A Study of the Phase Relations Between the Reflected and Transmitted Light Waves at a Beam Splitter and Their Application to Interferometers

Abstract

In an amplitude-splitting interferometer, a beam splitter divides an input beam into two parts, which are superposed after propagating along separate paths, producing an interference effect. We have investigated the phase relation between the reflected and transmitted light waves at BS's made of lossless dielectric stacks. If we define the phases with proper reference planes, a definite phase relation exists, irrespective of the detailed structure of the layers in the BS. Although this results from the generalized Stokes relations, we have verified it numerically for two representative BS's with symmetric and asymmetric layer structures respectively. When we applied the phase relation to interferometers, we could determine the superposition state of the output beam (either constructive or destructive interference) for a general BS, and could verify that the light's energy was conserved. (Fig. 2) [2] . BS는 입력광을 분할하기도 하지만 되돌아오는 두 빔을 결합시켜 Fig. 2(b)와 같이 두 개의 출력광을 생성한