Sensitivity to thickness errors in the design of optical coatings: a method based on admittance diagrams

We present a general analysis of thickness errors in multilayers using the classical existing methods, and adding a complimentary tool based on admittance perturbed circumferences that allow us to obtain a deeper insight into the spectral performance sensitivity due to each layer composing the system. An analysis of the standard deviation of reflectance based on perturbing the system with statistical thickness errors is considered. The proposed method represents a useful tool to study the sensitivity of any multilayer to determine the manufacturing feasibility in the design stage that can save a number of trial deposition experiments while setting up the manufacturing process of a given system. This fact is demonstrated by considering different classical systems with highly stable and instable spectral regions. (C) 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)