Quarter-wave Mirrors
Definition: dielectric mirrors based on a sequence of quarter-wave layers
Alternative term: Bragg mirrors
More general term: dielectric mirrors
Author: Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta
A quarter-wave mirror, also called a Bragg mirror, is usually a dielectric mirror (or semiconductor mirror) structure which consists of an alternating sequence of layers of two different optical materials, with each optical layer thickness corresponding to one-quarter of the wavelength for which the mirror is designed. Here, the wavelength is taken to be the wavelength within the material, not the vacuum wavelength. For a given wavelength and number of layer pairs, a quarter-wave mirror is the structure which can result in the highest reflectance.
Quarter-wave stacks are also very basic building blocks of more complicated dielectric mirror structures.
See also: Bragg mirrors, dielectric mirrors, chirped mirrors, dispersive mirrors
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