Narrow bandpass optical filters fabricated with one-dimensionally periodic inhomogeneous thin films

Thin films with sinusoidally varying refractive index profiles display photonic band gap effects. Intentional deviations from the periodic index profile can be used to tailor the optical properties of the resulting thin film. We present experimental characterization of TiO2 films with periodic index profiles fabricated using a deposition technique known as glancing angle deposition (GLAD). The resulting porous thin films have a microstructure consisting of vertically aligned columns. Sinusoidal porosity gradients, and therefore sinusoidal index profiles, can be introduced in the direction of the substrate normal by fabricating columns with a periodically varying diameter. Local modifications of the index profile are achieved by inserting thin layers of constant porosity into the center of the film, or by discontinuously changing the phase of the sinusoidal gradient. The introduction of these structural defects creates a narrow optical passband inside the larger band gap, and we demonstrate how the properties of this passband can be controlled through modification of the defect parameters. The magnitude of the phase shift constituting the defect is shown to control the location of the resulting passband. By inserting a layer with in-plane birefringence, we show that it is possible to create two separate passbands, one for each polarization, within a single stop band. The results illustrate how nanoscale porosity engineering using GLAD is a precise technique for fabricating one-dimensionally periodic films with a variety of optical characteristics. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.