Design off quarter-wave plates using a cavity-resonator technique

The design of a compact quarter-wave plate requires a knowledge of both the phase constants of its split normal modes and those of its dual degenerate coupled modes. It also requires a statement of its scattering matrix. The purpose of the paper is first to formulate this problem and secondly to provide an experimental database for the phase constants of one type of plate using a resonator technique. The normal modes of the device are described in terms of relative effective dielectric constants. These are derived by forming equivalences between the inhomogeneous normalmode problems and homogeneous equivalent waveguide models. The effective dielectric constants of the normal modes are given separately.