Form Birefringence in Thin Films with Oblique Columnar Structures

Effective medium theory is useful for designing optical elements with form birefringent subwavelength structures. Thin films fabricated by oblique deposition are similar to the two-dimensional surface relief subwavelength gratings. We use the effective medium theory to calculate the anisotropic optical properties of the thin films with oblique columnar structures. The effective refractive indices and the directions are calculated from effective medium theory. It is shown that optical thin films with predetermined refractive indices and birefringence may be engineered.