Maxwell Equations and Total Internal Re ection

The phenomenon of total internal reflection is considered in terms of exact solutions of Maxwell equations. Matching of plane and evanescent waves at the interface is completed. It is shown that amplitude of the reflected wave cannot be obtained from the matching alone. Since it can differ from that of incident wave due to possible energy loss which may occur in the evanescent wave zone if there is another layer of optically dense medium, this loss is to be specified via amplitude of the reflected wave. Besides, reflected wave potential has phase shift which also depends on this specification.