Physical origin of large positive and negative lateral optical beam shifts in prism–waveguide coupling system

Large lateral beam shift in prism–waveguide coupling system is theoretically analyzed from the viewpoint of interference between multiple reflected beam constituents. It is shown that the reflected beam is a result of interference between two beams: the beam directly reflected from the prism and the total leaky beam coming from guided mode. The thickness of coupling layer determines the amplitude of the total leaky beam, and further determines the sign (positive or negative) of the reflected beam shift. Because of interference between two beams, intrinsic damping itself plays an important role in deciding the distortion of the reflected beam.