Suppression of High-Reflection Fifth-, Sixth-, and Seventh-Order Bands in Wide-Band Interference Filters

We have investigated the spectral properties of multilayer interference systems formed by multiple repetition of the symmetric three-component period ABCBA. The problem of synthesizing structures, in whose spectral characteristics suppression of adjacent fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-order high-reflection bands is observed, has been solved. It has been shown that there exist only nine options of layer thicknesses in a period. It should be noted that only in six cases upon suppression of fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-order high-reflection bands is the first-order reflection band preserved. The values of the refractive indices of layers at which the problem has a solution have been found. The refractive indices of layers in all the nine cases are described by different relations defining the dependence of the refractive index of one of the components on the randomly chosen refractive indices of the other components.     

Planar silicon-based light polarizers

Silicon-based thin-film polarizers operating in the visible and near-infraed spectral range are fabricated by electrochemical etching of bulk silicon wafers. Anisotropically etched (110) porous silicon layers exhibit a strong in-plane anisotropy of the refractive index. Stackes of alternating layers with different mean refractive indices and thicknesses act as dichroic Bragg reflectors or microcavities, respectively. Both structures have two distinct reflection and transmission bands depending on the polarization of the incident linearly polarized light. Planar polarizers are realized through the combination, in one structure, of a dichroic reflector with either a second reflector or a microcavity with different spectral responses.     

Large range of omni-directional reflection in 1D photonic crystal heterostructures

A simple design of one-dimensional omni-directional reflector based on photonic crystal heterostructures structure has been proposed. The proposed structure consists of a periodic array of alternate layers of SiO₂ and Te as the materials of low and high refractive indices, respectively. The structure considered here has three stacks of periodic structures having five layers each. The lattice period of successive stack is increased by a certain multiple (say gradual constant, δ) of the lattice period of the just preceding stack. For numerical computation, the method of transfer matrix method (TMM) has been employed. It is found that such a structure has wider reflection bands in comparison to a conventional dielectric PC structure and the width of the omni-directional reflection (ODR) bands can be enlarged by increasing the value of the gradual constant δ.     

Optical properties of grooved silicon microstructures: Theory and experiment

The reflection spectra of grooved silicon structures consisting of alternating silicon walls and grooves (air channels) with a period of a = 4–6 μm are studied experimentally and theoretically in the mid-IR spectral range (2–25 μm) upon irradiation of samples by normally incident light polarized along and perpendicular to silicon layers. The calculation is performed by the scattering matrix method taking into account Rayleigh scattering losses in a grooved layer by adding imaginary parts to the refractive indices of silicon and air in grooved regions. The experimental and calculated reflection spectra are in good agreement in the entire spectral range studied. The analysis of experimental and calculated spectra gave close values of the effective refractive indices and birefringence of the studied structures in the long-wavelength spectral region. The values calculated in the effective medium model in the long-wavelength approximation (λ ≫ a) gave considerably understated values. The obtained results confirm the efficiency of the scattering matrix method for describing the optical properties of silicon microstructures.     

Reflection chromaticity of cholesteric liquid crystals with sandwiched periodical isotropic defect layers

We study one-dimensional photonic crystals made of cholesteric liquid crystals with sandwiched isotropic defect layers. Based on the Berreman Fast 4 × 4 matrix method, the dispersion relation of one-dimensional photonic crystals is calculated and the corresponding reflection chromaticity is obtained. It is found that the color shift could be controlled by adjusting the thickness and refractive index of the isotropic defect layers. Compared with conventional structures, the reflection chromaticity of this structure is insensitive to the incident angle, if the thickness ratio of the cholesteric liquid crystals to that of the isotropic defect layers and the refractive index of periodical isotropic defect layers are properly set. Furthermore, the common forbidden bands for both left and right circular polarizations can be obtained, and we also take the wavelength-dependent refractive indices into consideration and obtain the reflected light chromaticity with the incident angle increasing. The proposed device can be used as a reflective color filter in the display industry.     

Modified multicomponent band pass optical reflection filters at oblique incidence

Reflection and transmission characteristics of a modified long-wavelength cutoff filter using a three-component system with an angular dependence are studied. In this case, a layer of high refractive index is sandwiched between edge layers of equivalent refractive index with the base structure [G(0.5AB0.5A)]^N; then, an optimized structure of the form [(0.5AB0.5A)^N?X (0.5AB0.5A)^X (0.5AB0.5A)^N?X] is taken and its spectral properties are studied. In the case of a short-wavelength three-component cutoff filter, a layer of low refractive index is sandwiched between two edge layers of high equivalent refractive index with a base structure [G(0.5BA0.5D)]^N and its spectral characteristics are studied. Then, the structure is optimized [(0.5BA0.5B)^{N? X}(0.5BA0.5B)^X(0.5BA0.5B)^N?tX] and spectral characteristics of this structure are also studied. Spectral properties of band pass optical reflection filters of the type [G(XY)A] whose components are the proposed long-wavelength cutoff [(0.5AB0.5B)^{N? X}(0.5AB0.5A)^X(0.5BA0.5B)^N?X] and short-wavelength cutoff [(0.5BA0.5B)^N?X(0.5BA0.5B)^X(0.5BA0.5B)^N?X] filter structures are studied with angular dependences. No increase in the bandwidth with the least oscillatory components at the edges can be precisely formed by known classes of a two-component system at normal incidence. It is shown that the use of reflection and transmission filters with oblique bands yields an ideal polarizer. Angular dependences of the filter and the transmission and reflection band shapes on the parameters of a high-reflectance multilayer coating, such as the thickness, refractive indices, and the number of layers, are analyzed in detail.     

二苯甲酮晶体的红外反射光谱研究

室温下记录了有机非线性光学晶体二苯甲酮三种不同偏振的红外反射光谱（２００－４０００ｃｍ＾－１）。利用Ｋ－Ｋ变换确定了晶格振动模的模，纵频率。根据由Ｋ－Ｋ变换得到的介电常数和折射率的色散曲线外推得到晶体的静态介电常数，高频介电常数和近红外波段的折射率。还对反射带进行了认定。研究表明该晶体二苯甲酮分子间不存在氩键，只以弱的范德华键相结合。结合晶体结构对强反射带出现的原因作了解释。     

A study of Ba x Mg1 − x F2 optical films

Ba _x Me_{1 ? x} F₂ binary fluoride films (“Me” denotes calcium or magnesium fluoride) are studied. A method of processing the reflection and transmission spectra is proposed to determine the optical constants. The dispersion dependences of the refractive indices and absorption coefficients of films in the range of 1.3–12 μm are found. Dispersion in films in the regions of additional absorption bands, which are absent in single crystals, is observed for the first time. It is shown that the films of binary fluorides have a higher packing density, a lower absorption, and better operating characteristics than do films of pure fluorides. The films are promising for application as optical interference coatings in the mid-IR spectral region.     

Photonic band structure and effect of ε and μ on the reflectivity of one-dimensional magnetic photonic crystal structure

In this paper, we study the photonic band structure and reflection properties in one-dimensional magnetic photonic crystals (MPCs). Investigation of dispersion characteristics shows that in the case of MPCs, photonic band gaps arise due to the contrast in the wave impedance, not due to the contrast in the refractive index, while contrast in the refractive index of the two layers decides the position and number of the band gaps. We also study the effect of permittivity and permeability on reflection bands, which shows that the structure that has larger values of magnetic permeability (μ) than dielectric permittivity (ε) have wider TM-reflection bands, whereas the structure for which ε is greater than μ has wider TE-reflection bands. But the gap to mid-gap frequency ratio for TM-reflection bands is larger than TE-reflection bands. Thus, magnetic permeability has greater impact on the reflectivity of MPCs than dielectric permittivity. Finally, the analysis of the omni-reflectance in MPCs has also been studied.     

Effect of higher-order electric and magnetic multipolar transitions on Rayleigh light scattering in liquids

We calculate the effect of magnetic dipolar transitions, related with the polarizabilities B″, ′, and ″ and electric-quadrupole transitions, related with the polarizabilities C′, ″, and ′, on dynamical Rayleigh light scattering by isotrophic media. To this aim, we introduce molecular scattering factors of the fourth, fifth and sixth orders related with these polarizabilities. For molecules with 76 magnetic point group symmetries these transitions are found to affect the time-dependent intensities and depolarization ratios of scattered light. Among the 76 groups, the molecules belonging to 23 groups exhibit natural (transmission and Rayleigh) optical activity, whereas the point group m shows Rayleigh activity only. The effects in question result moreover from the contribution of magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole transitions. For isotropic molecules, the above transitions lead to partial depolarization of the scattered light wave. Our use of i- and c-tensors as well as Hermitian and anti-Hermitian components permits the extension of our discussion to regions of absorption as well as cases of full symmetry of the molecules.     

The HITRAN 2008 molecular spectroscopic database

This paper describes the status of the 2008 edition of the HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database. The new edition is the first official public release since the 2004 edition, although a number of crucial updates had been made available online since 2004. The HITRAN compilation consists of several components that serve as input for radiative-transfer calculation codes: individual line parameters for the microwave through visible spectra of molecules in the gas phase; absorption cross-sections for molecules having dense spectral features, i.e. spectra in which the individual lines are not resolved; individual line parameters and absorption cross-sections for bands in the ultraviolet; refractive indices of aerosols, tables and files of general properties associated with the database; and database management software. The line-by-line portion of the database contains spectroscopic parameters for 42 molecules including many of their isotopologues.     

Photonic properties of metallic-mean quasiperiodic chains

The light propagation through a stack of two media with different refractive indices, which are aligned according to different quasiperiodic sequences determined by metallic means, is studied using the transfer matrix method. The focus lies on the investigation of the influence of the underlying quasiperiodic sequence as well as the dependence of the transmission on the frequency, the incidence angle of the light wave and different ratios of the refractive indices. In contrast to a periodically aligned stack we find complete transmission for the quasiperiodic systems for a wide range of different refractive indices for small incidence angles. Additional bands of moderate transmission occur for frequencies in the range of the photonic band gaps of the periodic system. Further, for fixed indices of refraction we find a range of almost perfect transmission for angles close to the angle of total reflection, which is caused by the bending of photonic transmission bands towards higher frequencies for increasing incidence angles. Comparing with the results of a periodic stack the quasiperiodicity seems to have only an influence in the region around the midgap frequency of a periodic stack.     

Comparison of resonances and spectral properties for microstructures incorporating singular layered metal dielectric subwavelength grating with different profiles

A multilayered structure incorporating a single metal-dielectric subwavelength grating is a structure with characteristic of polarization separation for visible light, enabling creating visible color aspect. Based on that, two specific structures separately with grating layers of rectangular and sinusoidal refractive index profiles are designed and their related resonant behaviors and spectral properties are compared respectively for s and p polarized incident lights. The impacts of structural parameters of the structures together with dielectric materials on their resonances and spectra in reflection are studied in detailed. Similarities of resonant behaviors, reflection spectra and variations in resonant locations and spectral profiles between both structures are also demonstrated for both polarizations, especially for s polarized light. Due to such similarities and convenience in fabrication, the structure with a sinusoidal grating can replace that with a rectangular grating in mass production for color-based various applications such as color security, image reproduction.     

Discrete ordinate and Monte Carlo simulations for polarized radiative transfer in a coupled system consisting of two media with different refractive indices

We present an algorithm for polarized radiative transfer in a vertically stratified system consisting of two plane-parallel media with different refractive indices. It is based on the discrete ordinate method and includes multiple elastic scattering, thermal radiation, Fresnel reflection and transmission, incident parallel-beam or isotropic radiation at the top of the upper medium and bidirectional reflection at the bottom of the lower medium. Comparisons with results from Monte Carlo simulations show that the discrete-ordinate code provides accurate results for all four elements of the Stokes vector (I, Q, U, and V) at a speed that is orders of magnitude faster.     

Millimeter-wave spectrum of 3-butynenitrile: Dipole moment and centrifugal distortion constants

The molecular rotational spectrum of 3-butynenitrile (3BN, propargyl cyanide), HCCCH₂CN, has been investigated in the vibrational ground state. A total of 222 transitions up to J = 69 have been measured between 8 and 300 GHz. The Hamiltonian used for the spectral analysis was required to include all centrifugal terms of fourth and sixth orders and one term of eighth order in the angular momentum components in order to reproduce the transition frequencies within the experimental error. Significant values for the respective distortion coefficients could be determined. The molecular dipole moment components were calculated from measured Stark effect shifts as |μ_a| = (3.23 ± 0.05) D, |μ_b| = (2.34 ± 0.02) D; μ_tot = (3.99 ± 0.05) D.     

A study of light scattering of mononuclear blood cells with scanning flow cytometry

This study describes the measurement of light scattering of human mononuclear blood cells, the development of an appropriate optical model for those cells, and solution of the inverse light-scattering problem. The angular dependency of light-scattering intensity of mononuclear blood cells was experimentally measured by means of scanning flow cytometry. A sphere consisting of several concentric homogeneous layers with different refractive indices was tested as an optical model for mononuclear blood cells. A five-layer model has given the best agreement between experimental and theoretical light-scattering profiles. The inverse light-scattering problem was solved for a five-layer model with an optimization procedure that allows one to retrieve cell parameters: cell size relates to the outer diameter of the fifth layer; size of the nucleus relates to the outer diameter of the third layer. Mean values of cell size, nuclear size, refractive indices of nucleus and cellular cytoplasm were determined for blood monocytes and lymphocytes.     

Simultaneous determination of particle size and refractive index by time-resolved Mie scattering

With this numerical study we have investigated the pulse-induced and time-resolved Mie scattering with the aim of determining the size and the refractive index of transparent spherical particles simultaneously. The temporal interval between the scattering light signals of two different orders of scattered light allows only particle sizing. But if it is possible to detect three different orders of scattered light, then we have two independent time intervals. This situation is given if the detector has a position about θ=90°. With these scattering angle signals of reflection and refraction of 1st and 3rd order appear with approximately the same intensity. Then the numerical quotient of the two temporal intervals between these scattering orders is a function of the refractive index only. We have calculated these specific quotients by models of geometric optics for 1.1≤m≤1.6 and 75°≤θ≤90° and have seen that there is a very high agreement with the results of time-resolved Mie calculations.     

Die optischen Eigenschaften dielektrischer Schichten mit kleinen Homogenitätsstörungen

The reflectivity near the polarizing angle is being calculated both for slightly non-homogeneous dielectric films (possessing small gradients in the refractive index) and also for double layers having slightly different refractive indices. Thus discrepancies can be removed which may arise, when the refractive indices are determined from the Brewster angle, and it was also possible to work out a procedure which permits to analyse the structure of the various layers from experimentally obtained spectral reflectivity curves near the Brewster angle.     

Engineered omnidirectional external-reflectivity spectra from one-dimensional layered interference filters

Owing to optical refraction, external rays that are incident upon a high-refractive-index medium fall within a small internal cone angle. A one-dimensionally periodic Bragg structure can reflect over an angular acceptance range that is greater than the small internal refraction cone, if the internal refractive-index contrast is sufficient. Thus Winn et al. [Opt. Lett. (to be published)] charted the range of refractive indices at which omnidirectional external reflection occurs. A wide spectral gap requires a high-index contrast. It is proposed that, by chirping or grading the periodicity of the structure, one can cover an arbitrarily wide spectral range with only a modest index contrast and, furthermore, that arbitrary spectral shapes can be produced. The graded-periodicity approach requires only a modest index contrast, provided that the average refractive index is >2 .     

Zone structure and polarization properties of the stack of a metamaterial-based cholesteric liquid crystal and isotropic medium layers

The optical properties of a stack of metamaterial-based cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) layers and isotropic medium layers are investigated. The problem is solved by a modification of Ambartsumian’s layer addition method. CLCs with two types of chiral nihility are defined. The peculiarities of the reflection spectra of this system are investigated and it is shown that the reflection spectra of the stacks of CLC layers of these two types differ from each other. Besides, in contrast to the single CLC layer case, these systems have multiple photonic band gaps. There are two types of such gaps: those selective with respect to polarization of the incident light and nonselective ones. It is shown that the system eigenpolarizations mainly coincide with the quasi-orthogonal, quasi-circular polarizations for normally incident light, except the regions of diffraction reflection selective with respect to the polarization of incident light. The influence of the CLC sublayer thick-nesses, the incidence angle, the local dielectric (magnetic) anisotropy of the CLC layers, and the refractive indices and thicknesses of the isotropic media layers on the reflection spectra and other optical characteristics of the system is investigated.