EIGENVALUE ANALYSIS OF THE SURFACE FORCES APPARATUS INTERFEROMETER

The resonant wavelengths, transmission, and eigenpolarizations have be en obtained for a symmetric three-layer multiple-beam interferometer c omprising arbitrarily oriented mica sheets with high-reflectance coati ngs on the outer surfaces confining an optically anisotropic medium. T he interferometer configuration is one that is commonly used in the su rface forces apparatus. Numerical results for typical surface forces a pparatus configurations are presented. The analysis is applicable to l ossy media as well as to asymmetric configurations and to media with a dditional layers.