Influence of multiple reflections on transmission through a stack of plates.
We examine the problem of light transmission along the normal through a stack of flat plates whose thicknesses and separations vary. For a modest number of plates, an exact calculation is straightforward, but then one must address how to average over both the disorder in the stack and the distribution of incident wavelengths. Model calculations are used to show that an average over the light's distribution can suppress most of the fluctuations due to disorder. Our results are in qualitative agreement with experimental data and imply that multiple reflections do contribute significantly to the measurements. Finally we explore the effect of multiple reflections on photometry.
Schaich
W L
WL
Physics Department, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA. schaich@indiana.edu
Ewing
George E
GE
Karlinsey
Robert L
RL