POLARIZATION OF LIGHT

rised.

The plane which contains the crystallographic axis and

vibrations transmitted from the polariser is called plane
Narrow Slit of vibration.
The plane which is perpendicular to the plane of vibra-
Transverse
tion is called plane of polarisation.
disturbance
(up and down) Narrow Slit
Malus’ Law:
90°
When a beam of plane polarised light is incident on an
Transverse analyser, the intensity I of light transmitted from the
disturbance
(up and down)
Narrow Slit
analyser varies directly as the square of the cosine of
the angle θ between the planes of transmission of anal-
yser and polariser.

• • • • • • • • • • • Wave
S If a be the amplitude a
of the electric vector
a sin θ a cos θ
transmitted by the po-
lariser, then only the P
A
component a cos θ will
In natural light, millions of transverse vibrations occur be transmitted by the
in all the directions perpendicular to the direction of analyser.
propagation of wave. But for convenience, we can as- Intensity of transmitted light from the analyser is
sume the rectangular components of the vibrations with
one component lying on the plane of the diagram and
the other perpendicular to the plane of the diagram.
Light waves are electromagnetic waves with electric
and magnetic fields oscillating at right angles to each Case I : When θ = 0° or 180°, I = I0
other and also to the direction of propagation of wave.
Case II : When θ = 90°, I=0
Therefore, the light waves can be polarised.
Optic Axis Case III: When unpolarised light is incident
on the analyser the intensity of the
• • • • • •
transmitted light is one-half of the intensity of
incident light. (Since average value of cos2θ
Unpolarised
light
Plane
Polarised
Plane
Polarised
is ½)
light light
Polariser Analyser
Tourmaline Tourmaline
Crystal Crystal
Polarisation by Reflection and Brewster’s Law:
The incident light wave is made of parallel vibrations
• • • • • • 90°
(π – components) on the plane of incidence and perpen-
Unpolarised
Plane
No light
dicular vibrations (σ – components : perpendicular to
Polarised
light
light plane of incidence).
When unpolarised light is incident on the polariser, the
vibrations parallel to the crystallographic axis are trans- At a particular angle θP, the parallel components com-
mitted and those perpendicular to the axis are absorbed. pletely refracted whereas the perpendicular compo-
Therefore the transmitted light is plane (linearly) pola- nents partially get refracted and partially get reflected.
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) : Page No. * 1*
i.e. the reflected components are all in perpendicular PILE OF PLATES : POLARIZATION BY
plane of vibration and hence plane polarised. REFRACTION
The intensity of transmitted light through the medium
is greater than that of plane polarised (reflected) light. According to Brewster’s law, when the light is incident
on a glass plate at the polarizing angle, the light reflect-
ed from both the upper and lower surfaces of the plate is
completely plane polarized in the plane of the incidence
θP a
The intensity of the reflected light is very low. Only
90° μ about 8% of the incidence light is reflected at each re-
flection.
r
b To increase the intensity of the plane polarized light,
the number of reflections can be increased by putting a
number of glass plates together, i.e., we can use a pile
of glass plates to increase the intensity of the totally
θP + r = 90° or r = 90° - θP plane polarized reflected light. The larger the num-
sin θP ber of plates, the greater is the intensity of the reflected
aμ b =
sin r plane polarized light.
sin θP
aμ b =
sin 90° - θP

aμ b = tan θP

Polaroids:
H – Polaroid is prepared by taking a sheet of polyvinyl
alcohol (long chain polymer molecules) and subjecting
to a large strain. The molecules are oriented parallel to
the strain and the material becomes doubly refracting.
When strained with iodine, the material behaves like a
dichroic crystal.
K – Polaroid is prepared by heating a stretched poly-
vinyl alcohol film in the presence of HCl (an active
dehydrating catalyst). When the film becomes slightly
darkened, it behaves like a strong dichroic crystal.
Uses of Polaroids:
(i) Polaroid Sun Glasses
(ii) Polaroid Filters
(iii) For Laboratory Purpose
(iv) In Head-light of Automobiles
(v) In Three – Dimensional Motion Picutres
(vi) In Window Panes
(vii) In Wind Shield in Automobiles
Brewster Window
DOUBLE REFRACTION
a ray of light of unpolarized light is allowed to pass
through calcite crystal (CaCO3) or quartz (SiO2), two
refracted rays are produced in place of one refracted
ray. This phenomenon is known as double refraction
and the crystals showing double refraction are called
doubly refracting crystals.
The physical properties of isotropic medium such as
glass, are the same in all directions. When the light is
incident on such a medium refraction takes place in only
one direction, in accordance with Snell’s law. Thus,
only one refracted ray is produced. However, for aniso-
tropic medium such as calcite, quartz, tourmaline, etc.,
the physical properties are different in different direc-
tions. When the light is incident on such crystals, two
polarized refracted rays are produced.

One practical use of Brewster’s law is in the design of a

glass window, which can transmit all the incident light,
i.e., 100% transmission of light or the glass window
without any reflection. Such a window is called a Brew-
ster window and is used in lasers.
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) : Page No. * 2*
Two images are observed in case of calcite etc.:-
(i) The stationary image is known as ordinary image
and the refracted rays, which produce this image
are known as ordinary rays or O-rays, as they
obey the ordinary laws of refraction.
(ii) The second image, which rotates about the ordi-
nary image, is known as extraordinary image and
the refracted rays, which produce this image are
known as extraordinary rays or E-rays, as they do
not follow the ordinary laws of refraction.
Both O- and E- rays are plane polarized and their planes
of polarization are at right angles to one another, the
vibrations of ordinary ray being normal to the plane of
paper while those of the extraordinary ray in the plane
of the paper.
The two images are at the brightest twice in one com-
plete rotation of the tourmaline. The refractive indices
for O-ray is :
and that of E-ray is :
In calcite crystal, r1 < r2, therefore, µ0 > µE.
As ,
Therefore, v0 < vE i.e., inside a calcite crystal, the O-rays
travel slower than the E-rays.
The O-rays travel with the same speed in all the direc-
tions within the crystal, while the E-rays travel with
different velocities in different directions within the
crystal.
UNIAXIAL AND BIAXIAL CRYSTALS
In the doubly refracting crystals such as calcite, quartz,
etc., there is a direction known as optic axis, along
which both E-rays and O-rays travel with the same ve-
locity, i.e., no double refraction takes placed if the un-
polarized light is incident in the direction of the optic
axis.
Hence doubly refracting crystals are of two types :
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) :
(i) Uniaxial Crystals : The crystals in which there is
only one optic axis, are known as uniaxial crys-
tals. Calcite, quartz, tourmaline, ice, nitrate of
soda, etc. are uniaxial crystals.
(ii) Biaxial Crystals : The crystals which are character-
ized by the presence of two optic axes are known
biaxial crystals. There are two directions of one
uniform velocity. Borax, mica, selenite, arago-
nite, topaz, etc. are biaxial crystals.
Calcite Crystal : it is crystallized calcium carbonate
(CaCO3) and is also known as ice land spar be-
cause it is found in Iceland. It is transparent to
visible as well as to ultraviolet light. It crystalliz-
es in many forms and can be reduced by cleavage
or breakage into a rhombohedron.
Optic Axis : At the two opposite corners A and H of
the rhombohedron, all the three angles of the fac-
es are obtuse. These corners A and H are known
as blunt corners of the crystal. A line passing
through one of the blunt corners (A or H), making
equal angles with each of the three edges, gives
the direction of the optic axis. Any line parallel to
this line is also an optic axis. In fact, the optic axis
is a direction and not a particular line.
Principal Section : A plane containing the optic axis
of the crystal and perpendicular to the opposite
faces of the crystal is called the principal section
of the crystal. As a crystal has six faces, therefore,
for every point inside the crystal there are three
principal sections corresponding to each pair of
opposite faces.
Principal Plane : A plane in the crystal containing the
optic axis and the ordinary ray is called the prin-
cipal plane of the ordinary ray. Similarly, a plane
containing the optic axis and the extraordinary
ray is called the principal plane of the extraordi-
nary ray. The two planes do not coincide.
Page No. * 3*
 NICOL PRISM
In 1828, William Nicol invented an optical device,
which is used for production and analysis of plane
polarized light. This device is known as Nicol
prism. It is widely used in optical instruments.
Principle : The working of a Nicol prism is based
on the phenomenon of double refraction. When
a beam of unpolarized light is passed through a
double refracting crystal such as calcite, it splits
into two plane polarized beams :
(i) the ordinary ray with vibrations perpendicular to
the principal section of the crystal and
(ii) the extraordinary ray with vibrations parallel to
the perpendicular to each other.
of the prism are open for the incidence and emer-
gence of light, while the top and bottom surfaces
are coated with lamp black and are covered by a
brass tube.
Working : When an unpolarized beam of light SP is
incident on one end face of the prism parallel to
BC1, it splits up into ordinary and extraordinary
rays. As discussed earlier, Canada balsam is opti-
cally denser than calcite for E-rays, while it is less
dense than calcite for O-ray.
The refractive index for O-ray with respect to Canada
balsam layer is :
If θc is critical angle, then :

In the Nicol prism, the O-ray is eliminated by total

or, θc = sin–1(0.935) 69o
internal reflection and the E-ray is transmitted
As the length of the crystal is large, the angle of inci-
through the prism.
dence of the O-ray at Canada-balsam layer is greater
Construction : A calcite crystal whose length is three
than critical angle of incidence. Hence, the O-ray is to-
times its breadth is taken. The two end faces AB
tally internally reflected and is absorbed by the lamp
and CD of the crystal are cut in such a way that
black coating on the side BC1. The E-ray travels from
they make angles of 68o and 71o (figure). The
an optically rarer medium, calcite to an optical denser
resulting crystal is then cut into two parts along
medium, Canada balsam and, therefore, is not affect-
the plane A1C1 passing through the blunt corners
ed and is transmitted through the prism. Thus, a plane
along a plane perpendicular to the principal sec-
polarized light, with vibrations in the principal section
tion such that A1C1 makes an angle of 90o with
parallel to the shorter diagonal of the end face of the
ends C1D and A1B.
crystal, is obtained. Thus, the Nicol prism acts as a po-
The cut faces which are perpendicular to the end
larizer.
faces are ground, polished optically flat and then
Limitations :
cemented together with a layer of Canada balsam.
(i) If the angle of incidence is less than the crystal an-
Canada balsam is a transparent substance, whose
gle for the O-ray, it is not reflected and is transmit-
refractive index lies midway between the refrac-
ted through the prism and so the prism does not act
tive indices of O-ray and E-ray for calcite.
as an polarizer.
For sodium light with = 5893 Å, refractive in-
dex of calcite for O-ray µ0 = 1.658, refractive in-
(ii) A Nicol prism can act as a polarizer only for slight-
dex of Canada balsam µCB = 1.550 and refractive
ly convergent and slightly divergent beam of light.
index of calcite for E-ray µE = 1.486.
(iii) The extraordinary ray also has a limit beyond which
it is totally internally reflected.

(iv) A Nicol prism cannot be used as a polarizer for

highly convergent or divergent beams.

Thus, Canada balsam layer is optically denser than cal-

cite for E-ray and rarer for O-ray. The two ends
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) : Page No. * 4*
 ELLIPTICALLY AND CIRCULARLY amplitude, phase and the value of θ.
POLARIZED LIGHT : INTERFERENCE OF Let δ be the phase difference introduced between the
POLARIZED LIGHT two components in passing through the crystal. Then by
a suitable choice of the origin of time, the displacement
of the two rays in a negative crystal can be represented
According to electromagnetic theory of light, light con- as
sists of electric and magnetic vectors vibrating in mutu- E-ray : x = A cosθ sin(ωt + δ)
ally perpendicular directions, both being perpendicular O-ray : y = A sinθ sin ωt
to the direction of propagation of light. Most of the op- Putting, A cosθ = a and A sinθ = b, we have :
tical effects of the light wave can be explained by the
electric vector E and therefore, it is also called the light x = asin (ωt + δ) (1)
vector. In a plane or linearly polarized light, the light
vector vibrates simple harmonically, along a straight y = bsinωt (2)
line, perpendicular to the direction of propagation of
light, i.e., the orientation of light vector remains un- From equation (2), we have :
changed but its magnitude undergoes a periodic change
during vibrations.

When two plane polarized light waves superimpose,

then if the resultant light vector rotates such that it trac-
es a circle or an ellipse, the light is said to be circularly From equation (1), we have :
or elliptically polarized. In the former case, the mag-
nitude of the resultant vector remains constant and it
changes in the later case.

Let a beam of plane polarized light of wavelength or,

and amplitude A is incident normally upon a uniaxial
doubly refracting crystal, with its faces cut parallel to
the optic axis. Suppose the incident light is vibrating or,
along PQ making an angle θ with the optic axis of the
crystal as shown in figure. On entering the crystal, vi- Squaring and rearranging, we get :
bration of the incident light will have component along
PO equal to A sin θ and that along PE equal to A cos (3)
θ. Thus, the incident ray splits into extraordinary ray
and ordinary ray, having amplitudes A cos θ and A sin This is the general equation of ellipse with its major and
θ respectively along the optic axis of the crystal and minor axes inclined to the coordinate axes.
perpendicular to it. Special cases :
1. Linear Polarization :When δ = 0 or δ = 2n (n = 0,
Both the rays travel along the same direction but with 1, 2, 3, ….)
different velocities. Therefore, on emerging through the sin δ = 0 and cos δ = 1, therefore, equation 3 becomes
crystal, a phase difference is introduced between the
two rays. The exact value of phase difference δ depends
upon the thickness ‘t’ of the crystal.
or
Thus, the incident plane polarized light, on emerging
out of the crystal consists of two simple harmonic vi-
brations, in two mutually perpendicular planes having
the same period but different amplitudes and phases.
They can be superimposed into a single motion which
can be linear, circular or elliptical depending on their
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) : Page No. * 5*
 light is elliptically polarized, the plane of the ellipse be-
ing normal to the direction of propagation. (figures)
If the thickness of plate is such that

then so that,

which is again an equation of ellipse, but with major

axis inclined in the positive and negative direction of
or, the x-axis respectively for

or, and , as shown in figures. So the emergent light is

elliptically polarized.
which is the equation of a straight line passing
3. Circular Polarization : When the thickness of the
through the origin and having a slope . This
plate is such that the phase difference between
indicates that the emergent light is
the two rays is

linearly or plane polarized (figures).

For ……….. or (2n + 1) (n = 0, 1, 2, 3,
………….), we have or (2n – 1) (n = 1, 2, 3, ………)

and θ = 45o so that a = b, then equation 3.5 becomes

x + y = a2
2 2

or, =0 which is the equation of a circle with radius a. Thus, the

or,
which is also the equation of a straight line but with a
slope
in the negative direction of x-axis. In this case also, the
emergent light is linearly or plane polarized but
the direction of vibration makes an angle
with that of the incident light. (figures)
2. Elliptical Polarization : When the thickness of the
plate is such that the phase difference between the
two rays is :
or (2n – 1) (n = 1, 2, 3, ………)
emergent light is circularly polarized (figure).
In general, the resultant of two plane polarized lights
is an elliptically polarized light. Under certain condi-
tions, however, the resultant light is plane or circularly
polarized. Thus, the plane polarized light and circularly
polarized light are the special cases of elliptically po-
larized light. For , the rotation of the electric vector is
related to the direction of propagation in the same sense
as the rotation of right-handed screw is rotated to the
direction of translation.
To the observer, the rotation is anticlockwise and the
light is left-handed elliptically polarized. For , the rota-
tion of electric vector appears clockwise and the light is
said to the right-handed elliptically polarized.

so that, sin δ = 1 and cosδ = 0

and, a b (or θ 45o), then equation reduces to

which is the equation of an ellipse. Thus, the emergent

For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) : Page No. * 6*
QUARTER – AND HALF-WAVE PLATES
The phase difference introduced between E-ray and
O-ray on emerging out from a crystal depends upon the
thickness of the crystal. If the thickness of the plate is
properly chosen, desired amount of phase difference
can be introduced between the two components. Such a
plate is known as retardation plate because they retard
the motion of one of the rays. We discuss here two such
plates :
1. Quarter-Wave Plate : It is a uniaxial, doubly re-
fracting crystal plate (e.g., calcite or quartz) of a
suitable thickness cut with its optic axis parallel
to the refracting faces, such that a phase differ-
ence of
or a path difference of is introduced between O-ray
and E-ray on emerging through the plate.
When a beam of plane polarized monochromat-
ic light of wavelength is incident normally on
such a crystal, it splits up into O and E compo-
nents, which travel in the same direction but with
different velocities.
In case of negative crystal, such as calcite, E-ray travels
faster than O-ray so that µ0 > µE. If t is the thick-
ness of the plate, then the path difference between
the two components is := (µo – µE)t
For a quarter-wave plate, path difference between the
two components :
or,
For positive crystals, like quartz, µE > µo, so that :
If a plane polarized light with vibration inclined
at an angle of 45o to the optic axis is incident on
a quarter-wave plate, the emergent light is circu-
larly polarized. If the angle is not 45o, the emer-
gent light is elliptically polarized. A quarter-wave
plate is the simplest device for producing and de-
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) :
tecting circularly and elliptically polarized light.
2. Half-Wave Plate : It is also a uniaxial doubly re-
fracting crystal plate (e.g., calcite or quartz) of
suitable thickness, cut with its optic axis parallel
to the refracting faces such that a phase difference
of or a path difference of is introduced be-
tween O-ray and E-
ray on emerging through the crystal.
When a beam of plane polarized monochromat-
ic light of wavelength is incident normally on
such a crystal, it splits up into O and E compo-
nents which travel in the same direction but with
different velocities. In case of negative crystal
such as calcite, E-ray travels faster than O-ray so
that µo > µE. If t is the thickness of the plate, then
the path difference between the two components
is : (µo – µE)t
For a half-wave plate, path difference between the
two components =
or,
For positive crystals like quartz, µE > µO, so that
thickness of half wave plate
Since the path difference depends upon the wavelength
of the light used, the refractive indices corresponding
to yellow light of wavelength = 5893 Å are gener-
ally used for calculating the required thickness of a
quarter-wave or half-wave plate. A half-wave plate is
used in construction of Laurent’s half-wave device in
polarimeter.
When a plane polarized light is passed through a half-
wave plate, the emergent light is also plane polarized
for all orientation of the plate with respect to the plane
of vibration of the incident light, but now the direction
of vibration is inclined at an angle 2θ w.r.t. the incident
light, where θ is the angle at which the direction of vi-
bration in the incident light makes with the optic axis.
These plates are generally made of quartz by cutting it
Page No. * 7*
parallel to optic axis and then polishing to make them
optically plane.
PRODUCTION OF PLANE, CIRCULAR-
LY AND ELLIPTICALLY POLARIZED LIGHT
1. Plane Polarized Light : To produce plane polar-
ized light, a beam of unpolarized light is passed
through a Nicol prism. As the beam enters the
Nicol prism, it splits up in ordinary and extraor-
dinary components. The ordinary component is
totally internally reflected at the Canada balsam
layer and is absorbed, while the extraordinary
component passes through the Nicol prism. The
emergent beam is plane polarized, having its vi-
bration parallel to the shorter diagonal of the end
face of the prism.
2. Circularly Polarized Light : To produce circular-
ly polarized light, the two plane polarized light
waves vibrating at right angles to each other, hav-
ing the same amplitude and time period,
having a phase difference of or a path difference of
should be made to interfere.
For this purpose, a parallel beam of monochro-
matic light is allowed to fall on a Nicol prism
N1 (figure). The beam on passing through N1
gets plane polarized. Another Nicol prism N2 is
placed at some distance from N1 such that N1 and
N2 are in crossed position. Therefore, the field
of view, seen through N2, will be dark. Now, a
quarter-wave plate P is mounted on a tube T 1. The
tube T1 can rotate about the outer fixed tube T2
placed between the prisms N1 and N2. Now, when
light from N1 passes through P to N2, the field of
view will be no longer dark and it turns bright.
The quarter-wave plate P is rotated until the field
of view is dark. Keeping P fixed, tube T1 is rotat-
ed till the mark S on the plate P coincides with
zero mark on T1. Therefore, by rotating the quar-
ter-wave plate P, the mark S is made to coincide
with 45o mark on the tube T1.
For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) :
The quarter-wave plate P is now in the proper
position and the vibrations of the plane polarized
light, falling on the plate P, make an angle of 45o
with the direction of the optic axis of the quar-
ter-wave plate P.
In this condition, the plane polarized light on en-
tering the plate P splits up into ordinary and ex-
traordinary components having equal amplitude
and time period and on emerging out of the plate
P, the beam is circularly polarized. If the Nicol
prism N2 is rotated now, the field of view is uni-
form in intensity, similar to the ordinary light
passing through a Nicol prism.
3. Elliptically Polarized Light : To produce ellip-
tically polarized light, the two plane polarized
light waves vibrating of right angles to each other
having unequal amplitudes, should have a phase
difference of or a plane difference of .
The same arrangement and procedure, shown in
figure, and discussed earlier, can be used for the
purpose. The only difference being that in this
case, the vibrations of the plane polarized light
falling on the quarter-wave plate should not make
an angle of 45o with the optic axis and so, the
mark S need not coincide with 45o mark on the
tube T1.
Thus, to produce elliptically polarized light, a par-
allel beam of unpolarized light is allowed to fall
on Nicol prism N1. Another prism N2 is placed
such that N1 and N2 are crossed and so the field of
view is dark. A quarter-wave plate P is introduced
between N1 and N2 so that the plane polarized
light from N1 falls normally on the quarter-wave
plate. The field of view gets illuminated as the
light emerging from the plate P is elliptically po-
larized. It should be ensured that the vibrations
of the plane polarized light falling on the plate P
do not make an angle of 45o with the optic axis,
otherwise light will be circularly polarized. When
the prism N2 is rotated, the intensity of illumina-
tion of the field of view change from maximum to
minimum.
Page No. * 8*
ANALYSIS OF POLARIZED LIGHT
(i) Plane Polarized Light : The beam of light under
investigation is allowed to fall on a Nicol prism.
The Nicol prism is rotated. If the light gets com-
pletely extinguished (complete darkness or in-
tensity reduces to zero) twice in one complete
rotation of the Nicol prism, the beam is plane po-
larized.
(ii) Circularly Polarized Light : The circularly polar-
ized light, when observed through a rotating Nicol
prism shows no change in the intensity of illumi-
nation. The same is observed when ordinary un-
polarized light is viewed through a rotating Nicol
prism. In this respect there is no difference be-
tween circularly polarized and unpolarized light.
To differentiate elliptically polarized light from a
mixture of unpolarized and plane polarized light,
the beam under investigation is passed through a
quarter-wave plate. The quarter-wave plate con-
verts the elliptically polarized light into plane
polarized light which, when viewed through a ro-
tating Nicol prism, gets completely extinguished
twice in each cycle. While the mixture of unpo-
larized and polarized light is not completely ex-
tinguished.
The above discussion is presented in table for the
analysis of polarized light.

To distinguish between circularly polarized and

unpolarized light, the beam is allowed to fall on
a quarter-wave plate. On passing through a quar-
ter-wave plate, circularly polarized light gets con-
verted into plane polarized light, while unpolar-
ized light remains unchanged. The light emerging
out of the quarter-wave plane is viewed through a
rotating Nicol prism. If the original beam is circu-
larly polarized, light is completely extinguished
twice in each rotation of the Nicol prism. While
if the original beam is unpolarized, no variation
in the intensity of illumination is observed when
viewed through the rotating Nicol prism.

In brief, when a circularly polarized light is al-

lowed to fall on a quarter-wave plate and then
viewed through a rotating Nicol prism, the light
gets completely extinguished twice in each rota-
tion of the prism.

(iii) Elliptically Polarized Light : The beam of light

is allowed to fall on a rotating Nicol prism. If the
beam is elliptically polarized, the intensity of il-
lumination changes from a maximum to a mini-
mum (not zero). The intensity is maximum when
the principal plane of the Nicol prism is parallel to
the major axis of the ellipse and minimum, when
parallel to the minor axis. However, the observed
variation of intensity in this case is the same as
what is observed when a mixture of unpolarized
light and plane polarized light is incident on a ro-
tating Nicol prism.

For D.T.U. by Dr. Sameer Jain (9811153371) : Page No. * 9*