection Coatings for Two ZerosAntireflection Coatings for the Visible and the InfraredInhomogeneous LayersFurther Information Neutral Mirrors and Beam SplittersHigh-Reflectance Mirror CoatingsNeutral Beam SplittersNeutral-Density Filters Multilayer High-Reflectance CoatingsThe Fabry–Perot InterferometerMultilayer Dielectric CoatingsLosses Edge FiltersThin-Film Absorption FiltersInterference Edge Filters Band-Pass FiltersBroadband-Pass FiltersNarrowband FiltersMultiple Cavity FiltersHigher Performance in Multiple-Cavity FiltersPhase Dispersion FilterMultiple Cavity Metal–Dielectric FiltersMeasured Filter Performance Tilted CoatingsModified Admittances and the Tilted Admittance DiagramApplication of the Admittance DiagramPolarizersNonpolarizing CoatingsAntireflection CoatingsRetardersOptical Tunnel Filters Color in Optical CoatingsColor DefinitionThe 1964 Supplementary Colorimetric ObserverMetamerismOther Color SpacesHue and ChromaBrightness and Optimal StimuliColored Fringes Production Methods and Thin-Film MaterialsThe Production of Thin FilmsMeasurement of the Optical PropertiesMeasurement of the Mechanical PropertiesToxicitySummary of Some Properties of Common Materials Factors Affecting Layer and Coating PropertiesMicrostructure and Thin-Film BehaviorSensitivity to Contamination Layer Uniformity and Thickness MonitoringUniformitySubstrate PreparationThickness Monitoring and ControlTolerances Specification of Filters and Environmental EffectsOptical PropertiesPhysical Properties System Considerations: Applications of Filters and CoatingsPotential Energy Grasp of Interference FiltersNarrowband Filters in AstronomyAtmospheric Temperature SoundingOrder Sorting Filters for Grating SpectrometersGlare Suppression Filters and CoatingsSome Coatings Involving Metal Layers Other TopicsRugate FiltersUltrafast CoatingsAutomatic MethodsGain in Optical CoatingsPhotonic Crystals Characteristics of Thin-Film Dielectric Materials Bibliography Index References appear at the end of each chapter.Review QuoteThe book by Angus Macleod is the fourth edition of the famous textbook written by a world-renowned authority in the field of optical coating. This new edition retains most of the descriptions of older design techniques but also includes a substantial amount of new material. … The book is an excellent treatise of thin film coatings, explaining how to produce all sorts of different filters selected according to the function they are required to play. … The book is an indispensable text for every filter manufacturer and user and is an excellent guide for students.—Mario Bertolotti, Contemporary Physics, April 2012 Praise for the Third Edition:… essential reading for all those involved in the design, manufacture, and application of optical coatings. … a valuable addition to many bookshelves.—Materials World, September 2001 … continues to be a very practical guide.—ASLIB Book Guide The third edition is no less rich and includes expanded references and information on many advances in design and technology since the second edition was published in 1986 … a must-have addition to the library of any optical thin-film theorist or practitioner. It provides extensive methods to use in achieving desired optical performance for a broad range of coating types and extensive references for one to use in delving deeper into these topics.—Dale E. Morton, Denton Vacuum, LLC, SVC News It is obvious from the details of his career that Angus knows more about optical coatings, both in terms of design and of fabrication, than most of us put together. It is therefore quite expected that I feel free to state that, in my opinion, this book is a necessity, rather on par with having the use of a coating facility, a good coating program, and a fast computer, for anybody in the field of thin-film optical coatings and filters. Therefore, if you are new in this field, your first priority should be to make sure that you have the undivided use of a copy of this book. … All in all, the book is a good statement of the state of the art of thin-film deposition theory and practice at the turn of the millennium.—Roger M. Wood, ElsevierBiographical NoteH. Angus Macleod is President of the Thin Film Center Inc. in Tucson, Arizona, and Professor Emeritus of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona.