Effect of multiple reflections of light on the optical characteristics of crystals

Using the Jones calculus technique, the interference phenomena which are associated with multiple internal reflections of light in crystal plates characterized by both the refraction and the absorption anisotropy are described for a practical case of weak optical anisotropy. The corrections for the multiple reflections arising in the frame of commonly used techniques for determining the absorption coefficient, the birefringence and the optical activity of crystals are obtained. The effect of the multiple reflections on the crystal optical parameters is experimentally studied for a number of crystals. The comparison of those results with the theoretical predictions confirms the validity of the approach.