colour.plotting.plot_multi_layer_stack

colour.plotting.plot_multi_layer_stack(configurations: Sequence[Dict[str, Any]], theta: ArrayLike | None = None, wavelength: ArrayLike = 555, **kwargs: Any) → Tuple[Figure, Axes]

Plot a multilayer stack as a stacked horizontal bar chart with optional ray paths.

Creates a visualization showing the layer structure of a multilayer thin film or any other multilayer system. Each layer is represented as a horizontal bar with height proportional to its thickness, stacked vertically. If an incident angle is provided, the function also draws ray paths showing refraction through each layer using Snell’s law.

Parameters:

• configurations (Sequence[Dict[str, Any]]) –

  Sequence of dictionaries, each containing layer configuration: {‘t’: float, ‘n’: float, ‘color’: str, ‘label’: str}

  • ’t’: Layer thickness in nanometers or any other unit (required)

  • ’n’: Refractive index (required)

  • ’color’: Layer color (optional, automatically assigned from the default colour cycle if not provided)

  • ’label’: Layer label (optional, defaults to “Layer N (n=value)”)

• theta (ArrayLike | None) – Incident angle \(\theta\) in degrees. If provided, ray paths will be drawn showing refraction through each layer using Snell’s law. Default is None (no ray paths).

• wavelength (ArrayLike) – Wavelength in nanometers used for transfer matrix calculations when theta is provided. Default is 555 nm.

• kwargs (Any) – {colour.plotting.artist(), colour.plotting.render()}, See the documentation of the previously listed definitions.

Returns:

Current figure and axes.

Return type:

tuple

Examples

>>> configurations = [
...     {"t": 100, "n": 1.46},
...     {"t": 200, "n": 2.4},
...     {"t": 80, "n": 1.46},
...     {"t": 150, "n": 2.4},
... ]
>>> plot_multi_layer_stack(configurations, theta=45)
(<Figure size ... with 1 Axes>, <...Axes...>)