Layered periodic disperse structures of spherical alumina particles: Coherent transmittance and reflectance spectra

•Technique of coherent light calculation for disperse structures is described.•Three types of sharp coherent transmittance dips in regular layers are singled out.•Photonic band gap formation in a layered disperse system is examined.•Influence of ordering on transmittance and reflectance spectra is elucidated.•Antireflection coatings and radiation filters from Al2O3 particles are considered.

Coherent transmittance and reflectance spectra of multilayers consisting of plane-parallel monolayers of spherical monodisperse alumina particles are investigated. In the quasicrystalline approximation (QCA) of the statistical theory of multiple scattering of waves the coherent transmission and reflection coefficients of constituent monolayers are computed. Using the coefficients obtained, the transmittance and reflectance of the multilayers are calculated using the transfer matrix method (TMM) within the wavelength range of 0.3-2.0 μm. Multilayers consisting of close-to-regularly-packed monolayers (planar photonic crystals with nonideal lattice) and partially-ordered monolayers of particles are investigated. Three types of coherent transmittance minima caused by the wave interference are singled out. The spectral positions and values of these minima are determined by optical constants, size, concentration, and the arrangement of particles in a monolayer, as well as by the spacing between the monolayer and their thicknesses. The results are in good agreement with the known theoretical and experimental data. They can be used to solve the problem of a lattice quality control in photonic crystals. Coherent transmittance and reflectance spectra of a system consisting of a glass plate coated with monolayers of spherical alumina particles are analyzed. Monolayer parameters for creating antireflection coatings, diffuse light scattering structures, and filters of transmitted and reflected light are considered. The approach developed can be applied to disperse structures of isotropic particles of other materials.