Analytical Design of Multilayer Reflectors for Visible and Near IR Spectral Range by Contiguous Quarter-wave Stacks

An analytical design of a dielectric multilayer reflector for the visible and near IR spectral range is suggested. It consists of a certain number of stacks arranged (spectrally) beside each other. The left band spectral edge of one stack coincides with the right band spectral edge of its neighboring one. The number of stacks depends on the spectral range needed. Each stack is composed of a specific number of periods which depends on the reflectance desired. Each period contains two quarter wave layers of high and low refractive indices materials. Stacks of quarter wave layers are of considerable interest because of optical monitoring during deposition. Two, three, four and five stacks reflectors are designed taking into consideration the material refractive index dispersion. High expensive computer programs or numerical optimizations are not needed.