On the angular dependence of gaps in 1-D Si/SiO2 periodic structures

A multilayer of silicon and silicon dioxide was used to study the angular dependence of reflectance maxima originating from interference and bulk optical properties. Silicon dioxide has a lattice resonance in the infrared causing an interval of high reflectance for wavelengths around 9 μm. The multilayer was designed such that the interference maxima do not overlap/interact with the material related reflectance maximum. In this way the different angular behavior for the two types of reflectance maxima can be studied simultaneously. Experimental and calculated reflectance spectra for s- and p-polarized light for angles of incidence between 0° and 90° collected for every 5° are presented. The reflectance features caused by interference generally move to shorter wavelengths with increasing angle of incidence, and the materials related peak is widened for (s-polarized light) and excitation of the longitudinal modes was observed for p-polarized light.