Abstract

The pseudo-Brewster angle ${\varphi }_{pB}$ of minimum reflectance for p-polarized light and the principal angle $\overline{\varphi }$ at which incident linearly polarized light of the proper azimuth is reflected circularly polarized are considered as functions of the complex relative dielectric function ε of a dielectric–conductor interface over the entire complex ε plane. In particular, the spread of $\overline{\varphi }$ for a given ${\varphi }_{pB}$ is determined, and the maximum difference ${(\overline{\varphi }-{\varphi }_{pB})}_{\max }$ is obtained as a function of ${\varphi }_{pB}$. The maximum difference ${(\overline{\varphi }-{\varphi }_{pB})}_{\max }$ approaches 45° and 0 in the limit as ${\varphi }_{pB}\to 0$ and 90°, respectively. For ${\varphi }_{pB}<22.666°$, multiple principal angles ${\overline{\varphi }}_i$, $i=1,2,3$, appear for each ε in a subdomain of fractional optical constants. This leads to an elaborate pattern of multiple solution branches for the difference ${\overline{\varphi }}_i-{\varphi }_{pB}$, $i=1,2,3$, as is illustrated by several examples.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

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