PHYS 408, Optics

Problem Set 3 - Spring 2017

Posted: Fri, January 20, 2017 Due: 5pm Mon, January 30, 2017.

1. Exercise 2.2-2. The Paraboloidal Wave and the Gaussian Beam.

2. Refer to the Figure 6.2-1 from the textbook. Consider a plane wave E =
Ei ej(krt) x (S/TE polarization) travels from a dielectric with refractive index
n1 to a dielectric of refractive index n2 , at an angle 1 .
(a) Apply boundary conditions and derive the Fresnel equations (6.2-8) in the
textbook. (Hint: for the magnetic fields conditions, use the result from
Problem Set 2 Q1.d.ii)
(b) Calculate Poynting vectors and verify that the power normal to the bound-
ary is conserved, i.e incident power = reflected + transmitted.
(c) Refer to Fresnel equation (6.2-9) for the TM case. Assuming n1 = 1
(vacuum) and n2 = 1.5. Plot |r|2 for both TE and TM light as a function
of incident angle 1 from [0, /2], on the same graph.
(d) Comment on how your plot is related to the use of polarized sunglasses.
3. (a) Exercise 2.5-2. Interference of Two Spherical Waves.
(b) Suppose the two pinholes in part (a) are separated by a distance 2a = 1 m,
and the incident light has a wavelength of 500 nm. The screen at a distance
d = 1 m away.
i. Set I0 = 1 and drop the y component. Plot the interference pattern (in-
tensity) of two spherical waves (no paraxial approximation) originated
from two pinholes on the screen, for a range 0.3m < x < 0.3m.
ii. On the same graph, plot the interference of the paraboloidal waves
(you solution in part a).
iii. Does the number of fringes predicted by the Fresnel approximation
match your plot?

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Solutions:
1. Note that the Paraxial Helmholtz equation is only for the slow-varying envelope
and that you dont need to include the on-axis propagation term ejkz . The proof of
paraboloidal wave envelope satisfying the Paraxial Helmholtz equation is similar to
that of a Gaussian envelope. Hence, here only the Gaussian profile is verified. The
complex envelope of a Gaussian beam is given by:
A1 j 2q(z)
k
2
A(r) = e (1)
q(z)
where
q(z) = z + jz0 (2)
2 = x2 + y 2 . (3)
We then proceed to calculate
2 2
 
2T A(r) = + A(r) (4)
x2 y 2
by first computing the x-derivative and noticing that the y-derivative is analogous.
Hence
2
 
jkx
A(r) = A(r) (5)
x2 x q
 2
jk jkx
= A(r) + A(r) (6)
q q
"  2 #
k k
= j x2 A(r). (7)
q q
Therefore, "  2 #
2k k
2T A(r) = j 2 A(r). (8)
q q
We then proceed to calculate the z-derivative term. In order to make the algebra
easier, we note that
q(z)
= (z + jz0 ) = 1 (9)
z z
and therefore
A(r) q(z) A(r)
= (10)
z z q(z)
A(r)
= (11)
q
 2
1
= A(r) + jk A(r). (12)
q q

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 Therefore "  2 #
A(r) 2k k
2jk = j 2 A(r) (13)
z q q
and hence it satisfies the Paraxial Helmholtz equation.

2. (a) Without any free charges or free currents, boundary conditions are:

(E1 E2 ) n12 =0 (14)

(D1 D2 ) n12 =0 (15)
(B1 B2 ) n12 =0 (16)
(H1 H2 ) n12 = 0, (17)

where n12 is the unit vector normal to the interface between material 1 and 2,
pointing from 1 to 2. See the layout in Figure 1. The general forms of all three
s-polarized fields can be written out:

Ei = Ei ejk1 r x
Et = Et ejk2 r x
Er = Er ejk3 r x

Figure 1

We know that ki = ni /c, where is the refractive index of the material, so can
write k = nk = nk0 k, where k0 = /c is the magnitude of the wave vector in
vacuum, and k is the unit vector of k.
From the layout, these unit vectors in Cartesian coordinates are:

k1 = (0, sin 1 , cos 1 )

k2 = (0, sin 2 , cos 2 )
k3 = (0, sin 3 , cos 3 )

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Thus, the three fields can be written as:

Ei = Ei ejn1 k0 (y sin 1 +z cos 1 ) x (18)

jn2 k0 (y sin 2 +z cos 2 )
Et = E t e x (19)
jn1 k0 (y sin 3 z cos 3 )
Er = E r e x (20)
p
In Homework 2 Problem 1 we showed that for plane waves: H = /k E.
Hence, the magnetic fields can be written as:
p
Hi = 1 /1 Ei ejn1 k0 (y sin 1 +z cos 1 ) (y cos 1 z sin 1 ) (21)
p
Ht = 2 /2 Et ejn2 k0 (y sin 2 +z cos 2 ) (y cos 2 z sin 2 ) (22)
p
Hr = 1 /1 Er ejn1 k0 (y sin 3 z cos 3 ) (y cos 3 z sin 3 ) (23)

Now we can apply the boundary conditions. Substitute equations 1820 at z = 0

into equation 14, with E1 = Ei + Er , E2 = Et and n12 = z:

Ei ejn1 k0 y sin 1 y Er ejn1 k0 y sin 3 y + Et ejn2 k0 y sin 2 y = 0

1 + Er /Ei ejn1 k0 y(sin 3 sin 1 ) Et /Ei ejk0 y(n2 sin 2 n1 sin 1 ) = 0

As discussed in class, for the above equation to be satisfied for arbitrary y, we

must have:
sin 1 = sin 3 1 = 3 , (24)
n2 sin 2 = n1 sin 1 (Snells Law), (25)
and hence,
t=1+r (26)
The boundary condition of the D fields, equation 15 will not give any useful result
since the wave is s-polarized: no normal component of D field. The boundary
condition of the B fields, equation 16 will arrive at the same results as given by
the E fields. Therefore, substitute equations 2123 to boundary condition of the
H fields, equation 17 at z = 0, with H1 = Hi + Hr , H2 = Ht :
p p
1 /1 Ei ejn1 k0 y sin 1 cos 1 x 1 /1 Er ejn1 k0 y sin 3 cos 3 x
p
+ 2 /2 Et ejn2 k0 y sin 2 cos 2 x = 0

, using equation 24 and 25:

p p p
1 /1 cos 1 + 1 /1 r cos 1 + 2 /2 t cos 2 = 0.

Since t = 1 + r, the above equation be rewritten into:

p p
1 /1 cos 1 2 /2 cos 2
r=p p . (27)
1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2

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 For a nonmagnetic material, where = 0 :
p p
1 /0 cos 1 2 /0 cos 2
r=p p
1 /0 cos 1 + 2 /0 cos 2
p p
1 /0 cos 1 2 /0 cos 2
r=p p
1 /0 cos 1 + 2 /0 cos 2
n1 cos 1 n2 cos 2
r= (28)
n1 cos 1 + n2 cos 2
(b) The Poynting vector for a harmonic wave is given by S = 1/2E H :
r
1 1
untitled|Si | = |Ei |2 (29)
2 1
r
1 2
|St | = |Et |2 (30)
2 2
r
1 1
|Sr | = |Er |2 , (31)
2 1
with p p
1 /1 cos 1 2 /2 cos 2
Er = rEi = p p Ei (32)
1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2
and p
2 1 /1 cos 1
Et = tEi = (1 + r)Ei = p p Ei , (33)
1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2
the power can be evaluated as:
r
1 2 1
|Si | = |Ei | (34)
2 1
41 /1 cos2 1
r
1 2
|St | = |Ei |2 p p (35)
2 2 ( 1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2 )2
p p
1 ( 1 /1 cos 1 2 /2 cos 2 )2
r
1 2
|Sr | = |Ei | p p , (36)
2 1 ( 1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2 )2
Power that is normal to the boundary should be conserved:
r p p
1 2 1 4 1 /1 2 /2 cos1 cos 2
|St | cos 2 + |Sr | cos 1 = |Ei | cos 1 ( p p
2 1 ( 1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2 )2
p p
( 1 /1 cos 1 2 /2 cos 2 )2
+ p p )
( 1 /1 cos 1 + 2 /2 cos 2 )2
r
1 2 1
= |Ei | cos 1
2 1
= |Si | cos 1

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 (c) See figure 2.

Figure 2

(d) As shown in the plot, there is a Brewster angle for TM waves where reflectivity
can be zero (all light transmitted) when the light is going from materials with
low refractive index to high refractive index. This can happen to, for example,
the sunlight reflected from the sea surface or water ponds on roads. In those
cases, only the TE component of the light is reflected and polarized sunglasses
can effectively filter it out. These glasses can protect eyes from the reflected glare.
For more information, see wikipedia

3. (a) Referring to Figure 2.5-6 from the textbook, at large distance d from the two
spherical waves, the Fresnel approximation of one spherical wave is given by:
A0 jkz jk x2 +y2
U (x, y, z) e e 2z (37)
z
At z = d, the intensity of one spherical is then:

A20
I0 = |U (x, y, d)|2 = (38)
d2
Since the two pin holes are seperated by a distance of 2a, the complex amplitude
of the two spherical waves can be written as:

U1 = U (x + a, y, z) U2 = U (x a, y, z) (39)

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 Total intensity can be calculated by:
I(x, y, d) = |U1 (x + a, y, d) + U2 (x a, y, d)|2
= |U1 |2 + |U2 |2 + U1 U2 + U1 U2
A2 A2 A2 (x+a)2 (xa)2 A2 (x+a)2 +(xa)2
= 20 + 20 + 20 ejk 2d + 20 ejk 2d
d d d d
A20 2ax 2ax
= 2 (2 + ejk d + ejk d )
d
2ka
= 2I0 (1 + cos x)
d
Since d >> a, 2a/d , together with k = 2/,
2x
I(x, y, d) 2I0 (1 + cos ) (40)

(b) See figure 3.

Figure 3

The number of fringes can be seen by setting:

2ka
2I0 (1 + cos x) = 2n,
d
then the position of the nth fringe is:
d
x=n .
2a
For the Fresnel approximation to be valid, x needs to satisfy (page. 47 of S&T):
x << 4d4 .

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Note the difference of the notation. Therefore,

n << 2a 2d1/4 3/4 (41)

As for the numbers, I apologize that there was a typo in the problem set: 2a =
20m instead of 2a = 1m. Substituting the given numbers (2a = 1) gives n
0.075, which means starting from the central maxima, fringes begin to deviate.
For 2a = 20m, n 1.5. As shown in figure 4, we can see that fringes start to
deviate from the 2 nd fringes, in terms of both spatial frequency and amplitudes.

Figure 4