Displacement of a totally reflected light beam: filtering of he polarization states and amplification

When a beam of light is totally reflected by a plane interface, a translation depending on its polarization occurs: one shift Lx is parallel to the incident plane π and the other Ly is perpendicular to π. Both the longitudinal Lx and the transverse shifts Ly are quantized, each having two eigenvalues which are the principal linear polarization states for Lx and the circularly polarized states for Ly. Thus the longitudinal and the transverse shifts should not be simultaneously observable. A very strong amplification of these shifts could be obtained by using a multilayered structure. Measurements have been done, giving 50 μm for Lx and 30 μm for Ly.