POLARIZATION OF

LIGHT

BY:

Himanshu

(1152)

Dhiraj (1147)

POLARIZATION
DEFINATION:-The phenomenon of
asymmetry of vibrations about the direction
of propagation is known as polarization of
light.
Only transverse waves shows the
polarization.
Observations and experiments based on
the
phenomenon of polarization proved that
the vibrations of light occur in a plane
perpendicular to the direction along which
the light waves travel.

PRODUCTION OF POLARISED
LIGHT

Plane polarized light can be

produced
by THREE methods:1. Polarization by reflection.
2. Polarization by refraction.
3. Polarization by scattering.

POLARIZATION BY
REFLECTION
It is the simplest method to produce
plane polarised light . And it was
discovered by Malus in 1808.
Introduction to polarizing angle: The angle of incidence of the
unpolarised beam for which the
reflected beam is completely plane
polarized this is called the polariszing
angle.

POLARIZATION BY
REFRACTION
When light reflect at an angle from an
interface between two transparent materials
the reflectivity is different for light polarized in
the plane of incidence and light polarized
perpendicular to it.
Light polarized in the plane is said to be ppolarized ,while that polarized perpendicular
to it is s-polarized.
At a special known as Brewsters angle no ppolarized light is reflected from the surface
thus all reflected light must be s-polarized
,with an electric field perpendicular to the
plane of incidence.
n tan P

BREWSTERS ANGLE
It states that when a
beam of unpolarised light
Is incident upon a
transparent surface at
the
polarizing angle then the
Reflected and
refracted beams are
perpendicular to
each other
n tan P

LAW OF MALUS
It

states that when a completely plane

polarized light beam is incident on the
analyzer , then the intensity of polarized
light emerging from the analyzer is
proportional to square of cosine of angle
between the plane of polarizer and
analyzer.

I = I0 cos2q

POLARISATION by
SCATTERING

When unpolarised sunlight

impinges on the molecules, the
electric field of the EM wave
sets the electric charges within
the molecules into motion.
The EM wave is absorbed.

The molecules then quickly reemit light in all directions

since oscillating electric
charges produce EM waves.

Because of the transverse

nature of light, the electric
field of the re-emitted waves
should be in the plane that
includes the line of oscillation,
the scattered light is
completely plane polarized
with its electric vector in the
direction shown

TYPES OF POLARIZATION
Plane polarization
Circular Polarization
Elliptical Polarization

CIRCULAR POLARIZATION

ELLIPTICAL POLARIZATION

Linear + circular polarization = elliptical polarization

APPLICATION OF
POLARISATION

Photographic Filters
When light reflects off
water it becomes
polarised. Such light is
often called glare and
can make it harder to
see what's behind it.
Photographers often
use filters to cut out
glare and get better
pictures.

Liquid Crystal
(LCD) Displays
There are some
crystals that
become aligned
when an electric
field is put across
them. When this
happens they act
as polarising
filters.

3 D films
When you watch a 3D
film you are actually
watching two films shot
with different cameras,
looking at the same thing
but from slightly different
angles.
When the films are
projected the light is
polarised and polaroid
filters, worn as glasses,
can let just one of the
films into each eye.

Stress Analysis
When light passes through some materials its
plane of polarisation is rotated. The thicker the
material the more it is rotated and different
colours are rotated by different amounts. To
investigate the stresses in an engineering part
you could make a model of it in plastic, pass
light through and then put it under stress. The
patterns produced which may give an
indication of where the material has been
deformed.