What is Optical property?

The term optical property describes a material's behavior when electromagnetic radiation
(light) is incident on the material's surface or, in other words, how a material interacts under
an incident electromagnetic radiation. Different types of material show different optical
properties due to differences in physical, chemical, and mechanical characteristics.

What is the importance of optical properties?

The knowledge of optical properties is very important in various industrial as well as in

scientific applications. In the selection of material for the purpose of contactless temperature
measurement devices, heat transfer methods, laser technology, etc., complete knowledge of
optical properties of materials is necessary for efficient operation.

Electromagnetic radiation

The term electromagnetic radiation refers to wave-like, electric and magnetic components
that are perpendicular to each other and in the direction of propagation. For the propagation
of electromagnetic radiation, a medium is not necessary. It can propagate through the vacuum
at a constant velocity. In quantum mechanics, electromagnetic radiation is considered as
packets of energy referred to as a photon.

The expression for the energy of electromagnetic light beam can be represented as,

E=hcλE=hcλ

Here, EE represents the electromagnetic energy of the light beam, hhrepresents planck's
constant, cc represents the light speed in vacuum, and λλrepresents the wavelength of the
light beam.

Interaction of light with solid

Whenever an electromagnetic light wave moves from one medium to another, the intensity of
the light wave is equal to the sum of the intensity of transmitted, absorbed, and reflected light
waves. Mathematically, it can be represented by the given expression.

I0=It+Ia+IrI0=It+Ia+Ir

Here, I0I0 represents the intensity of incident light wave, ItIt represents the intensity of
transmitted wave, IaIa represents the intensity of absorbed light wave and IrIr represents the
intensity of reflected light wave.
Types of optical properties of materials

Different materials show different optical properties when placed in electromagnetic

radiation. The basic details of different types of materials are given below in the following
steps.

Reflectivity

It is the optical property of a material. When a light wave is incident on the polished surface
of the material, the light returns back from the material surface and this is referred to as the
reflection of light. Some of the materials show better reflectivity compared to other materials.
White surface shows better reflection of light.

Absorptivity

Absorption is also a very important optical property of a material. Whenever a beam of light
is incident on the surface of the material, then some part of the incident beam would be
absorbed by the material. Some materials like black surface/body show better absorption of
the light beam, which means good absorptivity. Solar cells are made up of a material that has
good absorptivity.

Refractivity

Whenever a light ray moves from one medium to another, there is bending of light, which
means that the path of incident light ray changes after interaction with another medium. This
phenomenon is referred to as the refraction of light, and this property of the material is called
refractivity. This property of the material depends on the value of the refractive index of the
material.

Representation of reflection, refraction and absorption

Transparency

It is an optical property of the material in which if an object is placed on one side of a

material and a light wave is incident on the other side, then the object can be seen clearly.
Some important materials like glass, air, water, etc., are transparent.

Representation of transparent material

Translucent

In the optics process, the term translucent indicates the behavior of a material in which if an
object is placed on one side of the material and a light wave enters the other side, the object
can not be seen clearly. Some examples are sunglasses, vegetable oils, etc.

Blur Image generate by translucent material

Opaque
In the context of the optics process, some materials do not allow the passage of
electromagnetic light waves which means that the light waves can not pass through them.
This type of material is not transparent or translucent in nature. This material is called opaque
material. Examples- wood, sand, metals, etc. The application of this type of material prevents
the transmission of light.

Image of a opaque material surface

Luminescence

The term luminescence is defined as the process in which a material absorbs energy and then
immediately emits visible or near-visible radiation. This phenomenon occurs as a result of the
excitation of electrons of material from the valence band to the conduction band.

Thermal emission

Whenever a material is heated (increase in temperature), the electrons of the outer shell are
excited to higher energy levels, where the electrons are less strongly bound to the nucleus.
These excited electrons move back to the ground state and release photons in the process that
is called thermal emission.

Photo conductivity

Bombardment of semiconductors by photons, with energy equal to or greater than the

bandgap may create electron-hole pairs that can be used to generate current. This process is
called photoconductivity.

Electronic polarization
Whenever a rapidly fluctuating electric field interacts with a metallic material, electronic
polarization induces in the material or shifts the electron cloud relative to the atom's nucleus.
Due to these, some of the radiation energy may be absorbed, and light waves retard in speed.

Optical properties of nonmetals

In the context of optics, nonmetals may be transparent to visible light. The optical behavior of
nonmetals in the presence of electromagnetic waves is discussed in the following steps.

Refraction

Whenever photons are transmitted through a material, they cause polarization of the electrons
in the material, and by interacting with the polarized materials, photons lose some of their
energy. As a result of this, the speed of light is reduced, and the beam of light changes
direction.

Representation of reflection, refraction through a non metal surface

The mathematical expression of refractive index of a material can be represented as,

n=sinθisinθrn=sinθisinθr

Here, nn represents the refractive index of the material, θiθi represents the angle of incident
beam from normal and θrθr represents the angle of refracted beam from normal.

Reflection

When light radiation passes from one medium to another, some light scatters at the interface
between the two mediums. If the deviation of light from its original path is more it means the
material's reflectivity is more. The expression of reflectivity can be represented as,

R=IrI0R=IrI0
Here, RR represents the reflectivity of material, IrIr represents the intensity of the reflected
light beam, and I0I0 represents the intensity of the incident light beam.

Scattering

The radiation emanating from the oscillating electrons that travel in all directions represent
the scattered radiation. The blue color of the visible light beam scatters more than other
colors of light.

Absorption

Non-metallic materials may be transparent or opaque to visible light. If it is transparent, it

appears as colored. The absorption of the light beam takes place through two mediums. One
is electronic polarization, and the other is valence band conduction.

Applications of optical properties of materials

There is a wide range of applications of optical properties of materials that are given below in
the following steps:

• Development of communication infrastructures and information technology

• In medicine manufacturing
• In the development of devices like television, microscope, solar cells, etc.
• Luminescence
• In the development of photoconductive devices
• In solar cells
• In optical communications fibers