Direct measurement of the optical Goos-Hänchen effect in lasers

The Goos-Hänchen longitudinal shift at total reflection of an optical Gaussian beam is experimentally investigated for only one reflection. The differential experimental method uses the high sensitivity of the eigenstates of a quasi-isotropic laser to small perturbations to measure an intracavity Goos-Hänchen effect for angles of incidence both below and above the critical angle. The measurements are in good agreement with our calculations of the longitudinal shift for Gaussian laser beams.