Keflection from Surfaces
3341 Reflection and refraction of light
The subject of this chapter is the reflection and refraction of ight—or electro~
magnetic waves in general—at surfaces. We have already discussed the laws of
reflection and refraction in Chapter 35 of Volume I. Here's what we found out
there:
1. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. With the angles
defined as shown in Fig. 33-1,
a = 6, ean
2. The product 1 sin is the same for the incident and transmitted beams.
(Snell's law).
ny sin 8, = np sin @32)
3. The intensity of the reflected light depends on the angle of incidence and
also on the direction of polarvation, For E perpendicular to the plane of
ieidence, the reflection coefficient Ry is
_ ty _ sin? (0, — 00
Re nF OF 8) G33)
For E parallel to the plane of incidence, the reflection coefficient Ri 1s
_ he _ tan? a, = 8)
ht 8) G4)
4. For normal ineidence (any polarization, of course!),
Je ‘ng — ny\?
io (a8) ws
(Earlier, we used 1 for the meident angle and r for the refracted angle Since we
can't use 7 for both “refracted” and “reflected” angles, we are now using 8,
incident angle, &, = reflected angle, and 9, = transmitted angle.)
Our earlier discussion is really about as far as anyone would normally need
to go with the subject, but we are going to do it all over again a different way
Why” One reason is that we assumed before that the indexes were real (no ab=
sorption in the materials) But another reason is that you should know how to
deal with what happens to waves at surfaces from the point of view of Maxwell's
equations. We'll get the same answers as before, but now from a straightforward
solution of the wave problem, rather than by some clever arguments
We want to emphasize that the amplitude of a surface reflection 1s not &
property of the material, as is the index of refraction It 1s a “surface property.
one that depends precisely on how the surface is made, A thin layer of extraneous
junk on the surface between two materials of indices n) and na will usualy change
the reflection. (There are all kinds of possibilities of iaterference here—lke the
colors of oil films. Suitable thickness can even reduce the reflected amplitude to
zero for a gwen frequency: that's how coated lenses are made.) The formulas
we wll derive are correct only i the chunge of index 1s sudden—within a distance
very small compared with one wavelength. For light, the wavelength is about
5000 A, so by a “smooth” surface we mean one in which the conditions change in
mo
33-1 Reflection and refraction of
light
33-2 Waves in dense materials
33-3 The boundary conditions
33-4 The reflected and transmitted
33-5 Reflection from metals
33-6 Total internal reflection
Review. Chapter 35, Vol. 1, Polarization
f ng
Fig. 33-1. Reflection and refraction
of light waves at @ surface. (The wave
directions are normal to the wave crests\ wave chegrs
ven
Fig. 33-2. For a wove moving in the
direction k, the phase at any point P is
ot — ker).
going a distance of only a few atoms (or a few angstroms). Our equations will
work for light for highly polished surfaces. In general, if the index changes grad-
ually over a distance of several wavelengths, there is very hitle reflection at all.
33-2 Waves in dense materials
First, we remind you about the convenient way of describing a sinusoudal
plane wave we used in Chapter 36 of Volume I. Any field component inthe wave
(we use Eas an example) can be written in the form
B= Been, 36)
where E represents the amplitude at the point r ({rom the origin) at the time f
The vector k points in the direction the wave is travelling, and its magnitude
ik) = k = 2x/nisthe wavenumber. The phase veloty ofthe waves run = /k,
for a light wave ina material oF mdex m, ry, = c/n, 30
no @sn
Suppose k is in the z-direction, then k «rs just kz, as we have often used 1€ For
4 in any other direction, we should replace z by ri, the distance from the origin
sn the k-direction; that 1s, we should replace kz by kr, which 1s just kr. (See
Fig. 33-2.) So Eq, (33.6) is a convenient representation of a wave mn any direction,
We must remember, of course, that
kor hax t ky +k,
where k,, ky, and k, are the components of k along the three axes. In fuct, we
pointed out once that (a, Kr, ky. k.) is & four-vector, and that its scalar product
with (t,x, ys 2) is an invariant. So the phase of a wave is an invariant, and Eq.
(33.6) could be written
B= Ee
But we don’t need to be that fancy now.
For a sinusoidal E, as in Eq. (33.6), 9£/0r isthe same as iw, and 9E/Ax is
~tk,E, and so on for the other components. You can see why itis very convenient
{o use the form in Eq. (33 6) when working with differential equations—differentia-
tions are replaced by muluplications. One further useful point: The operation
¥ = (a/ax, 0/0, 0/02) gets replaced by the three multiplications (ih, —iky
~ik,). But these three factors transform as the components of the vector &, $0
the operator ¥ gets replaced by multiphcation with —ik:
a
ar
va Wik (3.8)
‘This remains true for any ¥ operation—whether it 18 the gradient, oF the diver-
gence, or the curl. For instance, the z-component of ¥ X E is
aE, _ ak,
ax
If both E, and E, vary as e~"*, then we get
Atk eEy + IkyE.
which 1s, you see, the z-component of —ik % E.
‘So we have the very useful general fact that whenever you have to take the
gradient of a vector that varies as a wave in three dimensions (they are an important
part of physics), you can always take the derivations quickly and almost without
thinking by remembering that the operation ¥ 1s equivalent to multiplication by
ik,
credFor instance, the Faraday equation
op
vxee
becomes for a wave