Reflection & Transmission of EM Waves

Reading – Shen and Kong – Ch. 4

Outline

• Everyday Reflection
• Reflection & Transmission (Normal Incidence)
• Reflected & Transmitted Power
• Optical Materials, Perfect Conductors, Metals

1
 TRUE or FALSE
1. Destructive interference occurs when two waves are
offset by a phase of ½πm, or half a wavelength.

2. The intensity of a plane wave oscillates in time. This

means it is always constructively and destructively
interfering with itself.
Coherent
light Propagation
3. In a double-slit direction
experiment, as Barrier with
you decrease the double slits
space between
the slits, the
interference destructive constructive
peaks decrease interference interference
proportionally. detector
screen

2
 Waves in Materials
ω
k = (n − jκ )
c

Index of refraction

Absorption coefficient
2κω 4πκ
α= =
c λ

3
 Incident and Transmitted Waves
same amplitudes 
E Normal Incidence
incident wave

H

transmitted wave
reflected wave

Medium 1 Medium 2
Incident Wave Transmitted Wave

4
 EM Wave Reflection
Metal Reflection Thin Film Interference

Dielectric Reflection Metal Reflection

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Image in the Public Domain is excluded from our Creative Commons license.
For more information, see Image by Ali Smiles :)
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77682540@N00/2789338547/ on flickr

Cell Phone Reflection AM Radio Reflection

5
 Incidentand Transmitted Waves
E
incident wave

H Normal Incidence

transmitted wave
reflected wave

Medium 1 Medium 2

Incident Wave Known Transmitted Wave

Define reflection
Reflected Wave coefficient as

Define transmission
coefficient as
6
 Key Takeaways

•  Define the reflection coefficient as

•  Define the transmission coefficient as

7
 E-Field Boundary Conditions

area A
EA⊥ n̂
+ + + + +δ +
ρs surface
EB⊥
Normal is discontinuous at a surface charge.

EA C n̂
δ surface
EB
L Tangential is continuous at a surface.

Known

8
 H-Field Boundary Conditions

areaA n̂
μo HA⊥
δ surface
μo HB⊥
Normal is continuous at a surface.

C
HA n̂

K δ
HB
Tangential is discontinuous at
L a surface current .

9
 Incident EM Waves at Boundaries

E
 incident wave
H Normal Incidence

Medium 1 Medium 2

Incident Wave Known

 i = x̂E i e−jk1 z
E o
 1  1 i −jk1 z
Hi = ẑ × Ei = yˆ Eo e
η1 η1
10
 Reflected EM Waves at Boundaries


H Normal Incidence

E

reflected wave

Medium 1 Medium 2

Reflected Wave Unknown DEFINE REFLECTION

COEFFICIENT AS

 r = x̂E r e+jk1 z
E o
r
1
 r = (−z) E
 r = −yˆ o e+jk1 z
H ˆ ×E
η1 η1

11
 Transmitted EM Waves at Boundaries

E

H Normal Incidence

transmitted wave

Medium 1 Medium 2

Transmitted Wave Unknown DEFINE TRANSMISSION

COEFFICIENT AS

 r = x̂E t e−jk2 z
E o
t
1
 t = ẑ × E E
 t = yˆ o e−jk2 z
H
η2 η2

12
 Reflection & Transmission of EM Waves at Boundaries

1 = E
E i + E
r 2 = E
E t

Medium 11 Medium
Medium22

1 = H
H i + H
r
2 = H
H r

13
 Reflection of EM Waves at Boundaries

 1(z=0) = E
E  2(z=0)

 1(z=0) = H
H  2(z=0)

μ
η=


14
 Reflectivity & Transmissivity of Waves

•  Define the reflection coefficient as

•  Define the transmission coefficient as

What are the ranges for r and t? Is energy conserved?

15
Reflection & Transmission of EM Waves at Boundaries


E Normal Incidence
incident wave

H

transmitted wave

Medium 1 Medium 2

Additional Java simulation at

http://phet.colorado.edu/new/simulations/

16
 Reflectivity & Transmissivity of EM Waves

•  Note that
•  The definitions of the reflection and transmission coefficients
do generalize to the case of lossy media.
•  For loss-less media, r and t are real:

•  For lossy media, r and t are complex:

•  Incident Energy = Reflected Energy + Transmitted Energy

R = |r|2 … fraction of incident power that is reflected
T = 1 – R … fraction of incident power that is transmitted

17
 Reflectivity of Dielectrics

Consider nearly-lossless optical materials. For typical dielectrics,

μ1 ≈ μ2 ≈ μ0.

μ2 μ1
−
ε2 ε1 ε1 − ε 2 n1 − n2
r = ≈ =
μ2 μ1 ε1 + ε 2 n1 + n2
+
ε2 ε1

Result μ1 ≈ μ2 μ1 ≈ μ2

Image by Will Montague http://www.flickr.com/

photos/willmontague/3787127610/ on flickr

18
 Reflection of EM Waves at Boundaries

REMEMBER:

In terms of the In terms of

characteristic the index of
impedances refraction,
assuming
μ1 = μ2 = μ0

Animations © Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University. All rights reserved. This
content is excluded from our Creative Commons license. For more information,
see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.

What is different in the two reflected waves ?

Which side is air and which side is glass ?

19
 Why does metal reflect light?

© Kyle Hounsell. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative
Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.

20
Microscopic Lorentz Oscillator Model

21
 T-A-R-T
70
T A R T
60

50

Reflection %
40

30

T A R T
20

10

T-A-R-T - the material has four distinct regions of optical properties:

•  Transmissive, ω < ω0 - γ/2,
•  Absorptive, ω0 - γ/2 < ω < ω0 + γ/2
•  Reflective, ω0 + γ/2 < ω < ωp
•  Transmissive, ω > ωp
22
  i = x̂Eo e−jkz
E reflected wave
Reflection of a  
Normally Incident  i = ŷ Eo e−jkz
H
ηo
EM Wave from a
Perfect Conductor
Incident wave

Standing wave pattern

of the E-field

kz = −2π kz = −π

Standing wave pattern

of the H-field

kz = −3π/2 kz = −π/2
23
 Microscopic Lorentz Oscillator Model
… for FREE ELECTRONS IN METALS
Drude Model for metals γ/2
0.5

0.4
i r
0.3
6
0.2
5 κ
0.1

R
4
 r , i

ω
T
n, κ
ωp 3
-5

-10 r 2
n
-20 1 n
-25
ωp ω
-30

24
 Reflectivity of Silver

γ/2

100
6

5 κ 80

Reflection(%)
R
4

T R T
60
n, κ

3
40
2
n
1 n 20

ωp ω ω
ωp

25
 Ice is more reflective than water

10% reflected
by ocean water 20% reflected
by vegetation
and dark soil
70-80% of sunlight
reflected by snow

26
 Thin Film Interference

Constructive
interference
Incident
light

air
oil

water

Image by Yoko Nekonomania http://www.

flickr.com/photos/nekonomania/4827035737/ on flickr

27
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6.007 Electromagnetic Energy: From Motors to Lasers

Spring 2011

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