Applications of optical coatings on spectral selective structures

Optical coatings are usually applied to tailor the transmission, reflection, or absorption spectral properties, such as conventional antireflection, bandpass, longpass (or shortpass) filters. There are novel applications developed in recent years, in the aid of micro and nanotechnologies. Among them, the integrated filter device has already been successfully applied in space for the first time. This chapter will introduce some new applications of optical coatings on spectral selective structures including the wavelength division components for miniature spectrometer, blue filters for visible light communications, fractal independently tunable multichannel filters, broadband perfect absorbers, and spectrally selective solar absorbers. The whole chapter is composed of five sections. In each section, the corresponding fundamental principles, preparing processes, present research, and practical application situations are reviewed.