Layer thickness fluctuations in optical coatings with non-quarter-wave design

Previous research on highly reflective multilayer optical coatings has show n that varying the thickness of layers from their traditional quarter-wave values gives the potential for greater damage thresholds without sacrificin g the desired optical properties. We numerically investigate the influence of unintended layer thickness fluctuations in these nontraditional designs, concluding that such fluctuations should have minimal effect on the optica l properties of the coating. This result makes the prospect of producing no ntraditional designs more promising. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.