Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Optics
A branch of physics that studies behavior of light and other EM waves.

Nature of Light
Wave nature – James Maxwell predicted the EM waves in 1873
Heinrich Hertz confirmed it experimentally in 1887.
Particle nature – Photoelectric effect as explained by Einstein, the energy of the
light wave is packaged in discrete bundles called photons.
Wave fronts
The surface of uniform disturbances

Rays:
Imaginary lines along the direction of wave propagation,
or path of the photons, they are generally perpendicular
to wave fronts.

Geometric optics – subfield of optics for which the ray description

is adequate
Physical optics – subfield of optics dealing with the wave behavior
specifically
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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Light wave in (transparent) Material

The light wave travels more slowly in material
than in vacuum. The slowness is measured
using the index of refraction, a material property
.
Index of refraction n:
c
n= ( n ≥ 1)
υ
υ: the speed of light in the material
The index of refraction depends not only on
the material, but in general also on the
wavelength of light. This dependence is called
dispersion and the material is called dispersive
material.
Examples: n = 1.0003 for air
n = 1.333 for water
Most glasses have n between
1.5 − 2.0. For most purposes,
n ≈ 1 for air.
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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

The frequency f of the wave does not change when pas sin g from material
to another . However , the wavelength is different in different material. This
is because the speed of the wave is different.
If λ 0 is the wavelength in vacuum, then the wavelength in material is
υ 1 c λ0
λ= = = < λ0
f nf n

Reflection and Refraction

When a light wave strikes an interface separating
two transparent materials, the wave is partly
reflected and partly refracted (transmitted).
In general, the refracted ray is bent in direction.

If the surface is smooth, the specular (“mirror”

in Latin) reflection occurs. For rough surfaces,
diffuse reflection occurs (rays reflected randomly).

Reflection from most of objects in nature are

diffusive, that is the reason that we can see them
from different angles.
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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

For the most part, we will concern ourselves with specular reflections. We describe
the direction of rays using the angles they make with respect to the normal at the
point of incidence.
Plane of incidence: the plane formed by the normal to the surface and the incident ray

Laws of Reflection and Refraction

 The incident, reflected, and refracted rays and the
normal to the surface all lie in the same plane,
the plane of incidence.

 The angle of reflection θr is equal to the angle of

incidence θa for all wavelengths and for any pair of
materials.
θr =θa

 Snell's Law (also called the law of refraction):

the relationship between indices of
refraction and angles
na sin=
θa nb sin θb

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Bending of submerged ruler

The light rays coming from below the surface
change in direction at the air-water interface,
so the rays appear to be coming from a position
above their actual position.
d
The actual depth: h =
tan θb
d
The apparent depth: h ' =
tan θa
 tan θb 
Thus their relationship: h ' =  h
 tan θa  na ( = 1) θa
sin θb na d
Snell's law: =
sin θa nb h' θb
For small angles (i.e. from above)
 tan θb   sin θb   na  h nb ( = n ) h
= h'   h ≈  =  h =
  h
 tan θa   sin θa   nb  n

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Total Internal Reflection

For the case na > nb , there is a critical incident
angle θcrit above which no light will be
transmitted to the 2nd material. All light will
be reflected back to the 1st material.
Critical angle is determined by
n
sin θcrit =b ( na > nb )
na
Total internal reflection if θa > θcrit .

Total internal reflection can occur only when

light attempts to move from a medium to
another medium of lower index of refraction.

Total internal reflection makes fiber optics

possible. It allows to trap the optical signal
inside fibers.

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Fresnel Equations:
When light travels between media of different
indices of refraction, part it will be reflected
and part transmitted.
The fractions of incident power that are reflected
or transmitted are called reflection and transmission
coefficients respectively. They were first derived by
Augustin-Jean Fresnel and, therefore, are called Reflection
Fresnel equation.
na
Fresnel equations for normal incidence:
2 nb
n −n
R= b a (reflection coefficient )
nb + na
4na nb transmission
and T= 2 ( transmission coefficient )
( na + nb )
Note that R + T = 1 as required by the energy conservation.

Example: For air-water interface,

= R 0.02
= and T 0.98.

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Mirrors
are objects with smooth surfaces at which specular (regular) reflection takes
place with little transmission.

When a ray is successively reflected by two perpendicular mirrors, the reflected

ray is opposite to its original direction.
This is also true in 3-D. When a ray is successively reflected by three mirrors
forming a corner of a cube, the final reflected ray is again opposite to its original
direction. This principle is widely used in tail-light.
Apollo astronauts placed some of these cubes on the
moon. What are they for?

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Dispersion
The optical properties of a material are generally wavelength dependent.
Dispersion is the phenomena of the wavelength dependence of the index of
refraction.

Since the white light is a superposition

of waves with different visible
wavelengths, it will be dispersed into
a spectrum when it passes through a
dispersitive material. Components of
different wavelengths are refracted
differently because
n= n ( λ )

For most materials, the index of

refraction decreases with increasing
wavelength ⇒
more refraction for shorter wavelengths.

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Rainbows
is the results of sun light refraction, reflection
and dispersion off water droplets. They appear
in the sky directly opposite of the sun.
Rainbows have the shape of an arc, centered
on a line from the sun to the observer. The
primary rainbows (refraction twice, reflection dark
once) have red on the outer side and violet
on the inner side.
Part of the sunlight is reflected back with
an angle between 0 and 42° with the most
intense light at 42°. This angle depends on
wavelength. Rays hitting outer or inner rings
of the droplet will reflected back with smaller
angles.
Because of the dispersion, light rays with
different colors are separated after refractions,
leading to the rainbow phenomena.
Secondary rainbows are caused by sunlight reflecting twice insider droplets.
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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Polarization
A transverse wave in 3-dimension has two degrees 1
I = I0
of freedom in how the disturbance is oriented. 2
An electromagnetic wave is said to be linearly polarized
if the oscillating electric field is always parallel to a fixed
axis. There are two independent linear polarizations.
Natural light is usually unpolarized, i.e., the oscillating
electric field points in random direction in the plane
perpendicular to the propagation. Polarized light can
be produced if it passes a polarizing filter which passes
light waves only if the electric field is in some preferred
direction.

Mathematical description of linearly polarized light

Light (plane wave) traveling in + z direction:
 
E= ωt ) [E0 cos α xˆ + E0 sin α yˆ ]cos ( kz − ωt )
( z ,t ) E0 cos ( kz −=
The x and y components of the electric fields:
= E x E0 cos α cos ( kz − ωt )
=E y E0 sin α cos ( kz − ωt )

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Polarization by Reflection
Unpolarized light can get partially or even fully polarized
after reflection due to the fact that the reflection is
different for the parallel and perpendicular components
of the electric fields to the plane of incidence.

There is one particular incident angle θp , for which the E
component in the plane of incidence is not reflected at all.
The reflected light is therefore completely poarlized
perpendicular to the plane of incidence.

This angle is the Brewster ' s angle or the polarization angle

and is determined by:
n
tan θp = b
na

Example: when sunlight is reflected from the surface of a road, the reflected light
is predominantly polarized in the horizontal direction. A polarizing filter
with the vertical axis can block this reflected light, a technique widely
used in sunglasses.
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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Polarization by Scattering
Scattered light is partially
polarized in the direction
perpendicular to both
directions of the original
and scattered light rays.

This is because the unpolarized light is absorbed and reemitted. The reemitted light
has the same electric field direction as the original light, but the light with the field
component perpendicular to “the line of sight” can be seen by an observer.

Malus’s Law
The intensity of linearly polarized light
after passing through an analyzer
= I Imax cos2 φ
φ : the angle between the polarization
axis and the axis of the analyzer.
( angle θ in the picture on the right )
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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Circular Polarization
Consider a linearly polarized light:
  E E 
= E E0 cos ( kz −= ωt )  0 xˆ + 0 yˆ  cos ( kz − ωt )
 2 2 
The x and y components of the fields have the same phase. Now suppose the y-component
have a difference phase:
E
E x = 0 cos ( kz − ωt )
2
E0  π  E0
= Ey cos  kz −=
ωt −  sin( kz − ωt )
2  2 2
As the electric field propagates in space, it will
sweep out a circle. Therefore the light is called
circularly polarized.
linear (right) circular
polarization polarization

Two independent circular polarization based

on the direction of the sweeping circle:
- Counter-clock-wise: right circularly polarized
- Clock-wise: left circularly polarized

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 Chapter 33 Physics 340, Winter 2020

Huygens’s Principle
Every point of a wave front may be considered as the source of
secondary waves that spread out in all directions. The new wave
front at a later time is then found by constructing a surface
tangent to the secondary waves, often called as the envelope of
the secondary waves.
Huygen’s principle is particularly useful in analyzing the wave
phenomena of interference and diffraction, major topics to be
discussed later.
Huygens’s principle does not add anything new to the Maxwell
equations, but it provides a convenient way to visualize the light propagation.

Fermat’s Principle
When a light ray travels between any two points, its path is the one that requires
the least time.
The light ray may travel in a curved line if the time it takes between the two points
is short. This can happen in material with non-uniform index of refraction.
Exercise: can you derive Snell’s law from Fermat’s principle?

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