Observation of large positive and negative lateral shifts of a reflected beam from symmetrical metal-cladding waveguides

Both large positive and negative lateral shifts were observed for the reflected light beam on a symmetrical metal-cladding waveguide. The positive and negative shifts approach about 480 and 180 microm, respectively, which to our knowledge are the largest experimental results ever reported. The experiment also proves that the positive or the negative shift depends on sign of the difference between the intrinsic and radiative damping.