Coherence, Incoherence, and Light

Scattering
Coherence vs. incoherence.

Coherence in light sources.

Light bulbs vs. lasers.

Coherence in light scattering.

Molecules scatter spherical

waves.

Spherical waves can

add up to plane waves.

Reflected and diffracted beams at surfaces.

Why the sky and swimming pools are blue.

Constructive vs. destructive interference;
Coherent vs. incoherent interference
Waves that combine Constructive
in phase add up to interference
relatively high irradiance.
= (coherent)

Waves that combine 180° Destructive

out of phase cancel out = interference
and yield zero irradiance. (coherent)

Waves that combine with

Incoherent
lots of different phases = addition
nearly cancel out and
yield very low irradiance.
Interfering many waves: in phase, out of
phase, or with random phase…
Im

Re
If we plot the
Waves adding exactly
complex
in phase (coherent
amplitudes: constructive addition)

Waves adding exactly Waves adding with

out of phase, adding to random phase,
zero (coherent partially canceling
destructive addition) (incoherent
addition)
The relative phases are the key.
Recall that the irradiance of the sum of two waves is:

I = I1 + I 2 + cε Re { E1⋅ E2*} E
~1
and E
~2
are complex amplitudes.
% %
Im
If we write the amplitudes in Ei
%
Ei ∝ I i exp[− iθi ]
terms of their intensities, Ii, A
θ
and absolute phases, θ i, % i
Re

I = I1 + I 2 + 2 I1 I 2 Re { exp[−i (θ1 − θ 2 )]} Im

Imagine adding many such fields. 2 I1 I 2

In coherent interference, the θ i – θ j
I1 + I 2 θ 1–θ 2
Re
will all be known. 0
I
In incoherent interference, the θ i –
θ j will all be random.
Adding many fields with random phases
We find:
r r
Etotal = [ E1+ E2+ ...+ EN ] exp[⋅i ( k− r ω t )]
% % % %
I total = I1 + I 2 + ...+ I N+ cε Re { E1E+
*
2 E E+
1 3
*
+
... E N −1 N }
E *

%% %% % %
I1, I2, … In are the irradiances of the Ei Ej* are cross terms, which have the
various beamlets. They’re all phase factors: exp[i(θ i-θ j)]. When
positive real numbers and they add. the θ ’s are random, they cancel
out!
All the
Itotal = I1 + I2 + … + In relative Im
phases
Re
I1+I2+…+IN
The intensities simply add!
Two 20W light bulbs yield 40W.
exp[i (θi − θ j )] exp[i(θ k − θ l )]
Light bulbs

Light from a light bulb is

very complicated!

1. It has many colors (it’s white), so we have to add waves of many

different values of ω (and hence k-magnitudes).
2. It isn’t a point source, so, for each color, we have to add
waves with many different k directions.
3. Even along one direction, many different molecules are emitting
light with random relative phases (the effect we just considered).
Light from a light bulb is incoherent

When many light waves add with

random phases, we say the light is
incoherent, and the light wave total
irradiance is just the sum of the
individual irradiances.

Itotal = I1 + I2 + … + In

Other characteristics of incoherent light:

1. It’s relatively weak.
2. It’s omni-directional.
3. Its irradiance is proportional to the number of emitters.
Coherent vs. Incoherent Light
Laser
Coherent light:
1. It’s strong.
2. It’s uni-directional.
3. Total irradiance ∝ N2 or 0.
4. Total irradiance is the mag-square
of the sum of individual fields.
Etotal = E1 + E2 + … + En
Incoherent light:
1. It’s relatively weak.
2. It’s omni-directional.
3. Total irradiance ∝ N.
4. Total irradiance is the sum
of individual irradiances.
Itotal = I1 + I2 + … + In
Light Scattering
Molecule
When light encounters
matter, matter not only re-
emits light in the forward Light source
direction (leading to
absorption and refractive
index), but it also re-emits
light in all other directions.

This is called scattering.

Light scattering is everywhere. All molecules scatter light.

Surfaces scatter light. Scattering causes milk and clouds to be
white and water to be blue. It is the basis of nearly all optical
phenomena.

Scattering can be coherent or incoherent.

Spherical waves
A spherical wave is also a solution to Maxwell's equations and is a
good model for the light scattered by a molecule.

Note that k and r are

not vectors here!

r
E ( r , t ) ∝ ( E0 / r ) Re{exp[i (kr − ω t )]}

where k is a scalar, and

r is the radial magnitude.

A spherical wave has spherical wave-fronts.

Unlike a plane wave, whose amplitude remains constant as it

propagates, a spherical wave weakens. Its irradiance goes as 1/r2.
Scattered spherical waves often
combine to form plane waves.
A plane wave impinging on a surface (that is, lots of very small
closely spaced scatterers!) will produce a reflected plane wave
because all the spherical wavelets interfere constructively along a
flat surface.
We’ll check the interference one
direction at a time, usually far away.
This way we can approximate spherical waves by plane waves in
that direction, vastly simplifying the math.

Far away,
spherical wave-
fronts are almost
flat…

Usually, coherent constructive interference will occur in one direction,

and destructive interference will occur in all others.
If incoherent interference occurs, it is usually omni-directional.
The mathematics of scattering
The math of light scattering is analogous to that of light sources.

If the phases aren’t random, we add the fields: Coherent

Etotal = E1 + E2 + … + En

I total = I1 + I 2 + ... + I N + cε Re { E1E2* + E1E3* + ... + E N−1E *N }

I1, I2, … In are the irradiances of Ei Ej* are cross terms, which have the
the various beamlets. They’re all phase factors: exp[i(θ i-θ j)]. When the
positive real numbers and add. θ ’s are not random, they don’t cancel
out!

If the phases are random, we add the irradiances: Incoherent

Itotal = I1 + I2 + … + In
To understand scattering in a given
situation, we compute phase delays.

Wave-fronts
Because the phase is
constant along a
L1
wave-front, we
compute the phase L2
delay from one wave-
L3 Potential
front to another wave-front
potential wave-front. L4
φi = k Li
Scatterer

If the phase delay for all scattered waves is the same (modulo 2π ),
then the scattering is constructive and coherent. If it varies uniformly
from 0 to 2π , then it’s destructive and coherent.
If it’s random (perhaps due to random motion), then it’s incoherent.
Coherent constructive scattering:
Reflection from a smooth surface when angle
of incidence equals angle of reflection
A beam can only remain a plane wave if there’s a direction for which
coherent constructive interference occurs.

The wave-fronts are

perpendicular to
the k-vectors. θ iθ r

Consider the
different phase
delays for
different paths.

Coherent constructive interference occurs for a reflected beam if the

angle of incidence = the angle of reflection: θ i = θ r.
Coherent destructive scattering:
Reflection from a smooth surface when the
angle of incidence is not the angle of reflection
Imagine that the reflection angle is too big.
The symmetry is now gone, and the phases are now all different.

φ = ka sin(θ toobig ) θ iθ φ = ka sin(θ i)

toobig

Potential
wave front
a

Coherent destructive interference occurs for a reflected beam direction

if the angle of incidence ≠ the angle of reflection: θ i ≠ θ r.
Coherent scattering occurs in one (or a few)
directions, with coherent destructive
scattering occurring in all others.

A smooth surface scatters light coherently and constructively only in

the direction whose angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence.

Looking from any other direction, you’ll see no light at all due to
coherent destructive interference.
Incoherent scattering: reflection from a
rough surface

No matter which direction we

look at it, each scattered wave
from a rough surface has a
different phase. So scattering is
incoherent, and we’ll see weak
light in all directions.

This is why rough surfaces look different from smooth surfaces and
mirrors.
Why can’t we see a light beam?

Unless the light beam is propagating right into your eye or is

scattered into it, you won’t see it. This is true for laser light and
flashlights.

This is due to the facts that air is very sparse (N is relatively small), air
is also not a strong scatterer, and the scattering is incoherent.

This eye sees almost no light.

This eye is blinded

(don’t try this at home…)

To photograph light beams in laser labs, you need to blow some

smoke into the beam…
What about light that scatters on
transmission through a surface?
Again, a beam can
remain a plane wave if
there is a direction for
which constructive
interference occurs.

Constructive
interference will
occur for a
transmitted beam if
Snell's Law is
obeyed.
On-axis vs. off-axis light scattering
Forward (on-axis) light Off-axis light scattering: scattered
scattering: scattered wavelets have random relative
wavelets have nonrandom phases in the direction of interest
(equal!) relative phases in due to the often random place-ment
the forward direction. of molecular scatterers.

Forward scattering is coherent— Off-axis scattering is incoherent

even if the scatterers are randomly when the scatterers are randomly
arranged in space. arranged in space.

Path lengths are equal. Path lengths are random.

Scattering from a crystal vs. scattering
from amorphous material (e.g., glass)
A perfect crystal has perfectly regularly spaced scatterers in space.

So the scattering from

inside the crystal cancels
out perfectly in all directions
(except for the forward and
perhaps a few other
preferred directions).

Of course, no crystal is perfect, so there is still some scattering, but

usually less than in a material with random structure, like glass.

There will still be scattering from the surfaces because the air nearby
is different and breaks the symmetry!
Scattering from particles is much
stronger than that from molecules.
They’re bigger, so they scatter more.
For large particles, we must first consider the fine-scale scattering
from the surface microstructure and then integrate over the larger
scale structure.
If the surface isn’t smooth, the scattering is incoherent.
If the surfaces are smooth,
then we use Snell’s Law
and angle-of-incidence-
equals-angle-of-reflection.

Then we add up all the

waves resulting from all
the input waves, taking into account their coherence, too.
 Light scattering regimes There are many
regimes of particle
Particle size/wavelength scattering, depend-
~0 ~1 Large ing on the particle
~0

size, the light wave-

Rayleigh-Gans Scattering length, and the
Relative refractive index

Air

Geometrical optics
refractive index.
Rayleigh Scattering

You can read an

entire book on the
Mie Scattering subject:
~1

Rainbow
Large

Totally reflecting objects

This plot considers only single scattering by

spheres. Multiple scattering and scattering by
non-spherical objects can get really complex!
Diffraction Gratings
Scattering ideas explain what
happens when light impinges on a Scatterer a
periodic array of grooves. D
Constructive interference occurs if C θ
the delay between adjacent
beamlets is an integral number, m
m, of wavelengths. θ
Incident θ a B
m
wave-front
Path difference: AB – CD = mλ i
Potential
A diffracted
θ wave-front
a [ sin(θ m ) − sin(θ i )] = mλ
i AB = a sin(θ m)
Scatterer
CD = a sin(θ i)
where m is any integer.
A grating has solutions or zero, one, or many values of m, or orders.
Remember that m and θ m can be negative, too.
Diffraction Because the diffraction angle depends
orders on λ , different wavelengths are
separated in the nonzero orders.

Diffraction angle, θ m(λ ) First order

No
Incidence Zeroth order wavelength
angle, θ i dependence
occurs in
Minus
zero order.
first order

The longer the wavelength, the larger its deflection in each

nonzero order.
Diffraction-grating dispersion
Because diffraction gratings are used to separate colors, it’s helpful to
know the variation of the diffracted angle vs. wavelength.
a [ sin(θ m ) − sin(θi ) ] = mλ
Differentiating the grating equation,
with respect to wavelength:
dθ m
a cos(θ m ) =m [θ i is constant]
dλ
Rearranging:

dθ m m Gratings typically have an

= order of magnitude more
d λ a cos(θ m ) dispersion than prisms.

Thus, to separate different colors maximally, make a small, work in high

order (make m large), and use a diffraction angle near 90 degrees.
Any surface or medium with
periodically varying α or n is a
diffraction grating.
Gratings can work in reflection (r) or transmission (t).

Transmission gratings can be amplitude (α ) or phase (n) gratings.

Real diffraction gratings

m = -1 m=0 m =1
m=2
Diffracted white light

White light diffracted by a real grating.

The dots on a CD are

equally spaced (although
Diffraction
some are missing, of
gratings
course), so it acts like a
diffraction grating.
World’s largest diffraction grating

Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Wavelength-dependent
incoherent molecular scat-
tering: Why the sky is blue.

Light from the sun Air

molecules
scatter light,
Air and the
scattering is
proportional
to ω 4.

Shorter-wavelength light is scattered out of the beam, leaving longer-

wavelength light behind, so the sun appears yellow.
In space, there’s no scattering, so the sun is white, and the sky is black.
Why is some ice blue?

High pressure (over time) squeezes the air bubbles out, leaving
molecular scattering as the main source of scattering.
Sunsets involve longer path lengths
and hence more scattering.
Note the cool sunset.
Noon ray
Sunset ray

Atmosphere

As you know, the sun and

clouds can appear red.

Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”

was also affected by the eruption
of Krakatoa, which poured ash
into the sky worldwide.
Munch Museum/Munch
Ellingsen Group/VBK, Vienna