Abstract
A centrosymmetric multilayer stack of two transparent materials, which is embedded in a high-index prism, can function as a complete-transmission quarter-wave or half-wave retarder (QWR or HWR) under conditions of frustrated total internal reflection. The multilayer consists of a high-index center layer sandwiched between two identical low-index films with high-index–low-index bilayers repeated on both sides of the central trilayer, maintaining the symmetry of the entire stack and constituting a QWR ( or 270°) or HWR in transmission. A QWR design at wavelength is presented that employs an 11-layer stack of Si and thin films, which is embedded in a GaP cube prism. The intensity transmittances for the p and s polarizations remain and deviates from 90° by over a spectral bandwidth , and by over an internal field view of (incidence angle inside the prism). An HWR design at employs seven layers of Si and thin films embedded in a Si cube, has an average transmittance , and that differs from 180° by over a bandwidth and by over an internal field view of . The sensitivity of these devices to film-thickness errors is also considered.
© 2007 Optical Society of America
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