Observation of Goos-Hanchen shifts in metallic reflection

We report the first observation of the Goos-Hanchen shift of a light beam incident on a bare metal surface. This phenomenon is particularly interesting because the Goos-Hanchen shift for p polarized light in metals is negative and much bigger than the positive shift for s polarized light. The experimental result for the measured shifts as a function of the angle of incidence is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. In an energy-flux interpretation, our measurement shows the existence of a backward energy flow at the bare metal surface when this is excited by a p polarized beam of light.