An error in the application of the design procedure described in a previous paper [Appl. Opt. 45, 1650 (2006)] has been corrected, and new revised figures are included in this erratum

Azzam, Rasheed M.A.

Perla, Siva R.

English

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Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications Department of Electrical Engineering 
1-4-2007 
Polarizing properties of embedded symmetric trilayer stacks 
under conditions of frustrated total internal reflection 
Rasheed M.A. Azzam 
University of New Orleans, razzam@uno.edu 
Siva R. Perla 
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 Part of the Electrical and Electronics Commons, and the Optics Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Rasheed M. A. Azzam and Siva R. Perla, "Polarizing properties of embedded symmetric trilayer stacks 
under conditions of frustrated total internal reflection: erratum," Appl. Opt. 46, 431-433 (2007). 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Electrical Engineering at 
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Polarizing properties of embedded symmetric trilayer
stacks under conditions of frustrated total internal
reflection: erratum
Rasheed M. A. Azzam and Siva R. Perla
An error in the application of the design procedure described in a previous paper [Appl. Opt. 45, 1650 (2006)]
has been corrected, and new revised figures are included in this erratum. © 2007 Optical Society of
America
OCIS codes: 310.0310, 230.5440, 240.0310.
In a recent paper1 we reported on the polarizing
properties of a transparent symmetric trilayer stack
of refractive indices n1, n2, n1 that is embedded in a
transparent high-index prism of refractive index n0.
The design procedure in Section 2 of Ref. 1 and the
analytical proof given in Appendix A are correct.
However, an error in the application of the design
procedure has led to errors in the results presented in
Sections 3, 4, and 5, which have to be corrected.
The error occurred in the recovery of the normal-
ized thickness Z2 of the high-index center layer from
the complex exponential function X2 using Eqs. (4)
and (8). Figure 1 shows the correct relationship be-
tween the normalized film thicknesses Z2 and Z1 for
zero reflection of the p polarization rp  0 at angles
of incidence 0 from 45° to 85° in steps of 5° for
MgF2 n1  1.38–ZnS n2  2.35–MgF2 n1  1.38
trilayers embedded in a ZnS n0  2.35 substrate in
the visible. Figure 1, which shows a family of nonin-
tersecting Z2-versus-Z1 curves, should replace Fig. 2
of Ref. 1. Figures 3 and 4 in Ref. 1 for the reflectance
Rs  |rs|
2 of the orthogonal s polarization as a func-
tion of Z1 remain unchanged, unaffected by the error.
However, Fig. 5 of Ref. 1 has become irrelevant, since
no point of intersection appears in Fig. 1.
Figure 2 shows the corresponding family of non-
intersecting Z2-versus-Z1 curves for zero reflection of
the s polarization rs  0 at the same angles of
incidence and for the same material system as in
Fig. 1. Figure 2 should replace Fig. 6 of Ref. 1.
Figures 7 and 8 in Ref. 1 for the reflectance Rp 
|rp|
2 of the orthogonal p polarization remain un-
changed, unaffected by the error. Figure 9 of Ref. 1
is now irrelevant, since no point of intersection ap-
pears in Fig. 2.
The absence of a common point of intersection in
Fig. 2 renders invalid the claim of a wide-angle
rs  0 polarizer, which was presented in Section 4
(Figs. 10 and 11) of Ref. 1. Figure 3 gives the correct
R. Azzam (rasheed.azzam@gmail.com; razzam@uno.edu) and
S. R. Perla are with Department of Electrical Engineering, Uni-
versity of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA.
Received for publication 2 November 2006; posted 2 November
2006 (Doc. ID 76703); published 4 January 2007.
0003-6935/07/030431-03$15.00/0
© 2007 Optical Society of America
Fig. 1. Normalized layer thicknesses Z2-versus-Z1 such that
rp  0 at angles of incidence 0 from 45° to 85° in steps of 5°,
for MgF2–ZnS–MgF2 trilayers embedded in a ZnS substrate with
refractive indices n0  2.35 ZnS, n1  1.38 MgF2, and n2 
2.35 ZnS in the visible. This figure should replace Fig. 2 of
Ref. 1.
20 January 2007  Vol. 46, No. 3  APPLIED OPTICS 431
angular response of the same trilayer system as spec-
ified in the caption of Fig. 10 of Ref. 1. This particular
trilayer achieves rs  0 and Rp  |rp|
2  0.9756 at
0  55° angle of incidence (as before), and functions
as an orthogonal polarizer, rp  0, Rs  |rs|
2 
0.7258 at another angle 0  45.78°. The spectral
response of this system in the 600–700 nm range
(which would replace Fig. 12 of Ref. 1) is not good
enough to warrant inclusion here.
Figure 4 shows the correct family of Z2-versus-Z1
curves for zero reflection of the p polarization rp
 0 at angles of incidence 0 from 45° to 85° in steps
of 5° for CaF2 n1  1.4–Ge n2  4.0–CaF2 n1 
1.4 trilayers embedded in a ZnS n0  2.2 substrate
in the IR. Figure 4 should replace Fig. 13 of Ref. 1.
Figure 14 in Ref. 1 for the reflectanceRs |rs|
2 of the
s polarization as a function of Z1 remains unchanged,
unaffected by the error.
In Fig. 4, a common point of intersection A ap-
pears for Z2-versus-Z1 curves that correspond to in-
cidence angles 0  60°. The Z2-versus-Z1 curves at
the two angles 0  60° and 75° intersect at Z1 
0.177801, Z2  1.396668. The angular response of
the design that corresponds to this point of intersec-
tion, at wavelength   10.6 m, is shown in Fig. 5. It
is apparent that the trilayer functions as an effective
antireflection coating for the p polarization over a
wide range of angles at oblique incidence. However,
the associated s reflectance is not high enough to
qualify the system as an effective polarizing beam
splitter, butmay be adequate for the device to operate
as a wide-angle reflection polarizer only.
Fig. 2. Normalized layer thicknesses Z2-versus-Z1 such that rs
 0 at angles of incidence 0 from 45° to 85° in steps of 5°, for
MgF2–ZnS–MgF2 trilayers embedded in a ZnS substrate with
refractive indices n0  2.35 ZnS, n1  1.38 MgF2, and n2 
2.35 ZnS in the visible. This figure should replace Fig. 6 of Ref. 1.
Fig. 3. Angular reflectance response for p- and s-polarized light
(at wavelength   633 nm) of the same embedded trilayer system
as specified in the caption of Fig. 10 of Ref. 1.
Fig. 4. Family of Z2-versus-Z1 curves for zero reflection of the p
polarization rp  0 at incidence angles 0 from 45° to 85° in steps
of 5° for CaF2 n1  1.4–Ge n2  4.0–CaF2 n1  1.4 trilayers
embedded in a ZnS n0  2.2 substrate in the 1R. This figure
should replace Fig. 13 of Ref. 1.
Fig. 5. Angular reflectance response for p- and s-polarized light
(at wavelength   10.6 m) of an embedded trilayer design that
corresponds to the point of intersection A Z1  0.177801, Z2 
1.396668 of the two curves in Fig. 4 that correspond to 0  60°
and 75°.
432 APPLIED OPTICS  Vol. 46, No. 3  20 January 2007
Figure 6 shows the correct family of Z2-versus-Z1
curves for zero reflection of the s polarization at angles
of incidence 0 from 45° to 85° in steps of 5° for
CaF2 n1  1.4–Ge n2  4.0–CaF2 n1  1.4 trilay-
ers embedded in a ZnS n0  2.2 substrate in the IR.
Figure 6 replaces Fig. 15 of Ref. 1. Figure 16 in Ref. 1
for the reflectance Rp  |rp|
2 of the p polarization as
a function of Z1 is unchanged, unaffected by the error.
In summary, an error in the application of the de-
sign procedure described in Ref. 1 has been identified,
and the corrected versions of five figures in Ref. 1 are
included in this erratum.
We thank J. A. Dobrowolski for providing an inde-
pendent verification of the correct angular response
of an embedded trilayer shown in Fig. 3.
Reference
1. R. M. A. Azzam and S. R. Perla, “Polarizing properties of em-
bedded symmetric trilayer stacks under conditions of frustrated
total internal reflection,” Appl. Opt. 45, 1650–1656 (2006).
Fig. 6. Family of Z2-versus-Z1 curves for zero reflection of the s
polarization rs  0 at incidence angles 0 from 45° to 85° in steps
of 5° for CaF2 n1  1.4–Ge n2  4.0–CaF2 n1  1.4 trilayers
embedded in a ZnS n0  2.2 substrate in the IR. This figure
should replace Fig. 15 of Ref. 1.
20 January 2007  Vol. 46, No. 3  APPLIED OPTICS 433


Polarizing properties of embedded symmetric trilayer stacks under conditions of frustrated total internal reflection

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Polarizing properties of embedded symmetric trilayer stacks under conditions of frustrated total internal reflection

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