Negative and positive lateral shift of a light beam reflected from a grounded slab.

We consider the lateral shift (LS) of a light beam reflecting from a dielectric slab backed by a metal. It is found that the LS of the reflected beam can be negative while the intensity of reflected beam is almost equal to the incident one under a certain condition. The explanation for the negativity of the LS is given in terms of the interference of the reflected waves from the two interfaces. It is also shown that the LS can be enhanced or suppressed under some other conditions. The numerical calculation on the LS for a realistic Gaussian-shaped beam confirms our theoretical prediction.