The successful fabrication of metal/dielectric multilayer filters requires not only accurate control of the individual layer thicknesses, but also a good knowledge of the optical constants of the materials used in the filters. In the case of metal films, it is also essential to know whether any transition layers are formed at the interfaces and, if so, how their thicknesses and optical constants depend on the deposition conditions. An automatic, real-time process control, magnetron sputtering deposition system was modified to permit the manufacture of metal/dielectric filters using optical monitoring techniques. To illustrate the performance of this system, two bandpass filters, a short wavelength pass filter, and a neutral density filter were produced, all having a low reflectance for light incident on one side. The metal layers used in these filters consisted of either Ni or Ag. The Ag films could be protected from the O-2 plasma using thin Ni or Si films. Good agreement was obtained between the calculated and measured spectral transmittance and reflectance curves.
