Simultaneous Measurement of the Optical Constants of Metals Over a Wide Wavelength Range

Abstract

THE optical constants of metals can be calculated from a knowledge of the ellipse of vibration which results from the reflexion of plane polarized light usually at an azimuth of 45° by a plane metallic surface. In the present method, this ellipse is determined by finding the ratio of the major and minor axes and the orientation of the major axis to the plane of incidence. It differs, however, from other methods using this principle in that the data from which the ellipse is obtained are produced on a photographic plate in the form of a thin vertical strip of variable intensity for each wave-length. A continuous source and a dispersing prism enable a record to be obtained simultaneously for the whole of the spectrum-range required.