CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO OPTICS

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 Optics is the study of the behavior of

light (not necessarily visible light).
This behavior can be described by
Maxwells equations.
r
r r
E 0
r r
B 0
r
whereE

r r
B
E
t
r
r r 1 E
B 2
c t

r
electric Bfield,

is the
is
the magnetic field, and c is the
velocity of light.
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Nature of Light
Optics

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What is LIGHT?
Light is a special type of wave
light or VISIBLE LIGHT is actually a type of
something called ELECTROMAGNETIC
RADIATION.
light has both wave and particle characteristics
Light can be modeled as a wave using wave
model of light frequency, wavelength, and
velocity (explains most properties of light).
Light can be modeled as a particle using particle
theory of light photoelectric effect (photons of
light produce
free electrons).
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 Visible light is part of the electromagnetic

spectrum of waves.
The speed of light depends on the
medium. Light travels fastest in a
vacuum, slower in more denser states of
matter, v=c/n.
Because light is a periodic wave, it
possesses the characteristics of all
periodic waves:
Reflection
Refraction
Interference
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Diffraction
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Theories of Optics
Light is an electromagnetic phenomenon described by the same theoretical
principles that govern all forms of electromagnetic radiation. Maxwells
equations are in the heart of electromagnetic theory & is fully successful
in providing treatment of light propagation. Electromagnetic optics
provides the most complete treatment of light phenomena in the context of
classical optics.
Turning to phenomena involving the interaction of light & matter, such as
emission & absorption of light, quantum theory provides the successful
explanation for light-matter interaction. These phenomena are described by
quantum electrodynamics which is the combination of electromagnetic
theory with quantum theory. For optical phenomena, this theory also
referred to as quantum optics. This theory provides an explanation
of virtually all optical phenomena.

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 In the context of classical optics, electromagentic radiation propagates in

the form of two mutually coupled vector waves, an electric field-wave &
magnetic field wave. It is possible to describe many optical phenomena
such as diffraction, by scalar wave theory in which light is described by a
single scalar wavefunction. This approximate theory is called scalar wave
optics or simply wave optics. When light propagates through & around
objects whose dimensions are much greater than the optical wavelength,
the wave nature of light is not readily discerned, so that its behavior can be
adequately described by rays obeying a set of geometrical rules. This
theory is called ray optics. Ray optics is the limit of wave optics when the
wavelength is very short.
Quantum Optics
Electromagnetic Optics
Wave Optics
Ray Optics
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Quantum Optics
Quantum optics is a field of research in physics,
dealing with the application of quantum mechanics to
phenomena involving light and its interactions with
matter.
deals with light as made up of particles (tiny bundles of
energy) called photons and hence inherently is
quantized.
Quantum optics is the study of the nature and effects of
light as quantized photons.
Atomic orbits
Probability densities
Energy levels
Quanta
Lasers
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Sources of Light
Incandescent light: light
produced by heating an
object until it glows.

Bioluminescence: light
produced by chemical
reactions
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Fluorescence light : light

produced by electron
bombardment of gas molecules

Phosphorescence: light
produced by light (reradiating of energy)

Properties of Light
All the known properties of light can
be grouped and classified as:
Geometry Optics
Wave Optics
Quantum Optics

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Geometry Optics

described in terms of straight lines and plane

geometry (light travels in straight lines)
As long as apertures are much larger than a
wavelength of light (and thus wave fronts are much
larger than ) the light wave front propagates without
distortion (or with a negligible amount)
( < dimension of aperture/object)
Examples:
Rectilinear propagation (light goes in a straight
line through a homogeneous medium)
Lens and mirrors
Finite Speed
Reflection (how light reflects)
Refraction (how light acts moving from one
medium into another)
Dispersion
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Reflection
Reflection Bouncing back of
light waves (change in direction
of a wave)
The law of reflection says that for
specular reflection the angle at
which the wave is incident on the
surface equals the angle at which
it is reflected.
Regular reflection mirrors
smooth surfaces scatter light
very little. Images are clear &
exact.
Diffuse reflection reflected
light is scattered due to an
irregular surface.
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Lenses

Object

Focal
Point

Convex Lenses
Thicker in the center than edges.
Lens
Lens that converges (brings together) light rays.
Forms real images and virtual images depending on position of
the object
Concave Lenses
Lens that is thicker at the edges and thinner in the center.
Diverges light rays
All images are erect and reduced.
Vision Eye is a convex lens.
Nearsightedness Concave lenses expand focal lengths
Farsightedness Convex lenses shortens the focal length.

Mirrors
Plane Mirrors Perfectly flat
Convex Mirror - Curves outward
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2000 Microsoft Clip Gallery

Refraction of Light
Refraction Bending of light due to a
change in speed.
Index of Refraction Amount by which a
material refracts light.
Prisms Glass that bends light. Different
frequencies are bent different amounts &
light is broken out into different colors.

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Fish-eye view of the World

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Rainbows

This rainbow is caused by light being refracted

while entering a droplet of water, then reflected
inside on the back of the droplet and refracted
again when leaving it.
In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside
the primary arc, and has the order of its colors
reversed, red facing toward the other one, in both
rainbows.
This second rainbow is caused by light reflecting
twice inside water droplets. The region between a
double rainbow is dark, and is known as
"Alexander's band" or "Alexander's dark band".
Area between rainbows often seen to be darker than elsewhere.
Note: rainbow can exist in foreground.

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Mirages
Mirages is a real optical phenomenon which can be captured on
camera, since light rays actually are refracted to form the false image
at the observer's location.

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Wave Optics (Physical Optics)

deals with the wave nature of light.
> dimension of aperture/object (If
apertures or obstacles, etc have
dimensions comparable to (e.g. < 103
) then wave front becomes distorted).
Examples
Interference
Diffraction
Electromagnetic character
Polarization
Double refraction

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Diffraction
Diffraction occurs
when a wave
encounters an
obstacle.
It is described as the
apparent bending of
waves around small
obstacles (edge of a
barrier) and the
spreading out of
waves past small
openings.
New waves are formed
from the original,
breaks images into
bands of light & dark
and colors.
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The light pattern

emerging from a
single small
rectangular opening

Polarization of Light
Polarization is the separation
of a beam of light so that the
vibrations are in one plane.
It is an exclusive property of
transverse waves.
When a light wave is
produced, it vibrates in many
directions.
If a beam of light passes
through a polarizing filter, the
beam that emerges will
vibrate in one plane only and
is said to be plane Polarized.
When light is reflected from a
nonmetallic surface, it is
polarized.
Which is why polarized
sunglasses can be used to
eliminate glare
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Interference

Two set of waves (such as light) can

combine with each other to produce a
resultant wave. The way in which this
combined wave is produced is called
interference.
A point source produces a spherical
wave.
If the light from two point sources
overlaps, the interference pattern
depends on the wavelength and on the
separation of the point sources.
Constructive vs. destructive
interference.

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 when light encounter a surface/

boundary, they are partially
transmitted and partially reflected.
Therefore, an object does not need
to emit photons itself to be seen, it
just has to reflect light back to our
eyes where we can detect it.

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2003 Mike Maloney

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Color of Light
Objects that do not allow light to pass through
them are called opaque.
Light is either reflected or absorbed.
Color of opaque objects is color it reflects.
Objects that allow light to pass through them are
considered transparent.
Light transmitted because of no scattering
Color transmitted is color you see. All other
colors are absorbed.
Objects in between are called translucent.
Light is scattered and transmitted some.

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Color of Light
Color of Objects
White light is the presence of ALL the colors of the
visible spectrum.
Black objects absorb ALL the colors and no light is
reflected back.

Primary Colors of Light

Three colors that can be mixed to produce any other
colored light
Red + blue + green = white light

Complimentary Colors of Light

Two complimentary colors combine to make white lightMagenta,Cyan,Yellow
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2000 Microsoft Clip Gallery

Color
Different objects may emit different
wavelengths of EM radiation, so we
would see that light as different colors.
The light we could see is known as
visible or white light.
The light is not really white, the white
we see is a combination of all the colors
of the rainbow (R-O-Y-G-B-I-V).
When all of these light waves are
combined we see white light.
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2003 Mike Maloney

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Color Reflection &

Transmission
So if we see something as WHITE, that
means
It reflected back all the wavelengths of light to
our eyes

If we see something as RED or BLUE

It reflected only the RED or only the BLUE
wavelengths
The others were absorbed.

And if we see something as black?

It did not reflect back any of the light.

Filters work in a similar way.

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Red

filters only let RED light thru.

2003 Mike Maloney
Blue let only BLUE light thru.

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At the end of Chapter 1

Can you
Describe what is optics?
What is the source of light?
Differentiate geometrical optics,
wave optics and quantum
optics?
Give example of geometrical
optics, wave optics and
quantum optics
PHY 4402