In telecommunication, an interference filter is an optical filter that reflects one or more spectral bands or lines and transmits others, while maintaining a nearly zero coefficient of absorption for all wavelengths of interest.

An interference filter may be high-pass, low-pass, bandpass, or band-rejection.

An interference filter consists of multiple thin layers of dielectric material having different refractive indices. There also may be metallic layers. Interference filters are wavelength-selective by virtue of the interference effects that take place between the incident and reflected waves at the thin-film boundaries.

Bandpass filters are normally designed for normal incidence. However, when the angle of incidence of the incoming light is increased from zero, the central wavelength of the filter decreases, resulting in partial tunabilty.