The coatings having refractive index changing with the thickness present interesting optical performance, improved mechanical properties and smaller light scattering in comparison with classical multilayer stacks. Lot of theoretical work and experimental advances have been done for designing and production of mixture layers with such particular performances. The effective refractive index of the mixture coatings can be calculated by the use of effective medium theories. The refractive index profile characterization of inhomogeneous films that are mixtures of SiO2 and Nb2O5 is presented. The composition is linearly changed through the thickness of the layers. Ex-situ spectrophotometric measurements, i.e. reflectance and transmittance at different incidence angles, are used for the precise characterization of the refractive index profiles. Linear, Maxwell-Garnet, Bruggeman and Lorentz-Lorenz effective medium theories are applied and quality and differences of the results are studied and analyzed. It is shown that the Lorentz-Lorenz model is the most appropriate for the given mixture, suggesting components are well mixed and there are no separated phases. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.