1. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 – 6545(Print),
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ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online) Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
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ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online)
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EFFICIENT EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM FOR THE THIN-FILM
SYNTHESIS USING THE EFFECTS OF MERIT FUNCTION
M.F.A. Alias1, M.A. Hussain2
1
Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Baghdad
P.O. Box Jadiriyah, Baghdad, Iraq
2
University of Technology, Department of Laser and Optoelectronics Engineering
Baghdad, Iraq
ABSTRACT
We propose a new method for designing of multilayer coatings which makes use of a
specified reflectance or transmittance values over a range of wavelengths by using the evolutionary
algorithms method. The crossover and mutation processes are adapted to depend directly on the
value of merit function. The proposed method offers explicit values for the thickness and the
refractive index of each layer. Comparing our theoretical evolutionary algorithm with other
theoretical results which using different mathematical formulas for crossover, mutation and selection
led to obtain acceptable solutions for different types of coating designs.
Keywords: Evolutionary Algorithm, Multilayer System Design.
I. INTRODUCTION
The basic task of the approaches to the evolutionary algorithms for designing multilayer
systems is to find the values of the construction parameters (refractive indices, and thicknesses) that
bring the computed optical performance close to the target specification over the desired wavelength
band.
The mathematical framework for this paper assumes normal incidence of light, and the best
solution for designing depends on the basis of minimizing merit function. The merit function (MF)
employed here is the basic one that is used to represent the difference between the target
reflectance and the computed reflectance over a range of wavelengths [1].
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2. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 – 6545(Print),
ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online) Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
MF =
1
W

2 1/ 2
W Rcomp ( n , d , λ j ) − Rtar ( λ j ) 
∑

δR
j =1

(
)
(1)
where Rcomp and Rtar are the computed and the target reflectance at the wavelength λj, n and d
are the refractive index and the thickness of all layers of coating system, and δR is the tolerance at
the wavelength λj. In general δR is set to 0.01, W is the number of interesting points used to compute
the merit function. Rcomp can be calculated using the most used method based on a matrix formulation
[2].
The evolution process starting with an initial population of a number of chromosomes which
each one of them is having a certain number of genes. A few statistical processes are acting on
populations and species. These processes are selection, crossover, mutation and reproduction which
are the principle of modern biological thought of Darwinian evolutionary theory. Starting with an
initial population of chromosomes, we evaluate each of its genes by a certain fitness function.
This work uses the evolutionary algorithms to the design of a thin film multilayer coating to
achieve a particular reflectance or transmittance over a defined wavelength region. Also we propose
a method that used merit function to determine the probability percentage of crossover and mutation
processes.
II. PROBLEM DEFINITION
Function optimization is a rather theoretical application of a genetic algorithm.
In general an optimization problem requires finding a setting of parameters of the system
under consideration, such that a certain fitness function is maximized or equivalently minimized
[3-5]. For a function consist of six unknown parameters:
݂ ሺ݊ଵ , ݀ଵ , ݊ଶ , ݀ଶ , ݊ଷ , ݀ଷ , … ሻ ൌ ݉݅݊݅݉‫݁ݑ݈ܽݒ ݉ݑ‬
(2)
The above equation can represent three layer problems for antireflection (n) is the refractive
index and d is the thickness of each layer.
We can choose any possible solution of the unknown parameters, each possible parameter
represent a gene while the whole set of parameters represent a chromosome. For the above function
each chromosome will contain six genes, while for more complex function with more unknown
parameters such as the thin-film multilayer function, the genes will exceeded to be equivalent to the
layers number.
The thin-film multilayer system consists of M layers of different materials with different
thicknesses. This system can achieve a spectral reflectance (or transmittance) which can be compared
with the desired or target reflectance via merit function.
The basic operations for evolutionary algorithm are:
1- Cross-over operation
The original version of this operation produced a child that inherits genes from each parent
with equal probability, but in general the child inherits genes with different probability from each
parents, some researchers considered that each gene of the child has an 80% probability of coming
from the father and a 20% probability of coming from the mother [6], while other ones considered
equal probability (50%) for each two chromosomes.
Let the gene from the father be X f , and the gene from the mother or the other parent be X m ,
then the gene of the child
Xc
equal to:
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3. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 – 6545(Print),
ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online) Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
X =P X + P X
c
f f
m m
(3)
where Pf and Pm are the inheriting probability of the father and the mother, respectively.
The first chromosome or the father chromosome will share with a percentage equal to:
( MF )
m
P =
f ( MF ) + ( MF )
m
f
(4)
while the mother chromosome has a sharing percentage equal to:
( MF )
f
P =
m ( MF ) + ( MF )
m
f
(5)
The child chromosome that comes from the cross-over of the two parents will be:
X =
c
X .( MF ) + X .( MF )
f
m
m
f
( MF ) + ( MF )
m
f
(6)
Xf , Xm, Xc are the father, mother and child chromosomes, respectively.
This new procedure will allow the child chromosome to inherit the best performance of the two
parent chromosomes.
2- Mutation operation
In this research a new formula for mutation operation has been produced, the mutation
operation is assumed to have a probability of 0.2% of the total number of genes, these mutant genes
are chosen randomly. The value of each mutant gene will change to another value according to the
relation:
X ′ = X 1+τ
c
c
(7)
τ is the variation in the value of the mutant gene, it is assumed to be equal to:
τ = Rand . ( MF )
(8)
c
Rand is a random number between -0.5 to 0.5.
Obviously, the change in the value of the mutant gene depends on its merit function value, the
variation τ approaches zero as the merit function value (the perfect solution) approaches zero.
3- Replacement operation
At the end of each generation of the evolutionary algorithm method, we apply the replacement
operation. The replacement operation tends to remove the weakest chromosome which has maximum
merit function value with another one coming from the stronger one which has minimum merit
function.
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4. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 – 6545(Print),
ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online) Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
If the genes of the stronger chromosome are (Xc)s , then the genes of the weakest
chromosome (Xc)w will change to:
( X ) = ( X ) . Rand
c w
c s
(9)
(Rand) is a random number between 0.75 to 1.25. The gene of the weakest chromosome takes any
value between 75% and 125% of the gene of the stronger chromosome. This operation has an
important effect for elimination of any chromosome with high merit function value; this will increase
the speed of reaching the best solution.
III. RESULTS
We will compare our theoretical evolutionary algorithm with other theoretical results which
using different mathematical formulas for crossover, mutation and selection. The major results for
comparison are the value of merit function and the shape of transmittance (or reflectance) curves.
A. Antireflection Coating
We have applied this analysis to two design problems. The first problem was treated in the
work of Yang and Kao who used the family competition evolutionary algorithm and has also been
the focus of several other studies [7-10], this problem is a wideband antireflection coating for
germanium in the infrared region.
The target design is for zero reflectance in the wavelength region between 7.7 and 12.3 µm.
The incident medium (the zero layer) is air with refractive index 1.0 and the last layer is germanium
substrate with refractive index 4.0, the first layer has the low refractive index (zinc sulfide with
refractive index 2.2), and the second layer has the high refractive index (germanium with refractive
index 4.2) . The coating materials are assumed to be non-dispersive and non-absorbing in the above
wavelength region, which means that the extinction coefficient of the whole layers equals to zero
then all layers will expressed with the refractive indices and thicknesses only. The total number of
layers was 15. Figure (1) shows the convergence of merit function values with generation number.
1.0
15-Layer Film
0.9
0.8
Mi Fnto
et uc n
r
i
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Generation Number
Figure 1. Convergence of merit function for M=15
The result for the reflectance as a function of wavelength is shown in figure (2), the merit
function value was 0.0916 and the values of ∑ ni di was 35.1025 µm. The mean value of
reflectance along the required wavelength range (7.7-12.3) µm is 0.8421%. The construction
parameters of the layers are shown in Table (1).
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5. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 – 6545(Print),
ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online) Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
4.0
3.8
15-Layer Film
3.6
3.4
3.2
3.0
% e c ne
R fle ta c
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
11.5
12.0
12.5
Wavelength (um)
Figure 2. Antireflection coating design for M=15
B. Beam Splitter
The second design was treated in the work of Yang and Kao [11] to design a beam splitter in
the wavelength range (0.5-1.0) µm, the target design is the reflectance equal to 50% and
transmittance 50%. The incident media (the zero layer) was air, and the substrate (the last layer) was
the glass (ns=1.52), while the beams were incident normal to the plane of the splitter. The design
consists of two materials with low refractive index 1.35 (NaAlF2) and high refractive index 2.35
(TiO2) arranged in sequences for 16 layers with first layer has the low refractive index. All extinction
coefficients are assumed to have zero value.
The result for the reflectance as a function of wavelength is shown in figure (3), the merit
function value was 0.0349 and the value of ∑ ni di was 2.0920 µm. The resulting reflectance is
(50±0.23) % with average value of 50.0% along the whole desired wavelength range. The
construction parameters of the layers are shown in Table (1).
55.0
54.5
54.0
16-Layer Film
53.5
53.0
52.5
52.0
R
eflec ce (%
tan
)
51.5
51.0
50.5
50.0
49.5
49.0
48.5
48.0
47.5
47.0
46.5
46.0
45.5
45.0
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Wavelengh (um)
Figure 3. Splitter coating design for M=16
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1.0

6. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET), ISSN 0976 – 6545(Print),
ISSN 0976 – 6553(Online) Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
Table(1): Construction parameters of the antireflection and beam splitter coating
Antireflection Coating
Layer
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Beam Splitter Coating
Refractive Thickness
Index
µm
1.00
-----------2.20
1.119305
4.20
0.719271
2.20
0.324698
4.20
0.387474
2.20
0.556538
4.20
0.340919
2.20
2.488036
4.20
1.495034
2.20
0.341780
4.20
0.387282
2.20
0.827030
4.20
0.216319
2.20
0.596713
4.20
1.471448
2.20
0.122277
4.00
------------
Refractive
Index
1.00
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
1.35
2.35
Thickness
µm
---------0.10811
0.06555
0.00765
0.05713
0.03912
0.12353
0.16354
0.11681
0.02721
0.08659
0.05567
0.09766
0.04615
0.04442
0.05719
0.00859
1.52
----------
17
MF
0.0916
0.03495
IV. CONCLUSIONS
These results have demonstrated that the new formula of crossover and mutation is a
synthesis approach for optical thin-film designs. These formulas can closely cooperate with any other
method to improve the overall search performance. The results of two optical coating designs verify
that the proposed approach, although some-what slower, is competitive with comparable algorithm to
obtain acceptable solutions for different types of coating designs. We believe that the crossover and
mutation operations can depend on the value of merit function to produce designs with high quality
comparing with other methods.
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