Abstract

General recurrence relations for the deduction of the reflection and transmission coefficients of a stratified medium are derived. These are suitable for numerical computations on such layered systems involving complex indices of refraction and oblique incidence. The results are applied to total reflection phenomena involving the presence of a dielectric, a perfectly reflecting, or a metallic medium in the less dense medium beyond the totally reflecting boundary. Numerical results are given on a total reflection attenuator, on a total reflection phase shifter, and on a total reflection polarizer. These indicate the potential use of such total reflection phenomena for optical components and laser applications.

© 1972 Optical Society of America

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