Chirped mirror
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A chirped mirror is a dielectric mirror with chirped spaces—spaces of varying depth designed to reflect varying wavelengths of lights—between the dielectric layers (stack).
A non-chirped dielectric mirror. This electron microscope image of a tiny circular piece of dielectric mirror being cut out from a larger substrate clearly shows the periodic layered structure of the mirror. The spacing of each layer determines the wavelength of light that is reflected by that layer. In a chirped dielectric mirror the deeper layers would be thicker than the surface layers to reflect longer wavelengths of light and create the chirped effect.
Dielectric mirror
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A dielectric mirror, also known as a Bragg mirror, is a type of mirror composed of multiple thin layers of dielectric material, typically deposited on a substrate of glass or some other optical material. By careful choice of the type and thickness of the dielectric layers, one can design an optical coating with specified reflectivity at different wavelengths of light. Dielectric mirrors are also used to produce ultra-high reflectivity mirrors: values of 99.999% or better over a narrow range of wavelengths can be produced using special techniques. Alternatively, they can be made to reflect a broad spectrum of light, such as the entire visible range or the spectrum of the Ti-sapphire laser.
An infrared dielectric mirror in a mirror mount
An electron microscope image of an approximately 13 micrometre piece of dielectric mirror being cut from a larger substrate. Alternating layers of Ta2O5 and SiO2 are visible on the bottom edge.