Chapter 2

Classical Electromagnetism and

Optics

The classical electromagnetic phenomena are completely described by Maxwells

Equations. The simplest case we may consider is that of electrodynamics of
isotropic media

2.1 Maxwells Equations of Isotropic Media

Maxwells Equations are

D
H = + J, (2.1a)
t
B
E = , (2.1b)
t
D = , (2.1c)
B = 0. (2.1d)
The material equations accompanying Maxwells equations are:
D = 0E + P, (2.2a)
B = 0 H + M. (2.2b)
Here, E and H are the electric and magnetic eld, D the dielectric ux, B
the magnetic ux, J the current density of free chareges, is the free charge
density, P is the polarization, and M the magnetization.

13
14 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Note, it is Eqs.(2.2a) and (2.2b) which make electromagnetism an inter

esting and always a hot topic with never ending possibilities. All advances in
engineering of artical materials or nding of new material properties, such
as superconductivity, bring new life, meaning and possibilities into this eld.
By taking the curl of Eq. (2.1b) and considering

E = E E,

where is the Nabla operator and the Laplace operator, we obtain

!
E P
E 0 j+ 0 + = M + E (2.3)
t t t t

and hence
!
1 2
j 2

2 2 E = 0 + P + M + E . (2.4)
c0 t t t2 t

with the vacuum velocity of light

s
1
c0 = . (2.5)
0 0

For dielectric non magnetic media, which we often encounter in optics, with
no free charges and currents due to free charges, there is M = 0, J = 0,
= 0, which greatly simplies the wave equation to

1 2 2
2 2 E = 0 2 P + E . (2.6)
c0 t t

2.1.1 Helmholtz Equation

In general, the polarization in dielectric media may have a nonlinear and
non local dependence on the eld. For linear media the polarizability of the
medium is described by a dielectric susceptibility (r, t)
Z Z
P (r, t) = 0 dr0 dt0 (r r0 , t t0 ) E (r0 , t0 ) . (2.7)
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 15

The polarization in media with a local dielectric suszeptibility can be de

scribed by Z
P (r, t) = 0 dt0 (r, t t0 ) E (r, t0 ) . (2.8)

This relationship further simplies for homogeneous media, where the sus
ceptibility does not depend on location
Z
P (r, t) = 0 dt0 (t t0 ) E (r, t0 ) . (2.9)

which leads to a dielectric response function or permittivity

(t) = 0 ((t) + (t)) (2.10)

and with it to Z
D(r, t) = dt0 (t t0 ) E (r, t0 ) . (2.11)

In such a linear homogeneous medium follows from eq.(2.1c) for the case of
no free charges Z
dt0 (t t0 ) ( E (r, t0 )) = 0. (2.12)

This is certainly fullled for E = 0, which simplies the wave equation

(2.4) further

1 2 2
2 2 E = 0 2 P . (2.13)
c0 t t
This is the wave equation driven by the polarization of the medium. If the
medium is linear and has only an induced polarization, completely described
in the time domain (t) or in the frequency domain by its Fourier transform,
the complex susceptibility () = r () 1 with the relative permittivity
r () = ()/ 0 , we obtain in the frequency domain with the Fourier trans
form relationship
Z+
e
E(z, ) = E(z, t)ejt dt, (2.14)

e e
P () = 0 ()E(), (2.15)
16 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

where, the tildes denote the Fourier transforms in the following. Substituted
into (2.13)

2 e e
+ 2 E () = 2 0 0 ()E (), (2.16)
c0
we obtain
2 e
+ 2 (1 + () E () = 0, (2.17)
c0
with the refractive index n() and 1 + () = n()2 results in the Helmholtz
equation
2 e
+ 2 E () = 0, (2.18)
c
where c() = c0 /n() is the velocity of light in the medium. This equation
is the starting point for nding monochromatic wave solutions to Maxwells
equations in linear media, as we will study for dierent cases in the following.
Also, so far we have treated the susceptibility () as a real quantity, which
may not always be the case as we will see later in detail.

2.1.2 Plane-Wave Solutions (TEM-Waves) and Com

plex Notation
The real wave equation (2.13) for a linear medium has real monochromatic
plane wave solutions Ek (r, t), which can be be written most eciently in
terms of the complex plane-wave solutions E k (r, t) according to

1 h i n o
Ek (r, t) = E k (r, t) + E k (r, t) = <e E k (r, t) , (2.19)
2
with
E k (r, t) = E k ej(tkr) e(k). (2.20)
Note, we explicitly underlined the complex wave to indicate that this is a
complex quantity. Here, e(k) is a unit vector indicating the direction of the
electric eld which is also called the polarization of the wave, and E k is
the complex eld amplitude of the wave with wave vector k. Substitution
of eq.(2.19) into the wave equation results in the dispersion relation, i.e. a
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 17

relationship between wave vector and frequency necessary to satisfy the wave
equation
2
|k|2 = = k()2 . (2.21)
c()2
Thus, the dispersion relation is given by

k() = n(). (2.22)
c0
with the wavenumber
k = 2/, (2.23)
where is the wavelength of the wave in the medium with refractive index
n, the angular frequency, k the wave vector. Note, the natural frequency
f = /2. From E = 0, for all time, we see that k e. Substitution of
the electric eld 2.19 into Maxwells Eqs. (2.1b) results in the magnetic eld
1h i
Hk (r, t) = H k (r, t) + H k (r, t) (2.24)
2
with
H k (r, t) = H k ej(tkr) h(k). (2.25)
This complex component of the magnetic eld can be determined from the
corresponding complex electric eld component using Faradays law

jk E k ej(tkr) e(k) = j0 H k (r, t), (2.26)

or
E k j(tkr)
H k (r, t) = e k e = H k ej(tkr) h (2.27)
0
with
k
h(k) = e(k) (2.28)
|k|
and
|k | 1
Hk = Ek = E . (2.29)
0 ZF k
The characteristic impedance of the TEM-wave is the ratio between electric
and magnetic eld strength
r
0 1
ZF = 0 c = = ZF0 (2.30)
0 r n
18 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

H
y z

Figure 2.1: Transverse electromagnetic wave (TEM) [6]

with the refractive index n = r and the free space impedance
r
0
ZF0 = 377 . (2.31)
0

Note that the vectors e, h and k form an orthogonal trihedral,

e h, k e, k h. (2.32)
That is why we call these waves transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waves.
We consider the electric eld of a monochromatic electromagnetic wave with
frequency and electric eld amplitude E0 , which propagates in vacuum
k
along the z-axis, and is polarized along the x-axis, (Fig. 2.1), i.e. |k| = ez ,
and e(k) = ex . Then we obtain from Eqs.(2.19) and (2.20)

E (r, t) = E0 cos(t kz) ex , (2.33)

and similiar for the magnetic eld
E0
H (r, t) = cos(t kz) ey , (2.34)
ZF0

see Figure 2.1.Note, that for a backward propagating wave with E (r, t) =
E ejt+jkr ex , and H (r, t) = H ej(t+kr) ey , there is a sign change for the
magnetic eld
|k|
H= E, (2.35)
0
so that the (k, E, H) always form a right handed orthogonal system.
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 19

2.1.3 Poynting Vectors, Energy Density and Intensity

The table below summarizes the instantaneous and time averaged energy
content and energy transport related to an electromagnetic eld

Quantity Real elds Complex elds

2

Electric and we = 12 E D = 12 0 r E 2 we = 14 0 r E
2
magnetic energy wm = 12 H B = 12 0 r H 2
wm = 14 0 r H
density w = we + wm
w = we + wm

Poynting vector S = EH T = 21 EH

w divT + 12 E j +
Poynting theorem divS + E j + t
=0
+2j(wm we ) = 0

Intensity I = S = cw I = Re{T } = cw

Table 2.1: Poynting vector and energy density in EM-elds

For a plane wave with an electric eld E(r, t) = Eej(tkz) ex we obtain

for the energy density in units of [J/m3 ]
1 2
w= r 0 |E| , (2.36)
2
the complex Poynting vector
1
T = |E|2 ez , (2.37)
2ZF
and the intensity in units of [W/m2 ]
1 1
I= |E|2 = ZF |H|2 . (2.38)
2ZF 2

2.1.4 Classical Permittivity

In this section we want to get insight into propagation of an electromagnetic
wavepacket in an isotropic and homogeneous medium, such as a glass optical
ber due to the interaction of radiation with the medium. The electromag
netic properties of a dielectric medium is largely determined by the electric
polarization induced by an electric eld in the medium. The polarization is
20 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Figure 2.2: Classical harmonic oscillator model for radiation matter interac
tion

dened as the total induced dipole moment per unit volume. We formulate
this directly in the frequency domain

e dipole moment e()i = e

P () = = N hp e()E(),
0 (2.39)
volume

where N is density of elementary units and hpi is the average dipole mo

ment of the unit (atom, molecule, ...). In an isotropic and homogeneous
medium the induced polarization is proportional to the electric eld and the
proportionality constant, e(), is called the susceptibility of the medium.
As it turns out (justication later), an electron elastically bound to a
positively charged rest atom is not a bad model for understanding the inter
action of light with matter at very low electric elds, i.e. the elds do not
change the electron distribution in the atom considerably or even ionize the
atom, see Figure 2.2. This model is called Lorentz model after the famous
physicist A. H. Lorentz (Dutchman) studying electromagnetic phenomena
at the turn of the 19th century. He also found the Lorentz Transformation
and Invariance of Maxwells Equations with respect to these transformation,
which showed the path to Special Relativity.
The equation of motion for such a unit is the damped harmonic oscillator
driven by an electric eld in one dimension, x. At optical frequencies, the
distance of elongation, x, is much smaller than an optical wavelength (atoms
have dimensions on the order of a tenth of a nanometer, whereas optical
elds have wavelength on the order of microns) and therefore, we can neglect
the spatial variation of the electric eld during the motion of the charges
within an atom (dipole approximation, i.e. E (r, t) = E (rA , t) = E(t)ex ).
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 21

The equation of motion is

d2 x 0 dx
m 2
+ 2 m + m20 x = e0 E(t), (2.40)
dt Q dt

where E(t) = Eejt . Here, m is the mass of the electron assuming the that
the rest atom has innite mass, e0 the charge of the electron, 0 is the
resonance frequency of the undamped oscillator and Q the quality factor of
the resonance, which determines the damping of the oscillator. By using the
trial solution x (t) = xejt , we obtain for the complex amplitude of the dipole
moment p with the time dependent response p(t) = e0 x(t) = pejt

e20
m
p = E. (2.41)

(20 2
)+ 2j Q0

Note, that we included ad hoc a damping term in the harmonic oscillator

equation. At this point it is not clear what the physical origin of this damp
ing term is and we will discuss this at length later in chapter 4. For the
moment, we can view this term simply as a consequence of irreversible in
teractions of the atom with its environment. We then obtain from (2.39) for
the susceptibility
e2 1
N m0
0
() =
2 (2.42)

(0 2 ) + 2j Q0
or
2p
e() =
,
(2.43)

(20 2 ) + 2j Q0

with p called the plasma frequency, which is dened as 2p = Ne20 /m 0 . Fig

ure 2.3 shows the normalized real and imaginary part, e() =
er () + jei ()
of the classical susceptibility (2.43). Note, that there is a small resonance
shift (almost invisible) due to the loss. O resonance, the imaginary part ap
proaches zero very quickly. Not so the real part, which approaches a constant
value 2p /20 below resonance for 0, and approaches zero far above res
onance, but much slower than the imaginary part. As we will see later, this
is the reason why there are low loss, i.e. transparent, media with refractive
index very much dierent from 1.
22 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Figure 2.3: Real part (dashed line) and imaginary part (solid line) of the
susceptibility of the classical oscillator model for the dielectric polarizability.

2.1.5 Optical Pulses

Optical pulses are wave packets constructed by a continuous superposition
of monochromatic plane waves. Consider a TEM-wavepacket, i.e. a super
position of waves with dierent frequencies, polarized along the x-axis and
propagating along the z-axis
Z
d e
E (r, t) = E ()ej(tK()z) ex . (2.44)
0 2
Correspondingly, the magnetic eld is given by
Z
d e ()ej(tK()z) ey
H (r, t) = E (2.45)
0 2ZF ()
Again, the physical electric and magnetic elds are real and related to the
complex elds by
1
E (r, t) = E (r, t) + E (r, t) (2.46)
2
1

H (r, t) = H (r, t) + H (r, t) . (2.47)
2
Here, |E()|ej() is the complex wave amplitude of the electromagnetic wave
at frequency and K() = /c() = n()/c0 the wavenumber, where,
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 23

)|
|E(

0
)|
|A(

Figure 2.4: Spectrum of an optical wave packet described in absolute and

relative frequencies

n() is again the refractive index of the medium

n2 () = 1 + (), (2.48)

c and c0 are the velocity of light in the medium and in vacuum, respectively.
The planes of constant phase propagate with the phase velocity c of the wave.
The wavepacket consists of a superposition of many frequencies with the
spectrum shown in Fig. 2.4.
At a given point in space, for simplicity z = 0, the complex eld of a
pulse is given by (Fig. 2.4)
Z
1
E(z = 0, t) = E()ejt d. (2.49)
2 0
Optical pulses often have relatively small spectral width compared to
the center frequency of the pulse 0 , as it is illustrated in the upper part
of Figure 2.4. For example typical pulses used in optical communication
systems for 10Gb/s transmission speed are on the order of 20ps long and
have a center wavelength of = 1550nm. Thus the spectral with is only on
the order of 50GHz, whereas the center frequency of the pulse is 200THz,
i.e. the bandwidth is 4000 smaller than the center frequency. In such cases
it is useful to separate the complex electric eld in Eq. (2.49) into a carrier
frequency 0 and an envelope A(t) and represent the absolute frequency as
24 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

= 0 + . We can then rewrite Eq.(2.49) as

Z

1

E(z = 0, t) =
E( 0 + )ej(0 +)t d (2.50)
2 0
= A(t)ej0 t .
The envelope, see Figure 2.8, is given by
Z
1

A(t) =
A()ejt d (2.51)
2
0
Z

1

=
A()ejt d, (2.52)
2

where A() is the spectrum of the envelope with, A() = 0 for 0 .

To be physically meaningful, the spectral amplitude A() must be zero for
negative frequencies less than or equal to the carrier frequency, see Figure
2.8. Note, that waves with zero frequency can not propagate, since the
corresponding wave vector is zero. The pulse and its envelope are shown in
Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: Electric eld and envelope of an optical pulse.

Table 2.2 shows pulse shape and spectra of some often used pulses as well
as the pulse width and time bandwidth products. The pulse width and band
width are usually specied as the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of
2

the intensity in the time domain, |A(t)
|2 , and the spectral density A()

in the frequency domain, respectively. The pulse shapes and corresponding

spectra to the pulses listed in Table 2.2 are shown in Figs 2.6 and 2.7.
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 25

Pulse Time-Band
Pulse Shape Fourier Transform
Width width Product
R
A(t) A() = a(t)ejt dt t t f
t2 1 2 2
Gaussian: e 2 2 2 e 2 2 ln 2 0.441
Hyperbolic Secant:

sech 2 1.7627 0.315
sech( t ) 2

Rect-function:

1, |t| /2 sin( /2)
/2
0.886
=
0, |t| > /2
1
Lorentzian: 1+(t/ )2
2 e| | 1.287 0.142
Double-Exp.: e| |
t

1+( )2
ln2 0.142

Table 2.2: Pulse shapes, corresponding spectra and time bandwidth prod
ucts.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.6: Fourier transforms to pulse shapes listed in table 2.2 [6].
26 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.7: Fourier transforms to pulse shapes listed in table 2.2 continued
[6].

2.1.6 Pulse Propagation

Having a basic model for the interaction of light and matter at hand, via
section 2.1.4, we can investigate what happens if an electromagnetic wave
packet, i.e. an optical pulse propagates through such a medium. We start
from Eqs.(2.44) to evaluate the wave packet propagation for an arbitrary
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 27

propagation distance z
Z
1
E(z, t) = E()ej(tK()z) d. (2.53)
2 0

Analogous to Eq. (2.50) for a pulse at a given position, we can separate an

optical pulse into a carrier wave at frequency 0 and a complex envelope
A(z, t),
E(z, t) = A(z, t)ej(0 tK(0 )z) . (2.54)
By introducing the oset frequency , the oset wavenumber k() and spec
trum of the envelope A()

= 0, (2.55)
k() = K( 0 + ) K( 0 ), (2.56)
A() = E( = 0 + ). (2.57)

the envelope at propagation distance z, see Fig.2.8, is expressed as

Z
1
A(z, t) = A()ej(tk()z) d, (2.58)
2

with the same constraints on the spectrum of the envelope as before, i.e.
the spectrum of the envelope must be zero for negative frequencies beyond
the carrier frequency. Depending on the dispersion relation k(), (see Fig.
2.9),.the pulse will be reshaped during propagation as discussed in the fol
lowing section.

2.1.7 Dispersion
The dispersion relation indicates how much phase shift each frequency com
ponent experiences during propagation. These phase shifts, if not linear with
respect to frequency, will lead to distortions of the pulse. If the propagation
constant k() is only slowly varying over the pulse spectrum, it is useful to
represent the propagation constant, k(), or dispersion relation K() by its
Taylor expansion, see Fig. 2.9,

k00 2 k(3) 3
k() = k0 + + + O( 4 ). (2.59)
2 6
28 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Figure 2.8: Electric eld and pulse envelope in time domain.

Figure 2.9: Taylor expansion of dispersion relation at the center frequency

of the wave packet.

If the refractive index depends on frequency, the dispersion relation is no

longer linear with respect to frequency, see Fig. 2.9 and the pulse propagation
according to (2.58) can be understood most easily in the frequency domain
A(z, )
= jk()A(z, ). (2.60)
z
Transformation of Eq.() into the time domain gives
X n
A(z, t) k(n)
= j j A(z, t). (2.61)
z n=1
n! t
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 29

If we keep only the rst term, the linear term, in Eq.(2.59), then we obtain for
the pulse envelope from (2.58) by denition of the group velocity at frequency
0

1
0 dk()

g0 = 1/k =
(2.62)

d
=0

A(z, t) = A(0, t z/ g0 ). (2.63)

Thus the derivative of the dispersion relation at the carrier frequency deter
mines the propagation velocity of the envelope of the wave packet or group
velocity, whereas the ratio between propagation constant and frequency de
termines the phase velocity of the carrier

1
K( 0 )
p0 = 0 /K(0 ) = .
(2.64)

To get rid of the trivial motion of the pulse envelope with the group velocity,
we introduce the retarded time t0 = t z/vg0 . With respect to this retarded
time the pulse shape is invariant during propagation, if we approximate the
dispersion relation by the slope at the carrier frequency

A(z, t) = A(0, t0 ). (2.65)

Note, if we approximate the dispersion relation by its slope at the carrier

frequency, i.e. we retain only the rst term in Eq.(2.61), we obtain

A(z, t) 1 A(z, t)
+ = 0, (2.66)
z g0 t

and (2.63) is its solution. If, we transform this equation to the new coordinate
system

z 0 = z, (2.67)
t0 = t z/ g0 , (2.68)

with
1
= , (2.69)
z z 0 g0 t0

= (2.70)
t t0
30 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

the transformed equation is

A(z 0 , t0 )
= 0. (2.71)
z 0
Since z is equal to z 0 we keep z in the following.
If the spectrum of the pulse is broad enough, so that the second order
term in (2.59) becomes important, the pulse will no longer keep its shape.
When keeping in the dispersion relation terms up to second order it follows
from (2.58) and (2.69,2.70)
A(z, t0 ) k00 2 A(z, t0 )
=j . (2.72)
z 2 t02
This is the rst non trivial term in the wave equation for the envelope.
Because of the superposition principle, the pulse can be thought of to be
decomposed into wavepackets (sub-pulses) with dierent center frequencies.
Now, the group velocity depends on the spectral component of the pulse, see
Figure 2.10, which will lead to broadening or dispersion of the pulse.

vg2
vg1 vg3

1
Dispersion Relation
Spectrum

k2
2
)
A(

2
1 3

1 0 1

Figure 2.10: Decomposition of a pulse into wave packets with dierent center
frequency. In a medium with dispersion the wavepackets move at dierent
relative group velocity.

Fortunately, for a Gaussian pulse, the pulse propagation equation 2.72

can be solved analytically. The initial pulse is then of the form

E(z = 0, t) = A(z = 0, t)ej0 t (2.73)

0 1 t02
A(z = 0, t = t ) = A0 exp 2 (2.74)
2
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 31

Eq.(2.72) is most easily solved in the frequency domain since it transforms

to
A(z, ) k00 2
= j A(z, ), (2.75)
z 2
with the solution

k00 2
A(z, ) = A(z = 0, ) exp j z . (2.76)
2

The pulse spectrum aquires a parabolic phase. Note, that here is the
Fourier Transform variable conjugate to t0 rather than t. The Gaussian pulse
has the advantage that its Fourier transform is also a Gaussian

1 2 2
A(z = 0, ) = A0 2 exp (2.77)
2

and, therefore, in the spectral domain the solution at an arbitray propagation

distance z is

1 2 2

A(z, ) = A0 2 exp + jk z . 00
(2.78)
2

The inverse Fourier transform is analogously

1/2
0 2 1 t02
A(z, t ) = A0 exp (2.79)
( 2 + jk00 z) 2 ( 2 + jk00 z)

The exponent can be written as real and imaginary part and we nally obtain
1/2 " #
2 2 02 02
1 t 1 t
A(z, t0 ) = A0 exp 00
2 + j k z 4
2 00
( + jk z) 2 + (k z)
4 00 2 + (k00 z)2
(2.80)
As we see from Eq.(2.80) during propagation the FWHM of the Gaussian
determined by " #
( 0F W HM /2)2
exp = 0.5 (2.81)
4 + (k00 z)2
changes from
F W HM = 2 ln 2 (2.82)
32 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

at the start to
s
00 2
k L

0F W HM = 2 ln 2 1 +
2 (2.83)

s
00 2
k L
= F W HM 1 +
2

at z = L. For large stretching this result simplies to

00 00
k L k L
0 for
F W HM = 2 ln 2

2
1. (2.84)

The strongly dispersed pulse has a width equal to the dierence in group
delay over the spectral width of the pulse.
Figure 2.11 shows the evolution of the magnitude of the Gaussian wave
packet during propagation in a medium which has no higher order dispersion
in normalized units. The pulse spreads continuously.

0.8
Amplitude

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.5
6
4
Distance z 1 2
0
-2 Time
-4
1.5 -6

Figure 2.11: Magnitude of the complex envelope of a Gaussian pulse,

|A(z, t0 )| , in a dispersive medium.
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 33

As discussed before, the origin of this spreading is the group velocity

dispersion (GVD), k00 6= 0. The group velocity varies over the pulse spectrum
signicantly leading to a group delay dispersion (GDD) after a propagation
distance z = L of k00 L 6= 0, for the dierent frequency components. This leads
to the build-up of chirp in the pulse during propagation. We can understand
this chirp by looking at the parabolic phase that develops over the pulse in
time at a xed propagation distance. The phase is, see Eq.(2.80)
00
0 1 k L 1 00 t02
(z = L, t ) = arctan + k L . (2.85)
2 2 2 4 + (k00 L)2

(a) Phase
Front Back

k'' < 0

Time t
k'' > 0

(b) Instantaneous
Frequency

k'' < 0

Time t
k'' > 0

Figure 2.12: (a) Phase and (b) instantaneous frequency of a Gaussian pulse
during propagation through a medium with positive or negative dispersion.

This parabolic phase, see Fig. 2.12 (a), can be understood as a localy
varying frequency in the pulse, i.e. the derivative of the phase gives the
34 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

instantaneous frequency shift in the pulse with respect to the center frequency

k00 L
(z = L, t0 ) = (L, t0
) = 2 t
0
(2.86)
t0 4 00
+ (k L)

see Fig.2.12 (b). The instantaneous frequency indicates that for a medium
with positive GVD, ie. k00 > 0, the low frequencies are in the front of the
pulse, whereas the high frequencies are in the back of the pulse, since the
sub-pulses with lower frequencies travel faster than sub-pulses with higher
frequencies. The opposite is the case for negative dispersive materials.
It is instructive for later purposes, that this behaviour can be completely
understood from the center of mass motion of the sub-pulses, see Figure 2.10.
Note, we can choose a set of sub-pulses, with such narrow bandwidth, that
dispersion does not matter. In the time domain, these pulses are of course
very long, because of the time bandwidth relationship. Nevertheless, since
they all have dierent carrier frequencies, they interfere with each other in
such a way that the superposition is a very narrow pulse. This interference,
becomes destroyed during propagation, since the sub-pulses propagate at
dierent speed, i.e. their center of mass propagates at dierent speed.

5
k">0 k"<0

vg1

Time, t

0
vg2
1/v g2
vg3

-5
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Propagation distance, z

Figure 2.13: Pulse spreading by following the center of mass of sub-pulses

according to Fig. 2.10. For z < 1, the pulses propagate in a medium with
positive dispersion and for z > 1 in a medium with negative dispersion.
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 35

The dierential group delay Tg () = k00 L of a sub-pulse with its cen

ter frequency dierent from 0, is due to its dierential group velocity
vg () = vg0 Tg ()/Tg0 = vg20 k00 . Note, that Tg0 = L/vg0 . This is illus
trated in Figure 2.13 by ploting the trajectory of the relative motion of the
center of mass of each sub-pulse as a function of propagation distance, which
asymptotically approaches the formula for the pulse width of the highly dis
persed pulse Eq.(2.84). If we assume that the pulse propagates through a
negative dispersive medium following the positive dispersive medium, the
group velocity of each sub-pulse is reversed. The sub-pulses propagate to
wards each other until they all meet at one point (focus) to produce again
a short and unchirped initial pulse, see Figure 2.13. This is a very powerful
technique to understand dispersive wave motion and as we will see in the
next section is the connection between ray optics and physical optics.

2.1.8 Loss and Gain

If the medium considered has loss, described by the imaginary part of the
dielectric susceptibility, see (2.43) and Fig. 2.3, we can incorporate this loss
into a complex refractive index

n() = nr () + jni () (2.87)

via q
e().
n() = 1 + (2.88)

e 1 the following approximation is very

For an optically thin medium, i.e.
useful
e()

n() 1 + . (2.89)
2
As one can show (in Recitations) the complex susceptibility (2.43) can be
approximated close to resonance, i.e. 0 , by the complex Lorentzian
lineshape
j0
e() =
, (2.90)
1 + jQ
0
0

2
where 0 = Q 2p2 will turn out to be related to the peak absorption of the
0
line, which is proportional to the density of atoms, 0 is the center frequency
36 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

and = Q0 is the half width half maximum (HWHM) linewidth of the

transition. The real and imaginary part of the complex Lorentzian are

0 (

0)

er () =
2 , (2.91)
1 +

0

0
ei () =
2 , . (2.92)
1 +

0

In the derivation of the wave equation for the pulse envelope (2.61) in
section 2.1.7, there was no restriction to a real refractive index. Therefore,
the wave equation (2.61) also treats the case of a complex refractive index.
If we assume a medium with the complex refractive index (2.89), then the
wavenumber is given by

1
K() = 1 + ( ei ()) .
e () + j (2.93)
c0 2 r

Since we introduced a complex wavenumber, we have to redene the group

velocity as the inverse derivative of the real part of the wavenumber with
respect to frequency. At line center, we obtain

1 Kr () 1 0 0
g = = 1 . (2.94)
0 c0 2

0
Thus, for a narrow absorption line, 0 > 0 and 1, the absolute value
of the group velocity can become much larger than the velocity of light in
vacuum. The opposite is true for an amplifying medium, 0 < 0. There is
nothing wrong with this nding, since the group velocity only describes the
motion of the peak of a Gaussian wave packet, which is not a causal wave
packet. A causal wave packet is identical to zero for some earlier time t < t0 ,
in some region of space. A Gaussian wave packet lls the whole space at any
time and can be reconstructed by a Taylor expansion at any time. Therefore,
the tachionic motion of the peak of such a signal does not contradict special
relativity.
The imaginary part in the wave vector (2.93) leads with K = c0 to ab
sorption
() = K ei (). (2.95)
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 37

In the envelope equation (2.60) for a wavepacket with carrier frequency 0 =

0 and K0 = c00 the loss leads to a term of the form

A(z, )
0 K0
= (0 + )A(z, ) = 2 A(z, ). (2.96)

z

1+

(loss)

In the time domain, we obtain up to second order in the inverse linewidth

A(z, t0 ) 1
2
= 0 K0 1 +
2 2 A(z, t
0 ), (2.97)
z
(loss) t

which corresponds to a parabolic approximation of the line shape at line

center, (Fig. 2.3). As we will see later, for an amplifying optical transition
we obtain a similar equation. We only have to replace the loss by gain

A(z, t0 ) 1
2

= g
1 + 2 2 A(z, t
0 ), (2.98)
z (gain) g t

where g = 0 K0 is the peak gain at line center per unit length and g is
the HWHM linewidth of a transition providing gain.

2.1.9 Sellmeier Equation and Kramers-Kroenig Rela

tions
The linear susceptibility is the frequency response or impulse response of a
linear system to an applied electric eld, see Eq.(2.41). For a real physical
system this response is causal, and therefore real and imaginary parts obey
Kramers-Kroenig Relations
Z
2 i ( )
r () = 2 2
d = n2r () 1, (2.99)

0
Z
2 r ()
i () = d. (2.100)
2 2
0

For optical media these relations have the consequence that the refractive
index and absorption of a medium are not independent, which can often
be exploited to compute the index from absorption data or the other way
38 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

around. The Kramers-Kroenig Relations also give us a good understanding

of the index variations in transparent media, which means the media are used
in a frequency range far away from resonances. Then the imaginary part of
the susceptibility related to absorption can be approximated by
X
i () = Ai ( i ) (2.101)
i

and the Kramers-Kroenig relation results in the Sellmeier Equation for the
refractive index
X i X
n2 () = 1 + Ai 2
= 1 + ai 2 2. (2.102)
i
i 2 i
i

This formula is very useful in tting the refractive index of various media
over a large frequency range with relatively few coecients. For example
Table 2.3 shows the sellmeier coecients for fused quartz and sapphire.

Fused Quartz Sapphire

a1 0.6961663 1.023798
a2 0.4079426 1.058364
a3 0.8974794 5.280792
21 4.679148103 3.77588103
22 1.3512063102 1.22544102
23 0.9793400102 3.213616102
Table 2.3: Table with Sellmeier coecients for fused quartz and sapphire.

In general, each absorption line contributes a corresponding index change

to the overall optical characteristics of a material, see Fig. 2.14. A typical
situation for a material having resonances in the UV and IR, such as glass,
is shown in Fig. 2.15. As Fig. 2.15 shows, due to the Lorentzian line shape,
that outside of an absorption line the refractive index is always decreasing
as a function of wavelength. This behavior is called normal dispersion and
the opposite behavior abnormal dispersion.
dn
< 0 : normal dispersion (blue refracts more than red)
d
dn
> 0 : abnormal dispersion
d
2.1. MAXWELLS EQUATIONS OF ISOTROPIC MEDIA 39

This behavior is also responsible for the mostly positive group delay disper
sion over the transparency range of a material, as the group velocity or group
delay dispersion is closely related to dn
d
. Fig.2.16 shows the transparency
range of some often used media.

Figure 2.14: Each absorption line must contribute to an index change via
the Kramers-Kroenig relations.

Figure 2.15: Typcial distribution of absorption lines in a medium transparent

in the visible.
40 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Figure 2.16: Transparency range of some materials according to [6], p. 175.

Often the dispersion GVD and GDD needs to be calculated from the
Sellmeier equation, i.e. n(). The corresponding quantities are listed in Table
2.4. The computations are done by substituting the frequency with the
wavelength.

Dispersion Characteristic Denition Comp. from n()

medium wavelength: n n n()
2 2
wavenumber: k n
n()
c0
phase velocity: p k n()
d 2 c0
1
group velocity: g dk
; d = 2c 0
d n
1 n dn
d
d2 k 3 d2 n
group velocity dispersion: GV D d2 2c20 d2

group delay: Tg = L
g
= d
d
d
d
= d(kL)
d
n
c0
1 n dn
d
L
dTg d2 (kL) 3
d n 2
group delay dispersion: GDD d
= d2 2c20 d2
L

Table 2.4: Table with important dispersion characteristics and how to com
pute them from the wavelength dependent refractive index n().
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 41

2.2 Electromagnetic Waves and Interfaces

Many microwave and optical devices are based on the characteristics of elec
tromagnetic waves undergoing reection or transmission at interfaces be
tween media with dierent electric or magnetic properties characterized by
and , see Fig. 2.17. Without restriction we can assume that the interface
is the (x-y-plane) and the plane of incidence is the (x-z-plane). An arbitrary
incident plane wave can always be decomposed into two components. One
component has its electric eld parallel to the interface between the media,
i.e. it is polarized parallel to the interface and it is called the transverse elec
tric (TE)-wave or also s-polarized wave. The other component is polarized
in the plane of incidence and its magnetic eld is in the plane of the interface
between the media. This wave is called the TM-wave or also p-polarized
wave. The most general case of an incident monochromatic TEM-wave is a
linear superposition of a TE and a TM-wave.

a) Reflection of TE-Wave b) Reflection of TM-Wave

1, 1 1,1
Ei Er Ei Er

Hi Hr Hi Hr
ki i r ki i r
kr kr
x x
t t
2,2 kt 2,2 kt
z z Et
Et
Ht Ht

Figure 2.17: a) Reection of a TE-wave at an interface, b) Reection of

aTM-wave at an interface

The elds for both cases are summarized in table 2.5

42 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

TE-wave TM-wave
j(tki r)
E i =E i e ey E i = E i ej(tki r) ei
j(tki r)
H i =H i e hi H i =H i ej(tki r) ey
j(tk r)
E r =E r ej(tkr r) ey E r =E r er r
er
H r =H r ej(tkr r) hr H r =E r e j(tkr r)
ey
E t =E t ej(tkt r) ey E t =E t ej(tkt r) et
H t =H t ej(tkt r) ht H t =H t ej(tkt r) ey
Table 2.5: Electric and magnetic elds for TE- and TM-waves.

with wave vectors of the waves given by

ki = kr = k0 1 1 ,

kt = k0 2 2 ,
ki,t = ki,t (sin i,t ex + cos i,t ez ) ,
kr = ki (sin r ex cos r ez ) ,
and unit vectors given by
hi,t = cos i,t ex + sin i,t ez ,
hr = cos r ex + sin r ez ,
ei,t = hi,t = cos i,t ex sin i,t ez ,
er = hr = cos r ex sin r ez .

2.2.1 Boundary Conditions and Snells law

From 6.013, we know that Stokes and Gauss Law for the electric and mag
netic elds require constraints on some of the eld components at media
boundaries. In the absence of surface currents and charges, the tangential
electric and magnetic elds as well as the normal dielectric and magnetic
uxes have to be continuous when going from medium 1 into medium 2 for
all times at each point along the surface, i.e. z = 0
E/Hi,x/y ej(tki,x x) + E/Hr,x/y ej(tkr,x x) = E/Hi,x/y ej(tkt,x x) . (2.103)
This equation can only be fullled at all times if and only if the x-component
of the k-vectors for the reected and transmitted wave are equal to (match)
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 43

the corresponding component of the incident wave

ki,x = kr,x = kt,x (2.104)

This phase matching condition is shown in Fig. 2.18 for the case 2 2 >

1 1 or kt > ki .

1,1

ki i r
kr
x
t kt

2,2
z

Figure 2.18: Phase matching condition for reected and transmitted wave

The phase matching condition Eq(2.104) results in r = i = 1 and

Snells law for the angle t = 2 of the transmitted wave

1 1
sin t = sin i (2.105)
2 2

or for the case of non magnetic media with 1 = 2 = 0

n1
sin t = sin i (2.106)
n2
44 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

2.2.2 Measuring Refractive Index with Minimum De

viation
Snells law can be used for measuring the refractive index of materials. Con
sider a prism prepared from a material with unknown refractive index n(),
see Fig. 2.19 (a).

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.19: (a) Beam propagating through a prism. (b) For the case of
minimum deviation [3] p. 65.

The prism is mounted on a rotation stage as shown in Fig. 2.20. The

angle of incidence is then varied with a xed incident beam path and
the transmitted light is observed on a screen. If one starts of with normal
incidence on the rst prism surface one notices that after turning the prism
one goes through a minium for the deection angle of the beam. This becomes
obvious from Fig. 2.19 (b). There is an angle of incidence where the beam
path through the prism is symmetric. If the input angle is varied around this
point, it would be identical to exchange the input and output beams. From
that we conclude that the deviation must go through an extremum at the
symmetry point, see Figure 2.21. It can be shown (Recitations), that the
refractive index is then determined by

sin (min2)+min
n= . (2.107)
sin (2min )

If the measurement is repeated for various wavelength of the incident radi

ation the complete wavelength dependent refractive index is characterized,
see for example, Fig. 2.22.
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 45

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.20: Refraction of a Prism with n=1.731 for dierent angles of in

cidence alpha. The angle of incidence is stepwise increased by rotating the
prism clockwise. The angle of transmission rst increases. After the angle
for minimum deviation is reached the transmission angle starts to decrease
[3] p67.
46 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.21: Deviation versus incident angel [1]

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.22: Refractive index as a function of wavelength for various media

transmissive in the visible [1], p42.
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 47

2.2.3 Fresnel Reection

After understanding the direction of the reected and transmitted light, for
mulas for how much light is reected and transmitted are derived by eval
uating the boundary conditions for the TE and TM-wave. According to
Eqs.(2.103) and (2.104) we obtain for the continuity of the tangential E and
H elds:

TE-wave (s-pol.) TM-wave (p-pol.)

E i +E r = E t E i cos i E r cos r =E t cos t (2.108)

H i cos i H r cos r =H t cos t Hi + Hr = Ht

q
0 1/2
Introducing the characteristic impedances in both half spaces Z 1/2 = 0 1/2
,
and the impedances that relate the tangential electric and magnetic eld
T E/T M
components Z 1/2 in both half spaces the boundary conditions can be
rewritten in terms of the electric or magnetic eld components.

TE-wave (s-pol.) TM-wave (p-pol.)

E i/t Z 1/2 E i/t cos i/t
Z T1/2
E
= H i/t cos i/t
= cos 1/2
Z T1/2
M
= H i/t
= Z 1/2 cos 1/2
T M (2.109)

E i +E r = E t H i H r = ZZ 2T M H t
1
ZT E
E i E r = 1
ZT E Et Hi + Hr = Ht
2

Amplitude Reection and Transmission coecients

From these equations we can easily solve for the reected and transmitted
wave amplitudes in terms of the incident wave amplitudes. By dividing
both equations by the incident wave amplitudes we obtain for the amplitude
reection and transmission coecients. Note, that reection and transmission
coecients are dened in terms of the electric elds for the TE-wave and in
terms of the magnetic elds for the TM-wave.

TE-wave (s-pol.) TM-wave (p-pol.)

r TE
= EEr ; tT E = E
Ei
t
rT M = Hr T M
Hi
;t =HHi
t
i
TE TE Z T M (2.110)

1+r =t 1 rT M = Z 2T M tT M
1
ZT E
1 rT E = 1
Z2 E
T tT E 1+r TM
=t TM
48 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

or in both cases the amplitude transmission and reection coecients are

T E/T M
T E/T M 2 2Z 2/1
t = T E/T M
= T E/T M T E/T M
(2.111)
Z 1/2 Z1 + Z2
1+ T E/T M
Z 2/1
T E/T M T E/T M
T E/T M
Z 2/1 Z 1/2
r = T E/T M T E/T M
(2.112)
Z1 + Z2
Despite the simplicity of these formulas, they describe already an enormous
wealth of phenomena. To get some insight, consider the case of purely di
electric and lossless media characterized by its real refractive indices n1 and
n2 . Then Eqs.(2.111) and (2.112) simplify for the TE and TM case to

TE-wave (s-pol.) TM-wave (p-pol.)

Z1/2
Z T1/2
E
= cos 1/2
= Z0
n1/2 cos 1/2
Z T1/2
M
= Z 1/2 cos 1/2 = Z0
n1/2
cos 1/2
n2 n
n1 cos 1 n2 cos 2 cos1 (2.113)

rT E = n1 cos 1 +n2 cos 2

rT M = cos 2
n2 n
+ cos1
1
cos 2 1
n
2n1 cos 1 2 cos2
tT E = n1 cos 1 +n2 cos 2
tT M = n2
2
n
+ cos1
cos 2 1

Figure 2.23 shows the evaluation of Eqs.(2.113) for the case of a reection at
the interface of air and glass with n2 > n1 and (n1 = 1, n2 = 1.5).
Amplitude refl. and transm. coefficients

TM
1.2 t
1.0
TE
0.8 t
0.6
0.4
TM
0.2 r
0.0
-0.2 r
TE B
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8 56.3
-1.0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Incident angle 1 (deg.)

Figure 2.23: The amplitude coecients of reection and transmission as a

function of incident angle. These correspond to external reection n2 > n1
at an air-glas interface (n1 = 1, n2 = 1.5).
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 49

For TE-polarized light the reected light changes sign with respect to the
incident light (reection at the optically more dense medium). This is not
so for TM-polarized light under close to normal incidence. It occurs only
for angles larger than B , which is called the Brewster angle. So for TM-
polarized light the amplitude reection coecient is zero at the Brewster
angle. This phenomena will be discussed in more detail later.
This behavior changes drastically if we consider the opposite arrange
ment of media, i.e. we consider the glass-air interface with n1 > n2 , see
Figure 2.24. Then the TM-polarized light experiences a -phase shift upon
reection close to normal incidence. For increasing angle of incidence this
0
reection coecient goes through zero at the Brewster angle B dierent
from before. However, for large enough angle of incidence the reection coef
cient reaches magnitude 1 and stays there. This phenomenon is called total
internal reection and the angle where this occurs rst is the critical angle
for total internal reection, tot . Total internal reection will be discussed in
more detail later.
Amplitude refl. and transm. coefficients

2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4 TE
t
1.2
1.0 TM
t
0.8
0.6
0.4 TE
r
0.2 B tot
0.0 TM
r
-0.2
0 15 30 33.7 41.8 45
Incident angle 1 (deg.)

Figure 2.24: The amplitude coecients of reection and transmission as a

function of incident angle. These correspond to internal reection n1 > n2
at a glas-air interface (n1 = 1.5, n2 = 1).

Power reection and transmission coecients

Often we are not interested in the amplitude but rather in the optical power
reected or transmitted in a beam of nite size, see Figure 2.25.
50 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.25: Reection and transmission of an incident beam of nite size

[1].

Note, that to get the power in a beam of nite size, we need to integrated
the corresponding Poynting vector over the beam area, which means multi
plication by the beam crosssectional area for a homogenous beam. Since the
angle of incidence and reection are equal, i = r = 1 this beam crosssec
tional area drops out in reection

I
T E/T M
A cos Z T E/T M Z
T E/T M 2
r 2
=
r
T E/T M =
2T E/T M
i 1
RT E/T M = T E/T M (2.114)

I
i A cos r
Z 1 T
+ Z
2
E/T M

However, due to the dierent angles for the incident and the transmitted
beam t = 2 6= 1 , we arrive at
T E/T M
T E/T M It A cos t
T = T E/T M
(2.115)
Ii A cos r
(
)
(
)1
cos 2 1
1
T E/T M 2
=
Re Re
t
.

cos 1 Z 2/1 Z 1/2

2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 51

Z 1/2
Using in the case of TE-polarization cos 1/2
= Z T1/2
E
and analogously for TM-
polarization Z 1/2 cos 1/2 = Z T1/2
M
, we obtain

(
)1
1

T E/T
4Z 2/1
M

T E/T M
T = Re Re 2 (2.116)

T E/T M
Z
1/2

Z T1 E/T M + Z
T2 E/T M

Note, for the case where the characteristic impedances are complex this can
not be further simplied. If the characteristic impedances are real, i.e. the
media are lossless, the transmission coecient simplies to
T E/T M T E/T M
T E/T M
4Z1/2 Z2/1
T =

2 (2.117)
T E/T M T E/T M
Z1 + Z2 .

To summarize for lossless media the power reection and transmission coef
cients are
TE-wave (s-pol.) TM-wave (p-pol.)
TE Z1/2 Z0 TM Z0
Z1/2 = cos 1/2
= n1/2 cos 1/2
Z1/2 = Z1/2 cos 1/2 = n1/2
cos 1/2
2 n
2 n1 cos 1
cos2 cosn1 2
RT E = nn21 cos
cos 1 +n2 cos 2
R TM
= n2 + n1
2 1
(2.118)

cos 2 cos 1
n n
4n1 cos 1 n2 cos 2 4 cos2 cos1
T TE = |n1 cos 1 +n2 cos 2 |2
T TM =
n2
2
n
12

cos + cos1
2 1
T T E + RT E = 1 T TM + R TM
=1
A few phenomena that occur upon reection at surfaces between dierent
media are especially noteworthy and need a more indepth discussion because
they enhance or enable the construction of many optical components and
devices.

2.2.4 Brewsters Angle

As Figures 2.23 and 2.24 already show, for light polarized parallel to the
plane of incidence, p-polarized light, the reection coecient vanishes at a
given angle B , called the Brewster angle. Using Snells Law Eq.(2.106),
n2 sin 1
= , (2.119)
n1 sin 2
52 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

we can rewrite the reection and transmission coecients in Eq.(2.118) only

in terms of the angles. For example, we nd for the reection coecient

n2 cos 2 2 sin 1
cos 2 2
n1 cos 1 sin 2 cos 1
RT M = n2 cos 2 =
sin 1 cos 2 (2.120)

n + cos
sin + cos
1 1 2 1

sin 21 sin 22 2
= (2.121)

sin 21 + sin 22

where we used in the last step in addition the relation sin 2 = 2 sin cos .
Thus by forcing RT M = 0, the Brewster angle is reached for

sin 21,B sin 22,B = 0 (2.122)

or

21,B = 22,B or 1,B + 2,B = (2.123)
2
This relation is illustrated in Figure 2.26. The reected and transmitted
beams are orthogonal to each other, so that the dipoles induced in the
medium by the transmitted beam, shown as arrows in Fig. 2.26, can not
radiate into the direction of the reected beam. This is the physical origin
of the zero in the reection coecient, only possible for a p-polarized or
TM-wave.
The relation (2.123) can be used to express the Brewster angle as a func
tion of the refractive indices, because if we substitute (2.123) into Snells law
we obtain
sin 1 n2
=
sin 2 n1
sin 1,B sin 1,B

= = tan 1,B ,
sin 2 1,B cos 1,B

or
n2
tan 1,B = . (2.124)
n1
Using the Brewster angle condition one can insert an optical component with
a refractive index n =
6 1 into a TM-polarized beam in air without having
reections, see Figure 2.27. Note, this is not possible for a TE-polarized
beam.
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 53

Reflection of TM-Wave at Brewsters Angle

Ei Er

ki kr
1, 1,

x
2,

kt Et
z

Figure 2.26: Conditions for reection of a TM-Wave at Brewsters angle.

The reected and transmitted beams are orthogonal to each other, so that
the dipoles excited in the medium by the transmitted beam can not radiate
into the direction of the reected beam.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.27: A plate under Brewsters angle does not reect TM-light. The
plate can be used as a window to introduce gas lled tubes into a laser beam
without insertion loss (ideally), [6] p. 209.
54 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

2.2.5 Total Internal Reection

Another striking phenomenon, see Figure 2.24, occurs for the case where
the beam hits the surface from the side of the optically denser medium, i.e.
n1 > n2 . There is obviously a critical angle of incidence, beyond which all
light is reected. How can that occur? This is easy to understand from the
phase matching diagram at the surface, see Figure 2.18, which is redrawn for
this case in Figure 2.28.

n2 > n1

tot k1

ki i r kr

x
k2

Figure 2.28: Phase matching diagram for total internal reection.

There is no real wavenumber in medium 2 possible as soon as the angle of

incidence becomes larger than the critical angle for total internal reection

i > tot (2.125)

with
n2
sin tot = . (2.126)
n1
Figure 2.29 shows the angle of refraction and incidence for the two cases of
external and internal reection, when the angle of incidence approaches the
critical angle.
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 55

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.29: Relation between angle of refraction and incidence for external
refraction and internal refraction ([6], p. 11).

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.30: Relation between angle of refraction and incidence for external
refraction and internal refraction ([1], p. 81).

Total internal reection enables broadband reectors. Figure 2.30 shows

56 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

again what happens when the critical angle of reection is surpassed. Fig
ure 2.31 shows how total internal reection can be used to guide light via
reection at a prism or by multiple reections in a waveguide.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.31: (a) Total internal reection, (b) internal reection in a prism,
(c) Rays are guided by total internal reection from the internal surface of
an optical ber ([6] p. 11).

Figure 2.32 shows the realization of a retro reector, which always returns
a parallel beam independent of the orientation of the prism (in fact the prism
can be a real 3D-corner so that the beam is reected parallel independent
from the precise orientation of the corner cube). A surface patterned by little
corner cubes constitute a "cats eye" used on trac signs.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.32: Total internal reection in a retro reector.

More on reecting prisms and its use can be found in [1], pages 131-136.
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 57

Evanescent Waves

What is the eld in medium 2 when total internal reection occurs? Is it

identical to zero? It turns out phase matching can still occur if the propaga
tion constant in z-direction becomes imaginary, k2z = j2z , because then we
can fulll the wave equation in medium 2. This is equivalent to the dispersion
relation

2 2
k2x + k2z = k22 ,

or with k2x = k1x = k1 sin 1 , we obtain for the imaginary wavenumber

q
2z = k12 sin2 1 k22 , (2.127)
p
= k1 sin2 1 sin2 tot . (2.128)

The electric eld in medium 2 is then, for the example for a TE-wave, given
by

E t = E t ey ej(tkt r) , (2.129)
E t ey ej(tk2,x x) e2z z . (2.130)

Thus the wave penetrates into medium 2 exponentially with a 1/e-depth ,

given by

1 1
= = p (2.131)
2z k1 sin2 1 sin2 tot

Figure 2.33 shows the penetration depth as a function of angle of incidence

for a silica/air interface and a silicon/air interface. The gure demonstrates
that light from inside a semiconductor material with a relatively high index
around n=3.5 is mostly captured in the semiconductor material (Problem of
light extraction from light emitting diodes (LEDs)), see problem set 2.
58 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

n1=3.5 n1=1.45

Penetration depth, m
0.4 n2=1 n2=1

0.2

0.0
0 20 40 60 80
o
Angle of incidence,

Figure 2.33: Penetration depth for total internal reection at a silica/air and
a silicon/air interface for = 0.633nm.

As the magnitude of the reection coecient is 1 for total internal re

ection, the power owing into medium 2 must vanish, i.e. the transmission
is zero. Note, that the transmission and reection coecients in Eq.(2.113)
can be used beyond the critical angle for total internal reection. We only
have to be aware that the electric eld in medium 2 has an imaginary depen
dence in the exponent for the z-direction, i.e. k2z = k2 cos 2 = j2z . Thus
cos 2 in all formulas for the reection and transmission coecients has to be
replaced by the imaginary number

k2z k1 p 2
cos 2 = = j sin 1 sin2 tot (2.132)
k2 k2
n1 p 2
= j sin 1 sin2 tot
n2
s 2
sin 1
= j 1.
sin tot
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 59

Then the reection coecients in Eq.(2.113) change to all-pass functions

TE-wave (s-pol.) TM-wave (p-pol.)

n2 n
n1 cos 1 n2 cos 2 cos1
rT E = n1 cos 1 +n2 cos 2
rT M = cos 2
n2 n1
+ cos
1

r cos 2 r 1
2 2
n sin 1 n sin 1
cos 1 +j n2 sin tot
1 cos 1 +j n1 sin tot
1
TE 1 TM 2
r = r 2
r = r 2
n sin 1 n sin 1
cos 1 j n2 1 cos 1 j n1 1
1 r
sin tot
2
2 r
sin tot
2
T E 1 n2 sin 1 T M 1 n1 sin 1
tan 2
= cos 1 n1 sin tot
1 tan 2
= cos 1 n2 sin tot
1
(2.133)

Thus the magnitude of the reection coecient is 1. However, there is

a non-vanishing phase shift for the light eld upon total internal reection,
denoted as T E and T M in the table above. Figure 2.34 shows these phase
shifts for the glass/air interface and for both polarizations.

200
o
Phase in Reflection,

n1=1.45
n2=1

100
TE-Wave
(s-polarized)
Brewster TM-Wave
angle (p-polarized)
0
0 20 40 60 80
o
Angle of incidence,

Figure 2.34: Phase shifts for TE- and TM- wave upon reection from a
silica/air interface, with n1 = 1.45 and n2 = 1.

Goos-Haenchen-Shift
So far, we looked only at plane waves undergoing reection at surface due to
total internal reection. If a beam of nite transverse size is reected from
60 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

such a surface it turns out that it gets displaced by a distance z, see Figure
2.35 (a), called Goos-Haenchen-Shift.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.35: (a) Goos-Haenchen Shift and related beam displacement upon
reection of a beam with nite size; (b) Accumulation of phase shifts in a
waveguide.

Detailed calculations show (problem set 2), that the displacement is given
by
z = 2 T E/T M tan 1 , (2.134)
T E/T M
as if the beam was reected at a virtual layer with depth into medium
2. It turns out, that for TE-waves
T E = , (2.135)
where is the penetration depth according to Eq.(2.131) for evanescent
waves. But for TM-waves

T M = 2 (2.136)
n1 2
1 + n2 sin 1 1
2.2. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND INTERFACES 61

These shifts accumulate when the beam is propagating in a waveguide, see

Figure 2.35 (b) and is important to understand the dispersion relations of
waveguide modes. The Goos-Haenchen shift can be observed by reection at
a prism partially coated with a silver lm, see Figure 2.36. The part reected
from the silver lm is shifted with respect to the beam reected due to total
internal reection, as shown in the gure.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.36: Experimental proof of the Goos-Haenchen shift by total in

ternal reection at a prism, that is partially coated with silver, where the
penetration of light can be neglected. [3] p. 486.

Frustrated total internal reection

Another proof for the penetration of light into medium 2 in the case of
total internal reection can be achieved by putting two prisms, where total
internal reection occurs back to back, see Figure 2.37. Then part of the
light, depending on the distance between the two interfaces, is converted
back into a propagating wave that can leave the second prism. This eect is
called frustrated internal reection and it can be used as a beam splitter as
shown in Figure 2.37.
62 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.37: Frustrated total internal reection. Part of the light is picked
up by the second surface and converted into a propagating wave.

2.3 Mirrors, Interferometers and Thin-Film

Structures
One of the most striking wave phenomena is interference. Many optical de
vices are based on the concept of interfering waves, such as low loss dielectric
mirrors and interferometers and other thin-lm optical coatings. After having
a quick look into the phenomenon of interference, we will develope a powerful
matrix formalism that enables us to evaluate eciently many optical (also
microwave) systems based on interference.

2.3.1 Interference and Coherence

Interference
Interference of waves is a consequence of the linearity of the wave equation
(2.13). If we have two individual solutions of the wave equation
E1 (r, t) = E1 cos( 1 t k1 r + 1 ) e1 , (2.137)
E2 (r, t) = E2 cos( 2 t k1 r + 2 ) e2 , (2.138)
with arbitrary amplitudes, wave vectors and polarizations, the sum of the
two elds (superposition) is again a solution of the wave equation
E (r, t) = E1 (r, t) + E2 (r, t). (2.139)
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES63

If we look at the intensity, wich is proportional to the amplitude square of

the total eld 2
E (r, t)2 = E1 (r, t) + E2 (r, t) , (2.140)
we nd

E (r, t)2 = E1 (r, t)2 + E2 (r, t)2 + 2E1 (r, t) E2 (r, t) (2.141)

with
2 E12
E1 (r, t) = 1 + cos 2( 1 t k1 r + 1 ) , (2.142)
2
E2
E2 (r, t)2 = 2 1 + cos 2( 2 t k2 r + 2 ) , (2.143)
2

E1 (r, t) E2 (r, t) = (e1 e2 ) E1 E2 cos( 1 t k1 r + 1 ) (2.144)

cos(2 t k2 r + 2 )

1
E1 (r, t) E2 (r, t) = (e1 e2 ) E1 E2 (2.145)
2
cos (1 2 ) t k1 k2 r + (1 2 )
(2.146)
+ cos ( 1 + 2 ) t k1 + k2 r + (1 + 2 )

Since at optical frequencies neither our eyes nor photo detectors, can ever
follow the optical frequency itself and certainly not twice as large frequencies,
we drop the rapidly oscillating terms. Or in other words we look only on the
cycle-averaged intensity, which we denote by a bar
E12 E22

E (r, t)2 = + + (e1 e2 ) E1 E2

2 2
cos ( 1 2 ) t k1 k2 r + (1 2 ) (2.147)

Depending on the frequencies 1 and 2 and the deterministic and stochastic

properties of the phases 1 and 2 , we can detect this periodically varying
intensity pattern called interference pattern. Interference of waves can be
best visuallized with water waves, see Figure 2.38. Note, however, that water
waves are a scalar eld, whereas the EM-waves are vector waves. Therefore,
the interference phenomena of EM-waves are much richer in nature than
64 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

for water waves. Notice, from Eq.(2.147), it follows immedicatly that the
interference vanishes in the case of orthogonally polarized EM-waves, because
of the scalar product involved. Also, if the frequencies of the waves are not
identical, the interference pattern will not be stationary in time.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.38: Interference of water waves from two point sources in a ripple
tank [1] p. 276.

If the frequencies are identical, the interference pattern depends on the

wave vectors, see Figure 2.39. The interference pattern which has itself a
wavevector given by
k1 k2 (2.148)

shows a period of
2

(2.149)

k1 k2

2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES65

Wavefronts
k1

Lines of constant
differential
phase
k2

Figure 2.39: Interference pattern generated by two monochromatic plane

waves.

Coherence
The ability of waves to generate an interference pattern is called coherence.
Coherence can be quantied both temporally or spatially. For example, if we
are at a certain position r in the interference pattern described by Eq.(2.147),
we will only have stationary conditions over a time interval

2
Tcoh << .
1 2

Thus the spectral width of the waves determines the temporal coherence.
However, it depends very often on the expermental arrangement whether a
given situation can still lead to interference or not. Even so the interfering
light may be perfectly temporally coherent, i.e. perfectly monochromatic,
1 = 2 ,yet the wave vectors may not be stable over time and the spatial
inteference pattern may wash out, i.e. there is insucient spatial coherence.
So for stable and maximum interference three conditions must be fullled:

stable and identical polarization

small change in the relative phase between the beams involved over the
observation time, temporal coherence, often achieved by using narrrow
linewidth light

stable beam propagation or guiding of light to achieve spatial coherence.

66 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

It is by no means trivial to arrive at a light source and an experimen

tal setup that enables good coherence and strong interference of the beams
involved.
Interference of beams can be used to measure relative phase shifts between
them which may be proportional to a physical quantity that needs to be
measured. Such phase shifts between two beams can also be used to modulate
the light output at a given position in space via interference. In 6.013, we
have already encountered interference eects between forward and backward
traveling waves on transmission lines. This is very closely related to what we
use in optics, therefore, we quickly relate the TEM-wave progagation to the
transmission line formalism developed in Chapter 5 of 6.013.

2.3.2 TEM-Waves and TEM-Transmission Lines

The motion of voltage V and current I along a TEM transmission line with
an inductance L0 and a capacitance C 0 per unit length is satises
V (t, z) I(t, z)
= L0 (2.150)
z t

I(t, z) V (t, z)

= C 0 (2.151)
z t
Substitution of these equations into each other results in wave equations for
either the voltage or the current
2 V (t, z) 1 2 V (t, z)
= 0, (2.152)
z 2 c2 t2
2 I(t, z) 1 2 I(t, z)
= 0, (2.153)
z 2 c2 t2

where c = 1/ L0 C 0 is the speed of wave propagation on the transmission
line. The ratio between voltagepand current for monochomatic waves is the
characteristic impedance Z = L0 /C 0 .
The equations of motion for the electric and magnetic eld of a x-polarized
TEM wave according to Figure 2.1, with Eeld along the x-axis and H-
elds along the y- axis follow directly from Faradays and Amperes law
E(t, z) H(t, z)
= , (2.154)
z t
H(t, z) E(t, z)
= , (2.155)
z t
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES67

which are identical to the transmission line equations (2.150) and (2.151).
Substitution of these equations into each other results again in wave equations

for electric and magnetic elds propagatingp at the speed of light c = 1/
and with characteristic impedance ZF = /.
The solutions of the wave equation are forward and backward traveling
waves, which can be decoupled by transforming the elds to the forward and
backward traveling waves
r
Aef f
a(t, z) = (E(t, z) + ZF o H(t, z)) , (2.156)
2ZF
r
Aef f
b(t, z) = (E(t, z) ZF o H(t, z)) , (2.157)
2ZF
which fulll the equations

1
+ a(t, z) = 0, (2.158)
z c t

1
b(t, z) = 0. (2.159)
z c t

Note, we introduced that cross section Aef f such that |a|2 is proportional to
the total power carried by the wave. Clearly, the solutions are
a(t, z) = f (t z/c0 ), (2.160)
b(t, z) = g(t + z/c0 ), (2.161)
which resembles the DAlembert solutions of the wave equations for the elec
tric and magnetic eld
s
ZF o
E(t, z) = (a(t, z) + b(t, z)) , (2.162)
2Aef f
s
1
H(t, z) = (a(t, z) b(t, z)) . (2.163)
2ZF o Aef f

Here, the forward and backward propagating elds are already normalized
such that the Poynting vector multiplied with the eective area gives already
the total power transported by the elds in the eective cross section Aef f

P = S (Aef f ez ) = Aef f E(t, z)H(t, z) = |a(t, z)|2 |b(t, z)|2 . (2.164)

68 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

In 6.013, it was shown that the relation between sinusoidal current and
voltage waves

V (t, z) = Re V (z)ejt and I(t, z) = Re I(z)ejt (2.165)

along the transmission line or corresponding electric and magnetic elds in

one dimensional wave propagation is described by a generalized complex
impedance Z(z) that obeys certain transformation rules, see Figure 2.40
(a).

Figure 2.40: (a) Transformation of generalized impedance along transmission

lines, (b) Transformation of generalized impedance accross free space sections
with dierent characterisitc wave impedances in each section.

Along the rst transmission line, which is terminated by a load impedance,

the generalized impedance transforms according to
Z 0 jZ 1 tan (k1 z)
Z 1 (z) = Z 1 (2.166)
Z 1 jZ 0 tan (k1 z)
with k1 = k0 n1 and along the second transmission line the same rule applies
as an example
Z (L1 ) jZ 2 tan (k2 z)
Z 2 (z) = Z 2 1 (2.167)
Z 2 jZ 1 (L1 ) tan (k2 z)
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES69

with k2 = k0 n2 . Note, that the media can also be lossy, then the character
istic impedances of the transmission lines and the propagation constants are
already themselves complex numbers. The same formalism can be used to
solve corresponding one dimensional EM-wave propagation problems.

Antireection Coating
The task of an antireection (AR-)coating, analogous to load matching in
transmission line theory, is to avoid reections between the interface of two
media with dierent optical properties. One method of course could be to
place the interface at Brewsters angle. However, this is not always possible.
Lets assume we want to put a medium with index n into a beam under
normal incidence, without having reections on the air/medium interface.
The medium can be for example a lens. This is exactly the situation shown
in Figure 2.40 (b). Z 2 describes the refractive index of the lense material,
e.g. n2 = 3.5 for a silicon lense, we can deposit on the lens a thin layer
of material with index n1 corresponding to Z 1 and this layer should match
to the free space index n0 = 1 or impedance Z 0 = 377. Using (2.166) we
obtain
Z jZ 1 tan (k1 L1 )
Z 2 = Z 1 (L1 ) = Z 1 0 (2.168)
Z 1 jZ 0 tan (k1 L1 )
If we choose a quarter wave thick matching layer k1 L1 = /2, this simplies
to the famous result
Z 21
Z2 = , (2.169)
Z0

or n1 = n2 n0 and L1 = . (2.170)
4n1
Thus a quarter wave AR-coating needs a material which has an index cor
responding to the geometric mean ofthe two media to be matched. In the
current example this would be n2 = 3.5 1.87

2.3.3 Scattering and Transfer Matrix

Another formalism to analyze optical systems (or microwave circuits) can
be formulated using the forward and backward propagating waves, which
transform much simpler along a homogenous transmission line than the total
elds, i.e. the sum of forward adn backward waves. However, at interfaces
70 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

scattering of these waves occurs whereas the total elds are continuous. For
monochromatic forward and backward propagating waves

a(t, z) = a(z)ejt and b(t, z) = b(z)ejt (2.171)

propagating in z-direction over a distance z with a propagation constant k,

we nd from Eqs.(2.158) and (2.159)

a(z) ejkz 0 a(0)
= . (2.172)
b(z) 0 ejkz b(0)

A piece of transmission line is a two port. The matrix transforming the

amplitudes of the waves at the input port (1) to those of the output port (2)
is called the transfer matrix, see Figure 2.41

Figure 2.41: Denition of the wave amplitudes for the transfer matrix T.

For example, from Eq.(2.172) follows that the transfer matrix for free
space propagation is
jkz
e 0
T= . (2.173)
0 ejkz

This formalism can be expanded to arbitrary multiports. Because of its

mathematical properties the scattering matrix that describes the transfor
mation between the incoming and outgoing wave amplitudes of a multiport
is often used, see Figure 2.42.
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES71

Figure 2.42: Scattering matrix and its port denition.

The scattering matrix denes a linear transformation from the incoming

to the outgoing waves
b = Sa, with a = (a1, a2 , ...)T , b = (b1, b2 , ...)T . (2.174)
Note, that the meaning between forward and backward waves no longer co
incides with a and b, a connection, which is dicult to maintain if several
ports come in from many dierent directions.
The transfer matrix T has advantages, if many two ports are connected
in series with each other. Then the total transfer matrix is the product of
the individual transfer matrices.

2.3.4 Properties of the Scattering Matrix

Physial properties of the system reect itself in the mathematical properties
of the scattering matrix.

Reciprocity
A system with constant scalar dielectric and magnetic properties must have
a symmetric scattering matrix (without proof)
S = ST . (2.175)
72 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Losslessness
In a lossless system the total power owing into the system must be equal to
the power owing out of the system in steady state
2

|a|2 =
b ,
(2.176)

i.e.
S+ S = 1 or S1 =S+ . (2.177)
The scattering matrix of a lossless system must be unitary.

Time Reversal
To nd the scattering matrix of the time reversed system, we realize that
incoming waves become outgoing waves under time reversal and the other
way around, i.e. the meaning of a and b is exchanged and on top of it the
waves become negative frequency waves.
time reversal
aej(tkz) aej(tkz) . (2.178)

To obtain the complex amplitude of the corresponding positive frequency

wave, we need to take the complex conjugate value. So to obtain the equa
tions for the time reversed system we have to perform the following substi
tutions
Original system Time reversed system
.
(2.179)

b = Sa a = Sb
b =
S1 a

2.3.5 Beamsplitter
As an example, we look at the scattering matrix for a partially transmitting
mirror, which could be simply formed by the interface between two media
with dierent refractive index, which we analyzed in the previous section,
see Figure 2.43. (Note, for brevity we neglect the reections at the normal
surface input to the media, or we put an AR-coating on them.) In principle,
this device has four ports and should be described by a 4x4 matrix. However,
most often only one of the waves is used at each port, as shown in Figure
2.43.
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES73

Figure 2.43: Port denitions for the beam splitter

The scattering matrix is determined by

b = Sa, with a = (a1, a2 )T , b = (b3 , b4 )T (2.180)

and

r jt
S= , with r2 + t2 = 1. (2.181)
jt r

The matrix S was obtained using using the S-matrix properties described
above. From Eqs.(2.113) we could immediately identify r as a function of
the refractive indices, angle of incidence and the polarization used. Note,
that the o-diagonal elements of S are identical, which is a consequence of
reciprocity. That the main diagonal elements are identical isa consequence
of unitarity for a lossless beamsplitter and furthermore t = 1 r2 . For a
given frequency r and t can always be made real by choosing proper reference
planes at the input and the output of the beam splitter. Beamsplitters can
be made in many ways, see for example Figure 2.37.

2.3.6 Interferometers
Having a valid description of a beamsplitter at hand, we can build and ana
lyze various types of interferometers, see Figure 2.44.
74 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.44: Dierent types of interferometers: (a) Mach-Zehnder Interfer

ometer; (b) Michelson Interferometer; (c) Sagnac Interferometer [6] p. 66.

Each of these structures has advantages and disadvantages depending

on the technology they are realized. The interferometer in Figure 2.44 (a)
is called Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the one in Figure 2.44 (b) is called
Michelson Interferometer. In the Sagnac interferometer , Figure 2.44 (c) both
beams see identical beam path and therefore errors in the beam path can be
balance out and only dierential changes due to external inuences lead to
an output signal, for example rotation, see problem set 3.
To understand the light transmission through an interferometer we ana
lyze as an example the Mach-Zehnder interferometer shown in Figure 2.45.
If we excite input port 1 with a wave with complex amplitude a0 and no
input at port 2 and assume 50/50 beamsplitters, the rst beam splitter will
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES75

Figure 2.45: Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

produce two waves with complex amplitudes

b3 = 12 a0
(2.182)
b4 = j 12 a0

During propagation through the interferometer arms, both waves pick up a

phase delay 3 = kL3 and 4 = kL4 , respectively

a5 = 12 a0 ej3 ,
(2.183)
a6 = j 12 a0 ej4 .

After the second beam splitter with the same scattering matrix as the rst
one, we obtain

b7 = 12 a0 ej3 ej4 ,
(2.184)

b8 = j 12 a0 ej3 + ej4 .

The transmitted power to the output ports is

|a0 |2
2
|b7 |2 =
1 ej(3 4 ) 2 =
|a0 | [1 cos (3 4 )] ,
4
|a0 |2
2
2 (2.185)

|b8 |2 = 1 + ej(3 4 ) 2 =
|a0 | [1 + cos (3 4 )] .
4 2

The total output power is equal to the input power, as it must be for a lossless
system. However, depending on the phase dierence = 3 4 between
both arms, the power is split dierently between the two output ports, see
Figure 2.46.With proper biasing, i.e. 3 4 = /2 + , the dierence in
76 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

1.0
2
0.8 |b8|

Output power
0.6

0.4
2
|b7|
0.2

0.0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Figure 2.46: Output power from the two arms of an interfereometer as a

function of phase dierence.

output power between the two arms can be made directly proportional to
the phase dierence .
Opening up the beam size in the interferometer and placing optics into
the beam enables to visualize beam distortions due to imperfect optical com
ponents, see Figures 2.47 and 2.48.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.47: Twyman-Green Interferometer to test optics quality [1] p. 324.

2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES77

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.48: Interference pattern with a hot iron placed in one arm of the
interferometer ([1], p. 395).

2.3.7 Fabry-Perot Resonator

Interferometers can act as lters. The phase dierence between the interfer
ometer arms depends on frequency, therefore, the transmission from input to
output depends on frequency, see Figure 2.46. However, the lter function is
not very sharp. The reason for this is that only a two beam interference is
used. Much more narrowband lters can be constructed by multipass inter
ferences such as in a Fabry-Perot Resonator, see Figure 2.49. The simplest
Fabry Perot is described by a sequence of three layers where at least the mid
dle layer has an index dierent from the other two layers, such that reections
occur on these interfaces.
78 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

n1 n2 n3

1 2

S1 S2

Figure 2.49: Multiple intereferences in a Fabry Perot resonator. In the sim

plest implementation a Fabry Perot only consists of a sequence of three layers
with dierent refractive index so that two reections occur with multiple in
terferences. Each of this discontinuites can be described by a scattering
matrix.

Any kind of device that has reections at two parallel interfaces may
act as a Fabry Perot such as two semitransparent mirrors. A thin layer
of material against air can act as a Fabry-Perot and is often called etalon.
Given the reection and transmission coecients at the interfaces 1 and 2,
we can write down the scattering matrices for both interfaces according to
Eqs.(2.180) and (2.181).

b1 r1 jt1 a1 b3 r2 jt2 a3
= and = .
b2 jt1 r1 a2 b4 jt2 r2 a4
(2.186)
If we excite the Fabry-Perot with a wave from the right with amplitude.
a1 6= 0, then a fraction of that wave will be transmitted to the interface into
the Fabry-Perot as wave b2 and part will be already reected into b1 ,
b(0) = r1 a1 . (2.187)
1

The transmitted wave will then propagate and pick up a phase factor ej/2 ,
with = 2k2 L and k2 = 2 n2 ,
a3 =jta1 ej/2 . (2.188)
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES79

After propagation it will be reected o from the second interface which has
a reection coecient
b3
2 = = r2 . (2.189)
a3
a4 =0

Then the reected wave b3 propagates back to interface 1, picking up another

(1)
phase factor ej/2 resulting in an incoming wave after one roundtrip of a2 =
jt1 r2 ej a1 . Upon reection on interface 1, part of this wave is transmitted
leading to an output
(1)
b1 =jt1 jt1 r2 ej a1 . (2.190)
(1)
The partial wave a2 is reected again and after another roundtrip it arrives
(2)
at interface 1 as a2 = (r1 r2 ) ej jt1 r2 ej a1 . Part of this wave is trans
mitted and part of it is reected back to go through another cycle. Thus in
total if we sum up all partial waves that contribute to the output at port 1
of the Fabry-Perot lter, we obtain
X

(n)

b1 = b1

n=
0 !
X

= r1 t21 r2 ej r1 r2 ej a1
n=0
j

e
= r1 t21 r2 a1
1 r1 r2 ej
r1 r2 ej
= a (2.191)
1 r1 r2 ej 1
Note, that the coecient in front of Eq.(2.191) is the coecient S11 of the
scattering matrix of the Fabry-Perot. In a similar manner, we obtain

b3 a1
b4 = S a2 (2.192)

and
1 r1 r2 ej t1 t2 ej/2
S= (2.193)
1 r1 r2 ej t1 t2 ej/2 r2 r1 ej
In the following, we want to analyze the properties of the Fabry-Perot for
the case of symmetric reectors, i.e. r1 = r2 and t1 = t2 . Then we obtain for
80 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

the power transmission coecient of the Fabry-Perot, |S21 |2 in terms of the

power reectivity of the interfaces R = r2

1 R
2 (1 R)2
|
S21 |
=

2 =
(2.194)

1 Rej

(1 R)2 + 4R sin2 (/2)

Figure 2.50 shows the transmission |S21 |2 of the Fabry-Perot interferometer

for equal reectivities |
r1 |
2 = |
r2 |
2 = R.

1.0
2
Fabry-Perot Transmission, |S21|

FSR R=0.1
0.8

0.6
fFWHM
R=0.5
0.4
R=0.7
0.2
R=0.9
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
(f -fm)/ FSR

Figure 2.50: Transmission of a lossless Fabry-Perot interferometer with

|r1 |2 = |r2 |2 = R

At very low reectivity R of the mirror the transmission is almost every

where 1, there is only a slight sinusoidal modulation due to the rst order
interferences which are periodically in phase and out of phase, leading to
100% transmission or small reection. For large reectivity R, due to the
then multiple interference operation of the Fabry-Perot Interferometer, very
narrow transmission resonances emerge at frequencies, where the roundtrip
phase in the resonator is equal to a multiple of 2
2f
= n2 2L = 2m, (2.195)
c0
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES81

which occurs at a comb of frequencies, see Figure 2.51

c0
fm = m . (2.196)
2n2 L

1.0
2
Fabry-Perot Transmission, |S21|

0.8 am-1 am am+1 am+2

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
1fm-1 2fm fm f3m+1 4 frequency
fm+2 5

Figure 2.51: Developement of a set of discrete resonances in a one

dimensionsal resonator.

On a large frequency scale, a set of discrete frequencies, resonances or

modes arise. The frequency range between resonances is called free spectral
range (FSR) of the Fabry-Perot Interferometer
c0 1
F SR = = , (2.197)
2n2 L TR
which is the inverse roundtrip time TR of the light in the one-dimensonal
cavity or resonator formed by the mirrors. The lter characteristic of each
resonance can be approximately described by a Lorentzian line derived from
Eq.(2.194) by substituting f = fm + f with f F SR,
(1 R)2
|S21 |2 =
(1 R)2 + 4R sin2 m2 + 2 Ff
SR
/2
1
2 , (2.198)
2 R f
1 + 1R F SR
1
2 , (2.199)
f
1+ fF W HM /2
82 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

where we introduced the FWHM of the transmission lter

F SR
fF W HM = , (2.200)
F
with the nesse of the interferometer dened as

R
F = . (2.201)
1R T
The last simplication is valid for a highly reecting mirror R 1 and T is
the mirror transmission. From this relation it is immediately clear that the
nesse has the additional physical meaning of the optical power enhancement
inside the Fabry-Perot at resonance besides the factor of , since the power
inside the cavity must be larger by 1/T , if the transmission through the
Fabry-Perot is unity.

2.3.8 Quality Factor of Fabry-Perot Resonances

Another quantity often used to characterize a resonator or a resonance is
its quality factor Q, which is dened as the ratio between the resonance
frequency and the decay rate for the energy stored in the resonator, which is
also often called inverse photon lifetime, 1
ph

Q = ph fm . (2.202)

Lets assume, energy is stored in one of the resonator modes which occupies a
range of frequencies [fm F SR/2, fm + F SR/2] as indicated in Figure 2.52.
Then the fourier integral
Z
+F SR/2
am (t) = b2 (f )ej2(f fm )t df, (2.203)
F SR/2

2

where b2 (f ) is normalized such that it describes the power spectral density
of the forward traveling wave in the resonator gives the mode amplitude of the
m-th mode and its magnitude square is the energy stored in the mode. Note,
that we could have taken any of the internal waves a2 , b2 , a3 , and b3 . The time
dependent eld we create corresponds to the eld of the forward or backward
traveling wave at the corresponding reference plane in the resonator.
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES83

2 1.0
Transmission, |S21| am-1(t) am+1(t)
0.8 am(t)

0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
(f -fm)/ FSR

Figure 2.52: Integration over all frequency components within the frequency
range [fm F SR/2, fm + F SR/2] denes a mode amplitude a(t) with a slow
time dependence

We now make a "Gedanken-Experiment". We switch on the incoming

waves a1 () and a4 () to load the cavity with energy and evaluate the in
ternal wave b2 (). Instead of summing up all the multiple reections like
we did in constructing the scattering matrix (2.192), we exploit our skills
in analyzing feedback systems, which the Fabry-Perot lter is. The scat
tering equations set force by the two scattering matrices characterizing the
resonator mirrors in the Fabry-Perot can be visuallized by the signal ow
diagram in Figure 2.53

_
b2 a~3
_ ~
a~1
_ jt + e-j/2 jt + _
b4

r S1 r r S2 r

a~2
_ b~3
_
b~1
_ + jt e-j/2
+ jt a~4
_

Figure 2.53: Representation of Fabry-Perot resonator by a signal ow dia

gram
84 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

For the task to nd the relationship between the internal waves feed by
the incoming wave only the dashed part of the signal ow is important. The
internal feedback loop can be clearly recognized with a closed loop transfer
function
r2 ej ,
which leads to the resonance denominator

1 r2 ej

in every element of the Fabry-Perot scattering matrix (2.192). Using Blacks

formula from 6.003 and the superposition principle we immediately nd for
the internal wave
jt
b2 = 2 j
a1 + rej/2 a4 . (2.204)
1r e
Close to one of the resonance frequencies, = 2fm + , using t = 1 r2 ,
(2.204) can be approximated by

j
b2 () a1 () + r(1)m ejTR /2 a4 () , (2.205)
R
1 + j 1R TR
j
a1 () + r(1)m ejTR /2 a4 () (2.206)
1 + jTR /T

for high reectivity R. Multiplication of this equation with the resonant de

nominator

(1 + jTR /T ) b2 () j a1 () + r(1)m ejTR /2 a4 () (2.207)

and inverse Fourier-Transform in the time domain, while recognizing that

the internal elds vanish far o resonance, i.e.
Z +F SR Z +
jt
am (t) = b2 ()e d = b2 ()ejt d, (2.208)
F SR

we obtain the following dierential equation for the mode amplitude slowly
varying in time
d
TR am (t) = T (am (t) + ja1 (t) + j(1)m a4 (t TR /2)) (2.209)
dt
2.3. MIRRORS, INTERFEROMETERS AND THIN-FILM STRUCTURES85

with the input elds

Z + F SR
a1/4 (t) = a1/4 ()ejt d. (2.210)
F SR

Despite the pain to derive this equation the physical interpretation is remark
ably simple and far reaching as we will see when we apply this equation later
on to many dierent situations. Lets assume, we switch o the loading of
the cavity at some point, i.e. a1/4 (t) = 0, then Eq.(2.209) results in

am (t) = am (0)et/(TR /T ) (2.211)

And the power decays accordingly

|am (t)|2 = |am (0)|2 et/(TR /2T ) (2.212)

twice as fast as the amplitude. The energy decay time of the cavity is often
called the cavity energy decay time, or photon lifetime, ph , which is here

TR
ph = .
2T
Note, the factor of two comes from the fact that each mirror of the Fabry-
Perot has a transmission T per roundtrip time. For exampl a L = 1.5m long
cavity with mirrors of 0.5% transmission, i.e. TR = 10ns and 2T = 0.01 has a
photon lifetime of 1s. It needs hundred bounces on the mirror for a photon
to be essentially lost from the cavity.
Highest quality dielectric mirrors may have a reection loss of only 105...6 ,
this is not really transmission but rather scattering loss in the mirror. Such
high reectivity mirrors may lead to the construction of cavities with photon
lifetimes on the order of milliseconds.
Now, that we have an expression for the energy decay time in the cavity,
we can evaluate the quality factor of the resonator
m
Q = fm ph = . (2.213)
2T
Again for a resonator with the same parameters as before and at optical
frequencies of 300THz corresponding to 1m wavelength, we obtain Q =
2 108 .
86 CHAPTER 2.
CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

2.3.9
Thin-Film Filters
Transfer matrix formlism is an ecient method to analyze the reection and
transmission properties of layered dielectric media, such as the one shown
in Figure 2.54. Using the transfer matrix method, it is an easy task to
compute the transmission and reection coecients of a structure composed
of layers with arbitrary indices and thicknesses. A prominent example of a
thin-lm lter are Bragg mirrors. These are made of a periodic arrangement
of two layers with low and high index n1 and n2 , respectively. For maximum
reection bandwidth, the layer thicknesses are chosen to be quarter wave for
the wavelength maximum reection occures, n1 d1 =0 /4 and n2 d2 =0 /4
~
_
a ~
_
b2
1

n1 n2 n1 n2 n1 n2
....
d1 d2 d1 d2 d1 d2

b~1
_ ~
_
a 2

Figure 2.54: Thin-Film dielectric mirror composed of alternating high and

low index layers.

As an example Figure 2.55 shows the reection from a Bragg mirror with
n1 = 1.45, n2 = 2.4 for a center wavelength of 0 = 800nm. The layer
thicknesses are then d1 =134nm and d2 =83nm.
1

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
reflectivity

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300
lambda

Figure 2.55: Reectivity of an 8 pair quarter wave Bragg mirror with n1 =

1.
45 and n2 = 2.4 designed for a center wavelength of 800nm. The mirror is
embedded in the same low index material.
2.4. PARAXIAL WAVE EQUATION AND GAUSSIAN BEAMS 87

2.4 Paraxial Wave Equation and Gaussian Beams

So far, we have only treated optical systems operating with plane waves,
which is an idealization. In reality plane waves are impossible to generate
because of there innite amount of energy required to do so. The simplest
(approximate) solution of Maxwells equations describing a beam of nite size
is the Gaussian beam. In fact many optical systems are based on Gaussian
beams. Most lasers are designed to generate a Gaussian beam as output.
Gaussian beams stay Gaussian beams when propagating in free space. How
ever, due to its nite size, diraction changes the size of the beam and lenses
are imployed to reimage and change the cross section of the beam. In this sec
tion, we want to study the properties of Gaussian beams and its propagation
and modication in optical systems.

2.4.1 Paraxial Wave Equation

We start from the Helmholtz Equation (2.18)

e
+ k02 E(x, y, z, ) = 0, (2.214)

with the free space wavenumber k0 = /c0 . This equation can easily be
solved in the Fourier domain, and one set of solutions are of course the plane
waves with wave vector |k|2 = k02 . We look for solutions which are polarized
in x-direction
e e(x, y, z) ex .
E (x, y, z, ) = E (2.215)

We want to construct a beam with nite transverse extent into the x-y-plane
and which is mainly propagating into the positive z-direction. As such we
may try a superposition of plane waves with a dominant z-component of the
k-vector, see Figure 2.56. The k-vectors can be written as
q
kz = k02 kx2 ky2 ,

kx2 ky2
k0 1 . (2.216)
2k02

with kx , ky << k0 .
88 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

y
x
k
z

Figure 2.56: Construction of a paraxial beam by superimposing many plane

waves with a dominante k-component in z-direction.

Then we obtain for the propagating eld

Z + Z +
e
E (x, y, z) = e0 (kx , ky )
E


kx2 + ky2
exp jk0 1 z jkx x jky y dkx dky ,
2k02
Z + Z +
= e0 (kx , ky )
E

2
kx + ky2
exp j z jkx x jky y dkx dky ejk0 z , (2.217)
2k0

where E e0 (kx , ky ) is the amplitude for the waves with the corresponding trans
verse k-component. This function should only be nonzero within a small
range kx , ky k0 . The function
Z + Z + 2
kx + ky2
e
E0 (x, y, z) = e
E0 (kx , ky ) exp j z jkx x jky y dkx dky
2k0
(2.218)
is a slowly varying function in the transverse directions x and y, and it can
be easily veried that it fullls the paraxial wave equation
2
e j 2 e0 (x, y, z).
E0 (x, y, z) = + E (2.219)
z 2k0 x2 x2
Note, that this equation is in its structure identical to the dispersive spreading
of an optical pulse. The dierence is that this spreading occurs now in the
two transverse dimensions and is called diraction.
2.4. PARAXIAL WAVE EQUATION AND GAUSSIAN BEAMS 89

2.4.2 Gaussian Beams

Since the kernel in Eq.(2.218) is quadratic in the transverse k-components
using a two-dimensional Gaussian for the amplitude distribution leads to a
beam in real space which is also Gaussian in the radial direction because of
the resulting Gaussian integral. By choosing for the transverse amplitude
distribution 2
kx + ky2
e0 (kx , ky ) = exp
E , (2.220)
2kT2
Eq.(2.218) can be rewritten as
Z + Z + 2
kx + ky2
e
E0 (x, y, z) = exp j (z + jzR ) jkx x jky y dkx dky ,
2k0
(2.221)
2
with the parameter zR = k0 /kT , which we will later identify as the Rayleigh
range. Thus, Gaussian beam solutions with dierent nite transverse width
in k-space and real space behave as if they propagate along the z-axis with
dierent imaginary z-component zR . Carrying out the Fourier transformation
results in the Gaussian Beam in real space
2 2

e0 (x, y, z) = j x + y
E exp jk0 . (2.222)
z + jzR 2(z + jzR )

The Gaussian beam is often formulated in terms of the complex beam pa

rameter or q-parameter.
The propagation of the beam in free space and later even through optical
imaging systems can be eciently described by a proper transformation of
the q-parameter
2
e0 (r, z) = 1 r
E exp jk0 . (2.223)
q(z) 2q(z)

Free space propagation is then described by

q(z) = z + jzR (2.224)

Using the inverse q-parameter, decomposed in real and imagniary parts,

1 1

= j 2 . (2.225)

q(z) R(z) w (z)

90 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

leads to
2 2

e0 (r, z) = 2P r r
E exp 2 jk0 + j(z) . (2.226)
w(z) w (z) 2R(z)

Thus w(z) is the waist of the beam and R(z) is the radius of the phase
fronts. We normalized
2 the beam such that the Gaussian beam intensity
e
I(z, r) = E0 (r, z) expressed in terms of the power P carried by the beam
is given by

2P 2r2
I(r, z) = exp 2 , (2.227)
w2 (z) w (z)
Z Z 2
i.e. P = I(r, z) rdr d. (2.228)
0 0

The use of the q-parameter simplies the description of Gaussian beam prop
agation. In free space propagation from z1 to z2 , the variation of the beam
parameter q is simply governed by

q2 = q1 + z2 z1 . (2.229)

where q2 and q1 are the beam parameters at z1 and z2 .

If the beam waist, at which the beam has a minimum spot size w0 and
a planar wavefront (R = ), is located at z = 0, the variations of the
beam spot size and the radius of curvature of the phase fronts are explicitly
expressed as
" 2 #1/2
z
w(z) = wo 1 + , (2.230)
zR
and z 2
R
R(z) = z 1 + , (2.231)
z
where zR is called the Rayleigh range. The Rayleigh range is the distance
over which the cross section of the beam doubles. The Rayleigh range is
related to the initial beam waist and the wavelength of light according to

wo2
zR = . (2.232)

2.4. PARAXIAL WAVE EQUATION AND GAUSSIAN BEAMS 91

Intensity
Figure 2.57 shows the intensity of the Gaussian beam according to Eq.(2.227)
for dierent propagation distances.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.57: The normalized beam intensity I/I0 as a function of the radial
distance r at dierent axial distances: (a) z=0, (b) z=zR , (c) z=2zR .

The beam intensity can be rewritten as

w02 2r2 2P
I(r, z) = I0 2 exp 2 , with I0 = . (2.233)
w (z) w (z) w02
For z > zR the beam radius growth linearly and therefore the area expands
quadratically, which brings down the peak intensity quadratically with prop
agation distance.
On the beam axis (r = 0) the intensity is given by

w02 I0
I(r, z) = I0 = 2 . (2.234)
w2 (z) z
1+ zR

The normalized beam intensity as a function of propagation distance is shown

in Figure 2.58
92 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.58: The normalized Beam intensity I(r = 0)/I0 on the beam axis
as a function of propagation distance z [6], p. 84.

Power

The fraction of the total power contained in the beam up to a certain radius
is
Z
P (r < r0 ) 2 r0
= I(r, z)rdr
P P 0
Z r0
4 2r2
= exp 2 rdr (2.235)
w2 (z) 0 w (z)

2r02
= 1 exp 2 .
w (z)

Thus, there is a certain fraction of power within a certain radius of the

beam

P (r < w(z))
= 0.86, (2.236)
P
P (r < 1.5w(z))
= 0.99. (2.237)
P

Beam radius

Due to diraction, the smaller the spot size at the beam waist, the faster the
beam diverges according to 2.230 as illustrated in Figure ??.
2.4. PARAXIAL WAVE EQUATION AND GAUSSIAN BEAMS 93

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.59: Gaussian beam and its characteristics.

Beam divergence
The angular divergence of the beam is inversely proportional to the beam
waist. In the far eld, the half angle divergence is given by

= , (2.238)
wo
see Figure 2.59.

Confocal parameter and depth of focus

In linear microscopy, only a layer which has the thickness over which the
beam is focused, called depth of focus, will contribute to a sharp image. In
nonlinear microscopy (see problem set) only a volume on the order of beam
cross section times depth of focus contributes to the signal. Therefore, the
depth of focus or confocal parameter of the Gaussian beam, is the distance
over which the beam stays focused and is dened as twice the Rayleigh range
2wo2
b = 2zR = . (2.239)

The confocal parameter depends linear on the spot size (area) of the beam
and is inverse to the wavelength of light. At a wavelength of 1m a beam
with a radius of wo = 1cm,.the beam will stay focussed ove distances as long
94 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

600m. However, if the beam is stronlgy focussed down to wo = 10m the

eld of depth is only 600m.

Phase

The phase delay of the Gaussian beam is

r2
(r, z) = k0 z (z) + k0 (2.240)
2R(z)

z
(z) = arctan . (2.241)
zR

On beam axis, there is the additional phase (z) when the beam undergoes
focussing as shown in Figure 2.60. This is in addition to the phase shift that
a uniform plane wave already aquires.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.60: Phase delay of a Gaussian beam relative to a uniform plane wave
on the beam axis [6], p. 87. This phase shift is known as Guoy-Phase-Shift.

This eect is known as Guoy-Phase-Shift. The third term in the phase

shift is parabolic in the radius and describes the wavefront (planes of constant
phase) bending due to the focusing, i.e. distortion from the uniform plane
wave.
2.4. PARAXIAL WAVE EQUATION AND GAUSSIAN BEAMS 95

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.61: The radius of curvature R(z) of the wavefronts of a Gaussian

beam [6], p. 89.

2
r
The surfaces of constant phase are detemined by k0 z (z) + k0 2R(z) =
const. Since the radius of curvature R(z) and the additional phase (z) are
slowly varying functions of z, i.e. they are constant over the radial variation
of the wavefront, the wavefronts are paraboloidal surfaces with radius R(z),
see Figures 2.61 and 2.62.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.62: Wavefronts of a Gaussian beam, [6] p. 88.

For comparison, Figure 2.63 shows the wavefront of (a) a uniform plane
wave, (b) a spherical wave and (c) a Gaussian beam. At points near the
beam center, the Gaussian beam resembles a plane wave. At large z, the
beam behaves like a spherical wave except that the phase fronts are delayed
by a quarter of the wavlength due to the Guoy-Phase-Shift.
96 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.63: Wavefronts of (a) a uniform plane wave;(b) a spherical wave;

(c) a Gaussian beam [5], p. 89.

2.5 Rays and Optical Systems

Now, that we understand how a beam of nite size as a solution of Maxwells
Equations can be constructed, we are interested how such a beam can be
imaged by an optical system. Propagation of a Gaussian beam in free space
leads to spreading of the beam because of the diraction. We need means
to focus the beam again. The output beam from a laser may have a certain
size but we may need a dierent size for a given experiment. We can change
the size or focus the beam by an optical imaging system. Optical systems
are studied and analyzed using ray optics. What is a ray? We have already
discussed that diraction of a beam is similar to dispersion of an optical
pulse. Dispersion of a pulse we understood because of the dierent group
velocity of dierent frequency components or sub-pulses. It turns out that
2.5. RAYS AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS 97

these sub-pulses are the temporal analog to the rays. In the same way we
can construct a short pulse by a superposition of sub-pulses with dierent
center frequencies, we can construct a Gaussian beam by sub-beams with
dierent center transverse k-vectors and a very narrow spread in transverse
k-vectors. These are Gaussian beams with a large beam diameter such that
diraction is not any longer important. These beams are called rays. The
ray only experiences a phase shift during propagation depending on the local
refractive index n(r). Therefore, we can completely understand the imaging
of Gaussian beams in paraxial optical systems by the imaging properties of
rays.

2.5.1 Ray Propagation

A ray propagating in an optical system, see Figure 2.64, can be described
by its position r with respect to the optical axis and its inclination with
respect to the optical axis r0 . It is advantageous to use not (r, r0 ) as the
ray coordinates but the combination (r, n r 0 ), where n is the local refractive
index at the position of the ray. Due to propagation, the ray coordinates
may change, which can be desribed by a marix, that maps initial position
and inclination into the corresponding quantitaties after the propagation

r2 A B r1
= . (2.242)
n2 r20 C D n1 r10

This imaging matrix is called an ABCD-matrix.

1
2

r1
Optical
r1 r2
System r2

Figure 2.64: Description of optical ray propagation by its distance and incli
nation from the optical axis
98 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

The advantage in using (r, n r0 ) as the ray coordinates is that it preserves

the phase space volume, i.e. for lossless optical systems the determinant of
the ABCD-matrix must be 1. Also Snells law for paraxial rays has then a
simple form, see Figure 2.65. For paraxial rays the angles to the interface
normal, 1 and 2 , are much smaller than 1, and we can write

r10 = tan 1 sin 1 1 , and r20 = tan 2 sin 2 2 .

Then Snells law is

n1 r10 = n2 r20 . (2.243)

1 2

n1 n2

r2 2
r1
r1 1 r2

Figure 2.65: Snells law for paraxial rays

The ABCD-matrix describing a ray going from a medium with index n1

to a medium with index n2 is the unity matrix

r2 = r1 (2.244)
n2 r20 = n1 r10 . (2.245)

Free space propagation

For propagation in free space, see Figure 2.66, the relationship between input
and output ray parameters is

r2 = r1 + r10 L
r20 = r10
2.5. RAYS AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS 99

or the propagation matrix is

1 L
M= . (2.246)
0 1

1 2
r2

r1
r1 r2

L Z

Figure 2.66: Free space propagation

Propagation in medium with length L and index n

Free propagation through a medium with index n does result in a reduced
position shift with respect to the optical axis in comparison to free space,
because the beam is rst bent to the optical axis according to Snells law,
see Figure 2.67. Therefore the corresponding ABCD-matrix is

1 L/n
M= . (2.247)
0 1

1 2
r2

r1 r2
r1

L Z

Figure 2.67: Ray propagation through a medium with refractive index n,

shortens the path length of the beam by a factor of n.
100 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Parbolic surface or thin lens

Plano-Convex Lens When a ray penetrates a parabolic surface between
two media with refractive indices n1 and n2 , it changes its inclination. A
parabolic surface can be closely approximated by the surface of a sphere, see
Figure 2.68. Snells law in paraxial approximation is

n1 (r10 + ) = n2 (r20 + ) . (2.248)

r2
r1 r2
r1

0 R Z

n2

Figure 2.68: Derivation of ABCD-matrix of a thin plano-convex lens.

The small angle can be approximated by r1 /R. In total we then

obtain the mapping

r2 = r1 (2.249)
n1 n2
n2 r20 = n1 r10 + r1 (2.250)
R
or
1 0
M= n1 n2 . (2.251)
R
1
Note, the second normal interface does not change the ray propagation matrix
and therefore Eq.(2.251) describes correctly the ray propagation through a
thin plano-convex lens.
2.5. RAYS AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS 101

Biconvex Lens If the lens would have a second convex surface, this would
refract the ray twice as strongly and we would obtain

1 0
M= . (2.252)
2 n1 n
R
2
1

The quantity 2 n2 n
R
1
is called the refractive strength of the biconvex lense
or inverse focal length 1/f.Because the system of a thin lens plus free space
propagation results in the matrix (calculated in the reverse order)

1 f 1 0 0 f
Mtot = = , (2.253)
0 1 f1 1 f1 1

which ensures that each ray parallel to the optical axis goes through the on
axis focal point at the end of the free space section, see Figure 2.69.

r1

f z

Figure 2.69: Imaging of parallel rays through a lens with focal length f.

Curved Mirrors
Other often used optical components in imaging systems are curved mirrors
with radius of curvature ROC = R, see Figure 2.70. The advantage of
reective optics is that the rays dont have to pass through dispersive material
like through a lense, which is very disturbing for ultrashort pulses.
102 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

r2

r1 r1 r2
r1
0
-R Z

Figure 2.70: Derivation of ray matrix for concave mirror with Radius R.

As in the case of the thin lens,e the imaging does not change the distance
of the ray from the optical axis, however, the slope of the rays obey

r10 = r20 + . (2.254)

with r1 /R in paraxial approximation. Therefore the ABCD matrix

describing the reection of rays at a curved mirror with ROC = R is

1 0 R
M= , with f = . (2.255)
f1 1 2

2.5.2 Gauss Lens Formula

As a simple application of the ray matrices for optical system design, we
derive Gauss lens formula, which says that all rays emitted from an orignial
placed a distance d1 from a lens with focal length f form an image at a
distance d2 , which is related to d1 by
1 1 1
+ = , (2.256)
d1 d2 f
see Figure 2.71.
2.6. GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 103

I II

r1
f
z
r2

d1 d2

Figure 2.71: Gauss lens formula.

The magnication of the lens system is Mr = rr21 = dd21 =

d1ff
.
The ray
matrix that describes the imagaing from the orignal plane I to the image
plane II is described by the product

A B
1 d2 1 0
1 d1
=

C D
0 1

f1 1 0 1

d2 d2
1 f 1 f d1 + d2
= . (2.257)
f1
1 df1
In order that the distance r2 only depends on r1 , but not on r10 , B must be
0, which is Eq. (2.256). Thus in total we have

f
Magnication Mr = d1 f
(2.258)
Distance to focus d2 f = Mr2 (d1 f )
More complicated imaging systems, such as thick lenses, can be described
by ray matrices and arbitrary paraxial optical systems can be analyzed with
them, which shall not be pursued further here. Rather, we want to study
how Gaussian beams are imaged by paraxial optical systems

2.6 Gaussian Beams and Resonators

2.6.1 Gaussian Beam Propagation
The propagation of Gaussian beams through paraxial optical systems can
be eciently evaluated using the ABCD-law [4], which states that the q
104 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

parameter of a Gaussian beam passing a optical system described by an

ABCD-marix is given by
Aq1 + B
q2 = , (2.259)
Cq1 + D
where q1 and q2 are the beam parameters at the input and the output planes
of the optical system or component, see Figure 2.72

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.72: Gaussian beam transformation by ABCD law, [6], p. 99.

To proove this law, we realize that it is true for the case of free space prop
agation, i.e. pure diraction, comparing (2.259) with (2.229) and (2.246). If
we can proove that it is additionally true for a thin lens, then we are nished,
because every ABCD matrix (2x2 matrix) can be written as a product of a
lower and upper triangular matrix (LR-decomposition) like the one for free
space propagation and the thin lens. Note, the action of the lens is identi
cal to the action of free space propagation, but in the Fourier-domain. In
the Fourier domain the Gaussian beam parameter is replaced by its inverse
(2.222)
2
e0 (x, y, z) = j x + y2
E exp jk0 . (2.260)
q(z) 2q(z)
2
kz + ky2
e0 (kz , ky , z) = 2j exp jq(z)
E (2.261)
2k0

But the inverse q-parameter transforms according to (2.259)

1 D q11 + C

= 1 , (2.262)

q2 B q1 + A
2.6. GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 105

which leads for a thin lens to

1 1 1
= . (2.263)
q2 q1 f
This is exactly what a thin lens does, see Eq.(2.225), it changes the radius
of curvature of the phase front but not the waist of the beam according to
1 1 1
= . (2.264)
R2 R1 f
With that nding, we have proven the ABCD law for Gaussian beam prop
agation through paraxial optical systems.
The ABCD-matrices of the optical elements discussed so far including
nonnomal incidence are summarized in Table 2.6. As an application of the

Optical Element ABCD-Matrix

Propagation in Medium with 1 L/n
index n and length L 0 1
Thin Lens with 1 0
focal length f 1/f 1
Mirror under Angle
1 0
to Axis and Radius R 2 cos
R
1
Sagittal Plane
Mirror under Angle
1 0
to Axis and Radius R 2
R cos
1
Tangential Plane
Brewster Plate under
1 nd
Angle to Axis and Thickness
0 1
d, Sagittal Plane
Brewster Plate under d

1 n3
Angle to Axis and Thickness
0 1
d, Tangential Plane

Table 2.6: ABCD matrices for commonly used optical elements.

Gaussian beam propagation, lets consider the imaging of a Gaussian beam

with a waist w01 by a thin lens at a distance d1 away from the waist to a
beam with a dierent size w02 , see Figure 2.73.
106 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

d1 d2

zR1 zR2

Figure 2.73: Focusing of a Gaussian beam by a lens.

There will be a new focus at a distance d2 .The corresponding ABCD

matrix is of course the one from Eq.(2.257), which is repeated here
!
A B 1 df2 1 df2 d1 + d2
= . (2.265)
C D 1 1 d1
f f

The q-parameter of the Gaussian beam at the position of minimum waist is

w2 w2
purely imaginary q1 = jzR1 = j 01 and q2 = jzR2 = j 02 , where
A q1 + B jzR1 A + B jzR1 A + B
q2 = = = = jzR2 . (2.266)
C q1 + D jzR1 C + D jzR1 C + D
In the limit of ray optics, where the beam waists can be considered to by
zero, i.e. zR1 = zR2 = 0 we obtain B = 0, i.e. the imaging rule of classical
ray optics Eq.(2.256). It should not come at a surprise that for the Gaus
sian beam propagation this law does not determine the exact distance d2
of the position of the new waist. Because, in the ray analysis we neglected
diraction. Therefore, the Gaussian beam analysis, although it uses the same
description of the optical components, gives a slightly dierent and improved
answer for the position of the focal point. To nd the position d2 , we request
that the real part of the right hand side of (2.266) is zero,

BD zR2 1 AC = 0 (2.267)

which can be rewritten as

1 1 1
= z2
. (2.268)
d2 f d1 + d1R1
f
2.6. GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 107

Again for zR1 0, we obtain the ray optics result. And the imaginary part
of Eq.(2.266) leads to
1 1
2

=
D + zR2 1 C 2 , (2.269)
zR2 zR1
or 2 "

2 #

1 1
d1 zR1
2
=
2 1 1+
.
(2.270)

w
02 w
01 f
d1 f
With the magnication M for the spot size, with is closely related to the
Magnication Mr of ray optics, we can rewrite the results as
p
2 zR1 f
Magnication M = Mr / 1 + , with = d1 f and Mr = d1 f
Beam waist w02 = M w01
Confocal parameter 2zR2 = M 2 2zR2
Distance to focus d2 f = M 2 (d1 f )
Divergence 02 = 01 /M
(2.271)

2.6.2 Resonators
With the Gaussian beam solutions, we can nally construct optical resonators
with nite transverse extent, i.e. real Fabry-Perots, by inserting into the
Gaussian beam, see Figure 2.74, curved mirrors with the proper radius of
curvature, such that the beam is imaged upon itself.

L
R1 R2

z1 z2

Figure 2.74: Fabry-Perot resonator with nite beam cross section by inserting
curved mirrors into the beam to back reect the beam onto itself.
108 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Any resonator can be unfolded into a sequence of lenses and free space
propagation. Here, we replace the curved mirrors by equivalent lenses with
f1 = R1 /2, and f2 = R2 /2, see Figure 2.75.

Figure 2.75: Two-mirror resonator unfolded. Note, only one half of the
focusing strength of mirror 1 belongs to a fundamental period describing one
resonator roundtrip.

The product of ABCD matrices describing one roundtrip of the beam in

the resonator according to Figure 2.75 is

1 0 1 L 1 0 1 L 1 0
M= 1 1 1 . (2.272)
2f1
1 0 1 f2
1 0 1 2f1
1

To carry out this product and to formulate the cavity stability criteria, it is
convenient to use the cavity parameters gi = 1L/Ri , i = 1, 2. The resulting
cavity roundtrip ABCD-matrix can be written in the form

(2g1 g2 1) 2g2 L A B
M= = . (2.273)
2g1 (g1 g2 1) /L (2g1 g2 1) C D

Resonator Stability
The ABCD matrices describe the dynamics of rays propagating inside the
resonator. The resonator is stable if no ray escapes after many round-trips,
which is the case when the magnitude of the eigenvalues of the matrix M
are less than one. Since we have a lossless resonator, i.e. det|M| = 1, the
product of the eigenvalues has to be 1 and, therefore, the stable resonator
2.6. GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 109

corresponds to the case of a complex conjugate pair of eigenvalues with a

magnitude of 1. The eigenvalue equation to M is given by

(2g1 g2 1) 2g2 L

det |
M 1| = det
= 0,
(2.274)

2g1 (g1 g2 1) /L (2g1 g2 1)

2 2 (2g1 g2 1) + 1 = 0. (2.275)
The eigenvalues are
q
1/2 = (2g1 g2 1) (2g1 g2 1)2 1, (2.276)

exp () , cosh = 2g1 g2 1, for |2g1 g2 1| > 1
= (2.277)
.
exp (j) , cos = 2g1 g2 1, for |2g1 g2 1| 1

The case of a complex conjugate pair corresponds to a stable resontor. There

fore, the stability criterion for a stable two mirror resonator is
|2g1 g2 1| 1. (2.278)
The stable and unstable parameter ranges are given by
stable : 0 g1 g2 = S 1 (2.279)
unstable : g1 g2 0; or g1 g2 1. (2.280)
where S = g1 g2 , is the stability parameter of the cavity. The stability
criterion can be easily interpreted geometrically. Of importance are the dis
tances between the mirror mid-points Mi and the cavity end points, i.e.
gi = (Ri L)/Ri = Si /Ri , as shown in Figure 2.76.

Figure 2.76: The stability criterion involves distances between the mirror
mid-points Mi and the cavity end points. i.e. gi = (Ri L)/Ri = Si /Ri .
110 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

The following rules for a stable resonator can be derived from Figure 2.76
using the stability criterion expressed in terms of the distances Si . Note, that
the distances and radii can be positive and negative
S1 S2
stable : 0 1. (2.281)
R1 R2
The rules are:
A resonator is stable if the mirror radii, laid out along the optical axis,
overlap.
A resonator is unstable if the radii do not overlap or one lies within the
other.

Figure 2.77 shows stable and unstable resonator congurations.

Figure 2.77: Illustration of stable and unstable resonator congurations.

For a two-mirror resonator with concave mirrors and R1 R2 , we obtain

the general stability diagram as shown in Figure 2.78.
2.6. GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 111

Figure 2.78: Stabile regions (black) for the two-mirror resonator.

There are two ranges for the mirror distance L, within which the cavity
is stable, 0 L R1 and R2 L R1 + R2 . It is interesting to investigate
the spot size at the mirrors and the minimum spot size in the cavity as a
function of the mirror distance L.

Resonator Mode Characteristics

The stable modes of the resonator reproduce themselves after one round-trip,
i.e.
Aq1 + B
q1 = (2.282)
Cq1 + D
The inverse q-parameter, which is directly related to the phase front curva
ture and the spot size of the beam, is determined by
2
1 AD 1 1 AD
+ + = 0. (2.283)
q B q B2
The solution is
q
1 AD j
= (A + D)2 1 (2.284)
q 1/2 2B 2 |B |

If we apply this formula to (2.273), we nd the spot size on mirror 1

q
1 j
= (A + D)2 1 = j 2 . (2.285)
q 1/2 2 |B| w1
or
2
2Lg2 1
w14 = (2.286)
g1 1 g1 g2
2
R1 R2 L L
= . (2.287)
R1 L R1 + R2 L
112 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

By symmetry, we nd the spot size on mirror 3 by switching index 1 and 2:

2
2L g1 1
w24 = (2.288)
g2 1 g1 g 2
2
R2 R1 L L
= . (2.289)
R2 L R1 + R2 L

The intracavity focus can be found by transforming the focused Gaussian

beam with the propagation matrix

1 z1 1 0
M = 1
0 1 2f 1
1
z1
1 2f z1
= 1
1
, (2.290)
2f1
1

to its new focus by properly choosing z1 , see Figure 2.74. A short calculation
results in
g2 (g1 1)
z1 = L (2.291)
2g1 g2 g1 g2
L(L R2 )
= , (2.292)
2L R1 R2
and, again, by symmetry

g1 (g2 1)
z2 = L (2.293)
2g1 g 2 g1 g2
L(L R1 )
= = L z1 . (2.294)
2L R1 R2
The spot size in the intracavity focus is
2
L g1 g2 (1 g1 g2 )
wo4 = (2.295)
(2g1 g2 g1 g2 )2
2
L(R1 L)(R2 L)(R1 + R2 L)
= . (2.296)
(R1 + R2 2L)2

All these quantities for the two-mirror resonator are shown in Figure 2.79.
2.6.
GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 113

1.0 1.0

S=g
2 0.5 0.8
0.6
g1, g
0.0

1
0.4

xg
-0.5 0.2
-1.0

2
0.0
0 5 10 15 20
1/2

Cavity Length, L / cm
0.6
/ )
1/2
w 0 / ( (R 1 *R 2 )

0.4

0.2

0.0
0 5 10 15 20
6 Cavity Length, L / cm
1/2
w 1 / ( R 1 / )

2
0
0 5 10 15 20
Cavity Length, L / cm
6
1/2
w 2 / ( R 2/ )

0
0 5 10 15 20
1.0 Cavity Length, L / cm 1.0
0.8 0.8
z2 / L

0.6 0.6
z1 / L

0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20
Cavity Length, L / cm

Figure 2.79: From top to bottom: Cavity parameters, g1 , g2 , S, w0 , w1 , w2 ,

z1 and z2 for the two-mirror resonator with R1 = 10 cm and R2 = 11 cm.
114 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Hermite-Gaussian-Beams (TEMpq -Beams)

It turns out that the Gaussian Beams are not the only solution to the parax
ial wave equation (2.219). The stable modes of the resonator reproduce
themselves after one round-trip,
" #
e w0 2x 2y
El,m (x, y, z) = Al,m Gl Gm (2.297)
w(z) w(z) w(z)
2
x + y2
exp jk0 + j(l + m + 1)(z)
2R(z)

where 2
u
Gl [u] = Hl [u] exp , for l = 0, 1, 2, ... (2.298)
2
are the Hermite-Gaussians with the Hermite-Polynomials

H0 [u] = 1,

H1 [u] = 2u,

H2 [u] = 4u2 1, (2.299)

H3 [u] = 8u3 12u,

and (z) is the Guoy-Phase-Shift according to Eq.(2.241). The lower order

Hermite Gaussians are depicted in Figure 2.80

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.80: Hermite-Gauissians Gl (u) for l = 0, 1, 2 and 3.

and the intensity prole of the rst higher order resonator modes are
shown in Figure 2.81.
2.6. GAUSSIAN BEAMS AND RESONATORS 115

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.81: Intensity prole of TEMlm -beams, [6], p. 103.

Besides the dierent mode proles, the higher order modes experience
greater phase advances during propogation, because they are made up of
k-vectors with larger transverse components.

Axial Mode Structure

As we have seen for the Fabry-Perot resonator, the longitudinal modes are
characterized by a roundtrip phase that is a multiple of 2. Back then, we
did not consider transverse modes. Thus in a resonator with nite transverse
beam size, we obtain an extended family of resonances, with distinguish
able eld patterns. The resonance frequencies pmn are determined by the
roundtrip phase condition

pmn = 2p, for p = 0, 1, 2, ... (2.300)

116 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

For the linear resonator according to Figure 2.74, the roundtrip phase of a
Hermite-Gaussian Tpmn -beam is
pmn = 2kL 2(m + n + 1) ((z2 ) (z1 )) , (2.301)
where (z2 ) (z1 ) is the additional Guoy-Phase-Shift, when the beam goes
through the focus once on its way from mirror 1 to mirror 2. Then the
resonance frequences are
c
pmn = [p + (m + n + 1) ((z2 ) (z1 ))] . (2.302)
L
If the Guoy-Phase-Shift is not a rational number times , then all resonance
frequencies are non degenerate. However, for the special case where the
two mirrors have identical radius of curvature R and are spaced a distance
L = R apart, which is called a confocal resonator, the Guoy-Phase-shift is
(z2 ) (z1 ) = /2, with resonance frequencies
ch i
pmn = p + (m + n + 1) . (2.303)
L 2
In that case all even, i.e. m + n, transverse modes are degenerate to the
longitudinal or fundamental modes, see Figure 2.82.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.82: Resonance frequencies of the confocal Fabry-Perot resonator,

[6], p. 128.

The odd modes are half way inbetween the longitudinal modes. Note, in
contrast to the plan parallel Fabry Perot all mode frequencies are shifted by
/2 due to the Guoy-Phase-Shift.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 117

2.7 Waveguides and Integrated Optics

As with electronics, miniaturization and integration of optics is desired to
reduce cost while increasing functionality and reliability. One essential el
ement is the guiding of the optical radiation in waveguides for integrated
optical devices and optical bers for long distance transmission. Waveguides
can be as short as a few millimeters. Guiding of light with exceptionally low
loss in ber (0.1dB/km) can be achieved by using total internal reection.
Figure 2.83 shows dierent optical waveguides with a high index core mate
rial and low index cladding. The light will be guided in the high index core.
Similar to the Gaussian beam the guided mode is made up of mostly paraxial
plane waves that hit the high/low-index interface at grazing incidence and
therefore undergo total internal reections. The concomittant lensing eect
overcomes the diraction of the beam that would happen in free space and
leads to stationary mode proles fof the radiation.
Depending on the index prole and geometry one distinguishes between
dierent waveguide types. Figure 2.83 (a) is a planar slab waveguide, which
guides light only in one direction. This case is analyzed in more detail,
as it has simple analytical solutions that show all phenomena associated
with waveguiding such as cuto, dispersion, single and multimode operation,
coupling of modes and more, which are used later in devices and to achieve
certain device properties. The other two cases show complete waveguiding
in the transverse direction; (b) planar strip waveguide and (c) optical ber.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.83: Dark shaded area constitute the high index regions. (a) planar
slab waveguide; (b) strip waveguide; (c) optical ber [6], p. 239.

In integrated optics many components are fabricated on a single sub

118 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

strate, see Figure 2.84 with fabrication processes similar to those in micro
electronics.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.84: Integrated optical device resembling an optical transmit

ter/receiver, [6], p. 2.83.

As this example shows, the most important passive component to under

stand in an integrated optical circuit are waveguides and couplers.

2.7.1 Planar Waveguides

To understand the basic physics and phenomena in waveguides, we look at
a few examples of guiding in one transverse dimension. These simple cases
can be treated analytically.

Planar-Mirror Waveguides

The planar mirror waveguide is composed of two ideal metal mirrors a dis
tance d apart, see Figure 2.85
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 119

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.85: Planar mirror waveguide, [6], p. 240.

We consider a TE-wave, whose electric eld is polarized in the ydirection

and that propagates in the zdirection. The reections of the light at the
ideal lossless mirrors will guide or conne the light in the xdirection. The
eld will be homogenous in the ydirection, i.e. will not depend on y. There
fore, we make the following trial solution for the electric eld of a monochro
matic complex TE-wave
E (x, z, t) = E y (x, z) ejt ey . (2.304)
Note, this trial solution also satises the condition E = 0, see (2.12)

Modes of the planar waveguide Furthermore, we are looking for solu

tions that do not change their eld distribution transverse to the direction
of propagation and experience only a phase shift during propagation. We
call such solutions modes of the waveguide, because they dont change its
transverse eld prole. The modes of the above planar waveguide can be
expressed as
E y (x, z) = u(x) ejz ey , (2.305)
where is the propagation constant of the mode. This solution has to obey
the Helmholtz Eq.(2.18) in the free space section between the mirrors
d2 2 2
2 2
uy (x) = k uy (x) with k = . (2.306)
dx2 c2
The presence of the metal mirrors requires that the electric elds vanish at
the metal mirrors, otherwise innitely strong currents would start to ow to
shorten the electric eld.
uy (x = d/2) = 0 (2.307)
120 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

.Note, that Eq.(2.306) is an eigenvalue problem to the dierential operator

d2
dx2
d2
u(x) = u(x) with u(x = d/2) = 0. (2.308)
dx2
in a space of functions u, that satises the boundary conditions (2.307). The
eigenvalues are for the moment arbitrary but constant numbers. Depending
on the sign of the eigenvalues the solutions can be sine or cosine functions
( < 0) or exponentials with real exponents for ( > 0). In the latter case, it is
impossible to satiesfy the boundary conditions. Therefore, the eigensolutions
are
q
2 cos (kx,m x) with , kx,m = m, m = 1, 3, 5, ..., even modes
um (x) = qd d
2
sin (kx,m x) with , kx,m = d m, m = 2, 4, 6, ..., odd modes
d
(2.309)

Propagation Constants The propagation constants for these modes fol

low from comparing (2.306) with (2.308) to be

2 = k2 kx,m
2
(2.310)

or s
r
2 2 2
2
2
= m = m (2.311)
c2 d d

where = 0 /n(0 ) is the wavelength in the medium between the mirrors.

This relationship is shown in Figure 2.86. The lowest order mode with index
m = 1 has the smallest k-vector component in x-direction and therefore the
largest k-vector component into z-direction. The sum of the squares of both
components has to be identical to the magnitude sqaure of the k-vector in
the medium k. Higher order modes have increasingly more nodes in the
x-direction, i.e. largest kx -components and the wave vector component in
z-direction decreases, until there is no real solution anymore to Eq.(??) and
the corresponding propagation constants m become imaginary. That is, the
corresponding waves become evanescent waves, i..e they can not propagate
in a waveguide with the given dimensions.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 121

k
1
2

0

2

3

k x
1
4

d d d d

Figure 2.86: Determination of propagation constants for modes

Field Distribution The transverse electric eld distributions for the var
ious TE-modes is shown in Figure 2.87

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.87: Field distributions of the TE-modes of the planar mirror waveg
uide [6], p. 244.

Cuto Wavelength/Frequency For a given planar waveguide with sep

aration d, there is a lowest frequency, i.e. longest wavelength, beyond which
no propagating mode exists. This wavelenth/frequency is refered to as cuto
122 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

wavelength/frequency which is

cutof f = 2d (2.312)
c
fcutof f = . (2.313)
2d
The physical origin for the existence of a cuto wavelength or frequency is
that the guided modes in the mirror waveguide are a superposition of two
plane waves, that propagate under a certain angle towards the z-axis, see
Figure 2.88

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.88: (a) Condition for self-consistency: as a wave reects twice it

needs to be in phase with the previous wave. (b) The angles for which self-
consistency is achieved determine the x-component of the k-vectors involved.
The corresponding two plane waves setup an interference pattern with an
extended node at the position of the metal mirrors satisfying the boundary
conditions, [6], p. 241.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 123

In order that the sum of the electric eld of the two plane waves fullls
the boundary conditions, the phase of one of the plane waves after reection
on both mirrors needs to be inphase with the other plane wave, i.e. the
x-component of the k-vectors involved, kx , must be a multiple of 2

2kx d = 2m.

If we superimpose two plane waves with kx,m = m/d, we obtain an in

terference pattern which has nodes along the location of the metal mirrors,
which obviously fullls the boundary conditions. It is clear that the mini
mum distance between these lines of nodes for waves of a given wavelength
is /2, hence the separation d must be greater than /2 otherwise no solution
is possible.

Single-Mode Operation For a given separation d, there is a wavelength

range over which only a single mode can propagate, we call this wavelength
range single-mode operation. From Figure 2.86 it follows for the planar
mirror waveguide

<k< 2 (2.314)
d d
or
d < < 2d (2.315)

Waveguide Dispersion Due to the waveguiding, the relationship between

frequency and propagation constant is no longer linear. This does not imply
that the waveguide core, i.e. here the medium between the plan parallel
mirrors, has dispersion. For example, even for n = 1, we nd for phase and
group velocity of the m-th mode
r c 2
1 () 1
= = 1 m (2.316)
vp c d
s 2
1
= 1 m (2.317)
c 2d

and
1 d() 1
= = q 2
2 c2 (2.318)
vg d 2
2 c2 d m
124 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

or
vg vp = c2 . (2.319)
Thus dierent modes have dierent group and phase velocities. Figure 2.89
shows group and phase velocity for the dierent modes as a function of the
normalized wave number kd/.

2.0
m=1 m=2 m=4
1.5 m=3
vg/c and v p/c

1.0

0.5 m=1 m=2 m=3

m=4
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5
kd/

Figure 2.89: Group and phase velocity of propagating modes with index m
as a function of normailzed wave number.

TM-Modes The planar mirror waveguide does not only allow for TE-
waves to propagate. There are also TM-waves, which have only a magnetic
eld component transverse to the propagation direction and parallel to the
mirrors, i.e. in y-direction

H (x, z, t) = H y (x, z) ejt ey , (2.320)

and now H(x, z) has to obey the Helmholtz equation for the magnetic eld.
The corresponding electric eld can be derived from Amperes law

1
E(x, z) = H y (x, z) ey (2.321)
j
1 H y (x, z) 1 H y (x, z)
= ex + ez . (2.322)
j z j x
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 125

The electric eld tangential to the metal mirrors has to vanish again, which
leads to the boundary condition
H y (x, z)
(x = d/2) = 0. (2.323)
x
After an analysis very similar to the discussion of the TE-waves we nd for
the TM-modes with
H y (x, z) = u(x) ejz ey , (2.324)
the transverse mode shapes
q
2 cos (kx,m x) with , kx,m = m, m = 2, 4, 6, ..., even modes
um (x) = qd d
2
sin (kx,m x) with , kx,m = d m, m = 1, 3, 5, ..., odd modes
d
(2.325)
Note, that in contrast to the electric eld of the TE-waves being zero at the
metal surface, the transverse magnetic eld of theTM-waves is at a maxi
mum at the metal surface. We will not consider this case further, because
the discussion of cuto frequencies and dispersion can be worked out very
analogous to the case for TE-modes.

Multimode Propagation Depending on the boundary conditions at the

input of the waveguide at z = 0 many modes may be excited. Eventually
there are even excitations with such high transverse wavevectors kx present,
that are below cuto. Depending on the excitation amplitudes of each mode,
the total eld in the waveguide will be the superposition of all modes. Lets
assume that there are only TE-modes excited, then the total eld is
X


E (x, z, t) = am ej m z + bm ej m z um (x) ejt ey , (2.326)
m=1

where the amplitudes am and bm are the excitations of the m-th mode in
forward and backward direction, respectively. It is easy to show that these
excitation amplitudes are determined by the transverse electric and magnetic
elds at z = 0 and t = 0. In many cases, the excitation of the waveguide will
be such that only the forward propagating modes are excited.
X

E (x, z, t) = am um (x) ej m z ejt ey , (2.327)
m=1
126 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

When many modes are excited, the transverse eld distribution will change
during propagation, see Figure 2.90

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.90: Variation of the intensity distribution in the transverse direction

x at dierent distances z. Intensity prole of (a) the fundamental mode
m = 1, (b) the second mode with m = 2 and (c) a linear combination of the
fundamental and second mode, [6], p. 247.

Modes which are excited below cuto will decay rapidly as evanescent
waves. The other modes will propagate, but due to the dierent propaga
tion constants these modes superimpose dierently at dierent propagation
distances along the waveguide. This dynamic can be used to build many
kinds of important integrated optical devices, such as multimode interfer
ence couplers (see problem set 5). Depending on the application, undesired
multimode excitation may be very disturbing due to the large group delay
dierence between the dierent modes. This eect is called modal dispersion.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 127

Mode Orthogonality

It turns out that the transverse modes determined by the functions um (x)
build an orthogonal set of basis functions into which any function in a cer
tain function space can be decomposed. This is obvious for the case of the
planar-mirror waveguide, where the um (x) are a subset of the basis functions
for a Fourier series expansion of an arbitrary function f (x) in the interval
[d/2, 3d/2] which is antisymmetric with respect to x = d/2 and fulllls the
boundary condition f (x = d/2) = 0. It is

Z d/2
um (x) un (x) dx = mn , (2.328)
d/2
X
f (x) = am um (x) (2.329)
m
Z d/2
with am = um (x) f (x) dx (2.330)
d/2

From our familiarity with Fourier series expansions of periodic functions,

we can accept these relations here without proof. We will return to these
equations later in Quantum Mechanics and discuss in which mathematical
sense Eqs.(2.328) to (2.329) really hold.
Besides illustrating many important concepts, the planar mirror waveg
uide is not of much practical use. More in use are dielectric waveguides.

Planar Dielectric Slab Waveguide

In the planar dielectric slab waveguide, waveguiding is not achieved by real

reection on a mirror but rather by total internal reection at interfaces
between two dielectric materials with refractive indices n1 > n2 , see Figure
2.91
128 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.91: Symmetric planar dielectric slab waveguide with n1 > n2 . The
light is guided by total internal reection. The eld is evanescent in the
cladding material and oscillatory in the core, [6], p. 249.

Waveguide Modes As in the case of the planar mirror waveguide, there

are TE and TM-modes and we could nd them as a superposition of cor
respondingly polarized TEM waves propagating with a certain transverse
k-vector such that total internal reection occurs. We do not want to follow
this procedure here, but rather use immediately the Helmholtz Equation. We
again write the electric eld

E y (x, z) = u(x) ejz ey . (2.331)

The eld has to obey the Helmholtz Eq.(2.18) both in the core and in the
cladding

d2 2 2
2 2 2
core : u(x) = k1 u(x) with k1 = n, (2.332)
dx2 c20 1
d2 2 2
2 2 2
cladding : u(x) = k2 u(x) with k2 = n (2.333)
dx2 c20 2

The boundary conditions are given by the continuity of electric and magnetic
eld components tangential to the core/cladding interfaces as in section 2.2.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 129

Since the guided elds must be evanescent in the cladding and oscillatory in
the core, we rewrite the Helmholtz Equation as

d2 2 2
2 2

core : u(x) = k x u(x) with kx = k1 , (2.334)
dx2
d2
cladding : 2
u(x) = 2x u(x) with 2x = 2 k22 (2.335)
dx

where x is the decay constant of the evanescent waves in the cladding. It

is obvious that for obtaining guided modes, the propagation constant of the
mode must be between the two propagation constants for core and cladding

k22 < 2 < k12 . (2.336)

Or by dening an eective index for the mode

= k0 nef f , with k0 = (2.337)
c0

we nd

n1 > nef f > n2 , (2.338)

and Eqs.(2.334), (2.335) can be rewritten as

d2
core : 2
u(x) k02 n21 n2ef f u(x) = 0 (2.339)
dx
d2
cladding : 2 u(x) + 20 n2ef f n22 u(x) = 0 (2.340)
dx

For reasons, which will become more obvious later, we draw in Figure 2.92
the negative refractive index prole of the waveguide.
130 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

-d/2 0 x
d/2
-n2

-neff
-n1

Figure 2.92: Negative refractive index prole and shape of electric eld for
the fundamental and rst higher order transverse TE-mode

From Eq.(2.339) we nd that the solution has the general form

A exp (x x) + B exp (x x) , for x < d/2

u
(x) =
C cos (kx x) + D sin (kx x) , for |x| < d/2 (2.341)

E exp (x x) + F exp (x x) , for |x| > d/2

For a guided wave, i.e. um (x ) = 0 the coecients A and F must

be zero. It can be also shown from the symmetry of the problem, that the
solutons are either even or odd (proof later)

B exp (x x) , for x < d/2
(e)
u
(x) =
C cos (kx x) , for |x| < d/2 , (2.342)

E exp (x x) , for |
x|
> d/2

B exp (x x) , for x < d/2
(o)
u
(x) = D sin (kx x) , for |x|
< d/2 . (2.343)

E exp (x x) , for |
x|
> d/2

The coecients B and E in each case have to be determined from the bound
ary conditions. From the continuity of the tangential electric eld E y , and
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 131

the tangential magnetic eld H z , which follows from Faradays Law to be

1 E y du
H z (x) = (2.344)
j0 x dx

we obtain the boundary conditions for u(x)

u(x = d/2 + ) = u(x = d/2 ), (2.345)

du du
(x = d/2 + ) = (x = d/2 ). (2.346)
dx dx
Note, these are four conditions determining the coecients B, D, E and the
propagation constant or refractive index nef f . These conditions solve for
the parameters of even and odd modes separately. For the case of the even
modes, where B = E, we obtain

d d
B exp x = C cos kx (2.347)
2 2

d d
B x exp x = Ckx sin kx (2.348)
2 2

or by division of the both equations

d
x = kx tan kx . (2.349)
2

Eqs.(2.334) and (2.335) can be rewritten as one equation

kx2 + 2x =
k
12 k
22 = k02 n21 n
22 (2.350)

Eq.(2.349) together with Eq.(2.350) determine the propagation constant

via the two relations.

d d d
x = kx tan kx , and (2.351)
2 2 2
2 2 2
d d d
kx + x = k0 NA (2.352)
2 2 2

where q
NA =
(n21 n22 )
(2.353)

132 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

is called the numerical apperture of the waveguide. We will discuss the

physical signicance of the numerical apperture shortly. A graphical solution
of these two equations can be found by showing both relations in one plot,
see Figure 2.93.

10
k0d/2 NA
8
m=0 m=4 m=5
m=1
6 m=2
m=3
d/2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
kxd/2

Figure 2.93: Graphical solution of Eqs.(2.351) and ( 2.352), solid line for
even modes and Eq.(2.354) for the odd modes.
d The dash dotted line shows
(2.352) for dierent values of the product k0 2 NA

Each crossing in Figure 2.93 of a solid line (2.351) with a circle (2.352)
with radius k0 d2 NA represents an even guided mode. Similarly one nds for
the odd modes from the boundary conditions the relation

d d d
x = kx cot kx , (2.354)
2 2 2

which is shown in Figure 2.93 as dotted line. The corresponding crossings

with the circle indicate the existence of an odd mode.
There are also TM-modes, which we dont want to discuss for the sake of
brevity.

Numerical Aperture Figure 2.93 shows that the number of modes guided
is determined by he product k0 d2 NA, where NA is the numerical apperture
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 133

dened in Eq.(2.353)

d
M = Int k0 NA/(/2) + 1, (2.355)
2

d
= Int 2 NA + 1, (2.356)
0

where the function Int[x]means the largest integer not greater than x. Note,
that there is always at least one guided mode no matter how small the sized
and the refractive index contrast between core and cladding of the waveguide
is. However, for small size and index contrast the mode may extend very far
into the cladding and the connement in the core is low.
The numberical apperture also has an additional physical meaning that
becomes obvious from Figure 2.94.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.94: Maximum angle of incoming wave guided by a waveguide with

numerical apperture NA, [6], p. 262.

The maximum angle of an incoming ray that can still be guided in the
waveguide is given by the numerical apperture, because according to Snells
Law
n0 sin (a ) = n1 sin () , (2.357)
where n0 is the refractive index of the medium outside the waveguide. The
maximum internal angle where light is still guided in the waveguide by
total internal reection is determined by the critical angle for total internal
reection (2.126) , i.e. max = /2 tot with
n2
sin (tot ) = . (2.358)
n1
134 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Thus for the maximum angle of an incoming ray that can still be guided we
nd
s 2
n2
n0 sin (a,max ) = n1 sin (max ) = n1 1 = NA. (2.359)
n1

Most often the external medium is air with n0 1 and the refractive index
contrast is week, so that a,max 1 and we can replace the sinusoid with its
argument, which leads to
a,max = NA. (2.360)

Field Distributions Figure 2.95 shows the eld distribution for the TE
guided modes in a dielectric waveguide. Note, these are solutions of the
second order dierential equations (2.339) and (2.340) for an eective index
nef f , that is between the core and cladding index. These guided modes have
a oscillatory behavior in those regions in space where the negative eective
index is larger than the negative local refractive index, see Figure 2.92 and
exponentially decaying solutions where the negative eective index is smaller
than than the negative local refractive index.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.95: Field distributions for TE guided modes in a dielectric waveg

uide. These results should be compared with those shown in Figure 2.87 for
the planar-mirror waveguide [6], p. 254.

Figure 2.96 shows a comparison of the guided modes in a waveguide

with a Gaussian beam. In contrast to a the Gaussian beam which diracts,
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 135

in a waveguide diraction is balanced by the guiding action of the index

discontinuity, i.e. total internal reection. Most importantly the cross section
of a waveguide mode stays constant and therefore a waveguide mode can
eciently interact with the medium constituting the core or a medium that
is incorporated in the core.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.96: Comparison of Gaussian beam in free space and a waveguide

mode, [6], p. 255.

Besides integration, this prolong interaction disctance is one of the major

reasons for using waveguides. The interaction lenght can be arbitrarily long,
only limited by the waveguide loss, in contrast to a Gaussian beam, which
stays focused only over the confocal distance or Rayleigh range.
As in the case of a planar-mirror waveguide, one can show that the trans
verse mode functions are orthogonal to each other. At rst, a striking dif
ference here is that we have only a nite number of guided modes and one
might worry about the completeness of the transverse mode functions. The
answer is that in addition to the guided modes, there are unguided modes
or leaky modes, which together with the guided modes from a complete set.
Each initial eld can be decomposed into these modes. The leaky modes
rapidly loose energy because of radiation and after a relatively short propa
gation distance only the eld of guided modes remains in the waveguide. We
will not pursue this further in this introductory class. The interested reader
should consult with [11].
136 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Connement Factor
A very important quantity for a waveguide mode is its connement in the
core, which is called the connement factor
R d/2 2
u (x) dx
m = R0 2m . (2.361)
0
um (x) dx
The connement factor quanties the fraction of the mode energy propagat
ing in the core of the waveguide. This is very important for the interaction
of the mode with the medium of the core, which may be used to amplify the
mode or which may contain nonlinear media for frequency conversion.

Waveguide Dispersion
For the guided modes the eective refractive indices of the modes and there
fore the dispersion relations must be between the indices or dispersion rela
tions of core and cladding, see Figure 2.97

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.97: Dispersion relations for the dierent guided TE-Modes in the
dielectric slab waveguide.

The dierent slopes d/d for each mode indicate the dierence in group
velocity between the modes. Note, that there is at least always one guided
mode.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 137

2.7.2 Two-Dimensional Waveguides

Both the planar-mirror waveguide and the planar dielectric slab waveguide
conne light only in one direction. It is straight forward to analyze the modes
of the two-dimensional planar-mirror waveguide, which you have already done
in 6.013. Figure 2.98 shows various waveguides that are used in praxis for
various devices. Here, we do not want to analyze them any further, because
this is only possible by numerical techniques.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.98: Various types of waveguide geometries: (a) strip: (b) embedded
strip: (c) rib ro ridge: (d) strip loaded. The darker the shading, the higher
the refractive index [6], p. 261.

2.7.3 Waveguide Coupling

The core size of a waveguide can range from a fraction of the free space
wavelength to many wavelength for a multimode ber. For example a typical
high-index contrast waveguide with a silicon core and a silica cladding for
1550 nm has a cross section of 0.2m 0.4m, single-mode ber, which we
will discuss in the next section with an index contrast of 0.5-1% between core
and cladding has a typical mode-eld radius of 6m.
If the mode cross section is not prohibitively small the simplest approach
to couple light into a waveguide is by using a proper lens, see Figure 2.99
(a) or direct butt coupling of the source to the waveguide if the source is a
waveguide based device itself.
138 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.99: Coupling to a waveguide by (a) a lens; (b) direct butt coupling
of an LED or laser diode, [6], p. 262

The lens and the beam size in free space must be chosen such that the
spot size matches the size of the waveguide mode while the focusing angle in
free space is less than the numerical aperture of the waveguide, (see problem
set). Other alternatives are coupling to the evanscent eld by using a prism
coupler, see Figure 2.100

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.100: Prism coupler, [6], p. 263.

2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 139

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.101: Grating Coupler

The coupling with the prism coupler is maximum if the propagation con
stant of the waveguide mode matches the longitudinal component of the
k-vector

= knp cos p ,

Another way to match the longitudinal component of the k-vector of the

incoming light to the propagation constant of the waveguide mode is by a
grating coupler, see Figure 2.101

2.7.4 Coupling of Modes

If two dielectric waveguides are placed closely together their elds overlap.
This situation is shown in Figure 2.102 at the example of the planar dielectric
slab waveguide. Of course this situation can be achieved with any type of
two dimensional dielectric waveguide shown in Figure 2.98
140 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.102: Coupling between the two modes of the dielectric slab waveg
uide, [6], p. 264.

Once the elds signicantly overlap the two modes interact. The shape
of each mode does not change very much by the interaction. Therefore, we
can analyze this situation using perturbation theory. We assume that in
zero-th order the mode in each waveguide is independent from the presence
of the other waveguide. We consider only the fundamental TE-modes in
each of the waveguide which have excitation amplitudes a1 (z) and a2 (z),
respectively. The dynamics of each mode can be understood in terms of this
wave amplitude. In the absence of the second waveguide, each waveguide
amplitude undergoes only a phase shift during propagation according to its
dispersion relations

da1 (z)
= j 1 a1 (z), (2.362)
dz
da2 (z)
= j 2 a2 (z). (2.363)
dz

The polarization generated by the eld of mode 2 in waveguide 1 acts as a

source for the eld in waveguide 1 and the other way arround. Therefore,
the coupling of the modes can be described by adding a source term in each
equation proportional to the free propagation of the corresponding wave in
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 141

the other guide

da1 (z)
= j 1 a1 (z) j12 a2 (z), (2.364)
dz
da2 (z)
= j21 a1 (z) j 2 a2 (z). (2.365)
dz
12 and 21 are the coupling constants of the modes. An expression in terms
of waveguide properties is derived in the appendix. These coupled mode
equations describe a wealth of phenomena and are of fundamental importance
in many areas.
As we will see, there is only a signicant interaction of the two modes if
the two propagation constants are not much dierent from each other (phase
matching). Therefore, we write the propagation constants in terms of the
average 0 and the phase mismatch

1/2 = 0 with (2.366)

1 + 2 2
0 = and = 1 . (2.367)
2 2
and we take the overall trivial phase shift of both modes out by introducing
the slowly varying relative eld amplitudes

a1 (z) = a1 (z)ej 0 z and a2 (z) = a2 (z)ej 0 z (2.368)

which obey the equation

d
a (z) = ja1 (z) j12 a2 (z), (2.369)
dz 1
d
a (z) = j21 a1 (z) + ja2 (z). (2.370)
dz 2
Power conservation during propagation demands

d
|a1 (z)|2 + |a2 (z)|2 = 0 (2.371)
dz
which requests that 21 = 212 , i.e. the two coupling coecients are not
independent from each other (see problem set).
Note, Eqs.(2.369) and (2.370) are a system of two linear ordinary dier
ential equations with constant coecients, which is straight forward to solve.
142 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Given the excitation amplitudes a1 (0) and a2 (0) = 0 at the input of the
waveguides, i.e. no input in waveguide 2 the solution is


a1 (z) = a1 (0) cos z j sin z , (2.372)

21
2 (z) = ja1 (0)
a sin z, (2.373)

with q
= 2 + |12 |2 . (2.374)
The optical powers after a propagation distance z in both waveguides are
then
2 !

P1 (z) = |a1 (z)|2 = P1 (0) cos2 z + sin2 z , (2.375)

!2
|21 |2
P2 (z) = P1 (0) sin2 z. (2.376)

This solution shows, that depending on the dierence in phase velocity be

tween the two-waveguides more or less power is coupled back and fourth
between the two waveguides, see Figure 2.103.
The period at which the power exchange occurs is

2
L= . (2.377)

If both waveguides are identical, i.e. = 0 and = |12 |, the waves are
phase matched, Eqs.(2.375) and (2.376) simplify to

P1 (z) = P1 (0) cos2 z (2.378)

P2 (z) = P1 (0) sin2 z. (2.379)

Complete transfer of power occurs between the two waveguides after a dis
tance

L0 = , (2.380)
2
see Figure 2.104
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 143

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.103: Periodic exchange of power between guides 1 and 2 [6], p. 266.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.104: Exchange of power between guides 1 and 2 in the phase-

matched case, [6], p. 266.

Depending on the length of the coupling region the coupling ratio can be
chosen. A device with a distance L0 /2 and L0 achieves 50% and 100% power
transfer into waveguide two, respectively, see Figure 2.105
144 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.105: Optical couplers: (a) 100% coupler, (b) 3dB coupler, [6], 267.

2.7.5 Switching by Control of Phase Mismatch

If we keep the interaction length of the waveguides xed at a length L0 , then

the power tranfer from waveguide 1 to waveguide 2 depends critically on the
phase mismatch

s
2 2
P2 1 2L0
T () = = sin c2 1+ , (2.381)
P1 2 2

where sinc(x) = sin(x)/(x). Figure 2.106 shows the transfer characteristic

as a function of normalized phase mismatch. The phase mismatch between
waveguides can be controlled for example by the linear electro-optic or Pock
els eect, which we will investigate later.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 145

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.106: Dependence of power transfer from waveguide 1 to waveguide

2 as a function of phase mismatch, [6], p. 267.

The implementation of such a waveguide coupler switch is shown in Figure

2.107.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.107: Integrated waveguide coupler switch, [6], p. 708

146 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

2.7.6 Optical Fibers

Optical bers are cylindrical waveguides, see Figure 2.108, made of low-loss
materials such as silica glass.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.108: Optical bers are cylindrical dielectric waveguides, [6], p. 273.

Similar to the waveguides studied in the last section the most basic bers
consist of a high index core and a lower index cladding. Today ber technol
ogy is a highly developed art which has pushed many of the physical param
eters of a waveguide to values which have been thought to be impossible a
few decades ago:

Fiber with less than 0.16dB/km loss

Photonic crystal ber (Nanostructured ber)

Hollow core ber

Highly nonlinear ber

Er-doped ber for ampliers

Yb-doped ber for ecient lasers and ampliers

Raman gain ber

Large area single mode bers for high power (kW) lasers.

Figure 2.109 shows the ranges of attenuation coecients of silica glass

single-mode and multimode ber.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 147

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.109: Ranges of attenuation coecients of silica glass single-mode

and multimode ber, [10], p. 298.

For the purpose of this introductory class we only give an overview about
the mode structure of the most basic ber, the step index ber, see Figure
2.110 (b)

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.110: Geometry, refractive index prole, and typical rays in: (a) a
multimode step-index ber, (b) a single-mode step-index ber, (c) a multi
mode graded-index ber [6], p. 274
148 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Step-index ber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide specied by its core

and cladding refractive indices, n1 and n2 and the core radius a, see Fig
ure 2.108. Typically the cladding is assumed to be so thick that the nite
cladding radius does not need to be taken into account. The guided modes
need to be suciently decaded before reaching the cladding boundary, which
is usually strongly scattering or absorbing. In standard ber, the cladding
indices dier only slightly, so that the relative refractive-index dierence
n1 n2
= (2.382)
n1
is small, typically 103 < < 2 102 . Most bers currently used in medium
to long optical communication systems are made of fused silica glass (SiO2 ) of
high chemical purity. The increase in refractive index of the core is achieved
by doping with titanium, germanium or boron, among others. The refractive
index n1 ranges from 1.44 to 1.46 depending on the wavelength utilized in
the ber. The acceptance angle of the rays coupling from free space into
guided modes of the waveguide is determined by the numerical apperture as
already discussed for the dielectric slab waveguide, see Figure 2.111
q
a sin(a ) = NA = n21 n22 n1 2. (2.383)

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.111: The acceptance angle of a ber and numerical aperture NA

[6], p. 276.
2.7. WAVEGUIDES AND INTEGRATED OPTICS 149

Guided Waves
Again the guided waves can be found by looking at solutions of the Helmholtz
equations in the core and cladding where the index is homogenous and by
additionally requesting the continuity of the tangential electric and magnetic
elds at the core-cladding boundary. In general the ber modes are not any-
longer pure TE or TM modes but rather are hybrid modes, i.e. the modes
have both transverse and longitudinal electric and magnetic eld components.
Only the radial symmetric modes are still TE or TM modes. To determine
the exact mode solutions of the ber is beyond the scope of this class and
the interested reader may consult reference [2]. However, for weakly guiding
bers, i.e. 1, the modes are actually very much TEM like, i.e. the longi
tudinal eld components are much smaller than the radial eld components.
The linear in x and y directions polarized modes form orthogonal polariza
tion states. The linearly polarized (l, m) mode is usually denoted as the
LPlm -mode.The two polarizations of the mode with indices (l, m) travel with
the same propagation constant and have identical intensity distributions.
The generic solutions to the Helmhotz equation in cylindrical coordinates
are the ordinary, Jm (kr), and modied, Km (kr), Bessel functions (analogous
to the cos(x)/ sin(x) and exponential functions ex , that are solutions to the
Helmholtz equation in cartesian coordinates). Thus, a generic mode function
for a cylinder symmetric ber has the form


cos(l)
Jl (kl,m r) , for r < a, core
sin(l)
ul,m (r, ) = (2.384)

cos(l)

Kl (kl,m r) , for r > a, cladding
sin(l)

For large r, the modied Bessel function approaches an exponential, Kl (kl,m r)

cos(l)
eln m r . The propagation constants for this two dimensional waveg
sin(l)
uide have to fulll the additional constraints

2 2
2
kl,m = n1 k0 2 , (2.385)

2l,m = 2 n22 k02 , (2.386)
2
kl,m + 2l,m = k02 NA2 . (2.387)

Figure 2.112 shows the radial dependence of the mode functions

150 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.112: Radial dependence of mode functions u(r),[6], p.279.

The transverse intensity distribution of the linearly polarized LP0,1 and

LP3,4 modes are shown in Figure 2.113.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.113: Intensity distribtuion of the (a) LP01 and (b) LP3,4 modes in
the transverse plane. The LP01 has a intensity distribution similar to the
Gaussian beam, [6], p. 283.

Number of Modes
It turns out, that as in the case of the dielectric slab waveguide the number of
guided modes critically depends on the numerical aperture or more precisely
2.8. WAVE PROPAGATION IN ANISOTROPIC MEDIA 151

on the V-parameter, see Eq.(2.355)

d
V = k0 NA. (2.388)
2
Without proof the number of modes is
4 2
M V , for V 1. (2.389)
2
which is similar to Eq.(2.355) for the one-dimensional dielectric slab waveg
uide, but the number of modes here is now related to the square of the
V-parameter, because of the two-dimensional transverse connement of the
modes in the ber. As in the case of the dielectric waveguide, there is al
ways at least one guided mode (two polarizations). However, the smaller the
V-parameter the more the mode extends into the cladding and the guiding
properties become weak, i.e. small bending of the ber may already lead to
high loss.

2.8 Wave Propagation in Anisotropic Media

So far we have always assumed that the medium in which the electromagnetic
wave propagates is isotropic. This causes the induced polarization to be
parallel to the applied electric eld. In crystaline materials or materials with
microscopic ne structure in general, this is no longer the case. Instead of
the simple relation
P = 0 E , (2.390)
where the susceptibility is a scalar, the induced polarization may have a
general lineare dependence on E not necessarily parallel to the applied eld

P x = 0 xx E x + xy E y + xz E z , (2.391)

P y = 0 yx E x + yy E y + yz E z , (2.392)

P z = 0 zx E x + zy E y + zz E z . (2.393)

The tensor is called the electric susceptibility tensor. As shown in Table

2.7 the crytaline structure determines to a large extend the values of the
susceptibility tensor elements or in other words the symmetry properties of
152 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

xx 0 0
isotropic 0 xx 0 cubic
0 0 xx
xx 0 0 Tetragonal
uniaxial 0 xx 0 Trigonal
0 0 zz Hexagonal
xx 0 0
biaxial 0 yy 0 Orthorhombic
0 0 zz
xx 0 xz
0 yy 0 Monoclinic
xz 0 zz
xx xy xz
xy yy yz Triclinic
xz yz zz

Table 2.7: Form of the electric susceptibility tensor for various crystal sys
tems.

the crystal reect themselves in the symmetry properties of the susceptibility

tensor.
Elementary algebra tells us that we can choose a new coordinate system
with axis x0 , y 0 , z 0 , such that the susceptibility tensor has diagonal form
P x0 = 0 x0 x0 E x0 , (2.394)
P y0 = 0 y0 y0 E y 0 , (2.395)
P z0 = 0 z 0 z 0 E z 0 . (2.396)
These directions are called the principle axes of the crystal. In the following,
we consider that the crystal axes are aligned with the principle axes. If a
TEM-wave is launched along the zaxis with the elecric eld polarized along
one of the prinicple axes, lets say x, the wave will experience a refractive index
n2x = 1 + xx (2.397)
and the wave will have a phase velocity
c = c0 /nx . (2.398)
2.8. WAVE PROPAGATION IN ANISOTROPIC MEDIA 153

If on the other hand the wave is polarized along the y-axis it will have a dif
ferent phase velocity corresponding to ny . If the wave propagates along the
zaxis with electric eld components along both the x- and y-axis, the wave
can be decomposed into the two polarization components. During propaga
tion of the wave the will experience a dierential phase shift with respect to
each other and the state of polarization may change. Later, this phenomenon
will be exploited for the construction of modulators and switches.

2.8.1 Birefringence and Index Ellipsoid

If we consider the propagation of a wave into an arbitrary direction of the
crystal it is no longer obvious what the plane wave solution and its phase
velocity is. We have
D = E (2.399)
with
x 0 0
=0 0 y 0 . (2.400)
0 0 z
Lets assume there are plane wave solutions

E = E 0 ej kr

then Amperes and Faradays law give

k H = E , (2.401)
k E = 0 H , (2.402)

resulting in the wave equation

k k E = 2 0 E . (2.403)

Note, that the wavevector k is orthogonal to the dielectric displacement D

and the magnetic eld H, but not necessarily to the electric eld E. There is

k E = D B. (2.404)

This situation is reected in Figure 2.114

154 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Figure 2.114: Wave propagation in anisotropic media. KDB-system.

One distinguishes between isotropic, uniaxial und biaxial media. We have

extensively studied the isotropic case. The most general case is the biaxial
case, where the dielectric constants along the three axes are all dierent.
These dielectic constants, or corresponding indices, dene an index ellipsoid

x2 y2 z2
+ + = 1, (2.405)
n2x n2y nz2

see Figure 2.115.

Here we want to consider the case of an uniaxial crystal, where

xx = yy = 1 6= zz = 3 . (2.406)

The refractive indices corresponding to these susceptibilities are called ordi

nary and extraordinary indices

n1 = no 6= n3 = ne . (2.407)

Further, there is a distinction between positive, ne > no , and negative, ne <

no , uniaxial crystals. The uniaxial case corresponds to an index ellipsoid that
has rotational symmectry around the z-axis, see Figure 2.115.
2.8. WAVE PROPAGATION IN ANISOTROPIC MEDIA 155

Figure 2.115: Index Ellipsoid

The general case is then a wave with wave vector k propagating under
an angle with respect to the z-axis; the z-axis is also often called the fast
axis or c-axis or optical axis. Without restrictions, we assume that the wave
vector is in the x zplane. If the wave vector is aligned with the fast
axis, there is no birefringence, because the index experienced by the wave
is independent from its polarization. If there is a nite angle, 6= 0, then
there are two waves with dierent phase velocity and group velocity as we
will
show now, see 2.115,
and
birefringence
occurs. With the identity A
B C = A C B A B C, when applied to Eq.(2.403), follows

k E k k2 E + 2 0 E = 0. (2.408)
This equation determines the dispersion relation and polarization of the pos
sible waves with wave vector k. Since the wave vector is in the x zplane
this equation reads
2 2
k0 no + kx2 k2 kx kz
k02 n2o k2 E = 0 (2.409)
2 2 2 2
kz kx k0 ne + kz k
This equation clearly shows that a wave polarized along the yaxis or in
general orthogonal to the plane composed of the wave vector and the fast
axis decouples from the other components.
156 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

2.8.2 Ordinary Wave

This wave is called the ordinary wave, because it has the dispersion relation

k2 = k02 n2o . (2.410)

As with the TEM waves in an isotropic medium, the wave vector and the
eld components build an orthogonal trihedral, kE H.

2.8.3 Extraordinary Wave

Eq.(2.409) allows for another wave with a polarization in the x zplane,

and therefore this wave has a longitudinal electric eld component. This
wave is called extraordinary wave and its dispersion relation follows from

2 2
k n + kx2 k2 kx kz
det
0 o = 0.

(2.411)

kz kx k02 n2e + kz2 k2

Calculating the determinant and simplifying we nd

kz2 kx2
+ = k02 . (2.412)
n2o n2e

With kx = k sin () , kz = k cos () and k = n () k0 we obtain for the

refractive index seen by the extraordinary wave

1 cos2 () sin2 ()
= + . (2.413)
n ()2 n2o n2e
2.8. WAVE PROPAGATION IN ANISOTROPIC MEDIA 157

Figure 2.116: Cut through the surface with a constant free space wave num
ber ko (kx , ky , kz ) or frequency, which is also an ellipsoid, but with exchanged
principle axis when compared with Figure 2.114

Eqs.(2.412) and (2.413) also describe an ellipse. This ellipse is the location
of a constant free space wave number or frequency, = k0 c0 , and therefore
determines the refractive index, n () , of the extraordinary wave, see Figure
2.115. The group velocity is found to be parallel to the Poynting vector

g = k (k) k S, (2.414)

and is orthogonal to the surface. For completeness, we give a derivation of

the walk-o angle between the ordinary and extraordinary wave

kx
tan = (2.415)
kz

dkz
tan = (2.416)
dkx
158 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

From Eq.(2.412) we obtain by dierentiation along the surface of the ellipsoid

2kz dkz 2kx dkx
+ = 0. (2.417)
n2o ne2
n2o kx n2o
tan = = tan
n2e kz n2e
Thus, we obtain for the walk-o-angle between Poynting vector and wave
vector
tan tan
tan = tan ( ) = (2.418)
1 + tan tan
or 2
n0
n2e
1 tan
tan = n2
.
(2.419)

1 + n02 tan2
e

2.8.4 Example: Calcite

One example of a birefringent materialis calcite, which is also often used in
optical devices, such as polarizers for example. Figure 2.117 and 2.118 show
the arrangement of atoms in calcite.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.117: Arrangement of atoms in calcite, [1], p. 231.

2.8. WAVE PROPAGATION IN ANISOTROPIC MEDIA 159

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.118: Atomic arrangement of calcite looking down the optical axis
[1], p. 232.

Figure 2.119 shows a crystal cleaved along the crystal axis (cleavage
form).

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.119: Calcite cleavage form [1], p. 232.

Figure 2.120 shows the light path of two orthogonally polarized light
beams where one propagates as an ordinary and the other as an extraordinary
wave through the crystal. This leads to a double image when an object is
viewed through the crystal, see Figure 2.121.
160 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.120: A light beam with two orthogonal eld components traversing
a calcite principal section [1], p. 234.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.121: Double image formed by a calcite crystal (not cleavage form)
[1], p. 233.

Table 2.8 gives the ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices of some
2.9. POLARIZATION AND CRYSTAL OPTICS 161

uniaxial crystals. Birefringent materials enable the construction of wave

Crystal no ne
Tourmaline 1.669 1.638
Calcite 1.6584 1.4864
Quartz 1.5443 1.5534
Sodim Nitrate 1.5854 1.3369
Ice 1.309 1.313
Rutile (TiO2 ) 2.616 1.903

Table 2.8: Refractive indices of some uniaxial birefringent crystals ( =

589.3nm) [1], p.236

plates or retardation plates, which enable the manipulation of polarization

in a very unique way.

2.9 Polarization and Crystal Optics

So far we have discussed linearly polarized electromagnetic waves, where the
electric eld of a TEM-wave propagating along the zdirection was either
polarized along the x or yaxis. The most general TEM-wave has simul
taneously electric elds in both polarizations and the direction of the electric
eld in space, i.e. its polarization, can change during propagation. A de
scription of polarization and polarization evolution in optical systems can be
based using Jones vectors and matrices.

2.9.1 Polarization
A general complex TEM-wave propagating along the zdirection is given by

E 0x
E (z, t) = E 0y ej(tkz) , (2.420)
0

where E 0x = E0x ejx and E 0y = E0y ejy are the complex eld amplitudes of
the x and y polarized components of the wave. The real electric eld is
162 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

given by

E0x cos (t kz + x)

E0y cos t kz + y ,
E (z, t) =
(2.421)

0
Both components are periodic functions in t kz = (t z/c) .

Linear Polarization

If the phases of the complex eld amplitudes along the x and yaxis are
equal, i.e.

E 0x = |E 0x | ej and E 0y =
E 0y
ej
then the real electric eld

E 0x
E(z, t) = E 0y cos (t kz + ) (2.422)
0
always oscillates along a xed direction in the x-y-plane, see Figure 2.122

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.122: Linearly polarized light. (a) Time course at a xed position z.
(b) A snapshot at a xed time t, [6], p. 197.

The angle between the polarization direction and the x-axis, , is given
by = arctan (E0y /E0x ) . If there is a phase dierence of the complex eld
amplitudes along the x and yaxis, the direction and magnitude of the
electric eld amplitude changes periodically in time at a given position z.
2.9. POLARIZATION AND CRYSTAL OPTICS 163

Circular Polarization
Special cases occur when the magnitude of the elds in both linear polariza
tions are equal E0x = E0y = E0 , but there is a phase dierence = 2 in
both components. Then we obtain

ej
E (z, t) = E0 Re ej() ej(tkz) (2.423)

0

cos (t kz + )
= E0 sin (t kz + ) . (2.424)
0

For this case, the tip of the electric eld vector describes a circle in the
x yplane, as

|Ex (z, t)|2 + |Ey (z, t)|2 = E02 for all z, t, (2.425)

see Figure 2.123.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.123: Trajectories of the tip of the electric eld vector of a right and
left circularly polarized plane wave. (a) Time course at a xed position z.
(b) A snapshot at a xed time t. Note, the sense of rotation in (a) is opposite
to that in (b) [6], p. 197.
164 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Right Circular Polarization If the tip of the electric eld at a given time,
t, rotates counter clockwise with respect to the phase fronts of the wave, here
in the positive zdirection, then the wave is called right circularly polarized
light, i.e.

1 cos (t kz + )
Erc (z, t) = E0 Re j ej(tkz+) = E0 sin (t kz + ) .

0 0
(2.426)
A snapshot of the lines traced by the end points of the electric-eld vec
tors at dierent positions is a right-handed helix, like a right-handed screw
pointing in the direction of the phase fronts of the wave, i.e. kvector see
Figure 2.123 (b).

Left Circular Polarization If the tip of the electric eld at a given xed
time, t, rotates clockwise with respect to the phase fronts of the wave, here
in the again in the positive zdirection, then the wave is called left circularly
polarized light, i.e.

1 cos (t kz + )
Elc (z, t) = E0 Re j ej(tkz+) = E0 sin (t kz + ) .

0 0
(2.427)

Eliptical Polarization The general polarization case is called eliptical

polarization, as for arbitrary E 0x = E0x ejx and E 0y = E0y ejy , we obtain
for the locus of the tip of the electric eld vector from

E0 cos(t kz + x)
E(z, t) = E0y cos t kz + y . (2.428)
0

the relations
Ey
= cos t kz + y (2.429)
E0y

= cos (t kz + x ) cos y x (2.430)

sin (t kz + x ) sin y x .
2.9. POLARIZATION AND CRYSTAL OPTICS 165

and
Ex
= cos (t kz + x ) . (2.431)
E0x
These relations can be combined to
Ey Ex

cos y x = sin (t kz + x ) sin y x (2.432)

E0y E0x
s 2
Ex
sin (t kz + x ) = 1 (2.433)
E0x
Substituting Eq.(2.433) in Eq.(2.432) and building the square results in

2 !
Ey Ex 2 Ex
cos y x = 1 sin2 y x . (2.434)
E0y E0x E0x
After reordering of the terms we obtain
2 2
Ex Ey Ex Ey
+ 2 cos y x = sin2 y x . (2.435)
E0x E0y E0x E0y
This is the equation of an ellipse making an angle with respect to the x-axis
given by
2E0x E0y cos y x
tan 2 = . (2.436)
E02x E02y
see Figure 2.124.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.124: (a) Rotation of the endpoint of the electric eld vector in the
x-y-plane at a xed position z. (b) A snapshot at a xed time t [6], p. 197.
166 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

Elliptically polarized light can also be understood as a superposition of a

right and left cicular polarized light, see Figure 2.125.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.125: Elliptically polarized light as a superposition of right and left

circularly polarized light [1], p. 223.

2.9.2 Jones Calculus

As seen in the last section, the information about polarization of a TEM-wave

can be tracked by a vector that is proportional to the complex electric-eld
vector. This vector is called the Jones vector

E 0x Vx
V = : Jones Vector (2.437)
E 0y Vy

Jones Matrix

Figure 2.126 shows a light beam that is normally incident on a retardation

plate along the zaxis with a polarization state described by a Jones vector
2.9. POLARIZATION AND CRYSTAL OPTICS 167

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.126: A retardation plate rotated at an angle about the z-axis.

f("fast") and s("slow") are the two principal dielectric axes of the crystal for
light propagating along the zaxis [2], p. 17.

The principle axis (s for slow and f for fast axis) of the retardation
plate are rotated by an angle with respect to the x and yaxis. Let ns
and nf be the refractive index of the slow and fast principle axis, respectively.
The polarization state of the emerging beam in the crystal coordinate system
is thus given by
0 jk n L
Vs e o s 0 Vs
= , (2.438)
Vf0 0 ejko nf L Vf
The phase retardation is dened as the phase dierence between the two
components
= (ns nf ) ko L. (2.439)
In birefringent crystals the dierence in refractive index is much smaller
than the index itself, |ns nf | ns , nf , therefore parallel to the evolving
dierential phase a large absolute phase shift occurs. Taking the mean phase
shift
1
= (ns + nf ) ko L, (2.440)
2
out, we can rewrite (2.438) as
0 j/2
Vs j e 0 Vs
=e . (2.441)
Vf0 0 ej/2 Vf
168 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

The matrix connecting the Jones vector at the input of an optical component
with the Jones vector at the output is called a Jones matrix.
If no coherent additon with another eld is planned at the output of the
system, the average phase can be dropped. With the rotation matrix, R,
connecting the (x, y) coordinate system with the (s, f ) coordinate system

cos sin
R () = , (2.442)
sin cos
we nd the Jones matrix W describing the propagation of the eld compo
nents through the retardation plate as
0
Vx Vx
=W . (2.443)
Vy0 Vy

with
W = R () W0 R () . (2.444)
and
ej/2 0
W0 = j/2 . (2.445)
0 e
Carrying out the matix multiplications leads to
j/2
e cos2 () + ej/2 sin2 () j sin 2 sin (2)
W = .
j sin 2 sin (2) ej/2 sin2 () + ej/2 cos2 ()
(2.446)
Note that the Jones matrix of a wave plate is a unitary matrix, that is

W W = 1.

Unitary matrices have the property that they transform orthogonal vectors
into another pair of orthogonal vectors. Thus two orthogonal polarization
states remain orthogonal when propagating through wave plates.

Polarizer
A polarizer is a device that absorbs one component of the polarization vector.
The Jones matrix of polarizer along the x-axis or y-axis is

1 0 0 0
Px = , and Py = . (2.447)
0 0 0 1
2.9. POLARIZATION AND CRYSTAL OPTICS 169

Half-Wave Plate
A half-wave plate has a phase retardation of = , i.e. its thickness is
t = /2(ne no ). The corresponding Jones matrix follows from Eq.(2.446)

cos(2) sin (2)
W = j . (2.448)
sin (2) cos(2)
For the special case of = 45o , see Figure 2.127, the half-wave plate rotates
a linearly polarized beam exactly by 900 , i.e. it exchanges the polarization
axis. It can be shown, that for a general azimuth angle , the half-wave
plate will rotate the polarization by an angle 2, see problem set. When
the incident light is circularly polarized a half-wave plate will convert right-
hand circularly polarized light into left-hand circularly polarized light and
vice versa, regardless of the azimuth angle .

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.127: The eect of a half-wave plate on the polarziation state of a

beam, [2], p.21.

Quarter-Wave Plate
A quarter-wave plate has a phase retardation of = /2, i.e. its thickness
is t = /4(ne no ). The corresponding Jones matrix follows again from
Eq.(2.446)
170 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM AND OPTICS

!
1 [1 j cos(2)] j 12 sin (2)
2
W =
.
(2.449)

j 12 sin (2) 1 [1 + j cos(2)]

2
and for the special case of = 45o , see Figure 2.127 we obtain

1 1 j
W = , (2.450)
2 j 1
see Figure 2.128.

Image removed for copyright purposes.

Figure 2.128: The eect of a quarter wave plate on the polarization state of
a linearly polarized input wave [2], p.22.

If the incident beam is vertically polarized, i.e.

Vx 0
= , (2.451)
Vy 1
the eect of a 45o -oriented quarter-wave plate is to convert vertically polar
ized light into left-handed circularly polarized light. If the incident beam is
horizontally polarized the outgoing beam is a right-handed circularly polar
ized, see Figure 2.128. 0
Vx j 1
0 = . (2.452)
Vy 2 j
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171