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Introduction to Optical Coatings and Thin Film Production
Chapter 13
13. Introduction to Optical
Coatings and Thin
Film Production
H. Angus Macleod
13.1 Introduction
An optical component generally consists initially of a body of suitable optical material
worked so that the surfaces are smooth and have a prescribed shape. We describe their
properties as specular, from the Latin speculum meaning a mirror. ese surfaces are
designed to transmit and reect the incident light in a particular manner according to
their shapes and their optical properties. e emphasis in the design of the component is
the desired manipulation of the direction of t