THE PROPAGATION OF

LIGHT

How to View Light

As
As a
a Ray
Ray

As
As a
a Wave
Wave

As
As a
a Particle
Particle

Theories on nature of light:

Light as a particle vs. Light as a wave
Only corpuscular
theory of light
prevalent until
1660
Francesco Maria
Grimaldi (Bologna)
described
diffraction in 1660

Light as a particle
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Embraces corpuscular theory
of light because of inability
to explain rectilinear
propagation in terms of
waves
Demonstrates that white
light is mixture of a range of
independent colors
Different colors excite ether
into characteristic
vibrations---sensation of red
corresponds to longer ether
vibration

Light as a wave
Christiaan Huygens (16291695)
Huygens principle (Traite de
la Lumire, 1678):
Every point on a primary
wavefront serves as the
source of secondary
spherical wavelets, such
that the primary wavefront
at some later time is the
envelope of these
wavelets. Wavelets
advance with speed and
frequency of primary wave

http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/waves/propagation/huygens1.htm

Light as a wave
Thomas Young
(1773-1829)
1801-1803: double
slit experiment,
showing
interference by
light from a single
source passing
though two thin
closely spaced slits
projected on a
screen far away
from the slits
http://vsg.quasihome.com/interfer.htm

Light as a wave
Augustine Fresnel (17881827)
1818: Developed
mathematical wave
theory combining
concepts from Huygens
wave propagation and
wave interference to
describe diffraction
effects from slits and
small apertures

Electromagnetic wave nature of

light
Michael Faraday (17911865)
1845: demonstrated
electromagnetic nature
of light by showing that
you can change the
polarization direction of
light using a strong
magnetic field

Electromagnetic theory
James Clerk Maxwell
(1831-1879)
1873: Theory for
electromagnetic wave
propagation
Light is an
electromagnetic
disturbance in the form
of waves propagated
through the ether

Quantum
mechanics
1900: Max
Planck postulates that

Max Planck

oscillating electric system imparts its

energy to the EM field in quanta
1905: Einstein-photoelectric effect
Heisenberg
Light consists of individual energy quanta,
photons, that interact with electrons like
particle

Niels Bohr

1900-1930 it becomes obvious that

concepts of wave and particle must
merge in submicroscopic domain
Photons, protons, electrons, neutrons
have both particle and wave
manifestations
Schrdinger
Particle with momentum p has associated
wavelength given by p=h/

QM treats the manner in which light is

absorbed and emitted by atoms

Louis de Broglie

Reflection and Refraction

The Snells Laws

All of Geometrical optics boils down to
normal

vph = c/n1

Law of Reflection:

i r
Snells Law:

sin i
n2

sin t
n1

vph = c/n2
t

Willebrordus Snellius

Fundamental
Fundamental Rules
Rules for
for
Reflection
Reflection and
and Refraction
Refraction
in
in the
the limit
limit of
of Ray
Ray Optics
Optics
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.

Huygenss
Huygenss Principle
Principle
Fermats
Fermats Principle
Principle
Electromagnetic
Electromagnetic Wave
Wave
Boundary
Boundary Conditions
Conditions

Huygens Principle

Christian Huygens
(1629-1695)

Huygen assumed that light is

a form of wave motion rather
than a stream of particles
Huygens Principle is a
geometric construction for
determining the position of a
new wave at some point
based on the knowledge of
the wave front that preceded
it

Huygens Principle, cont.

All points on a given wave front are
taken as point sources for the
production of spherical secondary
waves, called wavelets, which
propagate in the forward direction
with speeds characteristic of
waves in that medium
After some time has elapsed, the new
position of the wave front is the
surface tangent to the wavelets

Huygens Construction for a Plane

Wave
At t = 0, the wave front
is indicated by the
plane AA
The points are
representative sources
for the wavelets
After the wavelets have
moved a distance ct,
a new plane BB can be
drawn, which is the
tangent to the
wavefronts

Huygens Construction for a

Spherical Wave
The points are
representative
sources for the
wavelets
The new wavefront
is tangent at each
point to the
wavelet

Huygens Principle and the Law of

Reflection
The Law of
Reflection can
be derived from
Huygens
Principle
AA is a wave
front of incident
light
The reflected
wave front is CD

Reflection
ReflectionAccording
According
to
toHuygens
Huygens

Incoming ray

Outgoing ray

Side-Side-Side
Side-Side-Side
D
DAAC
AAC

ADC
ADC

11 =
=
11

Huygens Principle and the Law of

Reflection, cont.
Triangle ADC is
congruent to
triangle AAC
1 = 1
This is the Snells
Law of Reflection

Huygens Principle and the

Law of Refraction
Every point on a
wave front can be
considered to be a
source of secondary
waves. The figure
explains
the
refraction
at
an
interface
between
media with different
optical densities.

Air

Huygenss Principle and the Law of

Refraction, cont.
Ray 1 strikes the surface
and at a time interval t
later, ray 2 strikes the
surface
During this time interval, the
wave at A sends out a
wavelet, centered at A,
toward D
The wave at B sends out a
wavelet, centered at B,
toward C

Huygenss Principle and the Law of

Refraction, cont.
The two wavelets travel in different
media, therefore their radii are
different
From triangles ABC and ADC, we find

Huygenss Principle and the Law of

Refraction, final
The preceding equation can be simplified
to

This is Snells law of refraction

Pierre de Fermats principle

1657 Fermat (16011665) 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

26

Fermats Principle
The path a beam of light takes between two points is the
one which is traversed in the least time.
Isotropic medium: constant
velocity.
A

Minimum time =
minimum path length.

Optical path length

S

n1
n2
n3
n4
n5
P

nm

28

Optical Path Length (OPL)

n=1

n>1
L

vac

vac

S
P

OPL n( x)dx
S

When n constant, OPL = n geometric length.

For
Fornn=
=1.5,
1.5,
OPL
OPLisis
50%
50%larger
larger
than
thanLL

Fermats principle
t = OPL/c
Light, in going from
point S to P,
traverses the route
having the smallest
optical path length

OPL
t
c
30

Optical path length

Transit time from S to P
m

1
t ni si
c i 1

OPL n( s )ds
S

OPL ni si
i 1

c
OPL ds
v
S
Same for all rays
31

Fermats principle
A

n1
i

n1 < n2

n2

What geometry gives the

shortest time between
the points A and B?

r
a

B
32

Method 1
A

n1
x

n2

AO OB
t

vi
vt

normal

dt

dx vi

b
c

a2 x2

vi

x
a x
2

b2 c x
vt

cx
vt

b2 c x

sin i sin t
dt

0
dx
vi
vt
ni sin i nt sin t

Method 2
OPL nd n' d
d ( h 2 ( p x ) 2 )1/ 2
d ' ( h'2 x 2 )1/ 2
substituti ng :
n[h 2 ( p x ) 2 ]1/ 2 n' ( h'2 x 2 )1/ 2
differenti ating :

QA AQ'

v1
V2

(h 2 ( p x ) 2 )1/ 2 (h'2 x 2 )1/ 2

v1
v2

d
n/2
n' / 2
2
(

2
p

2
x
)

2x 0
1/ 2
2
2 1/ 2
dx [ h ( p x )
( h' x )
thus,

px
x

n
'
[ h 2 ( p x ) 2 ]1/ 2
( h'2 x 2 )1/ 2
or
Minimizing the time (optical path
px
x
length) between points Q and
n
n'
d
d'
Q yields Snells Law:
and
n

n sin n' sin '

Fermats
FermatsPrinciple
Principleand
andReflection
Reflection

A light ray traveling from one fixed point to another will follow
a path such that the time required is an extreme point either a
maximum or a minimum.

Electromagnetic Waves

Maxwells Equations for time varying

electric and magnetic fields in free space
Simple interpretation

E
0
B
E
t

Divergence of electric field is a function

of charge density

A closed loop of E field lines will exist when

the magnetic field varies with time
Divergence of magnetic field =0
(closed loops)

B 0

E
A closed loop of B field lines will exist in
B 0 I 0 0
t The presence of a current and/or
time varying electric field
(where is the charge density)

Description of Light

E
2
t

2
B
2
t

1
E 2
Wave Equation (derived from Maxwells equatio
c
Any function that satisfies this eqn is a wave
1
It describes light propagation in free space and i
2
time
B 2
c
where,
c speed of light

E electric field

B magnetic induction field

2

Laplacian operator (see calculus review handout)

2

Its general solutions (plane

wave) :

E E0 i k r t

e
B B0

Electromagnetic Wave Boundary

Conditions

(E fields)

TE

TM

Light at a Plane Dielectric Interface

TM

TE
ki

kr

kt

ki

kr

kt

Assume:

ji j ki rt
Einc Eoi e e
A plane wave is
incident:

jr j kr rrt
A plane wave is
E ref Eor e e
reflected:

jt j kt rt t
A plane wave is transmitted: E trans Eot e e
What are the relative amplitudes, wave numbers, frequencies, and
phases?

Relationship between fields at the interface should not depend

on position or time:

ki r it kr r r t kt r t t

To remain constant at a certain

place:

i r t
incident, reflected, and refracted all at
same frequency.

To remain constant at a certain time:

ki r k r r kt r

ki, kr, kt are all co-planar

A boundary at one point in space for all time:

vk

v'k '
sin kx t

The left side shakes the right at frequency , which

creates a wave with a different velocity (different medium)
and therefore different wavelength.

ki

ki dot r makes this

happen

kr dot r makes this

happen

(could be in any direction)

kr
But this can only be
true if kr is also in
the plane of
incidence!

ki - kr
ki-kr dot r makes a
plane, but it must
be the surface since
the boundary
condition is for r at
the surface.

ki k r r 0

ki
r

kr

i r
t

kt

ki r cos 2 i k r r cos 2 r
Same medium, same velocity, same wavelength, same wavenumber,
so:

i r

Law of Reflection

ki r cos 2 i kt r cos 2 t
2ni
2nt
sin i
sin t
o
o
ni sin i nt sin t

Snells Law



CE dl t SB da
Eoutside l Einside l 0
tangential

tangential

Eoutside Einside
tangential

tangential

CB dl S 0 0 t E 0 t P da
Boutside l Binside l 0
tangential

tangential

Boutside Binside
tangential

tangential

Tangential components of both E and B are continuous at the

boundary.
Therefore, for all points on the boundary at all
times:

ji j ki rit jr j kr rrt jt j kt rt t
Eoi e e
Eor e e
Eot e e

Now for the relative amplitudes: reflection and transmission

E

TE

TM

Bt
Bi

Br

Ei Er Et

Bi Br Bt

Bi cos i Br cos r Bt cos t

Ei cos i Er cos r Et cos t

E vB nc B

Get all in terms of E, and recall that i = r:

TE

Ei Er Et
ni Ei cos i ni Er cos i nt Et cos t
TM

ni Ei ni Er nt Et
Ei cos i Er cos i Et cos t
For reflection: eliminate Et, separate Ei and Er, and get ratio:
TE

cos i nnti cos t

Er
r

Ei cos i nnti cos t

TM

cos i cos t
Er
r

Ei
cos i cos t
nt
ni
nt
ni

Apply Snells law (let n = nt/ni)

TE

TM

cos i n 2 sin 2 i
cos i n sin i
2

n 2 cos i n 2 sin 2 i
n 2 cos i n 2 sin 2 i

Coefficient of transmission: t
TE

Et
2 cos i

Ei cos i n 2 sin 2 i

TM

Et
2n cos i
2
Ei n cos i n 2 sin 2 i

internal reflection: n = 0.667

1
0.8
TE

0.4

external reflection: n = 1.5

0.2

TM

-0.2
0

0.5

20
40
60
80
Angle of incidence

TM
r

0.6

0
TE

-0.5
-1

20
40
60
80
Angle of incidence

TE/TM wave optical reflection

TE (transverse electric) polarization
Electric field parallel to substrate surface

TM (transverse magnetic) polarization

Magnetic field parallel to substrate surface
low index
TE
TM

high index

high index
TE
TM

low index

he critical angle for total reflection

(i )critical

2
sin
1
1

i cri, then it is total reflection and no power can be

ransmitted, these fields are referred as evanescent waves.

RS

Total transmission for TM

polarization
Brewsters angle for total transmission

i BA sin

22 (22 12 )
22 12 12 22

For lossless, non-magnetic media, we have

BA sin

1 r1
r2

Ex1 A 2 GHz TE wave is incident at 30 angle of

incidence from air on to a thick slab of nonmagnetic,
lossless dielectric with r = 16. Find TE and TE.

RS

Ex2 A uniform plane wave is incident from air onto glass at

an angle from the normal of 30. Determine the fraction of
the incident power that is reflected and transmitted for a)
and b). Glass has refractive index n2 = 1.45.

a) TM polarization

b) TE polarization

RS

Photons and The Laws of Reflection

and Refraction