l5 refractive index and polarization chii-wann lin

$: L5 Refractive index and Polarization Chii-Wann Lin$
L5 Refractive index and Polarization

Chii-Wann Lin

Contents

Fundamental optics Refractive index Polarization Optical dispersion in materials

Relative Permittivity and Refractive Index

Wavelengths of “Light”

nm: for near UV, visible, and near IR light

m: for IR and far IR light

Å: for x-ray. But in this regime people usually use photon energy in eV.

(nm)

1240eV

Light Wave Plane electromagnetic wave

(traveling wave)

k: propagation constant or wave number

: angular frequency Phase of the wave (t –kz+0)

Wave front : A surface over which the phase of a wave is constant.

Optical field : refers to the electrical field Ex.

)](expRe[

)](exp)exp(Re[

)-t ( cos E t)(x,E

00

00x

kztjE

kztjjE

kz

c

Ex

z

Direction of Propagation

By

z

x

y

k

An electromagnetic wave is a travelling wave which has timevarying electric and magnetic fields which are perpendicular to eachother and the direction of propagation, z.

© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

/2k

Traveling wave along Z

)exp( 00 jEEc

Point or Plane source

k

Wave fronts

rE

k

Wave fronts(constant phase surfaces)

z

Wave fronts

PO

P

A perfect spherical waveA perfect plane wave A divergent beam

(a) (b) (c)

Examples of possible EM waves


No divergence Divergence Divergence Gaussian beam with waist radius and spot size

Wavefront

Wavefront: surfaces of constant phase for the electromagnetic field .

Propagation of Light

Light is a kind of electro-magnetic wave.

A: amplitude vector. : phase.

Wave Vector and Wave number

Wave Vector, k : Use to indicate the direction of propagation. The vector whose direction is normal to the wavefront, and magnitude is k = 2/.

For a plane wave, A is constant, and

t rkk

The magnitude of k, k = 2/, is also called the wave number.

Phase velocity

The relationship between time and space for a given phase, , that corresponding to a maximum field, can be described by

So, during a time interval t, this const phase (max. field) moves a distance z. Thus defines the phase velocity of this wave as

constkzt 0

)2(

,/

freqiswhere

kdtdzv

Meaning what? We are frequently interested in the phase

difference , at a given time between two points on a wave that are separated by a certain distance.

If the wave is traveling along z with a wavevector k, then the phase difference between two points separated by z is simply kz since wt is the same for each point.

If this phase difference is 0 or multiples of 2 then the two points are in phase. Phase difference can be expressed as kz or 2z.

Phase Velocity and Group Velocity

+

–

kEmaxEmax

Wave packet

Two slightly different wavelength waves travelling in the samedirection result in a wave packet that has an amplitude variationwhich travels at the group velocity.


2

)(n

ck

gg N

c

ddn

n

c

dk

dmediumv

)(

n

c

kv

Phase velocity

If we have two frequency components, + and - , the envelope moves with a speed

kvg

In the limit,dk

dvg

is called group velocity.

The group velocity defines the speed with which energy or information is propagated since it defines the speed of the envelope of the amplitude variation. In vacuum, the group velocity is equal to phase velocity.Suppose that v depends on the wavelength or k by virtue of n being a function of the wavelength as in the case for glass. Then,

d

dnnN g

Refractive Index When an EM wave is traveling in a dielectric medium, the

oscillating electric field polarizes the molecules of the medium at the frequency of the wave.

The field and the induced molecular dipoles become coupled. The net effect is that the polarization mechanism delays the propagation of the EM wave.

In other words, it slows down the EM wave with respect to its speed in a vacuum. The stronger the interaction between the field and the dipole, the slower the propagation of the wave.

The ratio of the speed of light in free space to its speed in a medium is called the refractive index n of the medium.

Definition of refractive index:

r

cn

V : phase velocity in a nonmagnetic dielectric mediumr : relative permittivity

Relative permittivity The relative permittivity measures the ease with

which the medium becomes polarized and hence it indicates the extent of interaction between the field and the induced dipoles.

For an EM wave traveling in a nonmagnetic dielectric medium of relative permittivity r, the phase velocity v is given by:

For an EM wave traveling in free space of vacuum, r =1 and vvacuum = c = 3x108 ms-1.

If k is the wave vector (k = 2/) and is the wavelength in free space, then in the medium kmedium = nk and medium =/n.

00

1

r

The refractive index of materials in general depends on the frequency, or the wavelength, of light. This wavelength dependence follows directly from the frequency dependence of the relative permittivity εr.( 相對介電係數 )

In the absence of an electric field and in equilibrium, the center of mass C of the orbital motions of the electrons coincides with the positively charged nucleus at O and the net electric dipole moment is zero as indicated in Figure 1 (a).

Suppose that the atom has Z number of electrons orbiting the nucleus and all the electrons are contained within a given shell. In the presence of the electric field E, however, the light electrons become displaced in the opposite direction to the field so that their center of mass C is shifted by some distance x with respect to the nucleus O which we take to be the origin as shown in Figure 1 (b).

As the electrons are "pushed" away by the applied field, the Coulombic attraction between the electrons and nuclear charge "pulls in" the electrons. The force on the electrons, due to E, trying to separate them away from the nuclear charge is ZeE.

The restoring force Fr which is the Coulombic attractive force between the electrons and the nucleus, can be taken to be proportional to the displacement x provided that the latter is small. The reason is that Fr = Fr(x) can be expanded in powers of x and for small x only the linear term matters. The restoring force Fr is obviously zero when C coincides with O (x = 0). We can write Fr = − βx where β is a constant and the negative sign indicates that Fr is always directed towards the nucleus O.

First consider applying a dc field. In equilibrium, the net force on the negative charge is zero or ZeE = βx from which x is known. Therefore the magnitude of the induced electronic dipole moment is given by

pinduced = (Ze)x = (Z2e2/ β)E Induced electronic dc dipole moment (1)

As expected pinduced is proportional to the applied field. The electronic dipole moment in Eq. (1) is valid under static conditions, i.e. when the electric field is a dc field. Suppose that we suddenly remove the applied electric field polarizing the atom. There is then only the restoring force, – β x, which always acts to pull the electrons towards the nucleus, O. The equation of motion of the negative charge center is then (force = mass × acceleration)

– β x = Zmed2x/dt2

Thus, by solving this differential equation, the displacement at any time is a simple harmonic motion, that is

x(t) = xocos( ωot)

where the angular frequency of oscillation ωo is

In essence, this is the oscillation frequency of the center of mass of the electron cloud about the nucleus and xo is the displacement before the removal of the field. After the removal of the field, the electronic charge cloud executes simple harmonic motion about the nucleus with a natural frequency ωo determined by Eq. (2); ωo is also called the resonance frequency.

The oscillations of course die out with time because there is an inevitable loss of energy from an oscillating charge cloud. An oscillating electron is like an oscillating current and loses energy by radiating electromagnetic waves; all accelerating charges emit radiation.

Consider now the presence of an oscillating electric field due to an electromagnetic wave passing through the location of this atom as in Figure 1 (b). The applied field oscillates harmonically in the +x and −x directions, that is E = Eoexp(j ωt). This field will drive and oscillate the electrons about the nucleus. There is again a restoring force Fr acting on the displaced electrons trying to bring back the electron shell to its equilibrium placement around the nucleus. For simplicity we will again neglect energy losses. Newton’s second law for Ze electrons with mass Zme driven by E is given by,

The solution of this equation gives the instantaneous displacement x(t) of the center of mass of electrons from the nucleus (C from O),

The induced electronic dipole moment is then simply given by pinduced = −(Ze)x. The negative sign is needed because normally x is measured from negative to positive charge whereas in Figure 1 it is measured from the central nucleus.

By definition, the electronic polarizability αe is the induced dipole moment per unit electric field,

Thus, the displacement x and hence electronic polarizability αe increase as ωincreases. Both become very large when ω approaches the natural frequency ωo.

In practice,charge separation x and hence polarizability αe do not become infinite at ω = ωo because two factors impose a limit. First is that at large x, the system is no longer linear and the above analysis is not valid. Secondly, there is always some energy loss.

Given that the polarizability is frequency dependent as in Eq. (3), the effect on the refractive index n is easy to predict. The simplest (and a very “rough”) relationship between the relative permittivity εr and polarizability αe is

where N is the number of atoms per unit volume. Given that the refractive index n is related to εr by n2 = εr, it is clear that n must be frequency dependent, i.e.

We can also express this in terms of the wavelength λ. If λo = 2 πc/ ωo is the resonance wavelength, then Eq. (4) is equivalent to

This type of relationship between n and the frequency ω, or wavelength λ, is called a dispersion relation. The refractive index n decreases as the wavelength λ increases above and away from the resonance wavelength λo as illustrated schematically in Figure 2.

Dispersion and Light Extinction

Consider an atom in a material as in Figure 1 that is experiencing an alternating field E that oscillates harmonically in the +x and −x directions, that is E = Eoexp(j ωt). The electrons are driven by this field. There is a restoring force Fr acting on the displaced electrons trying to bring back the electron shell to its equilibrium placement around the nucleus. This force Fr is proportional to the displacement x and is always directed towards the center O; it can be written as − βx.

Oscillating electrons are equivalent to an oscillating current which radiates energy like an antenna. This is an effective loss of energy, just like a frictional force. Further, some of the electron oscillations can be coupled to crystal vibrations and increase their energy, that is, energy will be transferred from electron oscillations to heat. All energy losses are proportional to the velocity dx/dt and the equivalent frictional force per electron and per unit electron mass is γdx/dt. Thus, Newton’s second law for Ze electrons with mass Zme is given by,

where Zme ωo2 is the force constant β.

Solving this equation we obtain the instantaneous displacement x = x(t) of the center of mass C of the electron shell from the nucleus O in Figure 1. Once we know x(t) we can easily find the electronic polarizability αe,

where ωo =( β/Zme)1/2. It is a resonance frequency where αe peaks. We can easily separate this complex αe into real and imaginary parts as

The frequency dependences of the real and imaginary parts of αe are shown in Figure 3. It is important to recognize that αe″ is directly proportional to the loss coefficient γ which means that the imaginary part αe″ represents the loss in the medium. The real part is not significantly affected by γ if ω is sufficiently smaller than ωo. At resonance (at ω = ωo) however, αe′ does not peak to infinity; its maximum is controlled by the loss mechanism.

Since αe is a complex quantity, so is εr and hence the refractive index. Consider the simplest (and very “rough”) relationship between the relative permittivity εr and polarizability αe,

where N is the number of atoms per unit volume.

Thus, the relative permittivity is a complex quantity, that is

The real part is the usual relationship between the relative permittivity and polarizability when loss is neglected. Clearly the imaginary part represents the loss, the extinction of light as it passes through the material.

There are always some losses in all polarization processes. For example, when the ions of an ionic crystal are displaced from their equilibrium positions by an alternating electric field and made to oscillate, some of the energy from the electric field is coupled and converted to lattice vibrations (intuitively, “sound” and heat). These losses are generally accounted by describing the whole medium in terms of a complex relative permittivity (or dielectric constant) εr as in Eq. (7) where the real part εr′ determines the polarization of the medium with losses ignored and the imaginary part εr ′′ describes the losses in the medium.

For a lossless medium, obviously εr = εr′. The loss εr ′′ depends on the frequency of the wave and usually peaks at certain natural (resonant) frequencies. If the medium has a finite conductivity (e.g. due to a small number of conduction electrons), then there will be a Joule loss due to the electric field in the wave driving these conduction electrons. This type of light attenuation is called free carrier absorption. In such cases, εr ′′ and σ are related by

where εo is the absolute permittivity and σ is the conductivity at the frequency of the EM wave. Since εr is a complex quantity, we should also expect to have a complex refractive index.

An EM wave that is traveling in a medium and experiencing attenuation due toabsorption can be generally described by a complex propagation constant k, that is

k = k′ − jk″ Complex propagation constant (10)where k′ and k″ are the real and imaginary parts. If we put Eq. (10) into the expression for an ideal traveling wave, E = Eoexpj( ωt − kz) we will find the following

E = Eoexp(−k″z)expj( ωt − k′z) Attenuated propagation (11)

The real k′ part of the complex propagation constant (wavevector) describes the propagation characteristics, e.g. phase velocity v = ω/k′. The imaginary k″ part describes the rate of attenuation along z. The intensity I at any point along z is

I |∝ E|2 exp(−2∝ k″z)

so that the rate of change in the intensity is

dI/dz = −2k″I Imaginary part k ″ (12)

where the negative sign represents attenuation.

Suppose that ko is the propagation constant in vacuum. This is a real quantity as a plane wave suffers no loss in free space. The complex refractive index Ν with real part n and imaginary part K is defined as the ratio of the complex propagation constant in a medium to propagation constant in free space,

Ν = n − jK = k/ko = (1/ko)[k′ − jk″] Complex refractive index (13)

i.e. n = k′/ko and K = k″/ko

The real part n is simply and generally called the refractive index and K is called the extinction coefficient. In the absence of attenuation,

k″ = 0, k = k′ and Ν = n = k/ko = k′/ko.

We know that in the absence of loss, the relationship between the refractive index n and the relative permittivity εr is n = √ εr. This relationship is also valid in the presence of loss except that we must use complex refractive index and complex relative permittivity, that is,

Ν = n − jK = √ εr = √( εr ′ − j εr″) Complex refractive index (14)

By squaring both sides we can relate n and K directly to εr ′ and εr″. The final result is

n2 + K2 = εr ′ and

2nK = εr ″ Complex refractive index (15)

Isotropic medium

The refractive index of a medium is not necessarily the same in all directions. Isotropic: noncrystalline materials, e.g. glass

and waterAnisotropic: crystals, e.g. si, SiO2, GaAs.

Dispersion

Dispersion: n is a function of .

Sellmeier equation:

In catalogs of optical materials, the coefficients a, b, c ... can be found for different glasses.

Dispersion and Group Velocity

Usually, the quantity dn/d is used to describe the magnitude of dispersion.

nkcSince

dk

dn

n

k

n

c

n

kc

dk

d

dk

dvg 1

or

d

dn

cc

n

vg

1

Absorption

When light propagates in a medium, it is always accompanied by energy dissipation.

tkziz eeEE 2/0

is the coefficient of absorption.

Irradiance

Energy Flow and Intensity

For a plane electro-magnetic wave

t rkEE cos0

t rkHH cos0

Poynting vector t rkHEHES 200 cos

Its average value is 002

1HES

The magnitude of <S> is2

00

00 22

1E

Z

nHEI

Unit of Intensity

20

000 22

1E

Z

nHEI

For E0 in V/m, the unit of intensity is thenW/m2. In optics, however, W/cm2 is used more frequently.

377000 Z

Direction of Energy Flow

The direction of energy flow is not always the same as that of the wave vector.

S (normal to E and H)

k (normal to the wave front)

Polarization

A line viewed through a cubic sodium chloride (halite) crystal(optically isotropic) and a calcite crystal (optically anisotropic).

Two polaroid analyzers are placed with their transmission axes, alongthe long edges, at right angles to each other. The ordinary ray,undeflected, goes through the left polarizer whereas the extraordinarywave, deflected, goes through the right polarizer. The two wavestherefore have orthogonal polarizations.

Polarization

t rkEE cos0

We usually use the direction of E as the direction of polarization.

If the direction of E is constant, the light is called “linearly polarized.”

linearly polarized

x

y

z

Ey

Ex

yEy^

xEx^

(a) (b) (c)

E

Plane of polarization

x̂

y^

E

(a) A linearly polarized wave has its electric field oscillations defined along a lineperpendicular to the direction of propagation, z. The field vector E and z define a plane ofpolarization. (b) The E-field oscillations are contained in the plane of polarization. (c) Alinearly polarized light at any instant can be represented by the superposition of two fields Exand Ey with the right magnitude and phase.

E


E

y

x

Exo = 0Eyo = 1 = 0

y

x

Exo = 1Eyo = 1 = 0

y

x

Exo = 1Eyo = 1 = /2

E

y

x

Exo = 1Eyo = 1 = /2

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Examples of linearly, (a) and (b), and circularly polarized light (c) and (d); (c) isright circularly and (d) is left circularly polarized light (as seen when the wavedirectly approaches a viewer)


z

Ey

Ex

EE = kz

z

z

A right circularly polarized light. The field vector E is always at rightangles to z , rotates clockwise around z with time, and traces out a fullcircle over one wavelength of distance propagated.


Polarization

right circularly polarizedGenerally, the electric field is represented as

j

iE

ˆcos

ˆcos

0

0

yy

xx

tkzE

tkzE

E0x = E0y and y-x = -/2:right circularly polarized.

E

y

x

Exo = 1Eyo = 2 = 0

Exo = 1Eyo = 2 = /4

Exo = 1Eyo = 2 = /2

y

x

(a) (b)E

y

x

(c)

(a) Linearly polarized light with Eyo = 2Exo and = 0. (b) When = /4 (45 ), the light isright elliptically polarized with a tilted major axis. (c) When = /2 (90 ), the light isright elliptically polarized. If Exo and Eyo were equal, this would be right circularlypolarized light.


Polarization

E0x E0y and y-x = -/2:

right elliptically polarized.

right elliptically polarized

Polarizer 1

TA 1

Polarizer 2 = Analyzer

TA 2

Light detectorE

Ecos

Unpolarized light

Linearlypolarized light

Randomly polarized light is incident on a Polarizer 1 with a transmission axis TA1. Lightemerging from Polarizer 1 is linearly polarized with E along TA 1, and becomes incidenton Polarizer 2 (called "analyzer") with a transmission axis TA 2 at an angle to TA 1. Adetector measures the intensity of the incident light. TA 1 and TA 2 are normal to the lightdirection.


x

= arbitrary

(b)

Input

z

xE

z

x

(a)

Output

Optic axis

Half wavelength plate: = š Quarter wavelength plate: = š/2

x

< 45

E

z

x

E

E

x

z z

= 45

45

Input and output polarizations of light through (a) a half-wavelengthplate and (b) through a quarter-wavelength plate.


Jones Vector

j

iE

ˆcos

ˆcos

0

0

yy

xx

tkzE

tkzE

We can write the electric field as

y

x

iy

ix

y

x

eE

eE

E

E

0

0

0

0called Jones vector.

Jones Vector

Normalized Jones vector:

0

1linearly polarized in x

i

1left circularly polarized

Wave on the Interface

plane of incidence

Reflection and Transmission

Reflection and Transmission

With Snell’s law,

Reflectivity and Transmissivity

For optical intensity,

And Ts = 1-Rs, Tp = 1-Rp.

For normal incidence,

Reflectivity and incidence angle

n0 < n1 n0 > n1

Reflectivity can be zero!

total reflection

Brewster’s angle

0

11tann

nB

When 0 + 1 = /2, Rp = 0.

00

0

0

1 tan2πsin

sin

n

n

Only the p-wave has Brewster’s angle. At this angle, the reflected wave is pure s-wave.

Total Reflection

When n0 > n1

0

11sinn

nc

Total reflection happen if 0 > c, where

is called the critical angle.

HW31. Group and phase velocity Consider a light

wave traveling in a pure SiO2 (silica) glass medium. If the wavelength of light is 1 um and the refractive index at this wavelength is 1.450, what is the phase velocity, group index (Ng) and group velocity (vg)?

2. With the given equation of refractive index in the pevious slide, please comment on possible factors affect n. (find out the possible approximation for relative permittivity)

3. Test run Thin film center Inc. Essential Macleod for

1. Internal reflection of a glass/water interface with 633 nm light source

2. Brewster angle for this interface

Refractive index n and the group index Ng of pureSiO2 (silica) glass as a function of wavelength.

Ng

n

500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900

1.44

1.45

1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

Wavelength (nm)


1. Optoelectronics and photonics Principles and Practices, by S.O. Kasap (Publisher: Prentice Hall; ISBN: 0201610876) : Fresne equation

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l5 refractive index and polarization chii-wann lin

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