Multilayer resonances sharpened by grating waveguide resonance

Abstract

A multilayer planar structure comprising a highly reflective multilayer dielectric mirror and a corrugated waveguide is proposed for use as a narrow passband optical filter. The proposed filter has a much narrower linewidth than a usual Fabry–Perot cavity with two multilayer dielectric mirrors. It is shown that the narrowing of the linewidth is due to the strong spectral dependence of the phase of the wave reflected from the waveguide grating mirror. The shape of the pass band can be made symmetrical by a proper choice of the grating groove profile.