Optical path difference in a plane-parallel uniaxial plate

Abstract

The flux of energy given by the Poynting vector Se and the kt-wave vector normal to the geometrical wavefront for the extraordinary ray propagating through uniaxial crystals can be evaluated by using the theory developed by Avendaño-Alejo et al. [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 19, 1668 (2002)] and Avendaño-Alejo and Stavroudis [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 19, 1674 (2002)]. We give here the equations necessary to evaluate the general dispersion angle Se x kt. Additionally we define two new dispersion angles, Se x A and kt x A, where A is the crystal axis vector. With these new dispersion angles we evaluate the optical path length traversed by the extraordinary ray in a plane-parallel uniaxial plate when the crystal axis lies in the plane of incidence.