Narrowband wide dynamic range tunable filter based on Fano resonant planar multilayered structure

Tunable narrowband spectral filters with high light throughput and wide dynamic range have remarkable applications such as in optical communications, optical spectroscopy and spectral imaging. However, a cost is usually associated with the filter narrowing either in the dynamic range, in the throughput or the manufacturability. Here we report on a resonating planar multilayered structure that exhibits transparency window in reflection with a controllable full width at half maximum (sub-Angstroms till tens of nm) and tunability over wide spectral range (>500nm in the visible and near infrared). The phenomenon is observed in TE and TM polarizations with much higher contrast in TE. Fano type resonance originating from coupling between waveguide modes and lossy surface electromagnetic waves supported by field distribution calculations explains the phenomenon. The wide tuning range with high contrast is mainly achieved using an absorptive layer with high imaginary to real part ratio of the dielectric constant that enables excitation of lossy surface waves known to exist over a wide spectral band in thin films. To avoid large losses, it is found that the lossy layer should be ultrathin (6nm Cr layer for example). The tuning is achieved by small angular scan of less than 2 degrees or by modulating the refractive index or thickness of the submicron thick waveguide layer from the visible till the near infrared range and in principle it can be designed to operate in any spectral range. Such a thin variable index or thickness layer can allow tuning at ultrahigh speed using conventional electrooptic, magnetooptic, piezoelectric or thermooptic materials at relatively low external fields.