Optical properties of very thin, nonideal multilayer superlattice stacks

In this study, the theory of very thin, nonideal multilayer stacks is developed, and the computed wavelength variation of the transmissivity and reflectivity is compared with that measured on experimentally prepared silver-silicon monoxide layer stacks. The model imputes a step-function character to the complex index of refraction along the layer structure, and nonideality is accounted for by allowing for the likely presence of interfacial layers between each primary layer pair and also for the possibility that the thickness of the individual layers may vary randomly within some limit of error. Abeles's transfer matrix technique is used to arrive at the characteristic matrix of the stack, and additive corrective matrices are derived to account for the effects due to interfacial layers and the random layer thickness variation.