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Polarization

1. Polarized light occurs when the electric field of light vibrates in a single direction. A polarizer transmits only light with electric fields aligned along its transmission axis, producing polarized light. An analyzer can be used to measure the intensity of transmitted polarized light using Malus' law. 2. Reflected light becomes partially polarized depending on the angle of incidence, with complete polarization occurring at Brewster's angle as described by Brewster's law, where the tangent of the angle of incidence equals the refractive index of the material. 3. Sunglasses contain vertical polarizers that absorb horizontally polarized glare from reflected light off surfaces like roads and water, reducing glare.

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142 views

Polarization

1. Polarized light occurs when the electric field of light vibrates in a single direction. A polarizer transmits only light with electric fields aligned along its transmission axis, producing polarized light. An analyzer can be used to measure the intensity of transmitted polarized light using Malus' law. 2. Reflected light becomes partially polarized depending on the angle of incidence, with complete polarization occurring at Brewster's angle as described by Brewster's law, where the tangent of the angle of incidence equals the refractive index of the material. 3. Sunglasses contain vertical polarizers that absorb horizontally polarized glare from reflected light off surfaces like roads and water, reducing glare.

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POLARIZATION IB COURSE COMPANION CH 4: PP.

141-143
1. Describe what is meant by polarized light.
Light is an example of a transverse wave (electric fields are oriented perpendicular to the direction of energy travel).
Light is created by the excitation of electrons in atoms. Individual atoms will, in
general, produce light with many different electric field orientations relative to the
direction of travel. There is an infinite possibility of possible electric field
directions. Each electron produces a different orientation and the beam of light we
see has
many different orientations. This is an example of unpolarized light.
A wave is said to be linearly polarized (or plane polarized) if the resultant electric field vector vibrates in the same direction
at all times at a particular point.
2.
3.

Explain the terms polarizer and analyser.


Calculate the intensity of a transmitted beam of polarized light using Malus law.
A common way to produce polarized light is to use materials that only transmit light with electric fields aligned along certain
directions. All other electric field vibrations will be absorbed by the material. An example of this material is called Polaroid.
In this material there are long chains of hydrocarbons. These chains easily absorb (interact) with electric field orientations
that are parallel to the chains. Electric fields that are perpendicular to the chains are transmitted through the material. The
orientation perpendicular to the hydrocarbon chain is called the transmission axis of the material.

4.
5.

Eo
E
Consider the diagram to the right:
Unpolarized
light is incident on a polaroid film
whose
transmission axis is vertical. This
means that
analyser
polarizer
only light with electrical fields
aligned
vertically will be transmitted through the polarizer. Well call the magnitude of this electric field Eo. This light will have
intensity Io which will be proportional to Eo2 (because intensity is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the wave).
The vertically polarized light is then passed through a second polaroid film whose transmission axis is
rotation by an angle from the transmission axis of the polarizer (in the diagram, is the angle from
Eo
vertical). The second film is called the analyzer. Only the component of E o that is parallel to the
transmission axis of the analyzer will pass through. Any component perpendicular to the second axis

E
will be absorbed. The diagram shows the View looking straight on at the analyzer. From the diagram it
is easy to see that E and Eo are related by E = Eo cos . This is the electric field that is transmitted by
the analyzer.
The intensity of light transmitted by the analyzer will be proportional to E 2, which means it is proportional to cos2 . We can
write: I = Io cos2 . This is known as Maluss Law. It tells us how to determine the transmitted intensity through the analyzer.
Note, if = 0o then I = Io (all light is transmitted) and if = 90o, I = 0 (no light is transmitted).

Describe polarization by reflection.


State and apply Brewsters law.
The degree to which reflected light is polarized is determined by the angle of incidence of the light on the reflecting surface. For
unpolarized light that is incident normal to the reflector (I = 0) or parallel to the surface of the reflector (I = 90o) the reflected
light will remain unpolarized. For angles in-between the reflected light will be partially polarized and at one specific angle it will
be completed polarized.
It is found that when unpolarized light is reflected from a smooth surface, more of the light whose electric field is parallel to the
surface will be reflected than light whose electric field is perpendicular to the surface. This leads to reflected light being partially
polarized parallel to the surface (more of the intensity of reflected light is parallel to the surface). The refracted beam is also
partially polarized.
However, for one critical incident angle -- called the polarizing angle P, the reflected light is completely polarized. This occurs
when the sum of the reflected angle and the refracted angle is 90o. Mathematically, R + r = 90o. Recall that for reflection, R =
I and we want to find the polarizing angle where I = P. So we can write the condition as
P + r = 90o. Now, we can also relate the refracted angle to the incident angle using Snells Law. For simplicity, we will assume
that the incident light is traveling in air (index of refraction = 1). Then, we can write Snells Law as follows: (1) sin P = n sin r
where n is the index of refraction of the reflecting material (e.g. for water n = 1.33). Substituting the polarizing condition into
Snells Law we get: sin P = n sin (90 - P) = n cos P. (We are using the fact that the sin and cos functions are out of phase by
90o). Rearranging slightly gives tan P = n. This is known as Brewsters Law (and the polarizing angle is also referred to as
Brewsters angle).
Consider light reflecting off of a smooth horizontal surface (a smooth lake or a road). All reflected light from the surface has a
strong horizontal component for its electric field vector. This intense light produces a glare that seems to be coming from the
surface (as a secondary source of light). It is possible to use a dense material to reduce the intensity of all light that enters your
eye but it will not reduce the glare. To reduce the glare you would want a polaroid material with its transmission axis aligned

vertically. This material will absorb most (or at the polarizing angle all) of the reflected light, thereby reducing the glare of
reflected light. This is why sunglasses are made of just such a polaroid material.

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