COMPLEX FARADAY-EFFECT IN MULTILAYER STRUCTURES

After the Mueller matrix of a medium exhibiting a complex Faraday effect is derived, a procedure is developed that allows computation of optical transmission, Faraday rotation, and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) in planar layered structures when all internal reflections are taken into account. The structures are represented by Mueller matrices and have, therefore, a depolarizing effect on an incident wave of other than circular polarization. The formulas for some common experimental arrangements including ellipticity and azimuth modulation techniques are given and are then applied to three special cases, i. e. , a single absorbing plate, a single absorbing layer on a nonabsorbing substrate, and two identical absorbing layers on either side of a nonabsorbing substrate.