Huygens’ and Fermat’s principles

(Textbook 4.4, 4.5)

Application to reflection & refraction at an

interface

1
Propagation of light: Sources
! E.g. point source – a fundamental source
! Light is emitted in all directions – series of
crests and troughs (stone dropped in water)
Rays – lines
perpendicular to
wave fronts

λ
Wave front - Surface of
constant phase

2
 Propagation of light: Sources
Incandescent light bulb (blackbody radiation source)
B
I lamp = ∫ I p ( s )ds
A
1. Glass bulb
2. Low pressure inert gas
A B 3. Tungsten filament
4. Contact wire (goes out of stem)
5. Contact wire (goes into stem)
6. Support wires
7. Stem (Glass mount)
8. Contact wire (goes out of stem)
9. Cap (Sleeve)
10. Insulation (Vitrite)
11. Electrical contact

3
Two ideal light waves
! Spherical waves (from a point source) – wave fronts
are spherical
! Plane waves (from a point source at infinite) – wave
fronts are planes
! Rays – lines perpendicular to wave fronts in the
direction of propagation

x
Planes parallel to y-z plane

4
Huygens’ principle
" In the 17th Century, Christiaan Huygens (1629–
1695) proposed what we now know as Huygens’
Principle, one of the fundamental concepts of waves
and wave optics.

" A typical statement of the principle is “every point on

a wavefront acts as a source of a new wavefront,
propagating radially outward.”

5
Huygen’s principle

! Every point on a wave front is a source of

secondary wavelets.
! i.e. particles in a medium excited by electric
field (E) re-radiate in all directions
! i.e. in vacuum, E, B fields associated with
wave act as sources of additional fields

6
Huygens’ wave front construction
Construct the
New wavefront wave front tangent
to the wavelet

r = c ∆t ≈ λ

Given wave-front at t What about –r direction

(focusing wave or beams)?
Allow wavelets to evolve
for time ∆t
7
Plane wave propagation
! New wave front is still a
plane as long as
dimensions of wave
front are >> λ
! If not, edge effects
become important
! Note: no such thing as a
perfect plane wave, or
collimated beam
8
Geometric Optics
! As long as apertures are
much larger than a
wavelength of light (and
thus wave fronts are much
larger than λ) the light
wave front propagates
without distortion (or with
a negligible amount)
! i.e. light travels in straight
lines

9
Physical Optics
! If, however, apertures,
obstacles etc have
dimensions comparable
to λ (e.g. < 103 λ) then
wave front becomes
distorted

10
Geometric Optics

Let’s reflect for a moment

11
Hero’s principle

! Hero (150BC-250AD) asserted that the path

taken by light in going from some point A to a
point B via a reflecting surface is the shortest
possible one.

12
Hero’s principle and reflection
A B

R
O’ O O”

A’
13
Law of reflection

θi = θ r

14
 Reflection by plane surfaces
Reflecting through (x, z) plane z
y r2= (-x,y,z)
r1 = (x,y,z)
r1 = (x,y,z)

y
x r3=(-x,-y,z)
r4=(-x-y,-z)
x

r2 = (x,-y,z)

Law of Reflection
r1 = (x,y,z) → r2 = (x,-y,z) 15
Geometric Optics

Let’s refract for a moment

16
Speed of light in a medium

c
v= n – refractive index
n
Light slows on entering a medium – Huygens
Also, if n → ! ν "#$#
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17
Index of refraction
A property of a material that changes the
speed of light.

speed of light in vacuum c

nα = =
speed of light in medium α v

nα = ε r µ r
where εr is the material's relative permittivity, and µr is its
relative permeability. For a non-magnetic material, µr is very
close to 1, therefore n is approximately ε r .
18
Speed of light in a medium

c
v=
n
Light slows on entering a medium – Huygens
Also, if n → ! ν "#$#
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19
Refraction: Bending light

20
Refraction: Bending light
! As light passes from one transparent medium to another, it
changes speed, and bends. How much this happens depends
on the refractive index of the mediums and the angle
between the light ray and the line perpendicular (normal) to
the surface separating the two mediums (medium/medium
interface).
! Each medium has a different refractive index. The angle
between the light ray and the normal as it leaves a medium
is called the angle of incidence. The angle between the light
ray and the normal as it enters a medium is called the angle
of refraction.
21
Refraction: Bending light

" n1 is the refractive index of the medium the light is leaving,

" θ1 is the incident angle between the light ray and the normal
to the medium to medium interface,
" n2 is the refractive index of the medium the light is entering,
" θ2 is the refractive angle between the light ray and the
normal to the medium to medium interface.
22
Snell’s law

! 1621 - Willebrord Snell (1591-1626)

discovers the law of refraction
! 1637 - Descartes (1596-1650) publish the,
now familiar, form of the law (viewed light as
pressure transmitted by an elastic medium)

n1sinθ1 = n2sinθ2

23
Snell’s law

n1sinθ1 = n2sinθ2

24
Pierre de Fermat’s principle
! 1657 – Fermat (1601-1665) proposed a
Principle of Least Time encompassing both
reflection and refraction
! “The actual path between two points taken by
a beam of light is the one that is traversed in
the least time”

25
Pierre de Fermat’s principle
! "Light, in going between two points, traverses the
route having the smallest optical path length."

c d 1 1
vα = t= = × (nα ⋅ d ) = × OPL
nα vα c c

OPL = nαd
= index of refraction × distance traveled
26
Fermat’s principle
! “The actual path between
two points taken by a
beam of light is the one
that is traversed in the OPL
!
least time”
Light, in going from point
t=
S to P, traverses the route
having the smallest
c
optical path length

27
Application of Fermat’s principle

28
Application of Fermat’s principle

c
(v = )
n
29
Optical path length

S n1

n2
n3
n4
n5

P
nm

30
Optical path length
! Transit time from S to P
P
1 m OPL = ∫ n( s )ds
t = ∑ ni s i S
c i =1
m P
OPL = ∑ ni si c
OPL = ∫ ds
i =1 S
v
31
Same for all rays
Optical path length
! In an inhomogeneous medium the refractive index n(r) is a
function of the position. The optical path length along a given
path between two points A and B is therefore

where ds is the differential element of the length along the

path (Could be more than one path).

r(x,y,z)
B
A ds
n(r) 32
Nature of light

Law of Reflection:
θi = θ r

Law of Refraction
Snell’s Law:
ni sin θi = nr sin θ r

33
Refraction by plane interface
& Total internal reflection
n2
θ2
θ2

n1 > n2
θ1 θ n1
θ1 C

P
Snell’s law
34
n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2
Total internal reflection (TIR)
1611 – Discovered by Kepler

θC
n1 θc – Critical angle

n1 sin θ c = n2 sin 90°

n2  n2 
θ c = sin  
−1

 n1 

n1 > n2
35
TIR Critical Angle
" Light bends toward the normal when the light enters a
medium of greater refractive index, and away from
the normal when entering a medium of lesser
refractive index.

" As you approach the critical angle the refracted light

approaches 90° and, at the critical angle, the angle of
refraction becomes 90° and the light is no longer
transmitted across the medium/medium interface. For
angles greater in absolute value than the critical
angle, all the light is reflected. This is called total
internal reflection.
36
Refraction by plane interface
& Total internal reflection
n2
 n2 
θ c = sin  
−1

 n1 
n1 > n2

θC θ1 θ1 n1

P
Snell’s law
37
n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2
Refraction by plane interface
& Total internal reflection
n2
θ2
θ2

n1 > n2
θ1 θ θ1 θ1 n1
θ1 C

P
Snell’s law
38
n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2
Examples of prisms and total internal
reflection

45o

45o
45o

Totally reflecting prism

45o

Porro Prism
39
Porro prism
" A Porro prism, named for its inventor Ignazio Porro, is a type
of reflection prism used in optical instruments to alter the
orientation of an image.
" An image travelling through a Porro prism is rotated by 180°
and exits in the opposite direction offset from its entrance point.
Since the image is reflected twice, the handedness of the image
is unchanged.

40
Porro prism
" An image travelling through a Porro prism is rotated by 180°
and exits in the opposite direction offset from its entrance point.
Since the image is reflected twice, the handedness of the image
is unchanged.

41
Porro prism
" An image travelling through a Porro prism is rotated by 180°
and exits in the opposite direction offset from its entrance point.
Since the image is reflected twice, the handedness of the image
is unchanged.

Porro prism binoculars

42
Image inversion and reversion

43
Optical waveguide
" Many devices take advantage of the total internal reflection,
including optical waveguides (like optical fiber). A waveguide is
a length of transparent material that is surrounded by material
that has a lower index of refraction. Rays that intersect the
interface between the waveguide material and the surrounding
material at angles equal to or larger than the critical angle are
trapped in the waveguide and travel losslessly along it.

Rays Can be bound (trapped) in a waveguide through total internal reflection.

44
Optical waveguide

45
Optical waveguide
" Many devices take advantage of the total internal reflection,
including optical waveguides (like optical fiber). A waveguide is
a length of transparent material that is surrounded by material
that has a lower index of refraction. Rays that intersect the
interface between the waveguide material and the surrounding
material at angles equal to or larger than the critical angle are
trapped in the waveguide and travel losslessly along it.

Rays Can be bound (trapped) in a waveguide through total internal reflection.

46
Natural phenomenon

47