Excitation of Surface Polaritons

Harrick [156] and Hansen [99] gained insight into the physics of the ATR spec-tram of a layered stracture and derived formnlas for the penetration depth and the contribntion of the surface layer to the net absorption. Electric field analysis has also been employed to explain the phenomena of SEWs [132, 157, 158] and the excitation of surface polaritons [159, 160], In addition, EEA has been shown to be a basis for an approximate estimation of the molecular orientation (Section 3.11). However, as will be shown below, the MSEEs cannot be used to compare the spectral contrast for the same film in different optical systems. 

Attenuated total reflection (ATR) Attenuation of the reflected wave intensity in total internal reflection due to energy losses in the medium which covers the face where reflection occurs. This phenomenon is used to monitor the excitation of surface polaritons in Otto and Kretschmann configurations. 

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