Propagation of the angular spectrum of electromagnetic fields in uniaxial crystals of finite length in the regime of the paraxial approximation

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how electromagnetic fields propagate through finite uniaxial crystals using the angular spectrum method within the paraxial approximation, addressing boundary conditions and component couplings.

Contribution

It provides a detailed solution for boundary conditions at isotropic-uniaxial interfaces and clarifies when vector or scalar treatments are appropriate in this context.

Findings

Derived boundary condition solutions for finite uniaxial crystals.

Identified conditions for scalar versus vector field treatments.

Analyzed component coupling effects in the propagation process.

Abstract

In this paper we will analyze the propagation of the angular spectrum of the electromagnetic field through a finite length uniaxial crystal. We solve the boundary conditions of the fields at an interface of an isotropic medium and an uniaxial anisotropic medium with the optical axis in an arbitrary direction and soon after we choose the optical axis in a plane formed by the direction of propagation (z-axis) and the x-axis . We show how the couplings occur between the components of the field and in what situations we can give a vector or scalar treatment for the propagation