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Griffiths Problems 09.13

This document summarizes the reflection and transmission coefficients for electromagnetic waves passing between two different media. It defines the reflection coefficient R as the ratio of reflected to incident intensity and the transmission coefficient T as the ratio of transmitted to incident intensity. Expressions for R and T are derived in terms of the incident amplitude, the index of refraction of each medium, and a parameter β that depends on the impedances and indices of each medium. It is noted that R + T = 1, expressing the conservation of energy. Limitations of the classical theory are also discussed.

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50 views2 pages

Griffiths Problems 09.13

This document summarizes the reflection and transmission coefficients for electromagnetic waves passing between two different media. It defines the reflection coefficient R as the ratio of reflected to incident intensity and the transmission coefficient T as the ratio of transmitted to incident intensity. Expressions for R and T are derived in terms of the incident amplitude, the index of refraction of each medium, and a parameter β that depends on the impedances and indices of each medium. It is noted that R + T = 1, expressing the conservation of energy. Limitations of the classical theory are also discussed.

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AlejandroM Alejandro LaZo
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© © All Rights Reserved
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ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN MATTER: REFLECTION AND

TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENTS

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References: Griffiths, David J. (2007), Introduction to Electrodynamics,
3rd Edition; Pearson Education - Problem 9.13.
Continuing with our study of electromagentic waves in matter, we’ll
carry on with the system of an incident wave travelling in the +z direction
(so k̂ = ẑ) and polarized in the x direction (so n̂ = x̂). Suppose the boundary
is the xy plane, with medium 1 on the left (z < 0) and medium 2 on the right
(z > 0). Then the reflected and transmitted (complex) amplitudes are

1−β
(1) Ẽ0R = ± Ẽ0
1+β I
2
(2) Ẽ0T = ± Ẽ0
1+β I

where Ẽ0I is the incident amplitude and

µ1 v1 µ1 n2
(3) β≡ =
µ2 v2 µ2 n1

with vi the speed of the wave in medium i and ni = c/vi the index of refrac-
tion.
The intensity of a wave in a vacuum is defined as the mean (over time) of
the magnitude of the Poynting vector:

1
(4) I ≡ hSi = E02 cε0
2
If we follow through the derivation of I for a wave in matter, we see that
the only difference is that c is replaced by v and ε0 by ε, so the intensity
becomes

1
(5) I = εvE02
2
The reflection coefficient R is the ratio of reflected to incident intensity:
1
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN MATTER: REFLECTION AND TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENTS
2

1 2
2 ε1 v1 E0R
(6) R = 1 2
2 ε1 v1 E0I
1−β 2
 
(7) =
1+β
The transmission coefficient T is the ratio of transmitted to incident in-
tensity:

1 2
2 ε2 v2 E0T
(8) T = 1 2
2 ε1 v1 E0I
4ε2 v2
(9) =
ε1 v1 (1 + β )2
4β
(10) =
(1 + β )2
where in the last line we used

1
(11) vi = √
εi µi
1
(12) εi =
µi v2i
We can see that R + T = 1 which is just an expression of the conservation
of energy. The larger n2 is relative to n1 , the larger is β which means that
R → 1 and T → 0.
The theory here is incomplete, as in practice the index of refraction de-
pends not only on the material but also on the wavelength of radiation. This
is largely a quantum phenomenon as it depends on the distances between
the atoms in the refracting medium, whereas the classical theory assumes
the medium is continuous.
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