Physics 4215: Modern Optics

Coherence and Interference.

Two sources are said to be coherent when the waves emitted from them have the same frequency
and constant phase difference.

Characteristics of Coherent Sources

Coherent sources have the following characteristics:

1. The waves generated have a constant phase difference

2. The waves are of a single frequency

Coherent Source Example

 Laser light is an example of a coherent source of light. The light emitted by the laser light
has the same frequency and phase.

 Sound waves are another example of coherent sources. The electrical signals from the
sound waves travel with the same frequency and have constant phase difference.

Interference is the phenomenon in which two waves superpose to form the resultant wave
of the lower, higher or same amplitude.

Types of Interference

Interference of light waves can either be constructive interference or destructive interference.

 Constructive interference: Constructive interference takes place when the crest of one
wave falls on the crest of another wave such that the amplitude is maximum. These
waves will have the same displacement and are in the same phase.

 Destructive interference: In destructive interference, the crest of one wave falls on the
trough of another wave such that the amplitude is minimum. The displacement and phase
of these waves are not the same.
Lasers are commonly used as coherent sources and use a phenomenon called Simulated
Emission to generate highly coherent light. Small sources of light are at least partially coherent.
This is why we can observe interference patterns on soap bubbles and appreciate the iridescence
of butterfly wings. While sunlight is incoherent overall, its small portions on small areas are
generally partially coherent.

Conditions for Interference of Light Waves

For sustained interference of light to occur, the following

conditions must be met:

1. Coherent sources of light are needed.

2. Amplitudes and intensities must be nearly equal to produce sufficient contrast between
maxima and minima.
3. The source must be small enough that it can be considered as a point source of light.
4. The interfering sources must be near enough to produce wide fringes.
5. The source and screen must be far enough to produce wide fringes.
6. The sources must emit light in the same state of polarization.
7. The sources must be monochromatic.

Lasers are commonly used as coherent sources and use a phenomenon called Simulated
Emission to generate highly coherent light. Small sources of light are at least partially coherent.
This is why we can observe interference patterns on soap bubbles and appreciate the iridescence
of butterfly wings. While sunlight is incoherent overall, its small portions on small areas are
generally partially coherent.

Conditions for Interference of Light Waves

For sustained interference of light to occur, the following

conditions must be met:

1. Coherent sources of light are needed.

2. Amplitudes and intensities must be nearly equal to produce sufficient contrast between
maxima and minima.
 3. The source must be small enough that it can be considered as a point source of light.
4. The interfering sources must be near enough to produce wide fringes.
5. The source and screen must be far enough to produce wide fringes.
6. The sources must emit light in the same state of polarization.
7. The sources must be monochromatic.

Examples to prove the interference of light.

 Soap Bubble which reflects spectrum of light

 Floating film of oil on water

 Colors generated by incandescent bulbs

Fig. 1. How to determine the path length difference Δl for waves traveling from two slits to a
common point on a screen

Simple trigonometry shows Δl=dsinθ 1

Combining this with the interference equations discussed previously, we obtain constructive
interference for a double slit when the path length difference is an integral multiple of the
wavelength, or

Dsinθ = mλ (constructive) 2

Dsinθ = (m+1/2)λ (destructive) 3

Where

 m=0,±1,±2,±3…m=0,±1,±2,±3…,
 λλ is the wavelength of the light,
 dd is the distance between slits, and
 θθ is the angle from the original direction of the beam as discussed above.
We call m the order of the interference. For example, m=4 is fourth order interference.
If θ is typically small enough that sinθ≈tanθ≈ym/D

where ym is the distance from the central maximum to the m-th bright fringe and D is the
distance between the slit and the screen. Equation 2 may then be written as dym/D=mλ

example

Suppose you pass light from a He-Ne

laser
through two slits separated by 0.0100 mm and find that the third bright line on a screen is
formed at an angle of 10.95° relative to the incident beam. What is the wavelength of the light?

Solution

the third bright line is due to third-order constructive interference, which means that m=3. We
are given d=0.0100mm and θ=10.950. The wavelength can thus be found using Equation 2 for
constructive interference.
λ=dsinθ/m.
λ= (0.0100mm)(sin10.950)/3
= 6.33×10-4mm
= 633nm.

Interferometers

An interferometer is an instrument for making precise measurements for beams of light of

such factors as length, surface irregularities, and index of refraction. It divides a beam of
light into a number of beams that travel unequal paths and whose intensities, when
reunited, add or subtract (interfere with each other). This interference appears as a pattern
of light and dark bands called interference fringes. Information derived from fringe
measurements is used for precise wavelength determinations, measurement of very small
distances and thicknesses, the study of spectrum lines, and determination of refractive
indices of transparent materials. In astronomy, interferometers are used to measure the
distances between stars and the diameters of stars.
In 1881 the American physicist A.A. Michelson constructed the interferometer used in the
Michelson-Morley experiment.(see figure) The Michelson interferometer and its modifications
are used in the optical industry for testing lenses and prisms, for measuring index of refraction,
and for examining minute details of surfaces (microtopographies). The instrument consists of a
half-silvered mirror that divides a light beam into two equal parts, one of which is transmitted to
a fixed mirror and the other of which is reflected to a movable mirror. By counting the fringes
created as the mirror is moved, the amount of movement can be precisely determined. Michelson
also developed the stellar interferometer, capable of measuring the diameters of stars in terms of
the angle, as small as 0.01" of an arc, subtended by the extreme points of the star at the point of
observation. an observer can measure minute displacements that are accurate to a fraction of a
wavelength, as shown by the relation
λo
Δd= m
2

Example

A red laser light of wavelength 630 nm is used in a Michelson interferometer. While keeping the
mirror M1 fixed, mirror M2 is moved. The fringes are found to move past a fixed cross-hair in
the viewer. Find the distance the mirror M2 is moved for a single fringe to move past the
reference line.

Solution

We use the result of the Michelson interferometer interference condition to find the distance
moved, Δd, For a 630-nm red laser light, and for each fringe crossing (m=1), the distance
traveled by M2 if you keep M1 fixed is

Δd=mλ0/2

=1×630nm/2

=315nm

=0.315μm.

Fourier transform spectroscopy is a technique that uses interference of light rather than
dispersion to measure the spectrum of a substance.

The phenomenon of light bending at a slit's or obstacle's sharp corners and extending into a
geometric shadow area is known as diffraction of light.

Diffraction can only happen when the wavelength of the light is similar to the size of the
obstruction or slit.

There are two forms of diffraction:

Fresnel When the light source is a finite distance from the slit, diffraction of this kind takes
place. Cylindrical or spherical wavefront is considered.

Fraunhofer Diffraction: This kind of diffraction happens when a plane wavefront strikes the slit
and a plane wavefront emerges from the slit. The source of light and the screen on which
diffraction pattern is obtained is at infinite distance from the diffracting system.

A diffraction grating defines an optical component with a periodic structure that splits the light
into various beams that travel in different directions. It is an alternative way to observe spectra
other than a prism. Generally, when light is incident on the grating, the split light will have
maxima at an angle θ. The formula for diffraction grating is used to calculate the angle.

λn=dsinθ n

 n is the order of grating,

 d is the distance between two fringes or spectra

 λ is the wavelength of light

 θ is the angle to maxima

Question 1: A diffraction grating is of width 5 cm and produces a deviation of 300 in the

second-order with the light of wavelength 580 nm. Find the slit spacing.

Given: Angle θ =300, order n = 2, wavelength λ = 580 nm. the slit spacing is given by

λn=dsinθ n

d = 2×580×10-9 /sin30

The Fabry interferometer (variable-gap interferometer) was produced in 1897 by the French
physicists Charle Fabry. It consists of two highly reflective and strictly parallel plates called an
etalon. Because of the high reflectivity of the plates of the etalon, the successive multiple
reflections of light waves diminish very slowly in intensity and form very narrow, sharp fringes.
These may be used to reveal hyperfine structures in line spectra, to evaluate the widths of narrow
spectral lines, and to redetermine the length of the standard meter.

Applications Of Fabry-Perot Interferometers

The Fabry-Perot interferometers have a wide range of applications. All these applications,
however, are either based on the study of the fine structure lines, or the comparison of
wavelengths as discussed under the title "resolution", above. When a Fabry-Perot interferometer
is illuminated by some quasi-monochromatic light, the intensity distribution of the transmitted
light differs from its standart form and yields some information about the spectral distribution of
the light used. If we imagine that their wavelength difference is gradually increased, and
providing they do not differ too greatly in intensity, their presence will eventually be evident
from the presence of two mutually displaced sets of maxima in the interference pattern. The
components are then said to be resolved by the interferometer. In this way, Fabry and Perot were
able to observe directly the fine structure of spectral lines which Michelson could only infer, and
the Fabry-Perot interferometer has since played a dominant role in this branch of spectroscopy.

Diffraction grating

When light encounters an obstacle such as an opaque screen with a small opening (or
aperture), the intensity distribution behind the screen can look much different than the shape
of the aperture that it passed through. Since light is an electromagnetic wave, its wavefront is
altered much like a water wave encountering an obstruction. This diffraction phenomenon
occurs because of interference. A diffraction grating is essentially a multi-slit surface. It
provides angular dispersion, i.e., the ability to separate wavelengths based on the angle that
they emerge from the grating. Gratings can be transmissive, like the multi-slit aperture, but
they can also be reflective where the grooved surface is overcoated with a reflecting material
such as aluminum. A typical diffraction grating consists of a large number of parallel grooves
(representing the slits) with a groove spacing (denoted dG, also called the pitch) on the order
of the wavelength of light. This is more commonly reported as the groove density (G), which
is the reciprocal of dG e.g., typical gratings have G values between 30 and 5000 grooves per
mm. The groove spacing determines the angles at which a single wavelength will
constructively interfere to form diffracted orders, which are equivalent to the intensity peaks.
In addition to the spacing of the grooves, the groove profile plays a key role in the
performance of a grating. The basic grating equation determines the discrete directions into
which monochromatic light of wavelength λ is diffracted. The equation is shown below:
The figure below illustrates this diffraction. Light of wavelength λ is incident at an angle α
and diffracted by the grating (with a groove spacing dG) along a set of angles βm. These angles
are measured from the grating normal, which is shown as the dashed line perpendicular to the
grating surface at its center. If βm is on the opposite side of the grating normal from α, its sign
is opposite. In the grating equation, m is the order of diffraction, which is an integer. For the
zeroth order (m = 0), α. and β0 are equal and opposite, resulting in the light simply being
reflected, i.e., no diffraction. The sign convention for m requires that it is positive if the
diffracted ray lies to the left (counter-clockwise side) of the zeroth order and negative if it lies
to the right (the clockwise side). When a beam of monochromatic light is incident on a
grating, the light is simply diffracted from the grating in directions corresponding to m = -2, -
1, 0, 1, 2, 3, etc. When a beam of polychromatic light is incident on a grating, then the light is
dispersed so that each wavelength satisfies the grating equation as shown in Figure below.

Figure: Polychromatic light diffracted from a grating.

Laser
The word LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Laser is a device that amplifies or increases the intensity of light and produces highly directional
light.

Laser not only amplifies or increases the intensity of light but also generates the light. Laser
emits light through a process called stimulated emission of radiation which amplifies or increases
the intensity of light. Some lasers generate visible light but others generate ultraviolet or infrared
rays which are invisible. Laser light is different from the conventional light. Laser light has
extra-ordinary properties which are not present in the ordinary light sources like sun and
incandescent lamp.

The conventional light sources such as electric bulb or tube light does not emit highly directional
and coherent light whereas lasers produce highly directional, monochromatic, coherent and
polarized light beam.

In conventional light sources, excited electrons emit light at different times and in different
directions so there is no phase relation between the emitted photons.

On the other hand, the photons emitted by the electrons of laser are in same phase and move in
the same direction.

Holography

holography, means of creating a unique photographic image without the use of a lens. The
photographic recording of the image is called a hologram, which appears to be an unrecognizable
pattern of stripes and whorls but which—when illuminated by coherent light, as by a laser beam
—organizes the light into a three-dimensional representation of the original object.

An ordinary photographic image records the variations in intensity of light reflected from an
object, producing dark areas where less light is reflected and light areas where more light is
reflected. Holography, however, records not only the intensity of the light but also its phase, or
the degree to which the wave fronts making up the reflected light are in step with each other,
or coherent.
Optical anisotropic materials have an index of refraction that varies with the propagation
direction in the material. These materials are said to be birefringent. In an anisotropic material,
the two vectors E and D are no longer parallel to one another, requiring the use of tensors to
describe birefringence.

In crystal optics, the index ellipsoid (also known as the optical indicatrix or sometimes as the
dielectric ellipsoid) is a geometric construction which concisely represents the refractive indices
and associated polarizations of light, as functions of the orientation of the wavefront, in a
doubly-refractive crystal (provided that the crystal does not exhibit optical rotation). When this
ellipsoid is cut through its center by a plane parallel to the wavefront, the resulting intersection
(called a central section or diametral section) is an ellipse whose major and minor semiaxes have
lengths equal to the two refractive indices for that orientation of the wavefront, and have the
directions of the respective polarizations as expressed by the electric displacement vector D.
The index ellipsoid is a diagram of an ellipsoid that depicts the orientation and relative
magnitude of refractive indices in a crystal. The equation for the ellipsoid is constructed using
the electric displacement vector, D, and the dielectric constants. Defining the field energy, W, as:

and the reduced displacement as:

then the index ellipsoid is defined by the equation,

The semiaxes of this ellipsoid are dielectric constants of the crystal.

This ellipsoid can be used to determine the polarization of an incoming wave, with wave
vector, s, by taking the intersection of the plane with the index ellipsoid. The axes of
the resulting ellipse are the resulting polarization directions.
Double refraction

Double refraction, also called birefringence, an optical property in which a single ray of
unpolarized light entering an anisotropic medium is split into two rays, each traveling in a
different direction. One ray (called the extraordinary ray) is bent, or refracted, at an angle as it
travels through the medium; the other ray (called the ordinary ray) passes through the medium
unchanged.

Double refraction can be observed by comparing two materials, glass and calcite. If a pencil
mark is drawn upon a sheet of paper and then covered with a piece of glass, only one image will
be seen; but if the same paper is covered with a piece of calcite, and the crystal is oriented in a
specific direction, then two marks will become visible.

Fig. double refraction

The Figure above shows the phenomenon of double refraction through a calcite crystal. An
incident ray is seen to split into the ordinary ray CO and the extraordinary ray CE upon entering
the crystal face at C. If the incident ray enters the crystal along the direction of its optic axis,
however, the light ray will not become divided. In double refraction, the ordinary ray and the
extraordinary ray are polarized in planes vibrating at right angles to each other. Furthermore,
the refractive index (a number that determines the angle of bending specific for each medium) of
the ordinary ray is observed to be constant in all directions; the refractive index of the
extraordinary ray varies according to the direction taken because it has components that are both
parallel and perpendicular to the crystal’s optic axis. Because the speed of light waves in a
medium is equal to their speed in a vacuum divided by the index of refraction for that
wavelength, an extraordinary ray can move either faster or slower than an ordinary ray.
All transparent crystals except those of the cubic system, which are normally optically isotropic,
exhibit the phenomenon of double refraction: in addition to calcite, some well-known examples
are ice, mica, quartz, sugar, and tourmaline. Other materials may become birefringent under
special circumstances. For example, solutions containing long-chain molecules exhibit double
refraction when they flow; this phenomenon is called streaming birefringence. Plastic materials
built up from long-chain polymer molecules may also become doubly refractive when
compressed or stretched; this process is known as photoelasticity. Some isotropic materials (e.g.,
glass) may even exhibit birefringence when placed in a magnetic or electric field or when
subjected to external stress.

Optical activity

Is the ability of a substance to rotate the plane of polarization of a beam of light that is passed
through it. (In plane-polarized light, the vibrations of the electric field are confined to a single
plane.) The intensity of optical activity is expressed in terms of a quantity, called specific
rotation, defined by an equation that relates the angle through which the plane is rotated, the
length of the light path through the sample, and the density of the sample (or its concentration if
it is present in a solution). Because the specific rotation depends upon the temperature and upon
the wavelength of the light, these quantities also must be specified. The rotation is assigned a
positive value if it is clockwise with respect to an observer facing the light source, negative if
counterclockwise. A substance with a positive specific rotation is described as dextrorotatory and
denoted by the prefix d or (+); one with a negative specific rotation is levorotatory, designated by
the prefix l or (-).Optical activity was first observed in quartz crystals in 1811 by a French
physicist, François Arago. Another French physicist, Jean-Baptiste Biot, found in 1815 that
liquid solutions of tartaric acid or of sugar are optically active, as are liquid or vaporous
turpentine. Louis Pasteur was the first to recognize that optical activity arises from the
dissymmetric arrangement of atoms in the crystalline structures or in individual molecules of
certain compounds.
Electro-optic effects

The electro-optic effect (or electrooptic effect) is the modification of the refractive index of a
medium, caused by an electric field. Electro optic effect can be observed when light propagates
through a crystal in the presence of an Electric Field. The electric field applied to the crystal can
alter or induce birefringence by changing the refractive index of the medium. This effect is
known as electro optic effect.

Pockel’s Effect (or) Linear Electro Optic effect is observed only in non-centrosymmetric
materials. The change in the refractive index (µ) is proportional to the applied electric field (E)
µ = f(E)

Since the change is very small, by using tailor’s series, it can be written as

µ(E) = µ0 – ½ r µ3E

The change µ = ½ r µ3E

Where r is a constant for a crystal and it varies from 10-12 to 10-10 m/V

Kerr Effect or Non Linear EOE

In Kerr effect, the change in the refractive index is proportional to the square of the applied
electric field.

µ = f(E2)

Since the change is very small, by using tailor’s series, it can be written as

µ(E) = µ0 – ½ s µ3E2

The change, µ = ½ s µ3E2 (s varies from 10-18 to 10-14 m2/V2).

The Kerr effect is very weak compared with pockel. Some highly transparent crystals show Kerr
effect but with smaller Kerr constant. Some polar liquids such as Nitro toluene and nitro benzene
show appreciable Kerr value. The change in the refractive index induces or alters the
birefringence of the crystal and therefore the beam suffers a phase shift. Even though the change
in the refractive index is very small, the corresponding phase change in the beam propagating
along the direction of applied field could be significant.

Non-linear optics

Nonlinear optics is the branch of optics that describes the behavior of light in nonlinear media,
that is, media in which the polarization density P responds non-linearly to the electric field E of
the light. The non-linearity is typically observed only at very high light intensities (when the
electric field of the light is >108 V/m and thus comparable to the atomic electric field of
~1011 V/m) such as those provided by lasers. Above the Schwinger limit, the vacuum itself is
expected to become nonlinear. In nonlinear optics, the superposition principle no longer holds.
Nonlinear optics explains nonlinear response of properties such as frequency, polarization, phase
or path of incident light. These nonlinear interactions give rise to a host of optical phenomena: