Polarization of light: Malus’ law, the Fresnel equations, and optical activity.

PHYS 3330: Experiments in Optics

Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602

(Dated: Revised August 2012)

In this lab you will (1) test Malus’ law for the transmission of light through crossed polarizers;
(2) test the Fresnel equations describing the reflection of polarized light from optical interfaces, and
(3) using polarimetry to determine the unknown concentration of a sucrose and water solution.

I. POLARIZATION III. PROCEDURE

You will need to complete some background reading 1. Position the fixed “V” polarizer after mirror “M”
before your first meeting for this lab. Please carefully to establish a vertical polarization axis for the laser
study the following sections of the “Newport Projects in light.
Optics” document (found in the “Reference Materials”
section of the course website): 0.5 “Polarization” Also 2. Carefully adjust the position of the photodiode so
read chapter 6 of your text “Physics of Light and Optics,” the laser beam falls entirely within the central dark
by Peatross and Ware. Your pre-lab quiz cover concepts square.
presented in these materials AND in the body of this
3. Plug the photodiode into the bench top voltmeter
write-up. Don’t worry about memorizing equations – the
and observe the voltage – it should be below 200
quiz should be elementary IF you read these materials
mV; if not, you may need to attenuate the light by
carefully. Please note that “taking a quick look at” these
[anticipating the validity off Malus’ law!] inserting
materials 5 minutes before lab begins will likely NOT be
the polarizer on a rotatable arm “R” upstream of
adequate to do well on the quiz.
the “V” polarizer, and rotating “R” until the read-
ing on the photodiode is approximately 200mV.

4. Place the precision rotatable polarizer “P” just in

II. MALUS’ LAW front of the photodiode. Make sure the beam goes
through cleanly.
When completely linearly polarized light is incident on 5. Rotate “P” to maximize the transmitted power.
a polarizer, Malus’ law predicts the transmitted intensity Then rotate the polarizer so that the “0” of the
to vary proportionally as the square of the cosine of the vernier scale lines up with a tick mark of the fixed
angle between the transmission axes of the analyzer and scale, to establish a nice place to start your system-
the direction of polarization of the incident light: atic study of intensity versus angle.

I(θ) 6. Starting with zero degrees, record your data in

= cos2 θ the following pairs: (power through the polarizer,
I0
power with the polarizer removed). Rotate the an-
alyzer in steps of 4 degrees, recording these two
You will test this law using the polarized light of a values at each step. Take data over at least 90 de-
HeNe laser, an assortment of polarizers, and a photo- grees of rotation.
diode – an electrical device which generates an electric
current proportional to the intensity of incident light. 7. Estimate your uncertainty in each measurement by
sitting at some fixed angle and repeating the pairs
of measurement 5 times (physically take the po-
larizer in and out for each pair!). Record all the
individual measurements for later processing.

IV. ANALYSIS

Make an array which is the ratio of the two measure-

ments, at each theta. Calculate your uncertainty in the
FIG. 1: Schematic of setup for Malus’ law investigation. ratio by finding the standard deviation of the 10 ratios
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you took at a fixed angle in the last step of the proce-

dure. Plot this ratio versus angle, with error bars. Test
the Law of Malus by fitting your data to the following
model:

P (θ)
= cos2 (θ − θ0 ) + C (1)
P0
FIG. 2: Schematic of setup for Fresnel equation investiga-
Give a physical explanation of why you might need the tion for vertically polarized light. Mirror M1 is the rightmost
parameters θ0 , C? Plot a best fit model overlaid with optic. The “V” polarizer is shown in place.
a plot of your data, with error bars. Plot your residu-
als with error bars. Report the values and uncertainties
of all fitted parameters, discuss the meaning (or arbi-
trariness) of the values of each parameter with respect to
verifying/contradicting the theory under test. Plot the
fit residuals and discuss them. Report the chi-squared
per degree of freedom statistic obtained by your fit, and
use it to discuss the likelihood that, if the Malus theory
were true, you could expect to see data such as yours.
Explain any discrepancy; note – saying “we must have FIG. 3: Schematic of setup for Fresnel equation investigation
made an error....” is not an explanation. for horizontally polarized light, with “R” and “H” polarizers
inserted.

V. FRESNEL EQUATIONS
2. Set the angular readout of the rotational stage to 0
degrees by releasing the stage lock screw, setting
The Fresnel equations give the transmission and reflec- the stage angle to 0 degrees, and tightening the
tion coefficients at a dielectric interface. They depend stage lock screw again. Do not overtighten the set
upon the polarization and angle of incidence, and indices screw.
of refraction of the media on both sides of the interface.
For light crossing from a medium of index n1 to one of 3. Position the prism in its mount so that the laser beam
n2 , the fractional reflected intensity is predicted to be, enters on the prism face marked with the white dot,
for pure s−polarized light (refer to your text for the def- and hits in the middle of the face when the face is
initions of s and p if you are unsure). perpendicular to the beam.

You will now make the prism face perpendicular to the

 q 2 table.
2 2
I s n 1 cos θ i − n 2 1 − (n1 /n2 ) sin θi
Rs (θi ) = rs =  q 
4. Look for the back reflection from the prism face by by
Ii 2
n1 cos θi + n2 1 − (n1 /n2 ) sin θi2
poking a small hole through the card at the beam
height, then holding it in front of M so that the
whereas for pure p-polarized light the theory predicts: beam passes through the hole.
 q 2 5. Slightly release the lock screw of the prism post
I p n1 1 − (n1 /n2 )2 sin2 θi − n2 cos θi holder, but not so much the post slips down. As
Rp (θi ) = rp =  q 
Ii 2 2
n 1 − (n /n ) sin θ + n cos θ you rotate the post back and forth, you will notice
1 1 2 i 2 i
two back reflections on from the prism swinging
across the card. One of the spots is an external re-
flection from the front surface – this is the one you
want; the other is due to multiple internal reflec-
A. Procedure
tions from the hypotenuse and opposite right side
of the prism (see diagram). To differential between
You will measure the reflection of polarized light off of the two, drop a drop of methanol on the side of
a BK7 borosilicate glass prism. There are several steps the prism indicated in the diagram, while observ-
to the alignment of the optical system. ing both spots. The spot you DO NOT want will
acquire ripples, which speedily vanish before your
1. Make the laser beam parallel to the surface of the ta- eyes (why does this happen!!??)
ble by adjusting M to achieve the same beam height
close to and far from itself, marking the height of 6. To set the left-right adjustment, rotate the post in the
the beam on a white index card with a pen. post holder until the reflected spot is centered (pos-
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sibly above or below) the hole in the card. Tighten VI. ANALYSIS
the post holder lock screw.
Plot your data with error bars. Test the Fresnel equa-
7. To set the up-down adjustment, use the adjuster tions by fitting your data to the following model:
screws on the bottom of the prism stage. Your
goal is to get the back-reflected spot centered on Ir (θi )
the hole in the note card. = R(θi − θ0 ) + C
Ii
You will first measure vertically polarized light – you What is the physical reason for possibly needing the
must decide if this is s− or p− polarization! parameters θ0 and C? Plot a best fit model overlaid with
a plot of your data, with error bars. Plot your residuals
8. Place the polarizer marked “V” about 5 in. away with error bars. Report the values and uncertainties of
from M1, this establishes vertical polarization for all fitted parameters, discuss the meaning (or arbitrari-
the light incident on the prism. ness) of the values of each parameter with respect to ver-
ifying/contradicting the theory under test. Plot the fit
9. To make your test of the Fresnel equations, rotate residuals and discuss them. Report the chi-squared per
prism stage and measure the intensity of the re- degree of freedom statistic obtained by your fit, and use
flected light as a function of the angle of incidence it to discuss the likelihood that, if the Fresnel equations
using the photodiode. Starting with zero degrees, were true, you could expect to see data such as yours.
record your data in the following pairs: (power re- Explain any discrepancy; note – saying “we must have
flected off the prism, power incident on the prism). made an error....” is not an explanation.
Take data every 4 degrees or so, for angles of inci-
dence as close to 90◦ and 0◦ practical. Remember
VII. OPTICAL ACTIVITY OF SUCROSE
to use the correct spot identified in step 5 above!!
SOLUTION
You will have to move the photodiode each time
to be centered on the reflected spot. Put the pho-
todiode right in front of the prism, at close to the Many substances exhibit “optical activity,” meaning
same spot each time, when you take the second data they rotate the polarization of transmitted light. Sucrose
value in each pair. Make sure to keep your beam dissolved in water is such a substance. Linearly polarized
in the center of the face of the prism by making light passing through l (in units of decimeters) of a su-
small adjustments to the final-bounce mirror (don’t crose solution of concentration c ≡ msucrose /Vsolution in
worry – this doesn’t change your angle of incidence units of [ mlgrams of sugar
of total solution ] will be rotated through an an-
by much). Always ensure the entire beam spot falls gle:
within the black square in the photodiode package.
Read out the voltage on the voltmeter to as many α = [α]lc (2)
digits as believe to be valid.
where [α] is constant called the “specific rotation” of the
9a . Use the same technique as in the Law of Malus solution. The specific rotation depends strongly on the
part of the lab to estimate your uncertainty in these wavelength of the light, so that it is typically further
measurements. Pick one angle of of reflection (say specified:
45 degrees or so) and take 10 measurement pairs in
a row. [α]Tλ
Because of a weak temperature dependence, T = 20 C
Now re-take the measurements for horizontally polar- should also be specified, and λHeNe = 632.8 nm for your
ized light. lasers. Under these conditions, the specific rotation of
your sucrose in water solution is
10. Place the “H” polarizer about 2 inches after the
“V” polarizer. You will find that not much light
deg
gets through, because the light incident upon it is [α]20
632 = 5.72144 g .
mostly vertically polarized. mm · ml
You will use polarimetry to measure the unknown con-
11. To get some light the “H” polarizer through, make centration of a water+sucrose solution. There are 8
use of the law of Malus – put the “R” polarizer in- beakers of sucrose solution that have been pre-prepared.
between the “H” and “V” polarizers. You should Each group will experiment with a different beaker–
now find that light is transmitted through the “H” retrieve the one with your group’s number on it from
polarizer. the refrigerator in room 208. Your grade in this lab will
depend in part on how accurately you determine the true
12. Repeat the data taking instruction of step 9 and 9a. concentration.
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centration, and your uncertainty in this value, using Eq.

(2). Note that path length in your cell is 10.0 mm.

FIG. 4: Schematic of setup for optical rotation of a su-

crose+water solution.

VIII. PROCEDURE
X. APPENDIX: READING A ROTATIONAL
1. Clean your cuvette thoroughly with distilled water. VERNIER SCALE
2. Fill your cuvette approximately half-full of your
groups assigned sucrose solution, using a stirring The ticks on the coarse scale (the one printed on the
rod to pour to prevent solution from getting on the rotating bezel) are 2 degrees apart. The ticks on the
clear sides of your cuvette (it is ok to get solution vernier scale (a.k.a. fine scale, the one on the top of
on the the frosted sides.) the optic, which doesn’t move as rotate the polarizer)
are 10/60ths of a degree apart. The complete reading of
3. Place the “H” polarizer after mirror M, to definitely the scale is the sum of two readings, acquired as follows.
set the polarization of the laser to be linear. In the picture, the “0” of the vernier scale is slightly to
the right of the 30 degrees tick of the coarse scale. The
4. Adjust the height of the cell so that the beam passes complete angular reading is therefore 30 + V degrees,
through the top, unfilled part. where V is an amount to be determined next. To find
5. Place the precision polarizer “P” just after the cell. V , examine the ticks on the vernier scale lying to the
right of the vernier “0”. Identify whichever vernier tick
6. Position the photodiode to record the light passing best lines up with ANY tick on the coarse scale. In this
through “P”. picture this happens to be 5th tick to the right of the
vernier “0”, and it lines up with the 40 degree tick mark
7. Turn the room lights off for all measurements in of the coarse scale. We calculate
this part of the lab, and take care that no stray V = (5th tick to the right of vernier “0”) × (10/60 de-
light from any group’s desk lamps reaches on the grees per vernier tick) = 50/60 degrees = 0.83 degrees.
photodiode by placing black aluminum foil around Therefore the complete reading of the scale is 30.83 de-
the photodiode. grees. Note that it is possible for V to be larger than 1
degree, but never larger than 2 degrees. Another impor-
8. Rotate the “P” polarizer until the voltage is approx-
tant note is to IGNORE the “30” and “60” labels on the
imately minimized.
vernier scale – they are misprinted, and should read “60”
9. Tighten the fine adjust lock screw (ask your instruc- and “120”.
tor for help with this), and use the fine-adjust to You will need to use a 10 cm convex lens as a magnify-
further minimize the voltage. Now, read off the an- ing glass to make accurate readings of your rotational
gle to a precision of 10 arcseconds using the vernier vernier scale. Beware of parallax – the phenomenon
scale on the mount. See the appendix for instruc- that objects can look aligned or misaligned with one an-
tions on how to read the vernier scale. other depending on where you view them from. Here’s
a demonstration. Line up your extended thumb with
10. Now raise the cell so that the laser passes complete the wall clock. Close your left eye, then your right eye.
through the sugar solution. Use the fine-adjust to For one eye the objects will align, for the other eye they
find a new angle which minimizes the voltage. You will not. In the case of this vernier rotational scale, a
will not have to rotate it more than a few degrees! tick on the vernier scale is said to line up with a tick
on the coarse scale ONLY if it lines up when looking
STRAIGHT ALONG the tick. Note that the picture of
IX. ANALYSIS Fig 5. was taken looking straight down the 5th tick mark.
If you looked at this mount from a different angle, some
Estimate your error in determining both the angle of other tick would have appeared to line up, but this would
the polarizer. Calculate your estimate of the sugar con- be an incorrect reading.
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FIG. 5: This scale reads 30.83 degrees. Do you see it?