Anti-Reflection Coatings and Thin Film Interference

Purpose: To develop a conceptual and quantitative understanding of interference

produced by thin films, especially in regards to antireflection coatings.

Equipment Glass Plates Interference kit, Precision Newtons Rings Apparatus, Hi-
intensity lamp, mercury vapor light source, small ruler, +5.5D lens, 70mm
lens blank, 70mm coated lens blank, 4 carriers, 3 lens holders.

Thin Film Interference:

AR coatings used to reduce reflections from lenses make use of the phenomena of thin film
interference. Thin film interference occurs when light reflected from the top surface of a thin
film of transparent material interferes with that reflected from the bottom surface. The optical
path difference (OPD) between these light waves is 2n t where t is the thickness of the film and
f

n is the refractive index of the film. In addition, each wave that reflects from a medium of
f

higher refractive index than that in which it was originally traveling also undergoes an
additional phase shift (equivalent to an extra wavelength of OPD). Therefore, the
condition for the waves to experience constructive interference upon reflection is either,
2 n f t = ( m 1 ) (one wave with additional phase shift, m = + integer)
2
2n f t = m (both or neither waves with additional phase shift, m = 0 or + integer)

The condition for constructive interference for reflected light yields destructive interference for
transmitted light and vice versa. If the thickness of the thin film varies, then alternating
regions of constructive and destructive interference (bright and dark lines) can be observed,
called interference fringes.

Experimental Procedure:
(1)* With the long glass plates held at either end by rubber bands, view the fringes formed
under the room fluorescent lights. Sketch the fringe pattern that you see and describe their
colors. Explain the origin of the color effects that you observe.

(2) The fringes that you are viewing arise because of a variation in the thickness of the air film
between the two glass plates. Moving between neighboring fringes represents a change in
thickness of the air film of wavelength. Locate a region of the plates where there is a broad
fringe, possibly circular or elliptical in shape, that is surrounded by narrower fringes and
sketch this region in your lab notebook. In this region, where is the thickness of the film
changing rapidly? Where is the thickness of the air film largest (or smallest)? Is it possible to
tell by looking at the fringes alone if the film thickness is at a maximum? Explain.

(3)* Our Newtons Rings Apparatus has two curved glass plates. The bottom glass plate is
frosted to increase the visibility of the fringe pattern, and the plates are held in a metal press
that sandwiches a thin layer of air between them. The thickness of the air gap between the two
convex plates increases with the distance away from the center where the plates touch.
Illuminate the Newton's Rings apparatus with the mercury vapor light and observe the
reflected circular interference fringes. These fringes are associated with the variable thickness
of the air film between the two plates of the apparatus. Note: the curvature of the plates can
change when the screws are tightened so keep the screws as loose as possible. Note: you must be very
careful to observe with as small an angle between your eye and the center axis of the fringe
pattern as possible. Make a sketch of the fringe pattern you see. What is the thin film made of
in this apparatus? Do you observe constructive or destructive interference at the most central
spot?

(4)* Illuminate the Newtons Ring apparatus with the mercury vapor light and observe the
circular interference fringes in transmitted light. Explain any differences between the
reflected and the transmitted patterns.

(5) Antireflection Coatings

The reflectance for light indident normally on an interface between two different media is: R =
(n n ) /(n + n ) where n and n are the refractive indices of the two media. Suppose that you
2 1
2
2 1
2
1 2

have a glass lens (n = 1.5) surrounded by air (n = 1). Sketch a figure showing the light
reflecting from the lens. What percentage reflectance do you expect at each surface of the lens?
What total percentage reflectance do you expect for the lens? Antireflection thin film coatings
are often deposited on lenses in order to diminish these unwanted reflections via destructive
interference in the reflected light.

Experimental Procedure
(a) Illuminate both of the 70mm lens blanks with incandescent light. Compare the reflected
light that you observe from both blanks.

(b)* Set up the hi-intensity lamp at one end of the optical bench and place a light meter in a
lens holder near the opposite end. Use a +5.5D lens to form an image of the bulb on the
surface of the meter. Adjust the lens and meter positions so that the image of the bulb is about
2cm in diameter and centered on the meter. Measure the light intensity incident on the meter.
This will be your reference intensity (I ).
0

(c) Place the uncoated lens blank in a lens holder and place it just upstream from the meter.
Adjust the lens blank so that the light is hitting its center. Measure the light intensity incident
on the meter. Call this the uncoated blank intensity (I ). Replace the uncoated lens blank with
uc

the coated lens blank and repeat the measurement. Call this the coated blank intensity (I ).c

(d) The transmittance of a blank can be calculated by taking the ratio of the transmitted
intensity with the blank to that without the blank: T = I /I . The reflectance can then be
with blank 0

found using the fact that: T + R = 1. Calculate the percentage reflectance of both lens blanks.
Compare the percentage reflectance of the uncoated blank with what you calculated for a lens
with n = 1.5. Compare the percentage reflectance for the coated blank with that for the
uncoated blank. According to your data, what is the approximate reflection from an AR
coated surface (assuming both surfaces of the coated blank are coated)? Explain.

Questions
1. For the Newton rings apparatus you observed destructive interference at the central spot.
At the central spot the thickness of the film is very, very small, but not quite zero. Explain
why you see destructive interference there. Illustrate with a figure.
2. A commonly used substance for antireflection coatings is MgF , with n = 1.38. If a thin film
2

of MgF 2 was deposited on eyeglasses, which surfaces of the film, if any, would cause reflected
light to undergo a phase shift? What is the appropriate thickness for such a coating to
diminish reflections of green light?