Propagation of light in layered composites with variable thickness of the layers

Propagation of light in a nonideal liquid crystal-silicon superlattice (one-dimensional crystal with two constituent layers in the elementary cell) is considered in terms of the virtual crystal approximation. The influence of the randomly varying layer thickness on the refractive index and lowest stopband of the structure is studied. Layered composites with a variable layer thickness are shown to open up considerable scope for devising new layered materials.