Visualization of Faraday rotation and optical activity at oblique incidence

Abstract

Gyrotropic and chiral media are known to rotate the polarization of electromagnetic waves, yielding the Faraday-rotation and optical-activity effects, respectively. In this paper, we analyze these effects based on the constitutive tensors of both media, and propose closed-form expressions for the rotation angles of waves impinging at oblique incidence. The analysis and predictions, based on the kDB system, are illustrated by showing the propagation of a Gaussian beam through layered gyrotropic and chiral media. In particular, the reciprocal character of optical activity, and the nonreciprocal character of Faraday rotation, are clearly shown.