Polarization of Light - San Jose State University

1 Polarization of Light Thursday, 11/09/2006. Physics 158. Peter Beyersdorf Document info 1. Class Outline Polarization of Light Polarization basis'. Jones Calculus 16. 2. Polarization The Electric field direction defines the Polarization of Light Since Light is a transverse wave, the electric field can point in any direction transverse to the direction of propagation Any arbitrary Polarization State can be considered as a superposition of two orthogonal Polarization states ( it can be described in different bases). 16. 3. Electric Field Direction Light is a transverse electromagnetic wave so the electric (and magnetic) field oscillates in a direction transverse to the direction of propagation Possible states of electric field Polarization are electric field Linear Circular plane wave Elliptical Random 4. Examples of Polarization states right hand circular horizontal (CW as seen from observer). left hand circular vertical (CCW as seen from observer).

2 Linear Polarization at an elliptical arbitrary angle 16. 5. Linear Polarization Basis Any Polarization State can be described as the sum of two orthogonal linear Polarization states ! Ex (z, t) = E0x i e i(kz t+ x ). ! Ey (z, t) = E0y j e i(kz t+ y ). " #. ! t). E(z, ! ! = Ex (z, t) + Ey (z, t) = E0x e i + E0y e j e i x i y i(kz t). E0y=0 E0x=0 E0y=E0x E0y=-E0x y y y y x x x horizontal vertical diagonal diagonal x= y x= y+ 16. 6. Circular Polarization " #. ! t). E(z, = i x E0x e i + E0y ei y j e i(kz t). For the case | x- y|= /2 the magnitude of the field doesn't change, but the direction sweeps out a circle The Polarization is said Left-Handed Right-Handed to be right-handed if y y it progresses clockwise as seen by an observer looking into the Light . x x Left-handed if it progresses counterclockwise y- x= /2 y- x=- /2. 16. 7. Circular Polarization basis Circular (as well as any arbitrary) Polarization can be described as a linear combination of orthogonal linear Polarization states !

3 " ! ". iEx Ex Erhc = Elhc =. Ey iEy alternatively we can define linear (or any arbitrary). Polarization as the sum of orthogonal circular Polarization states Ex = (Elhc iErhc )/2. Ey = (Elhc + iErhc )/2i 16. 8. Elliptical Polarization Linear and Circular Polarization are just special cases of elliptical Polarization " #. ! t). E(z, = E0x ei x i + E0y ei y j ei(kz t). y The orientation of the major axis is 2E0x E0y cos( ) . tan 2 = 2 E2. E0x 0y The ratio of the major to minor axes is E0x sin( ) + E0y cos( ) cos( ). e=. E0x cos( ) + E0y sin( ) cos( ) 16. 9. Unpolarized Light Most sources of natural Light are unpolarized . Randomly oriented dipoles radiate for about 10ns at a time before collisions cause the phases to change. The sum or the radiation from all dipoles is polarized in a direction that depends on the relative phases of the dipoles, which changes every 10 ns or so (called the coherence time). When viewed at time scales greater than the coherence time the radiation appears unpolarized 10.

4 Unpolarized Light 11. Describing Polarization Mathematically Since Polarization , like vectors, can be described by the value of two orthogonal components, we use vectors to represent Polarization Amplitude of the components can be complex to represent a time delay between the components of the waves Jones calculus allows us to keep track of the Polarization of waves as they propagate through a system Jones Vectors Expressing Polarization in terms of two orthogonal states with complex amplitude ( amplitude and phase) of each component expressed in vector form ! ". 0. vertical 1.. ! ". 1. horizontal 0.. ! ". 1 1. linear at +45 . 2 1.. ! ". cos . linear at sin .. ! ". 1. right circular i . 2 1.. ! ". 1 1. left circular . 2 i . Jones Matrices An optical element that transforms one Polarization State into another can be treated as a 2x2 matrix acting on a jones vector ! " ! "! ". Ex,out M11 M12 Ex,in =. Ey,out M21 M22 Ey,in The Jones Matrices for a series of optical elements can be multiplied together to find how the optical system transforms the Polarization of an input beam 14.

5 Polarizers unpolarized Selectively attenuates one input Light Polarization polarizer polarized output Light Malus discovered that an analyzer oriented at with respect to a polarizer would have atransmission Wire Grid Polarizer of I( ) = I0 cos . 2. known as Malus' Law 15. Jones Matrix of a Polarizer What is the Jones matrix for a polarizer that transmits horizontal Polarization ? ! " ! "! ". Ex,out ? ? Ex,in =. 0 ? ? Ey,in What if it is rotated at an angle ? ! ". cos sin . R( )M R( ) R( ) . sin cos . Use this to verify Malus' Law 16. Jones Matrix of a Polarizer What is the Jones matrix for a polarizer that transmits horizontal Polarization ? ! " ! "! ". Ex,out ? ? Ex,in =. 0 ? ? Ey,in What if it is rotated at an angle ? ! ". cos sin . R( )M R( ) R( ) . sin cos . Use this to verify Malus' Law 17. Malus' Law ! " ! "! " ! ". Ex,1 1 0 Ex,0 Ex,0. = =. Ey,1 0 0 Ey,0 0 E0 E1 E2. ! " ! "! "! "! ". Ex,2 cos sin 1 0 cos sin Ex,1. =. Ey,2 sin cos 0 0 sin cos Ey,1.

6 ! " ! "! "! "! ". Ex,2 cos sin 1 0 cos sin Ex,0. =. Ey,2 sin cos 0 0 sin cos 0. ! "! "! ". cos sin 1 0 cos Ex,0. =. sin cos 0 0 sin Ex,0. ! "! ". cos sin cos Ex,0. =. sin cos 0. ! ". cos Ex,0. 2. =. sin cos Ex,0. |E2 | ! I2. = cos cos2 + sin2 = cos = cos2 . E0,x I1. 18. Retarders Devices which delays one Polarization component with respect to the other For a birefringent material of thickness d 2 . = (kny d knx d) = nd . Thus the Jones matrix is ! ". 1 0. 0 e . 19. Quarter Wave Plate For a retarder with = /2 ( a retardation of /4) ! ". 1 0. 0 i And when a wave with linear Polarization at 45 . passes through the retarder it gets converted to left (right) circular Polarization ! " ! "! ". 1 1 1 1 0 1. = . 2 i 2 0 i 1. ! " ! "! ". 1 i 1 1 0 1. = . 2i 1 2 0 i 1. 20. Half Wave Plate For a retarder with = ( a retardation of /2) ! ". 1 0. 0 1. And when a wave with linear Polarization at . passes through the retarder it gets converted to linear Polarization at.

7 ! "! " ! ". 1 0 cos cos . =. 0 1 sin sin . ! ". cos( ). =. sin( ). 21. Compensator Variable waveplate with Jones matrix ! ". 1 0. 0 e . Babinet compensator Berek compensator 22. Waveplate Order Recall that the relative delay between the two polzrization states is 2 . = nd . For a zero-order quartz waveplate if we wish we need d 100 m For a typical multi-order waveplate 11 so d 1mm which is easier to manufacture and has the same retardation (modulo 2 ) as a zero order waveplate 23. Waveplate Order dispersion of a waveplate is the sensitivity of the retardation to wavelength 2 . = nd . d 2 . = 2 nd d . which is minimized in a zero order waveplate. Typical zero-order waveplates are actually made of two multiorder waveplates cemented together oriented at 90 so that = 1- 2 but the total thickness d 2mm 24. Summary Polarization of Light can be described as linear, circular, elliptical or unpolarized unpolarized Light is really just polarized Light that has the Polarization changing very rapidly Any type of Polarization can be described in terms of any other Polarization basis Jones vectors mathematically describe polarized Light , Jones matrices describe the action of optical elements on polarized Light Various elements are used to manipulate the Polarization State of Light