A ray-optical analysis of thin-film polarization converters

A compact formula is given for the Goos-Haenchen shifts occurring for total internal reflection of light from anisotropic media. This is used in a coupled-wave analysis of polarization conversion in thin-film waveguides deposited on optically birefringent substrates. A numerical example illustrates the considerable influence of the Goos-Haenchen shifts on the conversion length.