Abstract

A review of the history of the theory of the reflection of light from a pile of plates is given. The presence of incorrect formulae in some current text and reference books is noted. The formulae for a pile of absorbing plates are derived by a method different from that used by Stokes, giving the results in a form different from his. The equivalence of the two forms is proven. An upper bound to the error caused by assuming an infinite instead of a finite number of multiple reflections is derived in the Appendix.

© 1947 Optical Society of America

The Reflection of Light from Glass with Double and Multiple Films

Antonin Vašiček
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 37(8) 623-634 (1947)

Reflection and Transmission Interference Filters Part I. Theory

L. N. Hadley and D. M. Dennison
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 37(6) 451-465 (1947)

A Theoretical Development of Exact Solution of Reflectance of Multiple Layer Optical Coatings

Doris L. Caballero
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 37(3) 176-180 (1947)

Intensity of Light Reflected from a Parallel Plate

Wallace E. Anderson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 27(8) 300-302 (1937)

A Generalized Intensity Formula for a System of Retardation Plates

Hsien-Yü Hsü, M. Righartz, and Yüng-k’ang Liang
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 37(2) 99-106 (1947)