Dispersion relations and phase retrieval in infrared reflection spectra analysis

A variant of the maximum entropy method (MEM), recently developed by Vartiainen et al., is proposed for infrared reflectivity spectra analysis. The procedure uses a new interpolation algorithm to estimate the so-called error phase that is the key step of the model. As shown by several examples, this approach is a good alternative to the well known Kramers-Kronig phase retrieval relation for the determination of the dielectric function and proved to be particularly efficient in dealing with conductor materials.