Optimizing weak measurements to detect angular deviations

We analyze and compare the angular deviations for an optical beam reflected by and transmitted through a dielectric triangular prism. The analytic expressions derived for the angular deviations hold for arbitrary incidence angles. For incidence approaching the internal and external Brewster angles, the angular deviations transverse magnetic waves present the same behavior leading to the well-known giant Goos-Haenchen angular shift. For incidence near the critical angle a new region of large shift is seen both for transverse magnetic and transverse electric waves. While a direct measuring procedure is better in the vicinity of the Brewster region, a weak measurement breaks off the giant Goos-Haenchen effect, preserving the amplification in the critical region. We discuss under which conditions it is possible to optimize the amplification and we also determine when a weak measurement is preferred to a direct measuring procedure.