A modeling approach to feature extraction for stacks of dielectric slabs with random permittivity

Stacks of dielectric slabs serve as models of a large variety of engineering structures such as Bragg gratings and Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting lasers (VCSELs). Depending on the application, design features that describe the electromagnetic response of the structure are chosen. Subject of study in this paper is the effect of uncertainties in the material properties of the slabs. Design features are random variables and their mean and variance describe the effect of the uncertainties in a probabilistic way. In this paper, a strategy is presented to estimate these uncertainty characteristics. The strategy is illustrated for the application of VCSELs.