Optical properties and microstructures of inorganic wave plates prepared by serial bideposition

Abstract. We investigated the optical characteristics and microstructures of wave plates composed of Ta2O5(100−x)+TiO2(x) and prepared by the so-called serial bideposition technique. While a single-layer film prepared by conventional oblique deposition technique has a tilted columnar structure (i.e., tilted optical axis), a serial bideposition film has a narrow, long columnar structure; this ensures that the optical axis of the film is along the quasinormal to the substrate, thus reducing haze. The influence of using additives with Ta2O5 was investigated as well. It was found that additive TiO2 improves optical transmittance at shorter wavelengths. For verifying the advantage of this type of wave plates, quarter wave plates with optimized TiO2 content were fabricated and their optical performance and reliability were evaluated against those of organic-type wave plates. The results show that the inorganic wave plate prepared by serial bideposition is advantageous for applications where high-transmittance and high-temperature durability are essential.