Refraction of electromagnetic waves at the interface between isotropic and anisotropic media

Abstract

One particular case of transverse electromagnetic wave refraction at an isotropic/anisotropic medium interface is considered in the dual-type anisotropy approximation, when both electrical and magnetic ordering affect the nature of refraction. When a transverse electromagnetic wave is refracted at the boundary with an anisotropic medium, in the general case, the birefringence takes place, which means that there are two directions along which energy can propagate, depending on the state of polarization. Nevertheless, the wave normal vector remains general and satisfies the traditional Snell's law of refraction, when the product of the refractive indices of the first/second medium and the sine of the angle of incidence/refraction remains constant. It is customary to describe media that are anisotropic in terms of optical properties by tensor material constants, which, if they remain symmetrical, can be reduced to a diagonal form. The report presents a procedure for describing the process of refraction of a transverse electromagnetic wave in the wave vector formalism when the mentioned wave enters from an isotropic medium into an anisotropic optical medium, which is ordered both by electric and magnetic degrees of freedom