Jabber and Alwan Iraqi Journal of Science, 2020, Vol. 61, No.

11, pp: 2897-2902

DOI: 10.24996/ijs.2020.61.11.13

ISSN: 0067-2904

Design of Anti-Reflection Coatings for Application in the Infrared Region

(10.6 micron)

Mushtak Abdulmohsen Jabber*, Tariq J. Alwan

Department of Physics, College of Education, Al Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq

Received: 22/8/2019 Accepted: 21/1/2020

Abstract
In this research, anti-reflection coatings consisting of single and double layers
were designed in the IR (8 – 14μm) region to reduce the unwanted reflections of
germanium (Ge) substrate. The reflectance of Ge substrate was about 36% per
surface. These values were reduced reasonably by using single and double layer
anti-reflection. The used layers were promoted in their performance by changing
their thickness and refractive indices. The results indicated that the suggested
structures are very efficient in reducing the reflectance of the Ge substrates in the
selected region. The performance of the double layer antireflection coatings of ZnSe,
BaF2 and BiF3 on Ge substrates is presented.

Keywords: Antireflection coating; single and double layers, Ge substrates

)‫ مايكرون‬10.6( ‫ترسيم طالءات مزادة لالنعكاس في السشطقة الطيفية تحت الحسراء‬

‫ طارق جبار علهان‬،*‫مذتاق عبد السحدن جابر‬

‫ العخاق‬،‫ بغجاد‬،‫ جامعة السدتشرخيو‬،‫ كمية التخبيو‬،‫قدم الفيدياء‬
‫الخالصه‬
‫ تم ترسيم طالءات مزادة لالنعكاس تتكهن من طبقات مفخدة ومددوجة في السشطقة الطيفية‬، ‫ىحا البحث‬
‫ انعكاسية‬.)Ge( ‫( لتقميل االنعكاسات غيخ السخغهب فييا القاعجة من الجخمانيهم‬8 – 14) μm ‫تحت الحسخاء‬
‫ يتم تقميل ىحه القيم بذكل معقهل باستخجام طبقة واحجة‬.‫) لكل سطح‬٪ 63( ‫االضريية غيخ السطمية حهالي‬
.‫ يتم تعديد اداء الطبقات السدتخجمة من خالل تغييخ سسكيا ومعامالت االنكداضر‬.‫ومددوجة مزادة لالنعكاس‬
‫تذيخ الشتائج إلى أن التخاكيب السقتخحة فعالة لمغاية في تقميل االنعكاس عمى اضرييات الجخمانيهم في مشطقة‬
‫ عمى‬BiF3 ‫ و‬BaF2 ‫ و‬ZnSe ‫ تم تقجيم أداء الطالءات السزادة لالنعكاس لمطبقة السددوجة من‬.‫االختياضر‬
.‫الجخمانيهم‬
1. Introduction
It is necessary to reduce unwanted reflections in optical systems [1]. This can be achieved by the
use of anti-reflective materials as coatings, the production of which is currently comprising over half
of the film coating industry. In addition, they have various uses which include glass lenses, lasers,
mirrors, solar cells, narrow band-pass filters, multipurpose broad, and IR diodes, among others. Anti
reflection coatings (ARCs) play a vital role in increasing transmittance and reducing reflectance. On
optical surfaces, incident radiations are split into reflected, transmitted, absorbed and scattered
fractions. ARCs depend on fractional or total cancellation of light reflected on both sides/surfaces of
the film [2]. These films range from single layer to multilayer systems with more than 12 layers and
____________________________________________
*Email: mushtak_jabbar@[Link].
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virtually zero reflectance over a wide spectral range. The coating to be used for particular applications
is dependent on wavelength, required performance, and cost, among many other factors to consider
[3]. For the infrared region, germanium is mostly used as an optical component [4]. Single surface
reflection causes a loss of 36% per surface of the incident light from such optical components, which
increases the need for a largerquantity of such parts to be applied in creating the system. In this
research, anti-reflection coatings consisting of single and double layers were designed in the IR (8 –
14μm) region for the reduction of unwanted reflections of germanium (Ge) substrate.
2. Theory
Both theoretically and experimentally, the simplest antireflection coating is a single layer which is
commonly used in most practices [5]. Considering that n0, n1, and ns represent the refractive index
values of air, film, and substrate, the intensity of the reflected radiations at both surfaces of the
coatings should be the same so as to repeal the two reflected rays. This implies that the ratio of the
refractive indices at boundaries should be the same, that is [6]:
n0 / n1 = n1/ ns, or n1= (n0nS)1/2 with film optical thickness, n1d1 = λo /4,
where n1 is the refractive index and d1 is the geometry of the film. Only one minimum value in the
reflectance region is given by this arrangement. A broader low-reflection spectral region is achieved
with double layer interference anti-reflection coatings. The correct reflection coefficient at the
boundaries is relied on by the two-layer coatings and the correct optical breadth of the layer, just like
in single layer designs. This assists in obtaining destructive interference in the unwanted reflected
radiation [7]. The following pairs of equations calculate the optical thickness for the two layers [8]:

cos 2 r2 
   
2 1  n12 n 22 n 3  n12  n 22 n 22  n 32  (1)

 
n 22  n 32 n12  n 22 

cos 2 r1 
   
2 n12 n 22  n 32  1  n12 n 22  n 32 n 3 
  
(2)
n 3 1  n12 n12  n 22
where r1=2πn1d1/λ ; r2=2πn2d2/λ ; n1,n2 and n3 are refractive indices of first ,two layer

2.1 Multilayer matrix calculations

Abeles (1950) was the first to suggest the matrix technique of obtaining spectral coefficients of the
structured media which have been applied ever since [9]. The transmittance and reflectance for
multiple layer assembly on the substrate is determined by applying matrix calculations. For the case of
a free multilayer design with normal incident radiations and homogenous optical films, the electric(Em-
1) and magnetic(Hm-1) fields at the boundary are related to the electric(Em) and magnetic(Hm) field
vectors and boundary of the neighboring film by the computation of matrices. The matrix is obtained
as the size of magnetic field vectors and electric field vectors, considering also the layer properties [3].
The use of limits at each layer requires that the tangential sections of the electric and magnetic fields
are not broken across layers to the calculations of wave movement. E and H field vectors that are
moving in the direction of incident radiation are indicated by the “+” sign, while those moving against
the direction are symbolized as “–“. At the interface of m-th layer, the tangential components of the
electric and magnetic fields are given as [10]:
Em = E+m + E¯m
Hm/H1 = Em/E1
Hm = Em × H1/E1 (3)
where E1 and H1 represent the tangential components of electric and magnetic fields at the
interface between the film and the substrate. By ignoring the common phase factors, where Em and Hm
represent the resultants, then:

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 
 Hm 
+
E m = 1/2   Em  (4)
H
 1E 
 1 
 
 Hm 
E m = 1/2 
¯
 Em  (5)
H1
 
 E1 
 E H 
H+m = 1/2  H m  m 1  (6)
 E1 
 Em H1 
H¯m = 1/2  H m   (7)
 E1 
The fields at another interface (m-1) are similar to those given by equations 4 -7, having the same
of time and position with identical χ and y coordinates. These can be calculated by multiplying by
phase thickness in Z direction, given by e iδ or e –iδ, where [11]:
 n1d1
 (8)

Thus, the E and H values across this interface are given by:
Hm 
E+m -1 = E+m e iδ = 1/2   E m  e iδ (9)
 1 
 H 
E¯m -1 = E¯m e - iδ = 1/2  m  E m  e - iδ (10)
 1 
H m -1 = H m e = 1/2 H m  1 E m  e iδ
+ + iδ
(11)
H¯m -1 = H¯m e -iδ = 1/2 H m  1 E m  e -iδ (12)
where η1 is the tilted optical admittance given by: η1=H1/E1
Now [12]:
Em -1 = E+m -1 + E¯m -1 (13)
i sin 
Em -1 = Em cos + H m (14)
1
Hm -1 = 1 E m i sin  +Hm cos (15)

The equations above can be written in a matrix form as:

 E m 1  cos  (i sin ) / 1   E m 
 H   i sin  cos    H  (16)
 m 1   1  m
By solving the equation (16) above [10]. For the single-layer it can be expressed as the matrix as
follows:
 A iB 
M1   
iC D
where A = cos δm = D , B = isinδm/ηm, C = isinδmηm. For two consecutive layers, we have:
Layer 2 Layer 1
 A2 iB2   A1 iB1 
M    (17)
iC 2 D2  iC1 D1 
By multiply the two matrices, we have:

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A 2 A1  B2C1  A 2iB1  iB 2 D1 
M   (18)
iC 2 A1  D2iC 1   C2 B1  D2 D1 
Let AA = A2A1– B2C1 , BB = A2 iB1+ iB2D1, CC = iC2A1+ D2 iC1,
DD = – C2B1+ D2D1

The matrix can be written as:

 AA BB 
M   (19)
CC DD 
The multi-layer containing q-layers can be written as follows:
 E0  q
 Eq 

H  
 0  m 1
Mm  
 H q 
(20)

This multiplication matrix can be used to calculate the reflectance of a multilayered structure, as
follows:

Rq  0
n AA  nS DD 2  n0nS BB  CC2 (21)
n0AA  nS DD 2  n0nS BB  CC2
The reflectivity (R), transmittance (T) and absorbance (A) are linked by the equation: R + T + A =
1.
Solving of this matrix theoretically is a very difficult task for multiple layer coatings. Depending on
the matrix theory, we use Math CAD bag to design and simulate the behavior of multiple layer
coatings.
3. Proposed Design and discussion
Attenuated total reflection prisms are made from germanium which was found to have a very high
refractive index. This material carries the potential to make a 50% beam splitter without the
application of any other marerial. In addition, germanium is used as a component for the
manufacturing of optical fibers. It carries all of the thermal band and is applied in lens systems for
imaging. It can be coated with diamond to generate a very hard front optic [13]. Arcs of single or
multiple layers are used to nullify reflective losses. Some few materials are available and applicable
for use as antireflection coating materials. These include non-oxide chalcogenides (of varying
compounds and compositions) and some fluorides. Among these, there is zinc selenide with an index
of 2.4 [14] and a minute absorption coefficient. They also include barium fluoride which is transparent
with 1.39 index, used in infrared applications and in thermography, as well as bismuth fluoride which
is also transparent and has an index equal to 1.65 [8]. These materials are structurally stable and
possess good adherence properties to germanium substrates [10,15 ].
A layer of zinc selenium/germanium Anti-reflective coating is initially designed/defined followed by
multiple layers of Barium Fluoride/Zinc Selenide/Germanium and Bismuth Fluoride/Zinc
selenide/Germanium. Zinc Selenide possesses an optical thickness that is 25% of the wavelength for
the threshold reflectivity. This displays a reflectance of at least 3.25% in the 10.6µm range as is
evident from Figure- 1. The aforementioned ARCs are considered in double layer designs in order to
reduce reflectance. The refractive indices for
Germanium, Bismuth Fluoride, barium Fluoride and Zinc Selenide are 4.0,1.65,1.39 and 2.4,
respectively [8, 14, 16].
The optical thicknesses for BaF2/ZnSe/Ge systems for the layer are 1.701µm and 2.136µm,
respectively, while those values for the combination with Bi instead of Ba
are 1.587 µm and 1.771 µm, respectively. Double layer coatings show a significant improvement in
reflectance as compared to single layer coatings. In the 10-11 micrometers region, the reflectance is
almost zero and both classes of coatings manifest the same values of reflectance, with a very slight
change in the lower wavelength regions for the BiF3/ZnSe/Ge system. Nonetheless, both of the
coatings have values below 4% s of reflectance in the 8.7- 13.2-micrometer range.

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40

36

32 Reflectivity of bare substrate (Ge)

28

24

20
R%

16

12 ZnSe / Ge

8
BiF3 / ZnSe / Ge
4
BaF2 / ZnSe / Ge
0
8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14

Wavelength μm
Figure 1- Reflectivity of single and double layer ARCs on germanium

BaF2/Zinc Selenide/Germanium has a huge minimum across a range from 8-14 micrometers. The
two coatings are the ideal ARCs in their specified region, and in the 8-14 micrometers region they are
only considered as bandpass filters since the transmission is below 90%. The design data and
reflectivity values for all of these designs are shown in Table- 1.

Table 1-Data and reflectivity values for all configurations on germanium

Geometrical
Refractive index
Configurations Material Thickness R (%) at λo
(n) at 10.6 µm
(nm)
Single layer ZnSe 2.4 [14 ] 110.417 3.25
BaF2 1.39 [15 ] 122. 154
0.0033
ZnSe 2.4 [14 ] 88.996
Double layer
BiF3 1.65 [8 ] 96.187
0.03
ZnSe 2.4 [14] 73.791
4. Conclusions
This design analysis reveals the that application of double layer anti-reflective coating systems, at
determined refractive indices and thicknesses, can assist in reducing the maximum reflectance to very
low values. These designs also express the great impact of thickness on reflectance.

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