Lateral shifts and angular deviations of Gaussian optical beams reflected by and transmitted through dielectric blocks: A tutorial review

TL;DR

This tutorial review summarizes the understanding of lateral shifts and angular deviations of Gaussian optical beams interacting with dielectric blocks, covering analytical formulas, numerical comparisons, and measurement techniques.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches to beam shifts, including the composite Goos-Haenchen shift and weak measurement methods.

Findings

Analytical formulas for critical incidence are validated with numerical calculations.

Angular deviations are characterized for critical and Brewster incidences.

The review discusses the light oscillation phenomenon and measurement techniques.

Abstract

In this work, we summarize the current state of understanding of lateral displacement and angular deviations of an optical beam propagating through dielectric blocks. In part I, the analytical formulas, found for critical incidence, are compared with numerical calculations and, when possible, extended from Gaussian to more general angular distributions. Angular deviations are discussed both for the critical and for the Brewster incidence. The combined effect, known as the composite Goos-Haenchen shift, shows an interesting axial dependence and, under particular circumstances, the intriguing phenomenon of the light oscillation. In part II, the weak measurement technique is discussed in detail and compared with direct optical measurements.