Angular shift of a Gaussian beam reflected near the Brewster angle.

A general, accurate, and explicit expression has been derived for the angular shift of a Gaussian beam that is partially reflected by a dielectric interface. This result holds for arbitrary incidence angles, including the vicinity of the Brewster angle, and asymptotically approaches the results obtained by others for incidence away from that angle. A series of reflected beam profiles is shown to clarify the angular-shift phenomenon and to illustrate the beam-distortion effect that occurs at, or near, Brewster incidence.