High-precision interference measurements of phase shift between orthogonal linear polarized beams at total internal reflection

An interference method for measuring relative phase shift between orthogonally linearly polarized beams at total internal reflection with accuracy of 0.6 rad was proposed at this paper. We experimentally showed that it is impossible to determine the relative longitudinal displacement between beams with orthogonal linear polarizations at total internal reflection by the phase difference in the interferometer. The method developed by us could be useful in measurement of the reflected beam phase, to control the surface homogeneity, and to measure the refraction index of the prism.