Optics

Introduction

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light,
including its interaction with matter, and also considers optical devices. Optics usually
deals with visible (VIS), ultraviolet (UV), and infrared light (IR).
Light is electromagnetic radiation, on the one hand, and a flow of particles (photons),
on the other hand. This ambiguity in the definition is due to a dual nature of light which
is called the wave-particle duality (it will be considered in quantum physics).
Most optical phenomena can be explained using the classical electromagnetic
description of light. However, a complete electromagnetic description of light is often
difficult to apply in practice. Practical optics is usually done using simplified
approaches. The most common approach is geometrical optics.
Physical optics is a more comprehensive model of light, which includes wave effects
such as diffraction and interference that are neglected in geometrical optics.
Historically, the ray-based model of light that is geometrical optics was developed first,
followed by the wave model of light.
γ- X- VUV UV VIS IR
ray ray
0.01 10 200 400 800 λ
(nm)
 Main characteristics of light

The primary characteristics of light are intensity, velocity, frequency or wavelength,

and polarization. Speed of light in a vacuum is approximately 3∙108 m/s, and it is one of
the fundamental constants of nature. Speed of light in other media is n-times lower
than speed of light in a vacuum: c
m  ,
n
where c is speed of light in a vacuum, and n is the refractive index of the medium. The
refractive index is an optical property of a medium. It depends on relative permittivity ε
and relative permeability μ of the medium:
n   .

When light enters another medium with a dissimilar refractive index, the frequency
of light does not change according to the law of conservation of energy, but the
wavelength of light decreases along with the speed:
h c h  m h c h c 
E h f 0 h f m      m  0 ,
0 m 0 m n n

where λm is the wavelength of light in a medium, and λ0 is the wavelength of light in a

vacuum.
 Geometrical optics

Geometrical optics is an approach in optics that treats light waves as straight-line

rays. A ray is an abstraction. A ray is interpreted as an infinitely narrow beam of light.
Geometrical optics is based on the following assumptions:
•Light rays do not interfere between themselves.
•Light rays propagate in straight-line paths as they travel in a homogeneous medium.
•Light rays follow curved paths in a non-homogeneous medium in which the
refractive index changes.
•Light rays bend at the interface between two dissimilar media and can split in two
beams under certain circumstances.
•Light rays can be absorbed or reflected.
 Validity of geometrical optics

Geometrical optics is valid when the wavelength of light is much smaller compared to
the size of an object with which light interacts.
If the wavelength of light is comparable with the object dimension, light deflects
from the straight-line propagation after encountering with the object and diffraction
could happen. In this case, light behavior cannot be explained using geometrical optics
but requires wave description of light.
d

t io n (λ < < d)
ne pr o p a g a
straight-li

diffraction
(λ~d)
slit
 A point source of light

A point source of light is a source that is concentrated at a point and considered as

having no spatial extension. The sizes of a point source are negligible.
A shadow is an area hidden from direct rays. No one ray from a source of light can
directly reach the shadow area. A half-shadow is an area partially hidden from a source
of light. A point source of light cannot create a half-shadow.

A point A non-point
source source

shado half-
w shadow
 Reflection

When light strikes the surface of an object, some part of light is reflected. The rest of
the light is either absorbed by the object or transmitted through it if the object is
transparent.
The incident and reflected rays lie in the same plane with the normal, which is called
the plane of incidence, and the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
The angle of incidence (α) is the angle between an incident ray and the normal to the
surface, while the angle of reflection (β) is the angle between the normal and reflected
ray.
 Specular and diffuse reflection

Reflection of a beam of light depends on the roughness of the reflecting surface. The
parallelism of the rays of the reflected beam is deteriorated if the surface is not flat.
A surface with irregularities comparable or larger than the wavelength of light is
called diffusing. In fact, diffusing surfaces do not reflect a beam of light but scatter
rays of the beam in all possible directions. Such a reflection is called diffuse reflection.
A surface is called specular if the size of the surface irregularities is less than the
wavelength of light. The parallelism of rays of a beam is preserved when the beam is
reflected from a specular surface.
If a beam of light carries an image, specular reflection preserves it, while the diffuse
reflection destroys the image.

specular diffuse
reflection reflection
 Specular and diffuse reflection

specular diffuse
reflection reflection
 Refraction

When light passes from one transparent medium into another, part of the incident
light is reflected at the interface of the media and the remaining light entering the
other medium is refracted, i.e. light rays bend. The angle of refraction depends on the
of the
angle of incident light and the ratiomedia.
of theRelation between
refractive indices the incidence angle and the
angle of refraction is given by Snell’s law:
n1 sin  n2 sin  ,
where α is the incidence angle, and β is the angle of
refraction.
As follows from Snell’s law, the light ray entering a
medium with a higher refractive index bends towards the
normal (the angle of refraction gets smaller than the
incidence angle). On the contrary, entering a medium with
a lower refractive index, the light ray bends away from the
normal (the angle of refraction gets higher than the
incidence angle).
The ray path does not depend on whether the ray
propagates in the forward or reverse direction. Moving in
the opposite direction, the ray follows exactly the same
 Fermat's principle
Fermat's principle, also known as the principle of the least time, states that the path
taken by a ray between two given points is the path that can be traversed in the least
time.
Derivation of the refraction law using Fermat's principle

2x 2d  x 
l2  b  d  x  
2 2 2 2
l1 l1  a  x
22 by2  d  x 
y y
21 a y2  x 2 2

l1 l2 x d  x 
t  
1 2 l1 1 l2  2

by2  d  x 
2
a y2  x 2 sin  sin 
t  
1 2 1 2
sin  sin 
t ( x)  min 
c c
l2
n1 n2
2x  2d  x 
t ( x)    0
21 a  x 2
y
2
22 b  d  x 
2 2 n1 sin  n2 sin 
y
 Fermat's principle
A simple simulation and demonstration of the Fermat's principle can be found by the
following link:
http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/HTML5/refraction_time_Snell.html

The following video perfectly demonstrates one example of the refraction phenomenon:
https://youtu.be/JVxlHbIFje4
 Atmospheric refraction

The closer to the surface of the Earth, the higher the density of the atmosphere is.
This means that the refractive index of atmospheric air increases as light approaches
the surface of the Earth. Entering into the optically denser layers of the atmosphere,
light from the Sun is gradually bend. For this reason, the apparent position of the Sun
above the horizon (S') is higher than the real one (S), i.e. we can observe the Sun that
is hidden below the horizon (similar trick as in the video with the cup and coin). This is
called an atmospheric refraction.
 Total internal reflection

When light passes from one transparent medium into a medium with a lower
refractive index, the angle of refraction is higher than the incidence angle. If we begin
to increase the incidence angle, the refracted ray will bend more and more away from
the normal until the angle of refraction will reach 90°. After that, the refracted light
disappears, and total internal reflection is observed. The incidence angle, when the
refracted ray disappears, is called the critical angle.
The critical angle can be found from
the Snell’s law substituting the
n2
refractive angle equal 90°:
n1
n1 sin  c n2 sin 90 .

Hence, the critical angle is:

 n2 
 c arcsin .
 n1 
 Application of total internal reflection

The most important technical application of total internal reflection is fiber optics.
Due to total internal reflection, light can be transmitted through an optical fiber over
long distances with little attenuation. Optical communications are characterized by a
high rate of data transmission.
Total internal reflection is also used in endoscopes, which make it possible to see
objects outside the field of view.

The following video shows that a stream of water can act as an optical fiber:
https://youtu.be/XrWB0KLXpn8
 Polarization of light

As we know, light is an electromagnetic wave. An electromagnetic wave is presented

by three orthogonal vectors: a vector of wave propagation, vectors of electric and
magnetic fields. To simplify consideration, we will deal only with the vector of the
electric field as the vector of the magnetic field is always perpendicular to it. Moreover,
the electrical component of the wave is of higher importance as it, interacting with the
electrons of the substance, predominantly determines the character of light interaction
with the substance. One can see that the orientation of the vector
of the electric field has freedom (it can be
arbitrary oriented).

E B v v
v v B
E
B E
E B

The orientation of the vector of the electric

field determines a property of light called
polarization.
 Linearly polarized light

If oscillations of the vector of the electric field are not

random but ordered, light is called polarized. Light is
said linearly polarized or plane-polarized if the vector of
the electric field oscillates in one plane. The plane in
which the vector of electric field oscillates is called the
plane of polarization. Linearly polarized light is often
divided into vertically and horizontally polarized.
Most sources of radiation (the Sun, a lamp) emit
unpolarized light. It means that the vector of the
electric field oscillates in arbitrary directions. In fact,
unpolarized light can be presentedE as a superposition of
linearly polarized light with different planes of
polarization. E E

horizontally polarized vertically polarized partially polarized unpolarized

light light light light
 Linearly polarized light

Linearly polarized light can be obtained from unpolarized light using a linear
polarizer. A linear polarizer transmits only components of light with one electric field
orientation and blocks the components of light with orthogonal electric field
orientation. The intensity of such polarized light is half the intensity of unpolarized
light. If one sets another polarizer oriented perpendicularly to the first one, the light is
completely blocked. Polarizers are media characterized by anisotropy for the
oscillations of the vector of electric field. Such anisotropy is possessed by crystals.

polarization of two orthogonal linear

light polarizers
 Malus’s law

A polarizer is often used to analyze linearly polarized light. If a polarizer blocks light
at some orientation, light is linearly polarized, and the plane of its polarization is
perpendicular to the given orientation of the transmitting axis of the polarizer.
In a case, when the transmitting
axis of a linear polarizer is set at the
angle α to the plane of polarized
light, the intensity of light
transmitted through the polarizer is
I I 0 cos  ,
given by Malus’s law:2

where I0 is the intensity of linearly

polarized light incident on the
polarizer.
A polarizer is sometimes used to
attenuate the intensity of laser
radiation, which is linearly polarized
as a rule.
 Circularly polarized light

Besides linear polarization, light can also have circular polarization. Unlike linearly
polarized light, the vector of electric field of circularly polarized light has a constant
magnitude and rotates in the plane perpendicular to the direction of light propagation.
Circularly polarized light can be polarized clockwise (right-handed) or
counterclockwise (left-handed).

clockwise circular counterclockwise circular

polarization polarization
 Polarization of light at reflection

As we know, when light passes from one medium to another, part of the incident
light is reflected at the interface between the media, and the rest of the light entering
the other medium is refracted. The reflected light turns out to be partially polarized in
the plane perpendicular to the plane of incidence. The degree of its polarization
depends on the angle of incidence, and it varies from no polarization at the normal
incidence to 100% polarization at some angle of
Brewster’s incidence
angle is given αbby:called Brewster’s angle.
n
tg ( b )  2 ,
n1
α α where α is the angle of incidence, n1 is the
n1 refractive index of the initial medium, and n2 is the
refractive index of the medium to which the light
n2 When the angle of incidence is equal to
enters.
Brewster’s angle, the reflected and refracted beams
make the angle of 90° to each other. Although the
reflected light is entirely polarized in the plane
perpendicular to the plane of incidence (s-
polarized), the refracted light, in that case, is
polarized only partially in the plane of incidence (p-
 Polarization of light at reflection

The fact that the reflected light is partially polarized is widely used to block it. Using
a linear polarizer with the transmitting axis oriented perpendicularly to the reflected
surface, one can eliminate reflections and glares from photographs. Two photos below
demonstrate the effect of a polarizer on the light reflected from the water surface. One
can see that the light reflected from the surface of the water is removed, and the
bottom of the river becomes visible when the polarizer is used.

without with the

polarizer polarizer
 3D polarized glasses

Polarization of light is used to create the illusion of 3D images. This is done by means
of polarized glasses, in which the left and right glass have different polarizations. A
person sees objects in three dimensions because each eye sees the object from a
different angle. In order to create a 3D effect in the cinema, the screen displays
simultaneously
different angles two images ofEach
(viewpoints). the same object recorded from slightly
picture has different polarization. The
left and right glass, being of different
polarizations, block one of the images,
so each eye sees only the image with
the corresponding polarization. This
way a 3D effect is achieved.