Theory of elliptically polarized light
A beam of plane polarized light can be obtained from a Nicol prism. This beam of plane polarized light is made incident normally on the surface of a calcite crystal cut parallel to its optic axis.
As shown in Fig. 14.32(a), let the plane of polarization of the incident beam make an angle θ with the optic axis and let the amplitude of this incident light be A.
Figure 14.32 (a) Plane wave incident on calcite crystal; (b) e-ray and o-ray light amplitudes in calcite crystal
![images](https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/engineering-physics/9788131775073/images/c014f0032.png)
As polarized light enters into the calcite crystal, it will split into two components, e-ray and o-ray. The e-ray ...
Energy density of classical electromagnetic waves[edit]
Energy in a plane wave[edit]
Main article: Energy density
The energy per unit volume in classical electromagnetic fields is (cgs units)
For a plane wave, this becomes
where the energy has been averaged over a wavelength of the wave.
Fraction of energy in each component[edit]
The fraction of energy in the x component of the plane wave is
with a similar expression for the y component resulting in
.
![f_y=\sin^2\theta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/2/7/1/271c526a2e4a28e3b57e6581099c1dc3.png)
The fraction in both components is
Momentum density of classical electromagnetic waves[edit]
The momentum density is given by the Poynting vector
For a sinusoidal plane wave traveling in the z direction, the momentum is in the z direction and is related to the energy density:
The momentum density has been averaged over a wavelength.
Angular momentum density of classical electromagnetic waves[edit]
Electromagnetic waves can have both orbital and spin angular momentum.[1] The total angular momentum density is
For a sinusoidal plane wave propagating along
axis the orbital angular momentum density vanishes. The spin angular momentum density is in the
direction and is given by
![z](https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/f/b/a/fbade9e36a3f36d3d676c1b808451dd7.png)
![z](https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/f/b/a/fbade9e36a3f36d3d676c1b808451dd7.png)
where again the density is averaged over a wavelength.
Optical filters and crystals[edit]
Passage of a classical wave through a polaroid filter[edit]
A linear filter transmits one component of a plane wave and absorbs the perpendicular component. In that case, if the filter is polarized in the x direction, the fraction of energy passing through the filter is
Example of energy conservation: Passage of a classical wave through a birefringent crystal[edit]
An ideal birefringent crystal transforms the polarization state of an electromagnetic wave without loss of wave energy. Birefringent crystals therefore provide an ideal test bed for examining the conservative transformation of polarization states. Even though this treatment is still purely classical, standard quantum tools such as unitary and Hermitian operators that evolve the state in time naturally emerge.
Initial and final states[edit]
A birefringent crystal is a material that has an optic axis with the property that the light has a different index of refraction for light polarized parallel to the axis than it has for light polarized perpendicular to the axis. Light polarized parallel to the axis are called "extraordinary rays" or "extraordinary photons", while light polarized perpendicular to the axis are called "ordinary rays" or "ordinary photons". If a linearly polarized wave impinges on the crystal, the extraordinary component of the wave will emerge from the crystal with a different phase than the ordinary component. In mathematical language, if the incident wave is linearly polarized at an angle
with respect to the optic axis, the incident state vector can be written
![\theta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/5/0/d/50d91f80cbb8feda1d10e167107ad1ff.png)
and the state vector for the emerging wave can be written
While the initial state was linearly polarized, the final state is elliptically polarized. The birefringent crystal alters the character of the polarization.
In a beam of electromagnetic radiation the vectors of electric field E and magnetic field H are perpendicular to the direction of the light propagation. Because vectors E and H of electromagnetic wave are perpendicular also to each other, the state of the light anisotropy in the direction perpendicular to the wave propagation can be described by any of these two vectors. Generally, the polarization direction is the direction of the electric field vector E.
I = I0cos2a
Animation shows the experiment when the Gaussian beam with linear polarization is incident onto the rotating polarizer. As a result the intensity of light spot on the screen behind the polarizer is varied harmonically depending on the angle between the polarization direction and polarizer angle.
Let us consider flat electro-magnetic wave propagating in the positive direction along the axis x. In this case the equation of such a wave can be written as:
Ex = 0, Ey = E0cos(wt - kx), Ez = 0;
Hx = 0, Hy = 0, Hz = H0cos(wt - kx); |
where k=w/c is the wave constant, c is the velocity of the light. As we can see from the animation there is no oscillation of electric and magnetic components of wave in the direction x (Ex=Hx = 0). This means the the electromagnetic wave is the transverse one. This is one of the principle differences of electromagnetic wave as compared to the wave of mechanical stresses. Another principle of electro-magnetic wave propagation is that the vectors E and H oscillate in phase, i.e. they achieve the maximum value in the same points of the space.
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