TRANSMISSION ELLIPSOMETRY OF A THIN-FILM HELICOIDAL BIANISOTROPIC MEDIUM

Experimental evidence is introduced for circularly birefringent and di chroic behavior in a MgF2 thin-film helicoidal bianisotropic medium (T FHBM), which is a rotationally inhomogeneous and anisotropic material. Optical rotation (OR) of an incident linearly polarized monochromatic plane wave is observed upon transmission through the MgF2/glass TFHBM /substrate system, and it is accompanied by an ellipticity in the pola rization of the transmitted plane wave. Both OR and ellipticity spectr a have remarkable features within a narrow wavelength zone not unlike the Cotton effect in isotropic chiral media. The features in the exper imental spectra are in accord with theoretical predictions. (C) 1997 A merican Institute of Physics.