Photonics
Geometric Optics: Short Review
Dr. rer. nat. Muldarisnur
JURUSAN FISIKA UNIVERSITAS ANDALAS
Wavefronts and Rays, Huygen’s Principle
❑ Huygens assumed that light is a form of wave motion rather than a
stream of particles
❑ Huygens’s Principle is a geometric construction for determining the
position of a new wave at some point based on the knowledge of the
wave front that preceded it
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Construction of Plane Waves
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Reflection of Light: Specular and Diffuse Reflection
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The Laws of Reflection
• The normal is a line
perpendicular to the surface
– It is at the point where
the incident ray strikes
the surface
• The incident ray makes an
angle of θi with the normal
• The reflected ray makes an
angle of θr with the normal
Laws of Reflection
❑ The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence θi = θr
❑ The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal are all in the
same plane
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The Refraction of Light: Snell’s Law
❑ Light may refract into a material
where its speed is lower
❑ The angle of refraction is less than
the angle of incidence
– The ray bends toward the normal
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Snell’s Law – Example
❑ Light is refracted into a crown
glass slab
❑ θ1 = 30.0o, θ2 = ?
❑ n1 = 1.00 and n2 = 1.52
• From Table 23.1 (page 844)
❑ θ2 = sin-1(n1 / n2) sin θ1 = 19.2o
❑ The ray bends toward the
normal, as expected
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Physics at Home
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Mirages
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Dispersion in a Prism
❑ For a given material, the index of refraction varies with the wavelength
of the light passing through the material
❑ This dependence of n on λ is called dispersion
❑ Snell’s law indicates light of different wavelengths is bent at different
angles when incident on a refracting material
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Total Internal Reflection
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Double Rainbow
❑ The secondary rainbow is
fainter than the primary
❑ The secondary rainbow arises
from light that makes two
reflections from the interior
surface before exiting the
raindrop
❑ Higher-order rainbows are
possible, but their intensity is
low
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Partial and Total Internal Reflection
❑ There is a particular angle of incidence that will result in an
angle of refraction of 90°
– This angle of incidence is called the critical angle, θC
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Fiber Optics
• An application of internal reflection
• Plastic or glass rods are used to “pipe” light from one place to another
• Applications include:
• medical use of fiber optic cables for diagnosis and correction of medical problems
• Telecommunications
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Polarization by Reflection: Brewster’s Angle
A 2-component unpolarized Light:
At some angle, the reflected and refracted rays would be perpendicular to
each other => qB + qt = 90o
The reflected beam is fully polarized: one component only.
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Formation of Images Through Reflection or Refraction
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Notation for Mirrors and Lenses
• The object distance is the distance from the object to the mirror or lens:
• Denoted by p
• The image distance is the distance from the image to the mirror or lens:
• Denoted by q
• Images are formed at the point where rays actually intersect or appear to
originate
• The lateral magnification of the mirror or lens is the ratio of the image height to the
object height:
• Denoted by M
• A real image is one in which light actually passes through the image point: Real
images can be displayed on screens
• A virtual image is one in which the light does not pass through the image point
• Virtual images cannot be displayed on screens
• The light appears to diverge from that point
• To find where an image is formed, it is always necessary to follow at least two rays
of light as they reflect from the mirror
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Plane Mirrors
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Convex Spherical Mirrors
The focal point of a convex mirror is on the principal axis
a distance R/2 behind the mirror
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Convex Spherical Mirrors: How do they work?
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Concave Spherical Mirrors
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Concave Spherical Mirrors: How do they work?
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The Mirror Equation
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Objects Located at Infinity or at Large Distances
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Sign Conventions
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Thin Lenses
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Focal Points and Principal Rays
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Shapes of Some Diverging & Converging Lenses
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Forming Real Images
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Forming Virtual Images
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The Magnification & Thin Lens Equation
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Sign Conventions for Mirrors and Lenses
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Lens and Mirror Aberrations
❑ One of the basic problems is the imperfect quality of the images
• Largely the result of defects in shape and form
❑ Two common types of aberrations exist
• Spherical aberration
• Chromatic aberration
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Spherical Aberration
• Results from the focal
points of light rays far from
the principle axis are
different from the focal
points of rays passing near
the axis
• For a mirror, parabolic
shapes can be used to
correct for spherical
aberration
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Chromatic Aberration
❑ Different wavelengths of
light refracted by a lens
focus at different points
• Violet rays are refracted more
than red rays
• The focal length for red light
is greater than the focal
length for violet light
❑ Chromatic aberration can be
minimized by the use of a
combination of converging
and diverging lenses
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