Markus K. Tilsch

Optical Interference Coatings Design Contest 2007: triple bandpass filter and nonpolarizing beam splitter

A triple bandpass filter (28 solutions received) and a nonpolarizing beam splitter (23 solutions received) were the subjects of the design contest held in conjunction with the 2007 Optical Interference Coatings topical meeting of the Optical Society of America. Fifteen designers participated using a wide spectrum of design approaches and optimization strategies to create the submissions. The results differ significantly, but all meet the contest requirements. Fabien Lemarchand wins both contests by submitting the thinnest (6254 nm) triple bandpass design and the widest (61.7 nm) nonpolarizing beam-splitter design. Michael Trubetskov is in second place, followed by Vladimir Pervak in both contests. The submitted designs are described and evaluated.

Optical interference coatings design contest 2004.

A manufacturable, broadband, broad-angle antireflection (AR) coating for the visible (13 designs submitted) and a minimum-shift immersed short-pass filter (12 designs submitted) were the subjects of the design contest held in conjunction with the 2004 Optical Interference Coatings topical meeting of the Optical Society of America. Under the specified constraints, the broadband, broad-angle AR coating could be made more than 65 nm wide. The statistical stability of manufacturing simulations is discussed. The short-pass filter could operate up to a +/- 5.5 degree angular range. The submitted designs are described and evaluated.

Experimental demonstration of thin-film dispersion compensation for 50-GHz filters

Dispersion management is critical for next-generation high-bandwidth-utilization fiber-optical networks. Square-top thin-film bandpass filters for 50-GHz dense wavelength-division multiplexing inherently have high chromatic dispersion (CD) in transmission. The imparted dispersion power penalty on the network is undesirable. However, a second thin-film filter, operating in reflection, can be designed to compensate the CD of the bandpass filter. In this paper we demonstrate experimentally the reduction of the intrinsic CD of a 50-GHz thin-film coupler from /spl plusmn/170 ps/nm to /spl plusmn/50 ps/nm over a 30-GHz passband, through the use of such a cascaded thin-film compensator. Network simulations based on filter performance confirm the reduced dispersion power penalty of the cascade over the individual filter.

Birefringent films for contrast enhancement of liquid crystal on silicon projection systems

High-performance projection displays based on liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) panel technology have the potential to deliver very high contrast and performance at an attractive price. These systems use polarization-based light engines that utilize wire grid polarizers (WGP) and vertical-aligned nematic LCoS panels. To achieve high contrast, the linear polarization state created by the WGP must be maintained in the dark state to prevent light leakage to the screen. However, the LCoS panel has a residual retardance, and without compensation, this leakage degrades the system contrast. We describe the design and contrast measurement results of a birefringent contrast enhancing component that compensates this residual retardance and improves the overall system contrast ratio to 6000:1. The component is comprised of birefringent films with individually controllable A-plate and C-plate compensation, accurate retardance targeting, and excellent uniformity for both retardance magnitude and orientation. The compon...

Optical Society of America’s 2010 Topical Meeting on Optical Interference Coatings: Introduction by the feature editors

This Applied Optics feature issue is dedicated to the 12th topical meeting on Optical Interference Coatings held on 16–21 June 2013 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The conference, taking place in a three-year rotation with conferences in Europe and Asia, is a focal point for global technical interchange in the field of optical interference coatings and provides premier opportunities for people in the field to present their new advances in research and development. Papers presented at the conference cover a broad range of topics, from thin film deposition processes, designs and modeling, materials, and metrologies to a wide array of thin film applications.

Properties of Ge and GeO x Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

Optical properties of pulsed DC magnetron sputtered Ge and GeOx layers are reported. Complex multilayer infrared bandpass filters were successfully fabricated. However, these coatings exhibit severe environmental durability issues which may limit their applications.