Submitted By : Ali Nawaz, AbdulMunim

Reg Number : SP19-BCS-102,111

Submitted to : Ma’am Lubna Tabassum

INTERFERENCE FROM THIN FILM

Interference

 A substance that is normally clear and

colorless can appear to give off an array of
colors when it is found in a very thin layer.
 The color we see on a soap buuble or an oil
slick in sunlight are caused by interference of
light waves reflected from front and back
surface of thin film
Interference from Thin Film
• Consider a thin transparent
film of uniform thickness L.
• Air lies on both sides of the
film so index of refraction n1
and n3 are equal to each
other.
• The incident light, intercept
the front surface of the film at
one point and undergoes both
reflection and refraction.
• The reflected ray R1 is
intercepted by observer’s eye.
• The refracted part of incident
light is then again reflected
and refracted at the back
through the film, represented
by R2, intercepted by
observer’s eye.
Interference from Thin Film

 If the light rays R1 and R2 are in phase, then the

interference is maximum and the film is bright to the
observer.
 If they are out of phase the produce minimum
interference and film is dark to observer.
 Both rays are derived from same incident ray but the
path length is different as R2 is travelling twice across
the film and R1 involves no travel through the film.
 For this we consider the path length difference
between the waves of R1 and R2 as 2L.
 Equation for Thin Film
Interference
The type of reflection experienced
by the light waves at each boundary
depends on the refraction indexes of
the two mediums:
• Hard reflection – reflects off a
medium with a higher refraction
index resulting in a phase shift of
λ/2
• Soft reflection – reflects off a
medium with a lower refraction
index, resulting in no phase shift
In this diagram, the light ray travel
from higher medium(air) to lower
medium of index(film), so R1 has it’s
phase shifted by λ/2 wavelength.
As R2 is reflected Off from lower
index towards higher index, so the
phase is shifted 0 wavelength.
Constructive Interference

 If both waves undergo the same type of reflection, either

both hard or both soft, we use:
2L = mλ n
 because there is no phase shift between waves.
 If one wave undergoes a hard reflection, and the other a
soft reflection, we use:
2L = (m+1/2) λ n
 Because there is a phase shift of λ/2 for the wave that
undergoes the hard reflection.
 Where m is a whole number ≥ 0, L is the thickness of the
thin film, and λ is the wavelength in medium.
Destructive Interference

 if there are an even number of hard

reflections, so that the end result is a λ/2
phase shift, we use
2L = (m+1/2) λ n
 if there are an odd number of hard
reflections, to keep the waves at their λ/2
phase shift, we use
2L = mλ
n
 Where λ is equal to λ/n2.
n
 By putting the values of λ nin equation of
Destructive and Constructive Interference , we
get
2L = (m+1/2) λ/n2 For Maxima
2L = mλ/n2 For Minima
Any Questions???