Abstract

The matrix formalism is applied to describe various stratified and periodic systems that are used to couple optical energy into a dielectric film or medium. As the literature is often presenting cases for the transverse electric wave (TE), general analytical and numerical solutions are reviewed for many types of optical thin film systems with some emphasis on the transverse magnetic (TM) wave. This manuscript is divided into two main parts. In the first part, we look at stratified systems formed by a succession of multilayers and also present some applications for this type of optical systems such as bi-layer dielectric stacks. Tunneling across an air gap formed by two prisms’ long sides brought close to each other is also presented. Tunneling modes in optical system is reviewed in detail in systems that are probing an optical waveguide layer. In the second part of this manuscript, we are looking at optical systems in which a corrugated surface is used to couple energy into a medium. The matrix formalism used in this second part is applied mostly to grating waveguide structures and used in numerical computation of diffraction efficiencies (DE). Binary dielectric and metallic grating are also introduced with some emphasis on general ideas leading to the origin of photonic band-gap. This manuscript is reviewing various applications involving the matrix method supported by some results, but is also meant to be an overview with the main emphasis on optical thin film system grating waveguide structures.

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