The high reflectance of metallo-dielectric one-dimensional photonic band-gap structures

We present a new design for multilayer reflectors and investigate metallo-dielectric one-dimensional photonic band-gap structures. Our metallo-dielectric reflector is constructed by stacking consecutive layers of a high-index dielectric material, a low-index dielectric material, and a metal (HLM structure). Optimizing the thicknesses of the layers with a periodic HLM structure produces high reflectance, while using very few layers composed of approximately four skin depths of the metal. Alternatively, optimizing the thicknesses of the layers with a non-periodic HLM structure results in a mirror with an even higher reflective.