Geometric and Wave Optics

QiLin Xue

Contents
1 Geometric Optics 2

2 Interference 3
2.1 Thin Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Double Slit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Diffraction 4
3.1 Single Slit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 Combined with Double Slit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3 Circular Aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4 Grating 5
4.1 Dispersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.2 X-Ray Diffraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1
QiLin Xue Olympiad Physics: Optics

1 Geometric Optics
• Due to Fermat’s Principle, light takes the path that yields the least amount of time from a point A to
a point B. It minimizes the optical light path. In a medium with index of refraction n, the optical light
path from A to B is:
|AB| = n(AB) (1.1)
where the index of refraction tells us the speed of light in a specific medium where
v
n= (1.2)
c

• When light hits a boundary, it can refract or it can reflect. If it refracts, the angle of refraction is given
by Snell’s Law:
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2 (1.3)
where the angle is measured relative to the normal line.
• When light reflects off the boundary, it satisfies the condition that:

θ1 = θ2 (1.4)

• If it reflects from a surface where the index of refraction is higher (e.g. air - water - air), then it also
undergoes a phase shift of 180◦ . This is explored more in depth when talking about interference.
• Virtual and real images can be created from both spherical mirrors and lenses. We can predict the distance
of the image with the equation
1 1 1
+ = (1.5)
o i f
The distances o and i are both measured from the mirror. The sign convention is chosen first by breaking
the system up into a virtual side and a real side. Distances in the virtual side will be negative while
distances in the real side will be positive.
• The magnification is:
hi i
m=− =− (1.6)
ho o
• The angular magnification is:
θi
mθ = (1.7)
θo
where
hi
θi ≈ (1.8)
di
• Instead, for a light going from one medium to another, the following formula applies:
n1 n2 n2 − n1
+ = (1.9)
o i r

• In a mirror, the focal length f relates to the radius of curvature where:

f = r/2 (1.10)

• In a thin lens, the focal length is given by:

 
1 1 1
= (n − 1) − (1.11)
f r1 r2

This is commonly known as the lensmaker equation.

• To solve two-lens systems, we simply perform the analysis one lens at a time. The image (virtual or real)
produced by the first lens then becomes the ‘object’ for the second lens.
QiLin Xue Olympiad Physics: Optics

2 Interference
2.1 Thin Film
• Suppose light is hits a thin film suspended in the air with normal incidence. It can take two paths. First,
it can reflect off the surface. It can also be transmitted through the (air-soap) boundary, hit the (soap-air)
boundary, then be reflected back and transmitted through. Both paths will cause the light to end up at
the same place but in different phase. The total optical path difference is:

∆|OP L| = n(2t) + λ/2 (2.1)

were t is the thickness and the λ/2 comes from the phase change as light reflects from the first boundary.
To interfere constructively, we want the difference to be mλ where m is an integer. This gives:
1
2tn = λ(m + ) (2.2)
2

2.2 Double Slit

• Suppose two slits roughly the same width as the wavelength of light is separated by a distance of d. We
shall assume fresnel diffraction where the two beams of light are virtually parallel to each other. The
path difference is thus:
∆|OP L| = d sin θ (2.3)
y
where sin θ ≈ tan θ ≈ D for small angles. y is the position on the screen and D is the separation of the
screen and slits.
• To interfere constructively, this path difference must be a whole number of wavelengths, since the light
entering the slits are coherent. This gives the relationship:

d sin θ = mλ (2.4)

• The intensity falls off quickly as the fringes produced stray away from the central maxima. We can
determine a general formula for the intensity by considering the amplitudes of two electromagnetic waves
E that have a phase shift of φ.
• Let us consider a phasor diagram where we plot

E1 = E0 eiφ eiωt

and
E2 = E0 ei(π/2−φ) eiωt
on the complex plane. The real part of their sums will give the observed electric field at a point P on the
detector. This is accomplished by the cosine law, which gives:
p
E = E0 2 + 2 cos φ cos ωt

The maximum electric field at that point is when φ = 0 or:

Em = 2E0 cos ωt
p
Combining these two equations and using the identity (1 + cos φ)/2 = cos(φ/2) gives:

E = Em cos(φ/2)

so the intensity is:

I = Imax cos2 (φ/2) (2.5)

• The phase shift is given by the relation

phase difference path difference
= (2.6)
2π λ
which yields:
2π
φ= (d sin θ)
λ
QiLin Xue Olympiad Physics: Optics

3 Diffraction
3.1 Single Slit
• The single slit is harder to deal with and involves light diffracting through a slit that is bigger than its
wavelength. Suppose the width is a = nλ, the condition for a first order minima between two rays at a
separation of a/2 is:
(a/2) sin θ = λ/2 =⇒ a sin θ = λ
Every ray has exactly one pair in the opposite half of the slit where it completely destructively interferes.
We can extend this to the general case where:

a sin θ = mλ (3.1)

• The maxima points are approximately between the minimas, but not quite. We can determine their
actual positions by finding a general expression for the intensity. We can achieve this by looking at the
limit where there are infinitely many rays separated by a distance δx where the phase difference between
adjacent waves is:
2π
∆φ = δx sin θ (3.2)
λ
Using our phasor method for infinitely many phasors all rotated by a constant small angle ∆φ gives us
an arc part of a circle. It is then not hard to see that:

E = 2R sin(φ/2)

The maximum electric field corresponds to the arclength of the phasor path or:

Em = Rφ

Eliminating R yields:
sin α
E = Em (3.3)
α
where α ≡ φ/2. The intensity is thus:
 2
sin α
I = Im (3.4)
α

3.2 Combined with Double Slit

• The intensity of a double-slit setup where the width isn’t sufficiently small is given by the combination of
the intensity of both a single slit and double slit set-up where:
 2
2 sin α
I = Im cos β (3.5)
α

where β ≡ πd
λ sin θ. This corresponds with a cos2 x function where the outline traces the sin2 x/x curve.

3.3 Circular Aperture

• Under Fraunhofer conditions, the first minimum occurs at:
λ
sin θ = 1.22 (3.6)
d
where d is the diameter of the aperture. Compare this to the sin θ = λ/d as before. The extra factor arises
when we divide the circular aperture into elementary Huygens sources and integrate over the aperture.
QiLin Xue Olympiad Physics: Optics

4 Grating
• Grating is the phenomenon we observe when we have several slits, on the order of N ≈ 104 . The main
purpose is to increase the distance between maxima and decrease the width. This allows for more accurate
measurements.
• Note that if light passing through any pair of adjacent slits isa in phase at a particular point on the
screen, then light passing through any pair of slits, even nonadjacent ones is also at phase. This condition
is reached for width of the central maxima is given by the equation:
d sin θ = mλ (4.1)

• The location of the first minima can be determined with a phasor diagram such that the combined phasors
form a regular polygon and ends up at the origin. The phase shift is ∆φ = 2π/λ so the path difference
between adjacent slits is thus:
λ λ 2π λ
∆L = ∆φ = = (4.2)
2π 2π N N
so the angular width of the central maxima is:
λ
δθ0 = (4.3)
Nd
using the small angle approximation.
• To obtain a similar result for any maximum, we note that the path difference will be ∆L = mλ + λ/N .
But the path difference is also:
d sin(θ + δθ) ≈ d sin θ + d cos θδdθ
Setting it equal to mλ + λ/N and using the fact that mλ = d sin θ, we achieve the equation:
λ
δθm = (4.4)
N d cos θ

4.1 Dispersion
• When analyzing the intensities of two wavelengths close together (say the sodium doublet), the angular
distance needs to be sufficiently large to tell them apart. The dispersion D measures the angular distance
and is given by:
∆θ
D= (4.5)
∆λ
Taking the derivative of d cos θ = mλ gives:
m
d cos θ∆θ = m∆λ =⇒ D = (4.6)
d cos θ
• The resolving power defines how narrow the intensity patterns will be. It is defined as
λ
R= (4.7)
∆λ
The higher this number is, the more easily, the more certainty there is in measuring the location of each
pattern. Similar to above, it is also given by:
R = Nm (4.8)
Increasing the number of slits increases resolving power, but doesn’t affect the dispersion.

4.2 X-Ray Diffraction

• X-rays have wavelengths on the order of 0.1 nm and thus a mechanical grating pattern can’t be built.
Instead, we turn to actual crystal lattices such as that of the sodium chloride crystal. These cubic crystals
have a unit cell with side length a0 . Bragg’s Law gives:
2d sin θ = mλ (4.9)

• The distance d is a perpendicular line passing through an arbitrary defined plane which x-rays hit and
undergo mirror-like reflections. This distance d can be related to a0 using the pythagorean theorem and
the specific set-up of the interplanar spacings.