Determination of the Optical Constants of Highly Absorbing Materials in the Infrared Region.

Abstract : The behavior of electromagnetic waves in ideal lossless dielectrics is used to generate expressions for the reflection coefficients. Strongly absorbing dielectrics are considered and methods for evaluating their optical constants are presented. The effect of polarized infrared radiation on measured reflected intensities is detailed. Anisotropic materials and their particular measurement problems are discussed. Application to powder spectroscopy of highly absorbing materials is made. A summary of experimental results is presented.