Notes Prust y

Notes on Polarisation
Dr. Manamohan Prusty

July 27, 2016
Module II - Syllabus
Polarisation : Introduction, Double refraction - double refraction in cal-
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cite crystal, negative and positive crystals, Nicol prism, Retarders (quarter
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and half wave plates), production and detection of linearly, circularly and el-
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liptically polarised lights, analysis of polarised light, application : Sunglasses,
photography, optical microscopy, LCD and photoelasticity.
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Contents
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Syllabus 1
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1 Introduction 6
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2 Polarization of light waves 6

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2.1 Intensity of the polarised light and Malu’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2 Types of polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.1 Unpolarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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2.2.2 Plane polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2.3 Elliptically polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.4 Circularly polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.5 Partially polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Production of polarised light 12

3.1 Polarisation by reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1.1 Brewster’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1.2 Applications of Brewster’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2 Polarisation by multiple refractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 Polarisation by scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CONTENTS 2
3.4 Polarisation due to selective absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.5 Polarisation by double refraction or birefringence . . . . . . . . . . 17
4 Double refraction in calcite crystals 17

4.1 Geometry of the Calcite crystal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1.1 Optic axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.2 Principal section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.3 Principal plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 Birefringence property of the calcite crystal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5 Huygens’ explanation of double refraction 20

5.1 Propagation of o-ray and e-ray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2 Positive and negative crystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6 Nicol prism 23
6.1 Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6.2 Working principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
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6.3 Analysis of plane polarised light using Nicol prism . . . . . . . . . . 26
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7 Retarders 26
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7.1 Quarter-wave plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

7.2 Half-wave plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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7.3 Theory of circular and elliptical polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

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8 Production and detection of polarised lights 32

8.1 Effect of rotating Nicol prism on polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . 32
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8.2 Production and detection of plane polarised light . . . . . . . . . . 34

8.2.1 Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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8.2.2 Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
8.3 Production and detection of circularly polarised light . . . . . . . . 35
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8.3.1 Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
8.3.2 Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8.4 Production and detection of elliptically polarised light . . . . . . . . 37
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8.4.1 Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8.4.2 Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
9 Analysis of polarised light 38
10 Applications of polarised light 41

10.1 Sunglasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
10.2 Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
10.3 Optical microscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
10.4 Stereoscopic movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

CONTENTS 3
10.5 LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.5.1 Working principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.6 Photoelasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
10.6.1 Theory of photoelasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
10.6.2 Fringe pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.6.3 Photoelastic bench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
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LIST OF FIGURES 4
List of Figures
1 (a)Plane of vibration (ABCD) and plane of polarisation (PQRS),
Representation of (b) the π component (vibration parallel to the
plane of paper) and (c) the σ component (vibrations perpendicular
to the plane of paper) of polarised light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Effect of polariser (tourmaline crystal) on unpolarised light beam
and analyser on plane polarised light for (a) parallel and (b) crossed
positions of the optic axis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Explanation of Mallu’s law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 (a) Unpolarised light, (b) plane polarised light, (c) elliptically po-
larised light and (d) circularly polarised light. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5 Nature of unpolarised light viewed end-on. (a) Vibrations are equally
probable in all directions.(b) Each vibration A ~ can be resolved into
two components along any x− and y−directions as A ~ = (Ax , Ay ).
(c) Pictorial representation of ordinary light beam as the superpo-
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sition of two incoherent vibrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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6 (a) Reflection provides a partial polarised light. (b) Brewster’s law
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for obtaining complete polarised light by reflection. . . . . . . . . . 13

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7 Polarisation by a pile of glass plates using multiple refraction. . . . 14

8 Polarisation by scattering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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9 Polarisation by selective absorption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
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10 Double refraction in calcite crystal (a) side view, (b) front view. . . 17
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11 (a) Geometry and (b) principal section along with the optic axis of
the calcite crystal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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12 Diagram illustrating the propagation of o-ray and e-ray when the

incident light (a) makes an angle with the principal axis, (b) is
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perpendicular to the optic axis and (c) is parallal to the optic axis. 23
13 Wave front as well as the propagation of e-ray and o-ray from a
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source point S in (a) positive crystals and (b) negative crystals. . . 23

14 Schematic diagram showing the (a) construction and (b) working of
Nicol prism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
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15 Action of Nicol prisms as polariser and analyser for (a) parallel

configuration and (b) crossed configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
16 (a) A plane polarised light produced by a Nicol prism is incident
on the face (AB) of a calcite crystal. (b) Front face (AB) view
of the calcite crystal showing the optic axis (dashed line) and the
components of the incident polarised light. Inside the crystal the
e-ray travels faster than the o-ray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
17 Emerging plane polarised light for (a) φ = 2 n π and (b) φ = (2 n+1) π. 30

LIST OF FIGURES 5
18 Emergent (a) elliptically polarised light for θ 6= π/4 (top) and (b)
circularly polarised light for θ = π/4 (bottom) obtained from the
incident plane polarised light when φ = (2 n + 1) π/2. . . . . . . . . 31
19 General ellipse spanned by the superposition of e-ray and o-ray. . . 32
20 Effect of passing a plane polarised light through a rotating Nicol
prism. The Nicol prism acts as an analyser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
21 Effect of passing unpolarised or circularly polarised light through a
rotating Nicol prism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
22 Effect of passing partially polarised or elliptically polarised light
through a rotating Nicol prism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
23 Experimental set up for the production of circularly and elliptically
polarised light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
24 Schematic illustration of production of (a) Plane polarised, (b) cir-
cularly polarised and (c) elliptically polarised light from unpolarised
light by using a Nicol prism as polariser and a quarter wave-plate. . 38
25 Schematic illustration for detection of (a) Plane polarised, (b) circu-
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larly polarised and (c) elliptically polarised light by using a rotating
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Nicol prism as analyser and a quarter wave-plate. . . . . . . . . . . 38
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26 Flow chart showing the processes involved to determine the nature

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of polarisation of an unknown light beam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

27 Diagram illustrating the arrangement of parts in LCD. . . . . . . . 42
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28 Diagram demonstrating the working principle of LCD. . . . . . . . 43
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29 Schematic diagram of photoelastic bench. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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1 Introduction 6
1 Introduction
In 1816 Arago and Fresnel showed that light waves vibrating in mutually perpen-
dicular planes do not interfere. In 1817 Young explained this effect by postulating
that the light waves are transverse waves. About fifty years later, Maxwell devel-
oped the electromagnetic theory theory and suggested that light waves are electro-
magnetic waves which are transverse waves. The concept of transverse nature of
light leads to the concept of polarisation of light. Light coming from the common
source is unpolarised i.e., the electric and magnetic field vibrations are not in a
specific direction. The knowledge of polarisation is essential for understanding
the propagation of electromagnetic wave propagation through different materials.
Polarized light has many important applications in industry and engineering, such
as in photography, in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) which are widely used in wrist
cameras, watches, calculators TV screens etc.
2 Polarization of light waves
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In natural light, the electric field vectors has no specific direction of vibration.
It consist of a very large number of vibrations in all planes perpendicular to the
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direction of propagation. All these vibrations are of equal probability. Therefore,

the natural light is also called as unpolarised light. Hence unpolarised light is
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represented by a star. We can resolve each electric vector into two components
perpendicular to each other. If the direction of vibrations of electric vector E is
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strictly confined to a single direction in a plane perpendicular to the direction of

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propagation, such light is said to be polarised light.

In polarised light the vibrating electric vector is confined to a plane which is
called the plane of vibarion. The plane perpendicular to the plane of vibration
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is called the plane of polarisation due to historical reasons. When light is

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passed through certain crystals such as tourmaline or polaroids, they produce a

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Figure 1: (a)Plane of vibration (ABCD) and plane of polarisation (PQRS), Rep-

resentation of (b) the π component (vibration parallel to the plane of paper) and
(c) the σ component (vibrations perpendicular to the plane of paper) of polarised
light.

2 Polarization of light waves 7
plane polarised light. Such crystals are called as polarisers. They produce plane
polarised light due the presence of an optic axis inside the crystal. The optic axis
in a crystal is an imaginary axis, parallel to which the vibrations of electric vector
in unpolarised light pass through to produce polarised light. The polarizer easily
transmits light with electric vibrations along a transverse direction orthogonal to
the direction of absorption. This preferred direction is called the transmission axis
(TA) of the polarizer. For such crystals the plane of vibration is an imaginary
plane containing the vibrations of electric vector in polarised light as well as the
direction of propagation of light wave. Similarly the plane of polarisation in a
crystal is an imaginary plane perpendicular to the plane of vibration containing
the direction of propagation of light wave. If the vibration of electric vectors are
parallel to the plane of paper then the polarised light is represented by arrow lines.
They are referred to as π or p-components (p is for parallel). On the other hand if
the vibrations of electric vector are perpendicular to the plane of paper, then the
polarised light is represented by dots. They are referred to as σ or s-components (s
is for senkrecht which means perpendicular). The illustration of plane of vibration,
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plane of polarisation along with σ and π components are shown in figure 1.
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Let a natural unpolarised light be passed through a tourmaline crystal (see
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figure 2) which is a polariser. The crystal has a tendency to allow the components
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of light that are parallel to the axis of the crystal, and it does not allow all the
other components of light that are not parallel to the axis of the crystal to pass
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through it. The the emergent beam from the crystal, vibrates only in one direction.
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The process of giving such a confinement of vibrations is called polarisation. The

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waves after restricting the vibrations into a single plane are said to be ”polarised
light” and the crystal which provided the polarised light is called a polariser.
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Figure 2: Effect of polariser (tourmaline crystal) on unpolarised light beam and

analyser on plane polarised light for (a) parallel and (b) crossed positions of the
optic axis.

2.1 Intensity of the polarised light and Malu’s law 8
Now consider a second tourmaline crystal which is placed in the path of the
polarised light and is rotated by taking the incident beam as the axis of rotation.
As we rotate, we observe that the intensity of the emergent beam from the second
crystal has maximum intensity and minimum intensity twice within one complete
rotation. When the optic axis of the two crystals are parallel the intensity of the
emergent beam is maximum, and when they are perpendicular the intensity is
minimum. Thus, the second crystal is used to analyze the nature of the incident
beam to it. If the incident beam is a polarised beam then the output beam will
have two maxima and two minima. If it is an unpolarised light then the emergent
beam is polarised beam with equal intensity in all directions. Thus, the second
crystal is called as an analyser. This experiment confirms the transverse nature
of light. If we replace tourmaline crystal with polaroid films, then also we will get
the same effect of polariser and analyser.
2.1 Intensity of the polarised light and Malu’s law
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Let us consider an unpolarised light of intensity I and amplitude E falls on a
polariser. The electric field vector can be divided into two components one along
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the direction of the optic axis of the polariser and another perpendicular to it
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~ = E cos φ n̂k + E sin φ n̂⊥ ,

E (1)
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where, φ is the angle between the electric vector E ~ and the optic axis of the
polariser; and n̂k , n̂⊥ are the unit vectors along the direction of the optic axis and
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perpendicular to it respectively. When light passes through the polariser, it allows

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only the parallel component to pass through. Thus the intensity of the polarised
light that comes out of the polariser is
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E2 I
Ip =< E 2 cos2 φ >= E 2 < cos2 φ >= = , (2)
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where I is the intensity of the incident unpolarised beam. Hence, the intensity
of the transmitted light should be 50% of the incident light. However, in actual
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practice it is found to be less than 50% of the incident light. This is due to
absorption inside the polariser media.
The transmitted light, which is linearly polarized in the direction of transmis-
sion axis of the polariser, is passed through an analyser whose transmission axis
makes an angle θ with respect to the transmission axis of the polariser (for an
illustration see figure 3). When θ = 90o i.e., the transmission axes of the polariser
and the analyser are perpendicular to each other, the light intensity that comes
out of the analyser is effectively zero. As the analyser is rotated, the light trans-
mitted by the pair increases, reaching a maximum when their transmission axes
are aligned (i.e., when θ = 0o ). Assuming E0 as the amplitude of the polarized
beam incident onto the analyser and θ as the angle between the vibrations and the

2.2 Types of polarised light 9
Figure 3: Explanation of Mallu’s law.
transmission axis of the polariser; the electric vector can be decomposed into two
components: E0 cos θ along the plane of transmission and E0 sin θ perpendicular
to the plane of transmission. Thus the amplitude of the light emerging from the
analyser is E0 cos θ. This gives the intensity of the emergent beam from analyser
as
Ia = E02 cos2 θ = I0 cos2 θ , (3)
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where I0 is the maximum transmitted intensity that comes out of the analyser.
This equation is called ”Malus law”.
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According to Malus law, if I0 is the intensity of the polarized light incident on

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the analyzer and θ is the angle between the transmission axes of the polariser and
analyser, then the intensity of the light transmitted through the analyser is given
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by
as
Ia = I0 cos2 θ . (4)
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Hence for θ = n π (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .), the emergent intensity will be maximum and

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for θ = (2n + 1) π/2 (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .), the emergent intensity will be minimum.

The later case is called the crossed polariser and analyser.
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2.2 Types of polarised light

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Depending on how the vibrations of electric

field vector vary as a function of time, light
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may exhibit itself in three different states of

polarisation. They are (a) plane polarised,
(b) circularly polarised and (c) elliptically po-
larised light. Apart from these, the light may
also be partially polarised light. An unaided
human eye cannot distinguish between differ- Figure 4: (a) Unpolarised light,
ent states of polarisation of light but some in- (b) plane polarised light, (c) el-
sects and animals possess special visions sensi- liptically polarised light and (d)
tive to polarisation. circularly polarised light.

Figure 5: Nature of unpolarised light viewed end-on. (a) Vibrations are equally
~ can be resolved into two components
probable in all directions.(b) Each vibration A
along any x− and y−directions as A ~ = (Ax , Ay ). (c) Pictorial representation of
ordinary light beam as the superposition of two incoherent vibrations.
2.2.1 Unpolarised light
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Ordinary light is unpolarised light. It consist of an electric field oscillating in all
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directions perpendicular to the direction of motion. One may imagine that there
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are sudden, random changes in vibrations occurring in time intervals of the order
of 10−8 seconds. Every orientation of the vibration having amplitude A is to be
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regarded as equally probable, so that, it can be indicated by a solid circle as in

figure 5(a). The average effect of this is that, the unpolarised light is completely
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symmetrical about the direction of propagation. The imagination of the natural

light having this picture is a oversimplified one. Because if there is a random fluc-
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tuation in orientation of vibrations, there can be fluctuations in amplitude as well.

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Hence a truer picture is one of elliptical vibrations changing frequently in size, ec-
centricity, and orientation, but confined to the xy plane. This complexity presents
little difficulty in representation of the ordinary light. However, since because all
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azimuths are equivalent, the simpler representation in terms of linear vibrations

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of constant amplitude and rapidly shifting orientation completely describes the

nature of unpolarised light.
Another representation of the unpolarised light can be imagined from the
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fact that each vibration can be resolved into two components A ~ = (Ax , Ay ) =
(A cos θ, A sin θ), as shown in figure 5(b), which can be in general are of unequal
length. But when θ is allowed to take random values, the net result is as though
we have two vibrations at right angles with equal amplitudes but no coherence of
phase. Each vibration then is the resultant of a large number of individual vibra-
tions with random phases and because of this randomness a complete incoherence
is produced. Thus the unpoarised light can be regarded as the resultant of two
incoherent light waves of equal intensity but polarised in mutually perpendicular
planes. Figure 5(c) shows this way of picturing these vibrations, where dots rep-
resent the end-on view of linear vibrations, and double pointed arrows represent
vibrations confined to the plane of the paper. .

2.2.2 Plane polarised light

As the light wave propagates, if the electric field vibrations are parallel and fixed
to a particular plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation, the wave is
said to be plane polarised or linearly polarised light. These vibrations are
generally represented as π components or σ components (refer to figure 1).
2.2.3 Elliptically polarised light

If the tip of the electric field vector traces an ellipse, as it propagates in the plane
perpendicular to the ray direction, the wave is called elliptically polarised light.
If the rotation is clockwise the light is right elliptically polarised, and if the rotation
is anticlockwise then the light wave is letf elliptically polarised wave.
In order to understand more about elliptically polarised light, let us assume
two waves, having different amplitudes, are perpendicular to each other and they
have a phase difference of π/2 between them. Then these waves can be represented
in the following form
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y1 = A1 sin (wt + π/2) and y2 = A2 sin wt , (5)
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where A1 and A2 are their amplitudes respectively. These equations can be rewrit-
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ten as
y1 y2
= sin (wt + π/2) = cos wt and = sin wt . (6)
A1 A2
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Upon squaring and adding these equations yields,

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y12 y22
+ =1, (7)
A21 A22
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which represents a symmetrical ellipse. Thus, the resultant electric field traces an
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ellipse and the light is said to be elliptically polarised light.

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2.2.4 Circularly polarised light

If the tip of the electric field vector traces a circle on the plane perpendicular to
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the direction of ray propagation, the wave is said to be circularly polarised.

If the electric vector is moving in clockwise direction, the light is right circularly
polarised. However if the electric field vector is rotating anticlockwise then the
light is left circularly polarised.
In the equation (7), if we substitute A1 = A2 = A (say), i.e., the two waves
superposing together are of equal amplitude and they are having a phase difference
of π/2 between them, then the equation becomes
y12 + y22 = A2 , (8)
which is an equation of a circle. Thus, the resultant wave is circularly polarised
wave.

3 Production of polarised light 12
2.2.5 Partially polarised light

Light which is neither totally polarised not unpolarised but a mixture of the two
types is called as partially polarised light. Partially polarised light, just like
natural light, can be represented by a superposition of two incoherent waves, of
different amplitudes oscillating in two mutually perpendicular planes.
If we pass a partially polarised light through a rotating analyser, then the
intensity of the transmitted light varies within the limits of Imax to Imin . The
transition from one of these values to another value occurs upon a rotation of 90◦ .
For such a light, the degree of polarization, P is defined as
Imax − Imin
P = (9)
Imax + Imin
and the polarisation percentage is given by P × 100%. Note that for a plane
polarised light Imin = 0 and so P = 1 while for natural light Imin = Imax providing
P = 0. It is to be noted here that the concept of degree of polarisation can not be
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applied to elliptically and circularly polarised light.
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The schematic representations of different types of polarised waves are shown
in figure 4.
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3 Production of polarised light

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Unpolarised light can be polarised to produce a plane polarised light by the fol-
lowing methods : (a) reflection, (b) refraction, (c) scattering, (d) dichroism or
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selective absorption and (e) double refraction.

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3.1 Polarisation by reflection

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It was discovered by E. L. Malus in 1808 that when an unpolarised light is incident

on a glass surface, the reflected and the refracted beams are partially polarised.
The amount of polarisation in the reflected beam varies with the angle of incidence
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θ. The reflected beam is completely plane polarised when the angle of incidence
equals to the Brewster’s angle θp which is also called the polarising angle for
the reflecting material.
3.1.1 Brewster’s law

In 1892 Sir David Brewster performed a detailed study of polarisation by reflection
and found that maximum polarisation of the reflected ray occurs at a particular
value of angle of incidence. At this angle the reflected ray gets completely polarised
in a plane perpendicular to the incidence plane. This happens when the reflected
ray is exactly at right angles to the refracted ray. The corresponding angle of

3.1 Polarisation by reflection 13
Figure 6: (a) Reflection provides a partial polarised light. (b) Brewster’s law for
obtaining complete polarised light by reflection.
incidence is called angle of polarisation and the law is called as Brewster’s law.
From the figure 6(b) we find that
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θp + 90o + r = 180o ⇒ r = 90o − θp . (10)
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From Snell’s law we know that

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sin θp µ2
= , (11)
sin r µ1
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where µ2 is the refractive index of the reflecting surface and µ1 is the refractive
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index of the surrounding incident medium. Now using r = 90o − θp , we can write
the above equation as
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sin θp µ2 sin θp µ2 µ2
= ⇒ = or tan θp = . (12)
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sin (90 − θp ) µ1 cos θp µ1 µ1
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This equation which related the angle of polarisation to the refractive indices of
the incident and reflecting medium is called as Brewster’s equation. This is
another form of Brewster’s law.
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The physical reason behind this is, the incident light sets the electrons in
the atoms of the material into oscillation, and it is the re-radiation from these
that generates the reflected beam. When the latter is observed at 90degree to
the refracted beam, only the vibrations that are perpendicular to the plane of
incidence can contribute. Those in the plane of incidence have no component
traverse to the 90degree direction and hence cannot radiate in that direction.
Thus, if the light is incident on a surface at a certain angle known as Brewster’s
angle or polarising angle θp , then the reflected light is completely polarized having
oscillations perpendicular to the plane of incidence and the refracted ray is partially
polarised. Since, the refractive index varies from material to material and depends
on the wavelength of the light source, therefore the polarizing angle θp depends

3.2 Polarisation by multiple refractions 14
on nature of material and the wavelength of the incident light beam. For air-glass
interface the polarising angle is 56.57◦ . This is because the refractive index for
glass is µ = 1.515 while for air µ = 1.
3.1.2 Applications of Brewster’s law

The following are the applications of the Brewster’s law :
? The Brewster’s law can be used to determine the refractive indices of opaque
materials.
? It helps in calculating the polarising angle for various materials if the refractive
index of the material is known.
? In fibre optics, the Brewster’s angle is utilised to transmit a light beam into or
out of an optical fibre without any reflection losses.
ty
? In gas lasers two glass windows are used at the two ends of the laser tube. These
es
glasses are called as Brewster’s windows because they have been arranged
us
ot
at Brewster angle to the axis of the laser tube. The laser light is reflected
many times within these mirrors. Since the glasses are at Brewster’s angle, the
Pr
sN
light which is polarised perpendicular to the beam plane is emitted out oft he
laser cavity at an early stage. Thus, in the gas tube, there remains the laser
an
as
light which is polarized in the beam plane. The advantage of this is that, the
beam does not have any reflection losses and the radiation out of these lasers is
oh
Cl
polarised.
am
3.2 Polarisation by multiple refractions

an
When an unpolarised light is in-

.M
cident at Brewster’s angle, on a

smooth glass surface, the reflected
light is totally polarized while the
Dr
refracted beam is partially polar-

ized. So, if a pile of plate is used,
as in figure 7, reflection from suc- Figure 7: Polarisation by a pile of glass plates
cessive surfaces occur leading to using multiple refraction.
the filtering of σ-components in
the transmitted beam. Finally the transmitted ray will consist of a large amount
of π-component polarized light. Larger the number of plates greater will be the
polarisation of the refracted beam. This is called polarisation by refraction. If
the intensities of π and σ components are Iπ and Iσ , respectively then the degree

3.3 Polarisation by scattering 15
of polarization P of the transmitted light is
Iπ − Iσ n
P = = , (13)
Iπ − Iσ 2µ2
n+
1 − µ2
where n is the number of plates and µ is the refractive index of the plate. This
equation shows that by the use of enough plates the degree of polarization can be
made to approach unity or 100 percent.
3.3 Polarisation by scattering

Suppose, a ray of unpolarised light is in-
cident on a suspension medium of micro-
scopic particles (which can be a suspension
of atoms and molecules). We assume that it
ty
is composed of two plane-polarized compo-
es
nents vibrating in the xy plane. The light
us
ot
ray gets absorbed by the molecule and it
sets the molecules in the medium to vibrate
Pr
sN
along the y−direction. In giving up this en-

ergy the same wave can be emitted in any
an
as
direction except along the y−axis. To emit

the light in the y− direction the wave would Figure 8: Polarisation by scattering.
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Cl
have to be longitudinal and this is forbidden.

am
Thus, these vibrating molecules can emit light in a direction perpendicular to their
vibration and the electric field of the associated emitted radiation is parallel to the
direction of vibration. Hence, the light that gets scattered from the suspension is
an
partially polarised and the degree of polarisation depends on the angle of scatter-
ing. The beam scattered at an angle of 90◦ with respect to the incident direction
.M
is plane polarized.
The scattering of light by small particles of matter is responsible for some of
Dr
nature’s most beautiful phenomena. The blue sky and red sunset are attributed
to scattering. As sunlight passes through our atmosphere, a large part of it is
absorbed by the air molecules and immediately given out in some new direction.
The phenomenon of scattering is similar to the action of water waves on floating
bodies. When a small stone is dropped into a pond of still water, a small cork
floating nearby will bob up and down with the frequency of the passing waves.
Light waves are visualized as acting in a similar manner on air molecules, as well
as on fine dust and smoke particles. Once a passing light wave sets a molecule or
particle into vibration, the wave can be emitted again in some random direction.
This is shown schematically in figure 8. Light waves are shown being scattered
in all directions. If a polarizing plate, like Polaroid, is used to test the blue sky,

3.4 Polarisation due to selective absorption 16
the light is partially plane polarized. A little exploration will show that maximum
polarization occurs at an angle of 90◦ with the direction of the incoming sunlight
and drops to zero at 180◦ just after the sun goes down. At dusk on a clear day,
when the sun has just disappeared over the horizon, one can locate the direction
of zero polarization and from it determine the sun’s position. The light from a
blue sky is strongly polarised, particularly at 90◦ from the sun. However, the light
we receive from sun is not completely polarised because sunlight has to undergo
multiple scatterings before reaching the earth. Light scattered twice through a
total angle of 90◦ would be less polarised than the light that is scattered once.
3.4 Polarisation due to selective absorption

In 1815 Biot discovered that cer-
tain mineral crystals absorb light
selectively. When natural light
passes through a such a crys-
ty
es
tal, like tourmaline, it splits into
us
two components which are po-
ot
larized in mutually perpendicu-

Pr
sN
lar planes. The crystal strongly

absorbs light that is polarised in
an
a direction parallel to a particu-
as
lar plane in the crystal by freely

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Cl
transmitting the light compo- Figure 9: Polarisation by selective absorption.

nent polarized in a direction per-
am
pendicular to the direction of that plane. This difference in absorption for the two
rays is known as selective absorption or dichroism. Thus, if the crystal is of
an
proper thickness, one of the components of light is fully absorbed and the other
component emerges from the crystal as linearly polarised light. This is illustrated
.M
in figure 9. Crystals that exhibit this property of dichroism are anisotropic in

nature.
Polaroid films also act the same way like tourmaline crystal. In 1852 Herapath
Dr
successfully produced good but small quantity of polarising crystals made of the
organic compound quinine iodosulfate (now known as herapathite). Later on po-
laroid was invented in 1932 by Land and has found uses in many different kinds
of optical instruments. These films consist of thin sheets of nitrocellulose packed
with ultramicroscopic polarizing crystals with their optic axes all parallel. In more
recent developments the lining-up process is accomplished somewhat as follows.
Polyvinyl alcohol films are stretched to line up the complex molecules and then
are impregnated with iodine. Films prepared in this way are called H-Polaroid.
Land and Rogers found further that when an oriented transparent film of polyvinyl
alcohol is heated in the presence of an active dehydrating catalyst such as hydro-

3.5 Polarisation by double refraction or birefringence 17
gen chloride, the film darkens slightly and becomes strongly dichroic. Such a film
becomes very stable and, having no dyestuffs, is not bleached by strong sunlight.
This so-called K-Polaroid is very suitable for polarizing uses such as auto mo-
bile headlights and visors. Polarizing films are usually mounted between two thin
plates of optical glass.
3.5 Polarisation by double refraction or birefringence

In many materials the
velocity of light is in-
dependent of the direc-
tion of propagation of
light waves. Such mate-
rials are said to be op-
tically isotropic. Ma-
terials that do not dis-
ty
es
play this property are
Figure 10: Double refraction in calcite crystal (a) side
optically anisotropic.
us
ot
view, (b) front view.
Some examples of opti-
Pr
sN
cally anisotropic materials are calcite, quartz, tourmaline etc. If a beam of unpo-
larised light is incident on a slab of anisotropic media, splitting of the incidence
an
beam takes place at the point of incidence and thus two refracted beams are
as
obtained. This production of double refracted beams, when an incident light is

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Cl
transmitted through the anisotropic material, is called as double refraction.

This double refraction property of the materials is called birefringence.
am
The phenomena of double refraction was discovered by Erasmus Bartholinus

around 1669 using calcite crystals. He found that, when a light beam is incident
an
on a calcite crystal, it produces two refracted beams differing in their properties.

Out of the two refracted beams, one is found to obey Snell’s law and is called
.M
as ordinary ray or o-ray. The other ray that does not obey ordinary laws of
refraction is termed as extraordinary ray or e-ray. This phenomena is illustrated
in figure 10.
Dr
4 Double refraction in calcite crystals

When we incident a light beam onto a glass slab, only one refracted beam emerges.
This is because glass is an optically isotropic medium which means the refractive
index of the medium is same in all directions of the crystal. Other examples of
isotropic medium are air, water etc. In such materials the atoms inside the crystals
are arranged in a regular periodic manner. However, if the arrangement of atoms
vary from one directions to another direction, then the physical properties such
as thermal and electrical conductivity, velocity of light and so the refractive index

4.1 Geometry of the Calcite crystal 18
vary with direction. Such crystals are optically anisotropic. In such crystals,
the forces of interaction inside the crystal vary with crystallographic directions.
Likewise when we incident a light onto such a material, the natural frequency of
the vibrating electron cloud is going to be different in different directions. This
results in different velocities and thus also different refractive indices of light along
different directions of the crystal.
The anisotropic materials can be further divided into two categories : uni-
axial and biaxial crystals. In case of uni-axial crystal one of the light rays is an
o-ray and the other is an e-ray. In biaxial crystals both the emergent beams are
e-rays. Calcite, tourmaline and quartz are examples of uni-axial crystals while
borax, selemite, mica, topaz and aragonite are examples of biaxial crystals. Let
us discuss in detail, how a calcite crystal provides two refracted beams.
4.1 Geometry of the Calcite crystal

Calcite is a naturally occurring colourless transparent crystal. Chemically it is
ty
es
calcium carbonate CaCO3 . Both limestone and marbles are made up of many
us
small calcite crystals bonded together. It is also known as Iceland spar. It occurs
ot
in a rhombohedral shape bounded by six faces each of which is a parallelogram

Pr
sN
having angles equal to 101◦ 550 and 78◦ 50 . All the angles between the edges meeting
at the opposite corners B and H, see figure 11, are obtuse. These two corners are
an
called as blunt corners. At the rest of six corners there is an obtuse angle and two
as
acute angles.
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Cl
am
an
.M
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Figure 11: (a) Geometry and (b) principal section along with the optic axis of the
calcite crystal.

4.2 Birefringence property of the calcite crystal 19
4.1.1 Optic axis

A line bisecting any one of the blunt corners and making equal angles with each of
the three edges, is known as optic axis of the crystal. In fact any line parallel to
this line is also an optic axis. Thus, the optic axis is a direction and not a specific
line in the crystal. The optic axis is actually the axis of symmetry of the crystal.
Thus a light ray propagating along the optic axis does not suffer double refraction.
Uni-axial crystals have only one optic axis while biaxial crystals possess two optic
axes.
4.1.2 Principal section

A plane containing the optic axis and perpendicular to a pair of opposite faces of
the crystal is known as the principal section for that pair of faces. Since, calcite
rhombohedron has three pairs of faces, there are three principal sections passing
through any point within the crystal. A principal section always cuts the surfaces
of the calcite crystal in a parallelogram having angles 71◦ and 109◦ as shown in
ty
es
figure 11(b). Figure 10(b) shows the face of the crystal in which the end view of
us
the principal section CB is shown by the dotted line CB. The lines parallel to CB
ot
are the end views of other principal sections parallel to CB within the crystal.
Pr
sN
4.1.3 Principal plane

an
as
The plane containing the optic axis and one of the o-rays or the e-rays is called
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the principal plane of the corresponding ray. Therefore, the plane containing
the optic axis and the o-ray is the principal plane of the o-ray and the plane
am
containing the optic axis and the e-ray is the principal plane of the e-ray. The
direction of vibrations in o-ray and e-ray can be understood with reference to these
an
planes. When the plane of incidence is the principal section of the crystal, then the
principal planes of the e-ray and o-ray and the principal section coincide otherwise
.M
the principal planes do not coincide.

Dr
4.2 Birefringence property of the calcite crystal

In figure 10, we describe the double refraction property of the calcite crystal. The
figure shows a principal section of the calcite crystal onto which a ray of light is
incident on the face AD. The ray is split into two rays, one o-ray which travels
through the crystal without deviation; while the other e-ray gets refracted at some
angle. As the opposite faces AD and BC are parallel, both the o-ray and e-ray
emerge out parallel to the incident beam. Within the crystal the o-ray always lies
in the plane of incidence whereas the e-ray does not lie in the plane of incidence.
The e-ray lies in the plane of incidence only when the plane of incidence is the
principal section. If now the crystal is rotated slowly about an axis passing through

5 Huygens’ explanation of double refraction 20
the o-ray image, then the e-ray moves round in a circle while the o-ray remains
stationary. It shows that the velocity of propagation is same in all directions
while that of the e-ray changes with the direction. Therefore, o-ray obeys the
laws of refraction (i.e., Snell’s law) while the e-ray does not obey it. As the o-ray
travels with same velocity is all directions of the crystal whereas the e-ray travels
with different velocity along different directions of the crystal, the refractive index
corresponding to the o-ray, µo remains a constant whereas the refractive index of
the e-ray varies between a maximum and a minimum value. If the refractive index
of the e-ray is µe , which can be maximum or minimum depending on the nature
of crystal, then the amount of double refraction or birefringence is given by
4µ = µe − µo . (14)
Both the o-ray and e-ray are linearly polarised with the e-ray electric vector
vibrations parallel to the principal section whereas o-ray electric field vibrations
are perpendicular to the principal section. This can be confirmed using a rotating
ty
analyser. As the analyzer is rotated around the o-rays and e-rays, the intensity
es
of one of the rays increases while the other decreases. At one position when the
us
ot
intensity of one of the light rays, say o-ray, is maximum, the other ray i.e., e-ray
gets extinguished. Further rotation of 90◦ from this particular position provides the
Pr
sN
opposite effect i.e., the e-ray provides maximum intensity while the o-ray vanishes
from the view. It proves that the o-ray and e-ray are linearly polarized in mutually
an
as
perpendicular directions.
oh
Cl
5 Huygens’ explanation of double refraction

am
Huygens’ extended his theory of secondary wavelets to explain the phenomena of

an
double refraction in anisotropic crystals. He postulated that the incident light

excite two separate wavelets, one spherical wavelet associated with the o-ray and
.M
another ellipsoidal wavelet associated with the e-ray. As the velocity of the spher-
ical wavelet of the o-ray is same in all directions it’s wave surface is spherical. As
Dr
the ellipsoidal wavelet of the e-ray propagate at different speeds in different direc-
tions, the wave surface of it is an ellipsoid of revolution about the optic axis. The
two wave surfaces touch each other at two points where they are intersected by
the optic axis. As the light propagates through the crystal, the two waves travel
in different directions providing two refracted beams. The important points of the
Huygens’ theory are :
(i) The point at which the incident beam touches the double refracting medium
become the source for the origin of two secondary wavelets.
(ii) The ordinary wave travels with same velocity in all directions and so the
corresponding wave front will be spherical.

5.1 Propagation of o-ray and e-ray 21
(iii) The extraordinary waves have different velocity in different directions so the
corresponding wave front will be elliptical.
(iv) Along the direction of optic axis both the o-ray and e-ray travel with the
same velocity. so the two waves touch each other at two points along the
optic axis.
(v) In other directions o-ray and e-ray travel with different velocities and so they
separate out in passing through such crystals and double refraction takes
place.
Based on the velocities of the o-ray and e-ray, crystals have been divided into two
types. They are (i) positive crystals : These are the crystals in which the speed
of o-ray vo is greater than the speed of the e-ray ve i.e., vo > ve except along the
direction of optic axis, (ii) negative crystals : These are the crystals in which the
speed of o-ray vo is less than the speed of the e-ray ve i.e., vo < ve except along
the direction of optic axis.The refractive index for o-ray in a crystal is given by
ty
es
us
c velocity of light in vacuum
ot
µo = = . (15)
vo velocity of o–ray in the crystal
Pr
sN
Since the velocity of e-ray is direction dependent, the principal refractive index of
an
it is defined by using it’s velocity along the perpendicular direction of optic axis.
as
Using this, the principal refractive index for positive crystals is given by
oh
Cl

µe = = . (16)
am
min(ve ) minimum velocity of e–ray in the crystal

an
Similarly for a negative crystal the principal refractive index of e-ray is defined in
terms of the maximum velocity of e-ray in the crystal which is
.M

µe = = . (17)
max(ve ) maximum velocity of e–ray in the crystal
Dr
The essential differences between the o- and e-ray are given in table (1).
5.1 Propagation of o-ray and e-ray

The propagation of o-ray and e-ray inside a crystal can be understood by using
the following points:
When the natural light is incident at an angle to the optic axis of the crystal,
it splits into o- and e-rays, which travel in different directions with different
velocities and emerge out as two different light rays as shown in figure 12(a).

5.1 Propagation of o-ray and e-ray 22
Sl. Property O-ray E-ray
1. Laws of re- O-ray obeys the laws of refraction. E-ray does not follow the ordinary
fraction laws of refraction.
2. Vibration The electric vector of o-ray vi- The vibrations of e-ray is perpen-
direction brates perpendicular to the prin- dicular to the vibration of e-ray
cipal section of the o-ray. and thus it vibrates parallel to the
principal section.
3. Polarisation O-ray is plane polarised along the E-ray is plane polarised perpen-
principal section. dicular to the plane of principal
section.
4. Speed The o-ray travel with same speed The e-ray travels with different
in all directions within the crystal. speeds along different directions in
the crystal except along the direc-
tion of optic axis where it is equal
to the speed of the o-ray.
5. Wave front The o-ray has a spherical wave The wave front for the e-ray is el-
front about the optic axis. It in- lipsoidal of revolution about the
ty
es
tersects with the e-ray wave front optic axis.
us
only along the optic axis.
ot
6. Refractive The refractive index of o-ray re- The refractive index of e-ray varies
Pr
sN
index mains a constant for any crystal. from direction to direction and is
between a maximum and a mini-
mum value inside the crystal.
an
as
Table 1: Comparison of properties between o- and e-rays.

oh
Cl
am
When the natural light is incident normal to the direction of optic axis, o-ray
and e-ray travel in the same direction but with different velocities inside the
an
crystal as shown in figure 12(b). In case of a negative crystal e-ray leads the
.M
o-ray while in case of a positive crystal the o-ray leads the e-ray.
When the natural light is incident parallel to the optic axis direction, it does
Dr
not split into two rays, but both the o-ray and e-ray travel in the same direction
with same velocity as in figure 12(c).
It is to be noted here that the distinction of o-ray and e-ray exists only within
the crystal. Once they are out of the crystal they travel with same velocity. Thus,
these rays outside the crystal differ only in their direction of propagation and the
plane of polarization. Thus, the designation of the rays as o-ray and e-ray outside
the crystal has no meaning at all.
Because of two different wave fronts two different types of uni-axial crystal
exists. They are positive and negative crystals. Let us discuss in detail the char-
acteristic properties of both type of crystals.

5.2 Positive and negative crystals 23
Figure 12: Diagram illustrating the propagation of o-ray and e-ray when the inci-
dent light (a) makes an angle with the principal axis, (b) is perpendicular to the
optic axis and (c) is parallal to the optic axis.
5.2 Positive and negative crystals

In positive crystals the ellip-
soidal wave front of the e-
ty
es
ray lie within the spherical
wave front of the o-ray. As
us
ot
such the principal refractive

Pr
sN
index of e-ray is greater than

the refractive index of o-ray.
an
Quartz crystal is an example
as
of a positive crystal. In the

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Cl
other case of negative crys-

tals the spherical wave front Figure 13: Wave front as well as the propagation of
am
of the o-ray is enclosed within e-ray and o-ray from a source point S in (a) positive
the ellipsoidal wave front of crystals and (b) negative crystals.
an
the e-ray. So, for negative

crystals the refractive index of the o-ray is greater than the principal refractive
.M
index of the e-ray. Calcite crystal is an example of a negative crystal. The wave
front as well as the propagation of e-ray and o-ray for both positive and nega-
tive crystals has been illustrated in figure 13. In table (2) we have compared the
Dr
characteristics of positive and negative crystals.
6 Nicol prism
Nicol prism is a polarising device made from calcite crystal. William Nicol de-
signed it in 1820. Since calcite crystal is a double refracting material, it produces
two plane polarised lights with electric vectors perpendicular to each other. The
principle is to use some technique and eliminate one of the rays such that the
emergent ray will be only one plane polarised wave. In Nicol prism this is done by
utilising the phenomenon of total internal reflection at the surface of a thin film of

6.1 Construction 24
Sl. Property Positive crystals Negative crystals
1. Wave front In positive crystals, the ellipsoid In negative crystals, the spheri-
of revolution wave front of e-ray cal wave front of o-ray is totally
is totally contained within the contained within the ellipsoid of
spherical wave front of o-ray. revolution wave front of e-ray.
2. e-ray velocity In positive crystals the e-ray has In negative crystals the e-ray has
maximum velocity which is equal minimum velocity which is equal
to the velocity of o-ray along the to the velocity of o-ray along the
optic axis and minimum in a di- optic axis and maximum in a di-
rection normal to the optic axis. rection normal to the optic axis.
3. Velocity of e- In positive crystals, e-ray travels In negative crystals, e-ray travels
ray vs o-ray slower than the o-ray in all direc- sfaster than the o-ray in all direc-
tions except along the optic axis tions except along the optic axis
where they move with equal ve- where they have equal velocity.
locity.
4. Refractive in- In positive crystals, the principal In negative crystals, the refrac-
dex refractive index of e-ray is larger tive index of o-ray is larger than
ty
es
than the refractive index of the the principal refractive index of
o-ray. the e-ray..
us
ot
5. 4µ = µe − µo For positive crystals µe > µo ⇒ For negative crystals µe < µo ⇒
4µ > 0 and thus 4µ > 0 is a
Pr
4µ < 0 and thus 4µ < 0 is a
sN
positive quantity. negative quantity.

6. Birefringence The amount of birefringence for The amount of birefringence for
an
as
a positive crystal is given by a nagative crystal is given by

4µ = µe − µo . 4µ = µo − µe .
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Cl
7. Example Quartz, ice. Calcite.

am
Table 2: Comparison of various characteristic properties between positive and

negative crystals with example.
an
.M
canada balsam that separates two pieces of specially constructed calcite crystal.
The Nicol prism is also used to analyse plane polarised light.
Dr
6.1 Construction
The starting material for the construction of a Nicol prism is a rhombo of a calcite
crystal whose length is three times as that of its breadth as shown in figure 14(a)
as ABCDEF GH. The corners B and H are the blunt corners of the crystal. The
plane BDHF i one of the principal sections which contains the optic axis and it
is a parallelogram with angles 71◦ at corners D, F and 109◦ at corners B, H. The
end surfaces ABCD and EF GH of the crystal are grounded mechanically such
that the angles at D, F reduced to 68◦ from 71◦ and the angles at B, H reduces
from 109◦ to 112◦ . This creates the new end surfaces as A0 B 0 C 0 D from ABCD and

6.2 Working principle 25
Figure 14: Schematic diagram showing the (a) construction and (b) working of
Nicol prism.
E 0 F G0 H 0 from EF GH. Also the principal section BDHF reduces to B 0 DH 0 F .

The ground calcite crystal is then cut into two pieces along the plane B 0 KH 0 J
which is a plane perpendicular to both the principal section B 0 DH 0 F and the new
ty
es
end surfaces A0 B 0 C 0 D, E 0 F G0 H 0 . The two cut surfaces are then highly polished
us
into optically flatness and cemented together with a thin layer of canada balsam
ot
whose refractive index µc = 1.55 lies between the refractive indices for the o-ray
Pr
sN
µo = 1.658 and e-ray µe = 1.486 of the calcite crystal. The position of optic axis
M N , shown in figure 14(b), is at 48◦ from the end surfaces.
an
as
6.2 Working principle

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Cl
An unpolarised light is incident on face DB 0 in a direction parallel to the side

am
B 0 F . Double refraction takes place at the surface of the crystal to produce o-ray
and e-ray. The refractive index for the o-ray with respect to the layer of canada
an
balsam is
µo 1.658
.M
µoc = = = 1.07 , (18)

µc 1.55
yielding a critical angle of θoc = asin (1/µoc ) = 69◦ . Due to the dimensions of the
Dr
crystal the o-ray, upon emerging at the surface, strikes the canada balsam layer
at an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle θoc = 69◦ . Therefore, the
o-ray gets totally internally reflected and ultimately absorbed by the blackened
surface. On the other hand, the e-ray travels from a rarer (calcite) medium to a
denser (canada balsam) medium and emerges out on the other surface of the crystal
laterally displaced with respect to the original direction. The e-ray transmitted
out of the Nicol prism is plane polarised. This way, the Nicol prism is able to
produce a plane polarised light beam from an unpolarised beam.
If the angle of incidence of the o-ray is less than 69◦ , then no total internal
reflection takes place and it results in an emergent polarised ray. Thus, the angle
of incidence should be limited to 14◦ as indicated in figure 14(b).

6.3 Analysis of plane polarised light using Nicol prism 26
6.3 Analysis of plane polarised light using Nicol prism

When two Nicol prisms are
placed adjacent to each other,
one of them acts as a po-
lariser while the other acts as
an analyser. If the princi-
pal sections of both the Nicol
prisms are parallel to each
other, then the e-ray from the
first prism is freely transmit-
ted by the second Nicol prism.
When the second prism is
gradually rotated then the in- Figure 15: Action of Nicol prisms as polariser
tensity of the emergent e-ray and analyser for (a) parallel configuration and (b)
gradually decreases in accor- crossed configuration.
ty
dance with Malus law. But
es
when two prisms are such that their principal sections are perpendicular to each
us
ot
other, no light comes from the second prism. In this position the emergent e-ray
Pr
from the first Nicol prism behaves as o-ray inside the second prism and thus totally
sN
internally reflected to produce no light. In this position the two Nicols are said
to be crossed. On further rotation the intensity starts to increase and become
an
as
maximum when the angle of rotation become 90◦ . Thus, the first Nicol acts as a
polariser while the second Nicol behaves like an analyser. These behaviour have
oh
Cl
been llustrated in figure 15.

am
7 Retarders
an
Let us consider a calcite crystal whose optic axis is parallel to the refracting surface
.M
of the crystal. Then both the o-ray and e-ray travel along the same direction but
with different velocities as shown in figure 12(b). Upon emerging from the crystal
both the rays will have certain path difference between them. To calculate the
Dr
path difference let us assume that the thickness of such a crystal is t. Then, the
optical path for the e-ray and o-ray within the crystal are µo t and µe t respectively.
Thus, the optical path difference between the emergent e-ray and o-ray is
4 = (µo − µe ) t, (19)
which corresponds to a phase difference of
2π4 2π
φ= = (µo − µe ) t. (20)
λ λ

7.1 Quarter-wave plate 27
For a positive crystal of thickness t, the corresponding path and phase difference
between o-ray and e-ray becomes
2π
4 = (µe − µo ) t and φ = (µe − µo ) t. (21)
λ
As the two components of the waves have been derived from the same source,
they are coherent waves and it may be expected that they are going to interfere
with each other. However, the plane of polarisations of the two waves are perpen-
dicular to each other. So, interference does not take place instead they combine
to produce either elliptically, circularly or a linearly polarised lights. The actual
nature of the combined polarised light depends on the phase difference between
the waves. This in turn depends on the thickness of the crystal.
A retarder is such an uniform plate of birefringent material whose axis lie in
the plane of the plate. They are also called as wave plates. They can be quarter-
wave plates, half-wave plates and full-wave plates. They divide the incident
beam into two polarised waves and a phase retardation of one wave relative to the
ty
es
other is introduced as they cross the thickness of the plate. Retarders are used
us
ot
to produce circularly or elliptically polarised lights and to analyse these kind of
polarised lights. Thus, wave plates are a class of optical elements which serves
Pr
sN
the purpose to change the state of polarisation of an incident wave. As calcite is

brittle, quartz is used to make wave plates.
an
as
In simple terms, the principle of the wave plate can be described as follows:
When a polarised light is incident on a wave plate, it splits the light into two plane
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polarised waves with a certain amount of phase difference between them. Thus
upon emerging from the wave plate the two waves superpose to produce a wave
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which can be of a different state of polarisation from the incident wave.

an
7.1 Quarter-wave plate

.M
A quarter-wave plate is a thin sheet of birefringent crystal having the optic axis
parallel to its refracting face and the thickness is such that, it introduces a path
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difference of quarter of the wavelength (λ/4), of the incident beam, between the
o-ray and e-ray propagating through it. This means the thickness of a negative
quarter wave crystal tλ/4 , is such that the path difference in equation (19) will be
λ/4, i.e.,
λ λ
4 = (µo − µe ) tλ/4 = ⇒ tλ/4 = , (22)
4 4 (µo − µe )
and the corresponding phase difference introduced between the emergent e-ray and
o-ray when a monochromatic light is passed through it will be
2π4 π
φλ/4 = = = 90◦ . (23)
λ 2

7.2 Half-wave plate 28
A quarter wave plate it used in producing elliptically or circularly polarised light

from a plane polarised light. The nature of light produced depends on the angle
between the vibration direction of the incident beam of plane polarised light and
the direction of optic axis of the quarter-wave plate.
7.2 Half-wave plate

A half-wave plate is a thin sheet of birefringent crystal having the optic axis
parallel to its refracting face and the thickness is such that, it introduces a path
difference of half the wavelength (λ/2), of the incident beam, between the o-ray
and e-ray propagating through it. This means the thickness of a negative half-wave
crystal tλ/2 , is such that the path difference in equation (19) will be λ/2, i.e.,
λ λ
4 = (µo − µe ) tλ/2 = ⇒ tλ/2 = , (24)
2 2 (µo − µe )
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es
and the corresponding phase difference introduced between the emergent e-ray and
o-ray when a monochromatic light is passed through it is
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ot
2π4
Pr
sN
φλ/2 = = π = 180◦ . (25)

λ
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as
A half-wave plate is used to invert the handedness of an elliptically or circularly

polarised light. Also it is used to rotate the plane of polarization of an incident
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plane polarized light through an angle of 2θ, where θ is the angle between the
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vibration direction of the incident beam of plane polarised light and the direction
of optic axis of the half-wave plate.
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7.3 Theory of circular and elliptical polarised light

.M
Let us consider an unpolarised light which is incident onto a Nicol prism. The Nicol
prism converts this unpolarised to a plane polarised light. This plane polarised
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light is incident onto a calcite crystal that is cut in such a manner that its optic
axis is parallel to the face of the crystal, as shown in figure 16. Further let us
assume that the amplitude vector A ~ of the incident plane polarise light makes an
angle θ with the direction of the optic axis. The calcite crystal splits the incident
plane polarised light into e-ray of amplitude A cos θ parallel to the direction of
optic axis and o-ray having amplitude A sin θ perpendicular to the direction of
optic axis. The e-ray and o-ray then will travel with different velocities within the
crystal and emerge out at the same point on the opposite side of the incident face
with a phase difference of φ.
Since calcite is a negative crystal, the velocity of the e-ray is grater than the
o-ray velocity. Thus, inside the crystal e-ray leads the o-ray. Using these facts, we

7.3 Theory of circular and elliptical polarised light 29
Figure 16: (a) A plane polarised light produced by a Nicol prism is incident on
the face (AB) of a calcite crystal. (b) Front face (AB) view of the calcite crystal
showing the optic axis (dashed line) and the components of the incident polarised
light. Inside the crystal the e-ray travels faster than the o-ray.
can write down the displacements of o-ray and e-ray vibrations as they come out
of the crystal as
y = A sin θ sin wt and x = A cos θ sin (wt + φ) (26)
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es
respectively. In order to simplify further, let us assume A1 = A cos θ and A2 =
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ot
A sin θ, then the above equations reduces to
Pr
sN
y
y = A2 sin wt ⇒ = sin wt, (27)
A2
x
an
x = A1 sin (wt + φ) ⇒
as
= sin (wt + φ) = sin wt cos φ + cos wt sin φ. (28)

A1
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p q
From equation (27) we have cos wt = 1 − sin2 wt = 1 − (y/A2 )2 , which when
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substituted into equation (28) yields

s 2 s 2
an
x y y x y y
= cos φ + 1 − sin φ ⇒ − cos φ = 1 − sin φ.
A1 A2 A2 A1 A2 A2
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Now squaring both both sides, we get

2 2 " 2 #
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x y x y y
+ cos2 φ − 2 cos φ = 1 − sin2 φ,
A1 A2 A1 A2 A2
which can be rearranged into the following form :
x2 y2 x y
2
+ 2
−2 cos φ = sin2 φ. (29)
A1 A2 A1 A2
This equation is the equation of an oblique ellipse. So, in general the emergent
light ray is elliptically polarised light. The exact nature of the resultant motion
or the light emerged from the calcite crystal depends on the phase difference φ
between the emerged e-ray and o-ray. Let us consider some special cases:

Case 1 : When φ = 2 n π (where n = 0, 1, 2, . . .)

If the thickness of the calcite is such that the above condition is satisfied, then in
this case not only the two emerging e-ray and o-ray are in phase but also, sin φ = 0
and cos φ = 1. So equation (29) transforms to
2
x2 y2

x y x y x y A2
2
+ 2 −2 =0⇒ − =0⇒ = ⇒ y= x . (30)
A1 A2 A1 A2 A1 A2 A1 A2 A1
This equation is an equation of

a straight line passing through origin
making an angle of atan (A2 /A1 ) with
respect to the optic axis. Hence the
resultant emerging light from the cal-
cite crystal is plane polarised with vi-
brations in the same plane as the in- Figure 17: Emerging plane polarised light
cident light. Schematically, this plane for (a) φ = 2 n π and (b) φ = (2 n + 1) π.
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polarised light is shown in figure 17(a).
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ot
Case 2 : When φ = (2 n + 1) π (where n = 0, 1, 2, . . .)
Pr
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If the thickness of the calcite is such that the above condition is satisfied, then this
the case where not only the two emerging e-ray and o-ray are in opposite phase
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as
but also sin φ = 0 and cos φ = −1. Then equation (29) becomes
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2
x2 y 2

x y x y x y A2
2
+ 2 +2 =0⇒ + =0⇒ =− ⇒ y = − x , (31)
A1 A2 A1 A2 A1 A2 A1 A2 A1
am
which is an equation of a straight line passing through origin but with a negative
an
slope compared to the previous case. This equation represents a wave of plane
polarised light making an angle of atan (−A2 /A1 ) with respect to the optic axis.
.M
It shows that the resultant emerging light from the calcite crystal is plane polarised
with the plane of polarisation rotated by an angle of 2 θ compared to the plane of
incident light as shown in figure 17(b). We substitute this phase difference into
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equation (20) and get

2π
φ= (µo − µe ) t = (2 n + 1) π.
λ
Using this equation we get the thickness of the crystal to be
(2 n + 1) λ
t= . (32)
2 (µo − µe )
For the situation when n = 0, this equals the thickness of a half-wave plate as given
in equation (24). This concludes that a half-wave plate rotates the plane of

polarisation of the incident plane polarised light through an angle 2 θ.

Also when a circularly or elliptically polarised is passed through it, it changes the
handedness of the corresponding elliptically or circularly polarised light by rotating
the plane of polarisation by an angle 2 θ.
Using these cases we conclude that the resultant of two plane-polarised coherent
waves, which are in phase or are in opposite phase, is again a plane polarised wave.
Case 3 : When φ = (2 n + 1) π/2 (where n = 0, 1, 2, . . .)
If the thickness of the calcite is such that the above condition is satisfied, then this
the case where the value of sin φ = 1 and cos φ = 1. Then equation (29) becomes
x2 y2
+ = 1. (33)
A21 A22
This is simply an equation of an

ellipse whose major axis and minor
ty
axis coincide with the direction of op-
es
tic axis and the axis perpendicular to
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the optic axis. Therefore, when two
Pr
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plane polarised lights are out of phase

by 90◦ , their resultant is an ellipti-
cally polarised light. For the case of
an
as
φ = (4n + 1) π/2, the emergent beam

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is rotating anticlockwise giving a left

elliptically polarised light. However if
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φ = (4n+3) π/2, the emergent beam is

rotating clockwise which is a right el-
an
liptically polarised light. In the partic-

ular case of A1 = A2 = A which hap-
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pens when cos θ = sin θ or θ = 45◦ , Figure 18: Emergent (a) elliptically po-
this equation becomes a circle x2 + larised light for θ 6= π/4 (top) and (b)
y 2 = A2 of radius A. Hence the circularly polarised light for θ = π/4 (bot-
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emerged beam will be a circularly po- tom) obtained from the incident plane po-
larised light. This has been illustrated larised light when φ = (2 n + 1) π/2.
in figure 18.
When we substitute this phase difference into equation (20), we obtain
2π π
φ= (µo − µe ) t = (2 n + 1) .
λ 2
Using this equation we get the thickness of the crystal to be
(2 n + 1) λ
t= . (34)
4 (µo − µe )

8 Production and detection of polarised lights 32
For the case when n = 0, this equals the thickness of a quarter-wave plate as
given in equation (22). So, we conclude that a quarter-wave plate is used
for producing elliptically and circularly polarised light from a plane
polarised light.
Case 4 : General case
The equation (29) shows that the

tip of the resultant of the e-ray and the
o-ray traces an ellipse as illustrated in
figure 19. The ellipse is confined within
a rectangle having sides 2 A1 and 2 A2
along the optic axis (x−axis) and the
axis perpendicular to it (y−axis) re-
spectively. The major axis of the el-
lipse is inclined at an angle α from the
direction of the optic axis whose value
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is such that it satisfies
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2 A1 A2 cos φ Figure 19: General ellipse spanned by the

tan 2α = .
Pr
(35) superposition of e-ray and o-ray.
sN
A21 − A22
an
To summarise our understanding of this section, we discussed what happens
as
when e-ray and o-ray overlap on each other after emerging from an anisotropic
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crystal. Since, their plane of polarisation are not same it is obvious that they
cannot produce interference fringes. On the other hand they combine to produce
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different states of polarisation. The state of polarisation of the emerged ray de-
pends on the optical path difference between the e-ray and o-ray. In particular:
an
When the optical path difference is zero or an even or odd multiple of λ/2, the
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resultant light wave is plane polarised.
When the optical path difference is λ/4 but the wave amplitudes are unequal,
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the resultant light wave is elliptically polarised.
When the optical path difference is λ/4 but the wave amplitudes are equal, the
resultant light wave is circularly polarised.
8 Production and detection of polarised lights

8.1 Effect of rotating Nicol prism on polarised light
In general light can be unpolarised, polarised or partially polarised. Further if it
is polarised then it can be either plane polarised, circularly polarised or elliptically

8.1 Effect of rotating Nicol prism on polarised light 33
polarised beams. Let us take a look at the action of a Nicol prism (or any polaroid
sheet) on all types of lights. This will help us analyse the nature of an unknown
polarised light when the same is passed through a rotating Nicol prism.
Unpolarised Light :
When an unpolarised light is incident on a Nicol prism, it transmits half the

intensity of light and provides a plane polarised beam of light. As we rotate the
Nicol prism, the intensity of the transmitted light remains constant.
Plane polarised Light :
In a plane polarised light

the vibrations are confined to a
single direction. Thus, if the
transmission axis of the rotating
Nicol prism is along the vibra-
ty
tion direction of the plane po-
es
larised light the intensity will be
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ot
maximum. As we rotate further
Figure 20: Effect of passing a plane polarised
Pr
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the intensity decreases in accor-

light through a rotating Nicol prism. The Nicol
dance with Malu’s law and be-
prism acts as an analyser.
come zero at right angles to the
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maximum position. If rotated further it increases to become maximum and once

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more decreases to zero. So, when a plane polarised light is incident on a Nicol
prism, the intensity of the transmitted light varies from zero and a maximum value
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twice in one full rotation. Maximum occurs when the optic axis of the Nicol prism
is parallel to the vibrations of the incident plane polarised light beam.
an
Circularly polarised light :

.M
The circularly po-

larised light can be re-
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solved into two compo-

nents, both having equal
amplitude, one vibrat-
ing along the direction
of optic axis of the ro-
tating Nicol and another Figure 21: Effect of passing unpolarised or circularly
perpendicular it. Thus, polarised light through a rotating Nicol prism.
when a circularly po-
larised light is incident on the rotating Nicol, there is always a component of
vibration parallel to the direction of transmission axis of it, which gets trans-
mitted. Since the amplitude of this vibration remains same through the entire

8.2 Production and detection of plane polarised light 34
direction of rotation, the intensity of the emerged light does not vary as we ro-
tate the Nicol along the direction of the incident beam. Thus, when a circularly
polarised light is analysed using a rotating Nicol, the intensity of the transmitted
light remains constant. This situation is same as like the case of unpolarised light
passing through a rotating Nicol prism.
Elliptically polarised light :
We know that an elliptically polarised light can be obtained by superposition
of two plane polarised lights having vibrations perpendicular to each other but
with different amplitudes and having a phase difference of π/2 between them. The
vibration of the resultant elliptically polarised light have maximum amplitude
along the direction of semi-major and minimum amplitude along the direction
of the semi-minor axis. Thus, when the transmission axis of the Nicol prism is
along the direction of the semi-major axis, it provides maximum intensity. As the
Nicol prism is rotated, the intensity decreases and becomes minimum when the
rotated direction is 90◦ from the maximum intensity position. This occurs when the
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transmission direction of the Nicol prism is along the direction of the semi-minor
us
axis of the elliptically polarised light. On further rotation the intensity increases
ot
to maximum and then decreases to minimum. Thus, when elliptically polarised

Pr
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light is incident on the rotating Nicol prism, the intensity of the transmitted beam
varies from a maximum value to a minimum value twice in one full rotation.
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as
Partially polarised light :

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We have learned that

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the partially polarised

light is a combination of
a polarised light and un-
an
polarised light. Thus,

.M
when a partially po-

larised light is incident Figure 22: Effect of passing partially polarised or ellip-
onto a rotating Nicol tically polarised light through a rotating Nicol prism.
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prism then the intensity

of the transmitted beam is going to vary between a mximum value and minimum
value occuring twice in one full rotation. The direction of maximum intensity de-
pends on the direction of the vibrations of the added polarised light beam. This
situation is same as like the case of elliptically polarised light passing through a
rotating Nicol prism.
8.2 Production and detection of plane polarised light

A Nicol prism can be used as a polariser as well as an analyser for a plane polarised
light. When two Nicol prisms are placed co-axially as shown in figure 15, then Nicol

8.3 Production and detection of circularly polarised light 35
prism P acts as polariser and Nicol prism A acts as analyser. Such an arrangement
is known as a polariscope.
8.2.1 Production
When an unpolarised beam is passed through the polariser, it splits the incident
beam into e-rays and o-rays. While travelling within the crystal, the o-ray gets
internally reflected by the canada balsam layer of the Nicol prism. On the other
hand it allows to transmit the e-ray though it which when emerge out from the
Nicol prism is plane polarised light.
8.2.2 Detection
When principal section of both the Nicols are parallel, then emitted e-ray from
polarizer P has vibrations parallel to principal section of analyser A, so the e-ray
gets freely transmitted through it. In this setting of Nicols the intensity of emitted
light is maximum. This position and the position when the angle between the
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principle sections of two prisms is 180◦ is known as Parallel Nicols.
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ot
When Nicol A is rotated from its position, intensity of light emitted from it
decrease and becomes zero when principal sections of two planes at right angle to
Pr
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each other. In this situation light emitted from polarising Nicol P has vibration in
a plane normal to principal section of analysing Nicol A and is totally internally
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as
reflected back from canada balsam layer and no light is emitted. In this setting,
two Nicols are said to be Crossed Nicols.
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For all other intermediate positions between parallel and crossed, the E-ray
am
emitted by polariser falls on analyser and get split into two components: one
having vibrations in the principal section of analyser and other having vibrations
perpendicular to the principal section of analyser. The latter is totally internally
an
reflected by the canada balsam layer while the former is freely emitted. The
intensity of emitted light is given by Malus law I ∝ cos2 θ, where θ is angle
.M
between principal sections of analyser or polariser.

The same process can also be described for any kind of polariser, as given in
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figure 2.
8.3 Production and detection of circularly polarised light

8.3.1 Production
The experimental set up for the production of circularly and elliptically polarised
light is given in figure 23. It consists of a polariscope containing two Nicol prisms
one acting as a polariser and another an analyser. In addition to this, a quarter
wave-plate is mounted to a tube T1 which is inserted into another tube T2 such
that the tube T1 can be rotated about the outer fixed tube T2 . This arrangement

8.3 Production and detection of circularly polarised light 36
Figure 23: Experimental set up for the production of circularly and elliptically
polarised light.
makes the quarter wave-plate being rotatable about the horizontal axis of tube T1
or T2 over any desired angle.
Initially, an unpolarised beam of light is made to fall on the first Nicol prism
which functions as a polariser and produces a plane polarised light. The second
Nicol prism is rotated such that it’s optic axis is perpendicular to the optic axis
of the polariser. At this crossed position we will observe that the intensity of light
coming out of the second Nicol prism is zero. Thus the second Nicol prism acts as
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es
an analyser for the plane polarised beam.
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ot
After making sure that both the Nicol prisms are at crossed position, the
quarter wave-plate with it’s tube arrangement is introduced in the path of the
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plane polarised light beam such that the optic axis of the quarter wave-plate is
parallel to the vibrations of the plane polarised light. This is done in the following
an
as
manner. If the optic axis of the quarter wave plate is not parallel to the vibrations
of the plane polarised light, then the intensity of the light coming out of the
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analyser will be non zero. This is because the quarter wave-plate splits the plane
polarised light into e-rays and o-rays which travel with vibrations perpendicular
am
to each other. Thus, some of the vibrations passes through the analyser producing
non-zero intensity. If this is the case, then the quarter wave-plate is rotated about
an
it’s horizontal axis, such that the intensity of the light beam coming out of the
analyser is again zero. At this position the optic axis of the quarter wave-plate
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becomes parallel to the vibrations of the plane polarised light.

When the optic axis of the quarter wave-plate becomes parallel to the direction
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of the incident plane polarised light, the quarter wave-plate is rotated through an
angle of 45◦ such that the vibrations of the incident plane polarised light makes an
angle of 45◦ with the optic axis of the quarter wave-plate. At this current set up
the incident plane polarised light splits into e-ray and o-ray of equal amplitudes
A sin 45◦ = A cos 45◦ (A being the amplitude of the vibrating plane polarised
light) by the quarter wave-plate. These two rays travel in the same direction but
with different velocities. At the point of incident these two rays will be in phase
with each other. But when they emerge out of the quarter wave-plate they will
have a path difference of λ/4 or a phase difference of 90◦ and with vibrations
in mutually perpendicular directions. When, they combined travel they produce
circularly polarised light.

8.4 Production and detection of elliptically polarised light 37
8.3.2 Detection
The produced circularly polarised is passed through the analyser. On rotating
the analyser about the direction of the incident beam, if there is no change in
the intensity of the emergent beam, then the incident beam is circularly polarised
beam. However, as discussed in section (8.1), the same result would be obtained
for an unpolarised beam as well. The two cases can be distinguished by introducing
another quarter wave-plate before the path of light falls on the analyser. If the
original light is circularly polarised light, then the quarter wave-plate provides
additional phase difference of 90◦ between the e-ray and o-ray making the total
phase difference to be 180◦ . Thus, on emerging from the quarter wave-plate, the
e-ray and o-ray combine to produce a plane polarised light which when examined
with the analyser will be extinguished twice in one full rotation otherwise the
incident beam is unpolarised.
8.4 Production and detection of elliptically polarised light
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es
8.4.1 Production
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The same experimental set up, as in figure 23, is used for the production of ellipti-
Pr
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cally polarised light. However, the angle of rotation is such that the electric vector
of the polarised light makes an angle θ 6= 45◦ with the optic axis of the quarter
an
wave plate. In this situation, the incident ray get divided into e-ray and o-ray
as
of amplitudes A sin θ and A cos θ. Thus the rays travel along the same direction
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in the crystal but with different velocities and with vibrations in mutual perpen-
dicular directions. These rays at the position of incident point are in phase but
am
when they emerge out of the quarter wave-plate they will have a path difference
of λ/4 or a phase difference of 90◦ and with vibrations in mutually perpendicular
an
directions. These rays combine together and produce elliptically polarised light.
.M
8.4.2 Detection
The resultant beam is passed through the analyser. Upon rotating the analyser the
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intensity of the emerging beam should vary between a maximum and a minimum
(6= zero) value. Using the understanding gained in section (8.1), shows that the
ray should be elliptically polarised beam. However , the same result can also be
obtained for a partially polarised light. In order to differentiate between the two,
a quarter wave-plate is introduced before the path of the light falls on the rotating
analyser. The quarter wave-plate introduces an additional path difference of 90◦
between the e-ray and o-ray making the total phase difference to be 180◦ . Thus, on
emerging from the quarter wave-plate, the e-ray and o-ray combine to produce a
plane polarised light which when examined with the analyser will be extinguished
twice in one full rotation otherwise the incident beam is partially polarised lights.

Figure 24: Schematic illustration of production of (a) Plane polarised, (b) circu-
larly polarised and (c) elliptically polarised light from unpolarised light by using
a Nicol prism as polariser and a quarter wave-plate.
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es
us
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Pr
sN
an
as
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Figure 25: Schematic illustration for detection of (a) Plane polarised, (b) circularly
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polarised and (c) elliptically polarised light by using a rotating Nicol prism as
analyser and a quarter wave-plate.
an
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The techniques involved in the production and detection of linearly, circularly

and elliptically polarised light are illustrated using the diagrams 24 and 25.
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9 Analysis of polarised light

In general a plane wave can be characterized by different states of polarizations,
which may be any one of the following (i) linearly polarised, (ii) circularly polarised,
(iii) Elliptically polarised, (iv) unpolarised and (v) partially polarised light. Fur-
ther the partially polarised can be any one of the following (a) mixture of linearly
polarised and unpolarised, (b) mixture of circularly polarised and unpolarised and
(c) mixture of elliptically polarised and unpolarised light. To the naked eye, they
all appear to be the same. In this section, we discuss the process to determine
the state of polarisation of a given light beam by using the knowledge of retarders

and the response of a Nicol prism to various types of lights (discussed in sections
7 and 8.1).
If we introduce a rotating Nicol in the path of the given beam and rotate it
about the direction of propagation of the beam, then one of the following three
possibilities can occur for the intensities of the transmitted beam :
1. If there is complete extinction at two positions with maximum in
between, then the beam is linearly polarised.
2. If there is no variation of intensity, then the beam can be either un-

polarised or circularly polarized or a mixture of unpolarised and circularly
polarised light. We now put a quarter wave plate on the path of the beam
followed by the rotating Nicol. Then the following inferences can be made
for the nature of the incident beam :
(a) If there is no variation of intensity, then the incident beam is unpo-

larised.
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es
(b) If there is complete extinction at two positions, then the beam is circu-
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larly polarized. This is because, a quarter wave plate will transform a
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circularly polarised light into a linearly polarised light.

Pr
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(c) If there is a variation of intensity between a maximum and a minimum

value (without complete extinction), then the beam is a mixture of un-
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as
polarised and circularly polarised light.

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3. If there is a variation of intensity (without complete extinction),

then the beam is elliptically polarised or a mixture of linearly polarized and
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unpolarised or a mixture of elliptically polarised and unpolarised light. We

now put a quarter wave plate in front of the Nicol prism with its optic axis
an
parallel to the optic axis of the Nicol prism at the position of maximum
intensity. Then the following observations can be seen to infer the nature of
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the incident beam :
(a) Observing through the rotating Nicol prism, if one obtains two positions
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where complete extinction of intensity occurs with maximum in between,

then the original beam is elliptically polarised. This is because, the
quarter wave plate transforms the elliptically polarised light to a linearly
polarized light.
(b) If complete extinction does not occur and the position of maximum in-
tensity occurs at the same orientation as before, then the beam is a
mixture of unpolarised and linearly polarised light.
(c) Finally, if the position of maximum intensity occurs at a different ori-
entation of the Nicol prism, then the beam is a mixture of elliptically
polarised and unpolarised light.

Steps involved for the analysis of a light beam

Unknown light beam
Incident light on Rotating Nicol prism
Intensity changes Intensity does Intensity changes but

and vanishes not change doesn’t vanish completely
result result result
linearly Either unpolarised, Either elliptically polarised
polarised light or circularly polarised, or unpolarised + linear polarised
or mixture of the two or elliptically + unpolarised
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es
Take original beam, Take original beam,
us
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incident on a λ/4 plate and incident on a λ/4 plate and
analyse by a rotating Nicol
Pr
analyse by a rotating Nicol
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as
Intensity does Intensity changes Intensity changes but

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not change and vanishes doesn’t vanish completely

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result result result

Unpolarised Circularly Unpolarised + circularly
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light polarised light polarised light

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Intensity changes but doesn’t Intensity changes Maxima occurs at

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vanish completely and maxima and vanishes different position

position same as before result result
result Elliptically Unpolarised +
Unpolarised + linear polarised light elliptically
polarised light polarised light
Figure 26: Flow chart showing the processes involved to determine the nature of
polarisation of an unknown light beam.

10 Applications of polarised light 41
The inferences made here have been summarised using the flow chart given in
figure (26).
10 Applications of polarised light

The phenomena of polarisation has many applications starting from photography
to electronic devices like LCD and many more. Let us discuss some of the appli-
cations.
10.1 Sunglasses
Light rays reflected from asphalt roads, water, ice and snow are partially polarised.
The degree of polarisation is higher when reflected at Brewster’s angle. Such a
highly polarised light causes glare in one’s eye and results in difficult to view
objects through them. It makes driving on the road very difficult and might cause
ty
accidents as well.
es
To avoid this, sunglasses were manufactured using the phenomenon of polarisa-
us
ot
tion which can drastically reduce the glare. Therefore, the lenses of the sunglasses
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were coated with polarising filters that are oriented vertically with respect to the
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frames. So, when reflected light from roads or ice or snow falls on them, the electric
filed oriented in the same direction as the filters (perpendicular to the reflecting
an
as
surface) were passed through. Whereas light waves with vibrations perpendicu-
lar to the polarising filters (parallel to the reflecting surface) were blocked. This
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eliminates the glare by reducing the transmitted intensity of the reflected light.
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10.2 Photography
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When sunlight enters earth a part of it gets scattered and provides a partial po-
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larised beam which provides a glare in the sky. Thus when taking photographs
these polarised lights causes the photograph to have a washed-out sky. This is
overcome by the application of polarising filters which block the partially polarised
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light reducing the glare. Thus, the camera captures a beautiful foreground with
background as a vivid blue sky.
10.3 Optical microscopy

Microscopes can be configured to use crossed polarisers for studying samples under
polarised light. In this case the polariser is placed below the sample and the
analyser is placed above the sample. When the sample holder is empty light path
will not be visible. This is due to the crossed position of the polarised. However,
when a birefringent sample is placed between the crossed polarisers, we can observe

10.4 Stereoscopic movies 42
various aspects of the sample. This occurs due to the sample which rotates the
light allowing it to get transmitted through the upper polariser.
10.4 Stereoscopic movies

Stereoscopic movies are 3D movies which gives the perception of depth. These
are actually two movies being same at the same time through two projectors. For
making such a movie, two views of the same movie are shot simultaneously from
two slightly different camera positions. One view corresponds to what we observe
through pur right eye, while the other corresponds to the view as seen by the left
eye. Each individual movie is then projected, from different sides of the audience,
onto the screen through a polarising filter with an orientation perpendicular to
each other. The viewer then wears a pair of glasses having two polarising filters
with different polarisation axis - one horizontal and the other vertical. The result
is that the left eye sees the movie which is projected from the right projector and
the right eye sees the movie projected from the left projector. This gives the viewer
ty
es
the perception of depth.
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10.5 LCD
Pr
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Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have wide range ap-

plications in wristwatches, TVs, computer screens,
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as
timers, clocks, mobile phones etc. The working prin-

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ciple behind this is the interaction of rod-like liq-

uid crystalline molecules with an electric field in the
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presence of a polarised light beam. The parts of an

LCD consist of a double refracting liquid crystalline
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material, of about 10µm thick, supported between

two thin glass plates, as shown in figure 27. The
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glass plates are coated with thin conducting coat- Figure 27: Diagram illus-
ings on their inner surfaces. One of the glass plates trating the arrangement of
has the conducting coating is etched with digits or parts in LCD.
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characters which can be displayed when electricity is

passed through it. The entire assembly is then sand witched between two crossed
polariser sheets.
10.5.1 Working principle

During the fabrication of LCD, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in a twisted
molecular arrangement such that their long axis undergoes a 90◦ rotation, as shown
in figure 28. When natural light falls on it, the polariser converts that to a plane
polarised light. As the polarised light passes through the LCD chamber, the crystal
molecules rotates it by 90◦ . Therefore, the polarised light beam passes unhindered

10.6 Photoelasticity 43
inside the crossed polariser which is then gets reflected back by a reflecting coating
at the back of the real polariser. The polarised light retraces its path which emerges
unobstructed, providing an uniform illumination. When some voltage, Va is applied
between the electrodes of the glass plates, the molecules untwist and align along
the field direction. As a result, when the polarised light passes through the region,
it will not undergo any rotation and thereby gets blocked by the rear polariser.
Thus the region appears dark in the form of digits or characters which have been
engraved to the glass plates.
10.6 Photoelasticity
Photoelasticity is an experimental method to analyse the stress distributions in
structural and mechanical components using polarised light. This method is use-
ful for cases when mathematical approach to such problems become impossible.
Substances such as glass, celluloid and bakelite, etc under stress show properties of
double refraction. Therefore, these kind of materials are used for photoelastic ap-
ty
es
plications. Photoelastic properties of these substances can be used to study stress
us
distributions in complex engineering structures such as bridges, girders, boiler
ot
plates, gears etc. Commonly, transparent scale models of these are prepared using
Pr
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photoelastic sensitive materials such as epoxy, glyptol, polyster resins, bakelite or

xyonite and are used for stress related studies. By placing them between crossed
an
Nicols, they are subjected to loads and stresses. Without stresses they will not
as
show any pattern. However, when subjected to stress they produce e-ray and o-ray.
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The superposed ray is partially transmitted through the analyser, which can be
studied to obtain information regarding various stresses acting on the structure.
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The gathered informations are then used for real life engineering applications.
This process is specially useful for the study of objects with irregular boundaries
an
and stress concentrations such as machinery with notches, curves, materials with
cracks etc. With this we can define, photoelasticity is a property of materials which
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develop double refraction properties due to application of stress. This phenomena

of appearance of optical anisotropy in a normal isotropic substance under the in-
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Figure 28: Diagram demonstrating the working principle of LCD.

fluence of external stress (forces) is called as induced birefringence or artificial

double refraction.
10.6.1 Theory of photoelasticity

If a material have the property of induced birefringence, then it displays stress-
dependent change in refractive index. Mathematically they can be written using
the equations of stress-optic law. They are
µx − µ0 = c1 σx + c2 (σy + σz ), (36)
µy − µ0 = c1 σy + c2 (σz + σx ), (37)
and µz − µ0 = c1 σz + c2 (σx + σy ), (38)
where µx , µy and µz represent the principal refractive indices of the photoelastic

material under the principal stresses σx , σy and σz respectively and µ0 is the re-
fractive index under no stress condition. The coefficients c1 and c2 are referred to
as the stress-optic coefficients which vary from material to material. Using these
ty
es
equations we can find that the relative refractive indices of the material are
us
ot
µyx = µy − µx = (c2 − c1 ) (σx − σy ) = c21 σxy , (39)

Pr
sN
µzy = µz − µy = (c2 − c1 ) (σy − σz ) = c21 σyz , (40)

and µxz = µx − µz = (cy − cx ) (σz − σx ) = c21 σzx , (41)
an
as
where c21 = c2 −c1 is the relative or differential stress coefficient expressed in terms
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of brewsters (1 brewster = 10−12 m2 /N ).

When an electric field travelling along z-direction, in the form E = A cos (k z −
am
w t) = A cos φ, is applied to the material it gets resolved into two components

which travel through the thickness, t of the material with different velocities. Upon
an
emerging from the material they will induce a relative phase difference of
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2π 2πt
φxy = t (µy − µx ) = c21 (σx − σy ). (42)
λ λ
along the direction of σx with respect to the direction of σy . Similarly for other
Dr
directions we can write

2πt 2πt
φyz = c21 (σy − σz ) and φzx = c21 (σz − σx ). (43)
λ λ
Restricting ourselves to only a two-dimensional situation where σz = 0, we have
µ x − µ 0 = c1 σ x + c2 σ y , and µy − µ0 = c1 σy + c2 σx , (44)
and the relative phase difference is

2πt φxy λ
φxy = c21 (σx − σy ) ⇒ σx − σy = . (45)
λ 2 π t c21

It shows that the angular phase difference is directly proportional to the difference
between the principal stresses. The number of wavelengths in a relative phase
difference of φxy is given by
φxy
n= ,
2π
which is also called as the fringe order. It can be substituted into equation (45),
to get
nλ nF
σx − σy = = = n f, (46)
t c21 t
where F = λ/c21 is called the material fringe value and the quantity f = F/t is
called the model fringe value. If t = 1 cm and n = 1 wavelength, then F = σx − σy .
Thus, the stress produces a relative phase difference of 2π radians on a model of
unit thickness. This is a property of the model material and the wavelength of the
light used.
At points having σx = σy , the angular phase difference becomes zero and black
ty
dots appear at these points. Such points are called as isotropic points and if
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σx = σy = 0, then also the fringe becomes zero, such points are called as singular
us
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points.
Pr
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10.6.2 Fringe pattern

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as
To determine the fringe pattern, a polariscope is used which has a provision to

keep a photoelastic substance in between. Initially the polariscope is adjusted
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to the crossed position and then the photoelastic material is inserted. The light
coming, from the polariser of the polariscope is plane polarised. whose electric
am
field vibrations can be written as E = A, cos wt. This plane polarised light enters
the photoelastic material. The components of the electric field along the stress σ1
an
and σ2 directions are

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Ex = A cos wt cos θ and Ey = A cos wt sin θ. (47)

If σx 6= σy , then a phase difference of φ gets introduced between these two compo-
Dr
nents of the electric fields. Thus, the emergent light coming from the photoelastic
material has electric field vibrations given by
Ex = A cos wt cos θ and Ey = A cos (wt + φ) sin θ.
In crossed position, since the optic axis of analyser and polariser are perpendicular
to each other, the electric field that gets transmitted through the analyser will be
Ea = Ey cos θ − Ex sin θ = A sin θ cos θ [cos (wt + φ) − cos wt] .
Simplification leads to
Ea = −A sin 2θ sin(φ/2) sin (wt + φ/2) .

Using this, we can write down the intensity of the emergent beam as
I = I0 sin2 2θ sin2 (φ/2), (48)
where I0 = A2 is the maximum transmitted intensity. The intensity vanishes under

two conditions
When 2θ = nπ, where n = 0, 1, 2, . . .

This condition implies that if one of the principal stress sections is along the
optic axis of the polariser, then intensity becomes zero and we will obtain a
dark spot in the fringe. Such a fringe pattern is called as isoclinic fringe
pattern and can be used to determine the principal stress directions.
When φ/2 = nπ, where n = 0, 1, 2, . . .

This condition shows that, if the principal path difference φ is either zero (n = 0)
or an integral multiple of the wavelength, then the intensity is zero. In such
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a case the dark spots are wavelength dependent, and therefore such a fringe
es
pattern is called as isochromatic fringe pattern. These points are along the
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direction in which the difference in the first and second principal stresses are
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same. Thus, they point towards the positions of maximum shear stress.
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10.6.3 Photoelastic bench
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A photoelastic bench is an experimental set up which is used to study the pho-

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toelasticity properties of materials or a model subjected to load. It utilises the

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properties of polarised light as part of its operation. The schematic representation

of a photoelastic bench is shown in figure 29.
A monochromatic light source, S is used to provide the incident unpolarised
an
beam, which is then passed through a lens, L1 to obtain a parallel beam of light.
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This parallel unpolarised beam falls on a polariser P which converts it to a plane

polarised light. The plane polarised light falls on the quarter wave-plate, P1 in
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Figure 29: Schematic diagram of photoelastic bench.

such a way that the plane of vibration makes an angle of 45◦ , thereby converting
the plane polarised light into a circularly polarised light. The second quarter
wave-plate, P2 is used to convert back the circularly polarised light to a plane
polarised light, which then can be passed through the analyser for further analysis
by projecting the beam onto a screen or a film or a camera with the help of the
projection lens P . The model or the photoelastic material M is loaded in a loading
frame and is inserted between the quarter wave-plates, onto which various types
of loads can be applied. The polariser and analyser are generally coupled together
to achieve simultaneous rotation. In place of monochromatic light source, if we
use white light source, then coloured fringes are observed.
The experimental set up can be used without the help of quarter wave-plates.
In this case only a plane polarised beam falls on the photoelastic material. As such
the set up is called plane polariscope. The fringe pattern in a plane polariscope
consists of both the isochromatics and the isoclinics. On teh screen, the isoclinics
change with the orientation of the polariscope while there is no change in the
positions of isochromatics.
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es
When used with the help of quarter wave-plates, the set up is called as cir-
us
cuar polariscope. The basic advantage of the circular polariscope over the plane
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polariscope is that we only get the isochromatics and not the isoclinics. As such
Pr
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differentiating between the isoclinics and isochrmatics becomes lot more easier.
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Notes on Polarisation

Dr. Manamohan Prusty

2 Polarization of light waves 6

2.1 Intensity of the polarised light and Malu’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2.2 Plane polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3 Production of polarised light 12

3.4 Polarisation due to selective absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4 Double refraction in calcite crystals 17

5 Huygens’ explanation of double refraction 20

7.1 Quarter-wave plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

7.3 Theory of circular and elliptical polarised light . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

8 Production and detection of polarised lights 32

8.2 Production and detection of plane polarised light . . . . . . . . . . 34

9 Analysis of polarised light 38

10 Applications of polarised light 41

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

for obtaining complete polarised light by reflection. . . . . . . . . . 13

7 Polarisation by a pile of glass plates using multiple refraction. . . . 14

12 Diagram illustrating the propagation of o-ray and e-ray when the

source point S in (a) positive crystals and (b) negative crystals. . . 23

15 Action of Nicol prisms as polariser and analyser for (a) parallel

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

26 Flow chart showing the processes involved to determine the nature

of polarisation of an unknown light beam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

29 Schematic diagram of photoelastic bench. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

2 Polarization of light waves

direction of propagation. All these vibrations are of equal probability. Therefore,

strictly confined to a single direction in a plane perpendicular to the direction of

propagation, such light is said to be polarised light.

is called the plane of polarisation due to historical reasons. When light is

passed through certain crystals such as tourmaline or polaroids, they produce a

Figure 1: (a)Plane of vibration (ABCD) and plane of polarisation (PQRS), Rep-

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

The process of giving such a confinement of vibrations is called polarisation. The

Figure 2: Effect of polariser (tourmaline crystal) on unpolarised light beam and

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

2.1 Intensity of the polarised light and Malu’s law

~ = E cos φ n̂k + E sin φ n̂⊥ ,

perpendicular to it respectively. When light passes through the polariser, it allows

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

Figure 3: Explanation of Mallu’s law.

According to Malus law, if I0 is the intensity of the polarized light incident on

Hence for θ = n π (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .), the emergent intensity will be maximum and

for θ = (2n + 1) π/2 (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .), the emergent intensity will be minimum.

2.2 Types of polarised light

Depending on how the vibrations of electric

may exhibit itself in three different states of

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

2.2.1 Unpolarised light

regarded as equally probable, so that, it can be indicated by a solid circle as in

symmetrical about the direction of propagation. The imagination of the natural

tuation in orientation of vibrations, there can be fluctuations in amplitude as well.

azimuths are equivalent, the simpler representation in terms of linear vibrations

of constant amplitude and rapidly shifting orientation completely describes the

Classnotes by Dr. Manamohan Prusty

2.2.2 Plane polarised light

2.2.3 Elliptically polarised light

Upon squaring and adding these equations yields,

ellipse and the light is said to be elliptically polarised light.

2.2.4 Circularly polarised light