Abstract

By considering the beam splitter as part of a Michelson interferometer and applying a simple energy balance argument to the input and output, we obtain reciprocity relations connecting the complex reflectivities and transmittivities on both sides of the beam splitter. The results hold for any nonabsorbing beam splitter whose refractive index varies only in one direction, whether the medium is stratified or continuous. The corresponding results for a quantum field falling on the beam splitter are discussed.

© 1988 Optical Society of America