Inhomogenous Coatings For Optics

Inhomogenous layers, such as so-called gradient index layers & rugate filters represent prospective thin film designs. Manufacturing such systems in practice requires calculation, deposition, monitoring & characterisation of optical coatings with a well-defined continuous refractive index profile along with an axis that is perpendicular to the film surface. These coatings may be manufactured in the Leybold Syrus Pro 1100 deposition system by co-evaporation of SiO2 & Nb2O5 as a sequence of several refractive index gradients. During these experiments, a specially adapted in-situ broadband monitoring system was used to measure the transmittance of the growing film directly at the rotating substrate and to perform re-engineering tasks.