The present disclosure relates to thin film notch filters having the basic structure of an interference filter. In some embodiments, the filters according to the present disclosure exhibit at least one notch correlating to a pass band defect. The filters of the present disclosure may exhibit at least one of improved pass band bandwidth, improved edge steepness, narrower notch band FWHM, and lower sensitivity to material mismatch, relative to prior known thin film notch filters based on the basic structure of an interference filter. The present disclosure also relates to methods of making the filters described herein, and the use of these filters in optimal measurement systems.