Novel theory analysis and new perspective on angular selectivity

Abstract

Wave propagation of symmetry incidence on the biaxial birefringent film is discussed in this paper based on the characteristic matrix method. Furthermore, based on the refractive index surface, the refractive indices and effective optical admittances of the forward and backward propagating extraordinary waves (p-polarized wave) are analyzed in detail. With regard to the symmetry incidence, optical properties, such as the input optical admittance, transmittance and reflectance, are not identical for an extraordinary wave under common condition, i.e., angular selectivity. Based on an analysis of refractive index surface, the effective optical admittances of the forward and backward propagating extraordinary waves are equal in this particular case; transmittance and reflectance under the symmetry incidence are completely overlapped, similar to findings in the isotropic thin film. We validate our analysis using the developed software package. Based on the novel theory analysis, we can gain a new perspective of symmetry incidence about angular selectivity for the biaxial birefringent film.