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Prism Coupling of Light to Discrete

Substrate Modes
a a
T.H. Koschmieder & J.C. Thompson
a
Department of Physics , The University of Texas , Austin,
Texas, 78712, USA
Published online: 01 Mar 2007.

To cite this article: T.H. Koschmieder & J.C. Thompson (1991) Prism Coupling of
Light to Discrete Substrate Modes, Journal of Modern Optics, 38:10, 2095-2103, DOI:
10.1080/09500349114552181

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 JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 1991, VOL . 38, NO . 10, 2095-2103

Prism coupling of light to discrete substrate modes

T . H . KOSCHMIEDER and J . C . THOMPSON

Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin,
Texas 78712, USA
(Received 12 February 1991)
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Abstract . The most common coupling between a prism and a waveguide

requires a gap between the prism and the waveguide . The modes in the
waveguide are guided modes . We show that discrete substrate modes may be
excited if the waveguide film is directly deposited onto the prism . These discrete
substrate modes have many similarities to guided modes .

1. Introduction
There are three types of waveguide modes [1] . The best understood is of course
the guided mode . This mode is the means for the propagation of light down an
optical fibre . The other two mode types are substrate and air modes, collectively
known as radiative modes . We will concentrate on substrate modes .
The type of waveguide mode that exists in a given system is determined by the
waveguide and the surrounding materials . In a planar configuration, the waveguide
material is sandwiched between two other materials, nominally semi-infinitely
thick . If the waveguide index of refraction is larger than those of the surrounding
materials then guided modes may exist in the waveguide . The light in the
waveguide propagates through the waveguide by total internal reflection (TIR) at
waveguide surfaces .
If either or both of the surrounding media have an index of refraction greater
than the waveguide index of refraction, then substrate or air modes, respectively,
occur . In neither case is propagation expected . The lack of TIR at one or both
interfaces allows light in the waveguide to be transmitted to the surrounding media
and hence lost for propagation . We show that substrate modes are discrete and not
continuous .
In section 2, an overview of the experimental apparatus is presented . Section 3
shows the discrete nature of substrate modes and other results . The mechanism for
the discrete substrate modes is discussed in section 4, along with a discussion on the
problems of fitting the experimental data to the Fresnel equations . A conclusion is
then given in section 5 .

2. Experimental
Optical coupling to waveguide modes is possible by using a prism coupling
system . For guided mode studies, the prism coupling system used is an Otto
attenuated total reflection (ATR) configuration, wherein there is a gap between the
prism and film [2-4] . For this configuration, there are specific angles of incidence
for the light in the prism at which evanescent wave coupling between the prism and
waveguide occurs . When there is evanescent wave coupling, light energy is
transferred from the prism to the film and vice versa . For substrate modes, a prism
0950-0340/91 $3 .00 © 1991 Taylor & Francis Ltd


2 09 6 T. H. Koschmieder and J . C . Thompson

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Figure 1 . The experimental set-up is shown . The normal is perpendicular to both the
rotational axis and the flat surface of the prism . The rotational axis is out of the page at
the point where the light beam reflects at the flat prism surface . The angle 0 is the
angle of incidence and reflection . Since the prism is hemicylindrical, the incident light
is always perpendicular to the curved surface of the prism . For the Kretschmann
configuration, the KCl film is deposited directly onto the flat prism surface .

coupling technique is also possible ; however, it is the Kretschmann ATR configur-

ation [5] . The Kretschmann configuration has the film deposited directly onto the
prism . The prism and surrounding air act as semi-infinite media .
The experimental apparatus is quite simple-see figure 1 [6] .t The light source
is a red He-Ne laser (632 nm) . The light polarization is determined by a polarizer .
The light is incident upon a hemicylindrical prism made of dense flint glass (Schott
SF-10, index of refraction 1 . 72) . Since the prism is hemicylindrical, light is always
incident normal to the curved prism surface . The light traverses the prism until it
reaches the flat prism back-surface . If the light angle of incidence is greater than the
TIR critical angle (35 . 6 ° for the prism/air interface) then the light is reflected at this
interface .
As mentioned earlier, angular scans of the prism were carried out . A motor and a
set of gears rotate the prism and transmission photodiode (mounted on the prism
holder) at a speed of w, while the reflection photodiode rotates at a speed of 2w .
This keeps the reflection photodiode synchronized with the reflected light . The
gears also activate a trigger to ensure that the starting angle for the angular scans is
the same from run to run .
The reflected or transmitted laser beam is incident on a photodiode, with the
output voltage proportional to the light intensity . The transmission photodiode
only subtends a small portion of the transmitted light sphere, thus giving only a

t For the new experiments, the photodiode was rotated instead of the laser and the
polarizer was between the laser and the prism . The transmission photodiode was behind the
prism flat surface .


Coupling of light to discrete substrate modes 2097

qualitative measure of the transmitted light . Reflection and transmission are

measured in both P (TM) and S (TE) polarization . The data is collected and stored
on an Apple Macintosh II computer using National Instruments LabVIEW
software and appropriate hardware .
The films used are KCl (99 . 99%), deposited by thermal evaporation to varying
thicknesses on the prism flat surface . KCl was chosen, because we had used it
extensively in other experiments ; it has an index of refraction of 1 . 44, which is less
than the prism but greater than air; thus, substrate modes may be observed . The
evaporation takes place in an oil-pumped vacuum system, with a base pressure of
5 x 10 -6 torr . A second film is simultaneously deposited onto an adjacent quartz
flat . Thicknesses are determined for the quartz flat by a Dektak profilometer . The
Downloaded by [University of Chicago Library] at 11:45 20 November 2014

evaporation rate and the thickness are approximately known from a quartz crystal
thickness monitor in the evaporation chamber . The evaporation rate was main-
tained between 2 and 5 A s -1 . X-ray crystallography has shown that the deposited
films are oriented predominately with (100) faces . Scanning tunnelling microscopy
shows that KCl films deposited by thermal evporation are rough (Erichs, Kosch-
mieder, de Lozanne and Thompson, 1989, unpublished results') . The grain
diameters are of the order of 1250 A

3. Results
There is clear evidence of discrete modes in the KCl film, as may be seen in
figure 2 . Absorption is shown and is set to be 1 - the normalized reflection .
Absorption maxima (reflection minima) are found in the angular scans for both
S (TE) and P (TM) polarization . These maxima correspond to energy lost to the
film . Since there are distinct maxima, there are specific modes instead of the
continuum described by Tien [1] .
There are nominally an equal number of S and P modes for any given
waveguide film, but for P light less pronounced reflection minima make identifica-
tion of some modes difficult . It is found that substrate modes occur in an angular
range between two TIR critical angles . The lower bound angle, 35 . 6 ° , corresponds
to the nominal prism/air interface TIR critical angle . The upper bound is the
prism/KC1 critical angle at 56 . 8 ° . There are no substrate modes for angles less than
35 . 6°, since the light is then transmitted through the KCl film . The reason no
modes are found at higher than 56 . 8° is that for larger angles TIR occurs at the
prism/KC1 interface and not at the KCl/air interface . Substrate modes only exist in
the angular range in which TIR occurs at the KCl/air interface .
The number of modes observed depends upon the film thickness ; see figure 3 .
As the thickness increases, more and more modes appear . The new modes always
occur first just above the prism/air critical angle . Each mode corresponds to an
integral multiple of a 2ir phase shift, leading to constructive interference within the
KCl film (see section 4) . The angle of observation of the mode is determined by the
optical path in the KCl film causing a phase shift of 2irN, where N is an integer . A
given mode moves to larger angles with increased thickness . Furthermore, the
mode coupling angle observed depends upon the wavelength of light used . Figure 4
is a comparison of several films for both a green (543 nm) and a red laser. Since the

t Since KC1 is an insulator, a thin (about 101) layer of Au-Pd is sputtered onto the KCl
film to allow tunnelling . A small amount of Pd keeps the Au from clumping . The resultant
STM picture topography is dominated by the morphology of the KCl film .


2 09 8 T. H. Koschmieder and J . C . Thompson

1 .0

0.9-

0.8-

0.7 -
Z
0 0 .6 -
P:
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W 0 .5-
0
Cl)
0 .4 -
a
0 .3-
P POLARIZATION
I
0 .2- I
S POLARIZATION

0 .1 -

0.0 1

30 40 50 60 70 80
ANGLE (DEG)
Figure 2 . Normalized absorption is plotted for P and S polarizations . For angles larger than
35 . 6° , absorption is defined to be 1 -reflection . The film is about 80001 thick.

films tested with the green laser were also tested for the red laser, there is no doubt
in matched thicknesses .
Mode lines, which occur for guided modes [3], were also visible . These lines
appear as long narrow lines of light, parallel to the prism's rotational axis, that move
with the prism as it is turned in an angular scan . The easiest way to see the lines is to
put a screen between the prism and the reflection photodiode . The length of the
lines increases more rapidly than their width as one moves the screen away from the
prism . The lines are visible for all incident angles less than the TIR critical angle at
the KCl/prism interface . A single line will brighten as an angular scan takes the
incident light through the coupling angle for that mode . A mode line is associated
with each minimum in the reflectance curve . Surface roughness causes light to be
scattered into all azimuthally degenerate modes of any single mode (intramode
scattering) ; see figure 5 . The combination of all the azimuthally degenerate modes
form a mode line . Furthermore, surface roughness causes light to be scattered from
one mode line to another (intermode scattering) ; see figure 6 . The mode lines are
sufficiently divergent that they contribute little to the light collected by the
reflection photodiode .
One can also look at the light transmitted by the film . As light is coupled into the
KCl film at a given mode, the measured transmitted light is a maximum . The light


Coupling of light to discrete substrate modes 2099

60
0
0 0 0
W 8
55- 0 0
∎
W
J
ty 50- A
Z
∎
Z 45 - A
Z
.j
j 40 -
0
A
35 - A
W
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0
30
3750 5750 7750 9750 11750

DEKTAK THICKNESS MEASUREMENT (A)

Figure 3 . This is a graph showing mode position with respect to KCI film thickness . The
trend of more modes with increased thickness is clear . All data plotted is for a red
laser, 632 nm . Variation in measurements with the Dektak profilometer make thick-
ness determination from film to film somewhat inconsistent . Therefore, some modes
occur at thicknesses other than expected . Each mode is represented with a different
symbol .

is emitted by surface roughness scattering at the KCI/air interface . The transmitted

maxima angular positions (see figure 7) correspond exactly to the maxima in the
absorption (for angles larger than 35 . 6°, 1-reflection =absorption) . Since not all
the transmitted light is collected, comparison of maxima in shape and size is not
possible .

60
W 0 0
∎
55
W
J 0 0
Z 50 0
∎
a ∎
(g 45 .
Z 0
0
iL 40 -
0 ∎
0 ∎
35
W
C 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
O 5250 5500 5750 6000 6250 6500 6750 7000
2 4750 5000
DEKTAK THICKNESS MEASUREMENT (A)

Figure 4 . A comparison of angular position and number of modes seen for two lasers : a
green, 543-nm laser and a red, 632-nm laser . The green laser data are the open box
symbols, while the red laser data are the filled box symbols . Different symbol sizes are
used to represent different modes . The thickness is the same for both lasers since the
films were scanned with both the red and green lasers . It is clearly evident from the
absence of a red laser point at 50001 that the film for green light has a third mode for a
smaller thickness than the red light .


2 10 0 T. H . Koschmieder and J . C. Thompson

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Figure 5 . Intramode scattering is depicted here . The light is scattered into azimuthally
degenerate modes of the incident mode . Azimuth is defined to be the angle of
horizontal deviation from a standard direction . The reflected light comes out as an
expanding hemicircle instead of as a ray . The angle of incidence and reflection are the
same with respect to the plane of the flat surface of the prism . 6 is 90-p .

Though modes in the KC1 film can be excited, their propagation is, in principle,
not expected . To have propagation in a film the light must be bound in the film at all
interfaces, but there is only TIR at the KC1/air interface . Without TIR at the KCI/
prism interface, there is no means for keeping the light in the KCI film . Yet there
must be some form of containment at the KCI/prism interface ; otherwise there

Figure 6 . Intermode scattering is the scattering of light into other modes . In effect, light
incident at one angle is reflected out at another angle . Intermode and intramode
scattering combine to give the mode lines depicted . The angle 6 is the same as in
figure 5 .


Coupling of light to discrete substrate modes 2101

0 .7
Z 0.8
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0 .6

2 0 .7 0.5
n
Cr
v) 0
u 0.4 m
F .. 0.6
a

Figure 7 . A comparison of S polarized transmitted and reflected light is shown . As before,

the data curves have been normalized. It is important to note that the transmission
maximum occurs at the same angle as the absorption maximum . Absorption and film
are as in figure 2 .

would be no minima in the reflection curves . Thus an attempt was made to see if
any propagation occurred using the 'endfire scratch' method [3] . Nothing was seen .
A better way of determining if propagation occurs might be to use scanning photon
tunnelling microscopy [7] .

4. Discussion
Transmission at the KCl/prims interface is not total . A calculation for the
reflection at this interface shows that less than 1 % of the light is reflected at the
interface regardless of which direction the light is coming from . However, if the
light from the prism and KCl film are in phase they can add constructively . In
effect, the light from the KCl that is reflected at the KCI/prism interface will add
constructively with the light crossing from the prism into the KC1 film . The total
phase shift is dependent upon the optical path in the KCl film . The optical path in


2102 T. H. Koschmieder and J . C . Thompson

the KC1 film is continuously changing as the angle of incidence is scanned in the
experiment . When the optical path length is such that the phase shift is an integral
multiple of 2n, there is constructive interference . Measured reflectance becomes a
minimum and this is the discrete substrate mode . Obviously, the thicker the KCl
film the more optical path lengths can occur that lead to the proper phase shift . This
leads to the observed effect of more modes for thicker KC1 films .
In attempts to fit the data to Fresnel equations [9], the importance of a non-zero
imaginary component to the index of refraction n;, for KCI, becomes clear .
Calculated mode coupling angles were smaller than the experimentally observed
angles . Experimental work with surface plasmons shows that the surface plasmon
resonance is shifted to larger angles on rough silver films compared with smooth
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ones [9, 10] . (A surface plasmon is the lowest-order P (TM) mode for a silver
'waveguide' [11] .) Roughness induces increased damping [9, 10], which leads to
larger coupling angles [9] . Our films are rough (Erichs et al., 1989, unpublished
results) . Figure 8 shows that for larger n ;, the mode becomes more pronounced in

z
0

80 .0 70 .0 60 .0 50 .0 40 .0 30 .0
RNGLE
Figure 8 . Variation in the complex part of the KC1 index of refraction over several orders of
magnitude yields a pronounced change in the calculated reflectance as shown . The
film is 10 000 A thick . The sharp change at 35 . 6° is total internal reflection . At angles
larger than 35 . 6°, absorption equals 1 -the reflectance . The rises in the surface are the
discrete substrate modes .


Coupling of light to discrete substrate modes 2103

the calculated absorption curves . The actual films have n,=1-44+0-04 and ni
10 -2 . By determining the TIR critical angle for the prism/KCI interface
experimentally, n r may be determined . The complex part of the KCI index of
refraction is estimated from equal depth minima on the calculated curves . One has
to conclude that the Fresnel equation approximation is not adequate because of
surface roughness [12] .
Nevertheless, the magnitude of n; is important . It enters the Fresnel equations
though an exponential term that corrects for phase as the light traverses the KCI
film . Among the parameters in the exponential is the KCl index of refraction [8],
exp(±i(nr -in ;)b), where b is the product of the other factors in the exponential
(cos 4), thickness, and 2n/wavelength) . The real part of the index of refraction yields
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the usual phase factor, exp (± in rb) . The complex part of the index of refraction
gives a real factor, exp (±n ib) . This real number acts as an amplitude factor for the
Fresnel reflectance and this is responsible for the observation of discrete substrate
modes .

5 . Conclusion
In conclusion, substrate modes can be discrete because of constructive interfer-
ence in the KCI film . Theoretically, the observation of discrete substrate modes
depends upon the magnitude of the imaginary part of the KCl index of refraction .
Discrete substrate modes exhibit most of the characteristics of guided modes,
including mode lines, dependence upon film thickness, dependence upon wave-
length of light and transmission maxima at the mode coupling angle . Propagation
was not observed .

Acknowledgments
This research was funded in part by the Texas Advanced Research Program and
the R . A . Welch Foundation . T .H .K . appreciates a fruitful conversation with
Dr L . Frommhold .

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[3] OTTO, Z ., 1968, Z. Phys., 216, 410 .
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[5] KRETSCHMANN, E ., 1971, Z . Phys ., 241, 313 .
[6] VILLAGRAN, J . C ., EVEN, U ., and THOMPSON, J . C ., 1988, Solid-St . Ionics, 27, 67 .
[7] TSAI, D . P ., JACKSON, H . E ., REDDICK, R. C ., SHARP, S . H ., and WARMACK, R . J ., 1990,
Appl. Phys . Lett ., 56, 1515 .
[8] HECHT, E., 1987, Opics (Reading, Massachusetts : Addison-Wesley), p . 373 .
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[11] OTTO, A ., and SOHLER, W ., 1971, Optics Commun ., 3, 254 .
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