1

Rigorous Mathematical Treatment of the Transfer Matrix

Method to Calculate the One-Dimensional Photonic Band
Structure

Sourangsu Banerji
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering,
RCC-Institute of Information Technology, West Bengal, India

In this discussion we shall present a rigorous derivation of the transfer matrix method which will allow us
to solve Maxwell equations in multilayer dielectric structures. We will consider an example of a periodical
structure (Bragg mirror) and derive general equations for photonic Eigen-modes in planar structures. Please
note that a Bragg mirror, Bragg grating, Bragg reflectors or DBR are nothing but the same one dimensional
periodic structure i.e. photonic crystals and we will use all of these terms interchangeably in this derivation.
Introduction
In the beginning we consider propagation of light in the normal to layer planes direction. Then, the oblique
incidence of light will be considered. We will generalize the transfer matrix approach for TE and TM linear
polarizations of light. From the definition, TE-polarized (also referred to as s-polarized) light has the
electric field vector parallel to the layer planes, TM-polarized light (also referred to as p-polarized) has the
magnetic field vector parallel to the planes as shown in Fig. 1

Figure 1 Orientation of electric and magnetic fields in TE- and TM-polarized incident on a planar
boundary.(Image Courtesy: Google Images)
One question which we are going to investigate is to know what happens to the electromagnetic field at the
planar interface between two dielectric media with different refractive indices. However the answer is
simple and can be found by resolving the system of Maxwell equations independently in the two media and
then matching of the solutions for electric and magnetic fields by the Maxwell boundary conditions at the
interface. These conditions require continuity of the tangential components of both fields.

Now first, consider a transverse light-wave propagating along the z-direction in a medium characterized by
a refractive index n that is homogeneous in the x-y plane but z-dependent possibly. In this case the wave
equation becomes:
2
2 2
0 2
E
k n E
z

= , (1)
here k
0
is the wave-vector of light in a vacuum.


2

The general form of the solution of Eq. (1) can be written as:
( ) ( ) ikz A ikz A E + =
+
exp exp . (2)
where k k n =
0
,
+
A ,

A are coefficients.
Using the Maxwell equation one can easily obtain the general form of the magnetic field amplitude as
( ) ( ) ikz n A ikz n A B =
+
exp exp . (3)
If we consider reflection of light incident from the left side to the boundary ( ) 0 = z between two semi-
infinite media characterized by refractive indices
1
n (left) and
2
n (right), the matching of the tangential
components of electric and magnetic fields would give
+ +
= +
2 1 1
A A A , (4)
( )
2 2 1 1 1
n A n A A
+ +
= , (5)
where
+
1
A ,

1
A and
+
2
A are the amplitudes of incident, reflected and transmitted light, respectively.
We can easily obtain the amplitude reflection coefficient
2 1
2 1
1
1
n n
n n
A
A
r
+

=
+

(6)
as well as the amplitude transmission coefficient
2 1
1
1
2
2
n n
n
A
A
t
+
=
+
+
. (7)
The ratio of reflected to incident energy flux (reflectivity) is given by
2
r R = , (8)
and the ratio of transmitted to incident energy flux (transmittance) is
2
1
2
t
n
n
T = . (9)
Note that in the last formula, the factor
1
2
n
n
comes from the ratio of light velocities in two media.
However we see that in multilayer structures, direct application of Maxwell boundary conditions at each
interface leads to the necessity to resolve a substantial number of algebraic equations (two per interface). A
convenient method which allows us to reduce the number of equations to be resolved to a strict minimum
(four in general case) is the transfer matrix method, which we are going to describe here.
Let us introduce the vector

( )
(
(

=
(

=
z
z E
k
i
z E
z B
z E
z

0
) (
) (
) (
) (
r
, (10)
where E(z), B(z) are the amplitudes of the electric and magnetic field of any light wave propagating in the z
direction in the structure under study. Please note that
r
( ) z is continuous at any point in the structure
owing to the Maxwells boundary conditions. In particular, it is continuous at all interfaces where n is
changing abruptly.
From our definition, the transfer matrix
a
T

across the layer of width a is such a 2 2 matrix that:

$
T
a z z a
r r

= =
=
0
. (11)

3
It is easy to verify by substitution into Eq. (11) of the electric and magnetic amplitudes (2), (3) that if n is
considered to be homogeneous across the layer, then
$
cos sin
sin cos
T
ka
i
n
ka
in ka ka
a
=

(
(
. (12)
So now the transfer matrix across a structure which is composed of m layers can be found as

=
=
=
1 i
m i
i
T T
) )
, (13)
where
i
T

is the transfer matrix across i-th layer. The order of multiplication in Eq. (13) is however
essential. The amplitude reflection and transmission coefficients (r
s
and t
s
) of a structure containing m
layers, and sandwiched between two semi-infinite media with refractive indices
left
n ,
right
n before and
after the structure, respectively, can be found from the relation
.
1

=
(

+
s right
s
s left left
s
t n
t
r n n
r
T (14)
One can easily obtain the amplitude reflection r
s
and transmission coefficients t
s
12 11 22 21
22 21 12 11
t n n t n t n t
t n t t n n t n
r
right left right left
left right left right
s
+
+
= , (15)
12 11 22 21
22 11 21 12
2
t n n t n t n t
t t t t
n t
right left right left
left s
+

= . (16)
The intensities of reflected and transmitted light normalized by the intensity of the incident light are given
by
2
s
r R = ,
left
right
s
n
n
t T
2
= , (17)
In its turn, the transfer matrix across a layer can be expressed via reflection and transmission coefficients of
this layer. If the reflection and transmission coefficients for light incident from the right-hand side and left-
hand side of the layer are the same, and n n n
right left
= (the symmetric case is realized, in particular, in a
quantum well embedded in a cavity), the Maxwell boundary conditions for light incident from the left and
right sides of the structure yield:
.
1

,
1

+
+
=
(

=
(

+
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
nr n
r
nt
t
T
nt
t
nr n
r
T
(18)
This allows the matrix T

to be expressed as:
( )
( ) ( )
(
(
(

+
+
+
=
1 1
1
1
2
1

2 2 2 2
2 2
2 2
s s s s
s s
s s
r t t r n
n
t r
r t
t
T . (19)
For a quantum well,
s s
r t + =1 , and Eq. (19) becomes
(
(

=
1 2
0 1

s
s
QW
t
r
n
T . (20)
4
However please note that in the oblique incidence case, for the TE-polarization, one can use the basis
(

) (
) (
z B
z E

, where

E ,

B are the tangential (in-plane) components of the electric and magnetic fields of
the light wave.
In this case, the transfer matrix (4) keeps its form provided that the following substitutions are made:
cos k k
z
= , cos n n , (21)
where is the propagation angle in the corresponding medium ( 0 = at normal incidence).
In the TM-polarization, following the Born and Wolf approximation (see footnote)
1
, we use the basis
(

) (
) (
z E
z B

which still allows the transfer matrix (12) to be used provided that the substitutions are done:
cos k k
z
= ,
n
n
cos
. (22)
Note that the transfer matrices across the interfaces are still identity matrices, and Eq. (7.13) for the transfer
matrix across the entire structure is valid.
In the formulas for reflection and transmission coefficients (7.15-7.18) one should replace, in the TE-
polarization
left left left
n n cos ,
right right right
n n cos , (23)
and in the TM-polarization
left
left
left
n
n
cos
,
right
right
right
n
n
cos
, (24)
where
left
,
right
are the propagation angles in the first and last media, respectively. The same
transformations would be applied to the transfer matrices (19), (20). Note that any two propagation angles
i
,
j
in the layers with refractive indices
i
n ,
j
n are linked by the Snells law:
j j i i
n n sin sin = , (25)
which is also valid in the case of complex refractive indices, when the propagation angles formally become
complex as well.

Photonic Eigen-modes of planar systems
Now, having a feel of what we have done until now, next we go on to consider a multilayer planar structure
characterized by a transfer matrix T

being a product of the transfer matrices across all the layers as given
by Eq. (13). Photonic eigen modes of the structure are the solutions of the Maxwell equations with the
following boundary condition: no light is incident on the structure neither from the left side ( z )
nor from the right side ( + z ). This means that the electric field of the eigen mode at z can
be represented as
z ik y ik x ik
z y x
e E
+ +
0
r
(26)
with 0 ) Re(
z
k , ( ) 0 Im
z
k , while at + z the electric field can be represented in form (26) with
0 ) Re(
z
k , ( ) 0 Im
z
k .
In TE-polarization, let us choose the system of coordinates in such a way that electric and magnetic field of
the light mode are oriented as follows:
( ) 0 0
y
E E =
r
, (27)

1
To know how this approximation was used refer to Max Born & Emil Wolf Principles of Optics: Electromagnetic
Theory of Propagation, Interfrence & Diffraction of Light (4th.ed.) Pergamon Press 1970
5
( )
z x
B B B 0 =
r
. (27a)
The transfer matrix
TE
T

links the vectors

|
|

\
|
x
y
B
E
at the left and right boundaries of the structure, so that
|
|

\
|
=
|
|

\
|
right
x
right
y
left
x
left
y
TE
B
E
B
E
T

. (28)
Substitution of the electric field (2) into the first of Maxwell equations yields
x y
z
B E
k
k
=
0
, (29)
where
c
k

=
0
. This allows us to rewrite Eq. (28) as
|
|
|

\
|
=
|
|
|

\
|
0 0
1 1

k
k
A
k
k
T
right
z
left
z
TE
, (30)
where
left
z
k and
right
z
k are z-components of the wave-vector of light on the left and right sides of the
structure, respectively. If we exclude A in Eq. (30), then the equation can be easily reduced to a single
transcendental equation for the eigen-modes of the structure:
0
22
0
21
2
0
12
0
11
= +
TE
left
z TE
right
z
left
z TE
right
z TE
t
k
k
t
k
k k
t
k
k
t , (31)
where
ij
t are elements of the transfer matrix
TE
T

. Please note that solutions of Eq. (31) are complex

frequencies, in general. However, only those having a positive real part and negative (or zero) imaginary
part have a physical sense. The imaginary part of the eigen-frequency is inversely proportional to the life-
time of the eigen-mode, i.e. a characteristic time spend by a photon going back and forth inside the
structure before escaping from it to the continuum of free light modes in the surrounding media. So-called
wave-guided or guided modes are those which have an infinite life-time (and consequently, zero imaginary
part of the eigen-frequency) as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Propagation of guided modes in planar structures (a) is based on the total internal reflection
effect (b).

Now, the equation for eigen-frequencies of TM-polarized modes can be obtained in a similar way. One can
choose the system of coordinates in a way, such that electric and magnetic field of the light mode are
oriented as follows:
( )
z x
E E E 0 =
r
, (32)
( ) 0 0
y
B B =
r
. (32a)
6
The transfer matrix T

links the vectors

|
|

\
|

x
y
E
B
at the left and right boundaries of the structure, so that
|
|

\
|

=
|
|

\
|

right
x
right
y
left
x
left
y
TM
E
B
E
B
T

. (33)
The Maxwell equation yields in this case
x y
z
E B
k n
k
=
0
2
, (34)
where n is the refractive index of the media. This allows us to rewrite Eq. (7.33) as

|
|
|

\
|
=
|
|
|

\
|
0
2
0
2
1 1

k n
k
A
k n
k
T
right
right
z
left
left
z
TM
, (35)
where
left
n and
right
n are z-components of the wave-vector of light on the left and right sides of the
structure, respectively. By exclusion of A, Eq. (7.35) can be easily reduced to a single transcendental
equation for the eigen-modes of the structure:
0
22
0
2
21
2
0
2 2
12
0
2
11
= +
TM
left
left
z TM
right left
right
z
left
z TM
right
right
z TM
t
k n
k
t
k n n
k k
t
k n
k
t , (36)
At normal incidence, equations for the eigen modes of light in TE- and TM- polarizations (31) and (36)
become formally identical. This is quite natural, as at normal incidence there no difference between TE-
and TM-polarizations.
One can show using transformations on (23), (24) that they both reduce to
0
22 21 12 11
= + t n t n n t n t
left left right right
(37)
with
ij
t being element of the transfer matrix at normal incidence defined by Eqs. (12), (13).
Comparing condition (37) and expressions (5), (16) one can see that reflection and transmission
coefficients
s
r and
s
t become infinite at the complex eigen frequencies of the system. This result also
holds for oblique incidence. It is non unphysical. We remind that in optical measurements of reflectivity
and transmission we always detect signal at real frequencies and the following condition holds
1
2 2
+
s
left
lright
s
t
n
n
r . (38)
( 1
2 2
= +
s
left
lright
s
t
n
n
r in case of no absorption and scattering).
Photonic Bands of 1D Periodic Structures

Consider an infinite structure whose refractive index is homogeneous in the x-y plane and whose
dependence on the coordinate z is a periodic function with period d. The shape of this function is not
essential, and we shall only assume that a transfer matrix
d
T

across the period of the structure can be

written as a product of a finite number of matrices of the form in Eqn. (6). Let an electromagnetic wave
propagate along the z-direction. For this wave
d z z d
T
= =
=
r r
0

, (39)
where
r
( ) z is defined by Eq. (4).

7
According to the Bloch theorem, it can be represented in the form:
( )
( )
( )
(

=
z U
z U
e z
B
E iQz
r
, (40)
where ( ) z U
B E,
have the same periodicity as the structure, and Q is a complex number in general.
Note that the factor
iQz
e is the same for electric (E) and magnetic (B) fields in a light wave because in the
normal incidence case they are linked by the relation: ( )
( )
z
z E
k
i
z B

=
0
.
Substitution of Eq. (7.40) into Eq. (7.39) yields
0 0

= =
=
z
iQd
z d
e T
r r
, (41)
Thus,
iQd
e is an eigenvalue of the matrix
d
T

, and therefore
( ) 0

det = I e T
iQd
d
, (42)
where I

is an identity matrix. Resolving Eq. (42), we use an important property of the matrix
d
T

following from Eqs. (12), (13):

1

det =
d
T . (43)
Thus we reduce Eq. (42) to
( ) 0 1
2
22 11
= + +
iQd iQd
e e T T , (44)
where T
ij
are the elements of the matrix
d
T

. Multiplying each term by

iQd
e

we obtain finally:
( ) 2 cos
22 11
T T Qd + = . (45)
The right-hand side of this equation is frequency-dependent. The frequency bands for which
( ) 1 2
22 11
+T T (46)
are allowed photonic bands. In these bands Q is purely real, and the light wave can propagate freely
without attenuation. On the contrary, the bands for which
( ) 1 2
22 11
> +T T (47)
are usually called stop-bands or optical gaps. In these bands Q has a non-zero imaginary part that
determines the decay of propagating light waves. All this is completely analogous to conventional crystals.
Eqns. (45),(46),(47) are also valid in the oblique incidence case, while the form of the matrix
d
T

is
sensitive to the angle of incidence, and band boundaries shift as one changes the incidence angle.

A Bragg mirror is a periodic structure composed of pairs of layers of dielectric or semiconductor materials
characterized by different refractive indices (say n
a
and n
b
). The thicknesses of the layers (a and b,
respectively) are chosen so that
4 = b n a n
b a
. (48)
The condition in Eqn. (46) is usually called the Bragg interference condition, due to its similarity to the
positive interference condition for X-rays propagating in crystals. The Bragg mirrors are also frequently
called distributed Bragg reflectors or DBR or even Bragg gratings. The wavelength of light marks the
centre of the stop-band of the mirror. For the wavelengths inside the stop-band the reflectivity of the mirror
is close to unity. In the following we assume
b a
n n < (
a
n is the refractive index of the first layer from the
surface,
b
n is the refractive index of the next layer).

We shall describe the optical properties of the mirror within its stop-band using the transfer matrix
approach.


8

At normal incidence, the transfer matrices across the layers that compose the grating are:
(
(

=
a k a k in
a k
n
i
a k
T
a a a
a
a
a
a
cos sin
sin cos

,
(
(

=
b k b k in
b k
n
i
b k
T
b b b
b
b
b
b
cos sin
sin cos

, (49)
where
a a
n
c
k

= ,
b b
n
c
k

= . The transfer matrix T

across the period of the mirror is their product:

a b
T T T

= . (50)
An infinite Bragg mirror represents the simplest one-dimensional photonic crystal. Its band structure is
given by the equation (45). Its solutions with real Q form allowed photonic bands, while solutions with
complex Q having a non-zero imaginary part form photonic gaps or stop-bands.
At the central frequency of the stop-band, given by

c 2
= , (51)
the matrix T

becomes:
(
(
(
(

=
a
b
b
a
n
n
n
n
T
0
0

. (52)
It's eigen values are:
( ) [ ]
b
a
n
n
b a iQ = + exp , ( ) [ ]
a
b
n
n
b a iQ = + exp . (53)
The reflection coefficient of a semi-infinite Bragg mirror at = can be found from the condition:
( ) ( )
(

+
=
(

+
r n
r
n
n
r n
r
T
left b
a
left
1
1
1
1

, (54)
which readily yields the value r=1.
In the vicinity of one can derive a simple and useful expression for the reflection coefficient, leaving in
the matrix T

only terms linear in

( )
c
x
4

. (55)
The matrix is written in this approximation as:
( )
(
(
(
(

+
|
|

\
|
+
=
a
b
b a
b a b
a
n
n
x n n i
x
n n
i
n
n
T
1 1

. (56)
Eq. (54) yields in this case
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )

|
|

\
|

=
+ +
|
|

\
|

+
|
|

\
|

=
i
a b left
b a
b a
a
b
b
a
left
b a
a
b
b
a
left
e
c n n n
n n
i
x n n i
n
n
n
n
n
x n n i
n
n
n
n
n
r
2
exp , (57)


9
The coefficient
( )
c n
n n
n n
L
a b
b a
DBR 0
2

(58)
is frequently called the effective length of a Bragg mirror. Note that it is close but not exactly equal to the
penetration length L
~
of the light field into the mirror at = . L
~
can be easily obtained from the eigen-
values of the matrix (52):
a
b
n
n
b a
L
ln
~
+
= . (59)
One can see from Eq. (57) that at = the reflection coefficient of the Bragg mirror is equal to 1, which
means that the amplitudes of incident and reflected waves have the same sign and absolute value at the
surface of the mirror. That is the reason as to why the maximum (anti-node) of the electric field of light is
at the surface. We note that this is only true if
b a
n n < .
In the opposite case, the amplitude reflection coefficient at the centre of stop-band changes sign and the
electric field has a node at the surface.
For a finite-size mirror, the reflection coefficient within the stop-band is different from unity due to the
non-zero transmission of light across the mirror. It can be found from the matrix equation:
( )
(

=
(

+
t n
t
r n
r
T
f
N
1
1

0
, (60)
where r and t are the amplitude reflection and transmission coefficients of the mirror, N is the number of
periods in the grating, and
f
n is the refractive index behind the grating.
At the centre of the stop-band we have:
0
2
0
2
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
r
f
N
a
b
f
N
a
b
+
|
|

\
|

|
|

\
|
= ,
0
2
2
n
n
n
n
n
n
t
f
N
a
b
N
a
b
+
|
|

\
|
|
|

\
|

= . (61)
NOTE: WHAT FOLLOWS FROM THESE FORMULAS IS THAT THE HIGHER THE
CONTRAST BETWEEN
a
n AND
b
n THE BETTER THE REFLECTIVITY OF THE GRATING.

Moving on, a further important characteristic of a Bragg mirror is the width of its stop-band, and this can be
found from Eq. (45). The boundaries of the first stop-band are given by the condition:
( ) 1 2
22 11
= +T T . (62)
Substituting the matrix elements of the product of matrices (49) one easily obtains:
1 sin
2
1
cos
2 2
=
|
|

\
|
+
b
a
a
b
n
n
n
n
, (63)
where b k a k
b a
= = , therefore
a b
a b
n n
n n
+

= cos . (64)



10
This allows us to obtain the stop-band width (in frequency):
a b
a b
a b
a b
n n
n n c
n n
n n c
+

|
|

\
|
+

8
arccos
2
8
. (65)
One can see that the stop-band width can achieve a few hundreds of nanometers (few thousands of
Angstroms) provided the high contrast of refractive indices
a
n and
b
n .

Finally, under oblique incidence the optical thickness layers composing a Bragg mirror change. The phase
gained by light crossing a layer of thickness a at an angle
a
is given by
a a
a n
c

cos = , (66)
where
a
n is the refractive index of this layer. It is evident that the frequency which fulfills the Bragg
interference condition 2 = is higher for oblique angles than for a normal angle. This is why, at
oblique angles, stop-bands of any Bragg mirror shift towards higher frequencies.