ENGINEERING

PHYSICS
[SUBJECT CODE: PHY1071]

COMMON COURSE MATERIAL FOR FIRST YEAR B.Tech. STUDENTS

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
MANIPAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

[2022]
 Contents
1 WAVE OPTICS ..................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ................................................................................................. 4
1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS .................................................................... 5
1.3 ENERGY CARRIED BY ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ....................................................... 6
1.4 MOMENTUM AND RADIATION PRESSURE ......................................................................... 8
1.5 THE SPECTRUM OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ............................................................ 9
1.6 OVERVIEW OF INTERFERENCE ........................................................................................... 11
1.7 INTERFERENCE FROM THIN FILMS .................................................................................... 14
1.8 NEWTON’S RINGS ................................................................................................................... 15
1.9 ANTI-REFLECTION COATINGS: SINGLE AND MULTI-LAYERED FILMS .................... 17
1.10 MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER ......................................................................................... 21
1.11 OVERVIEW OF DIFFRACTION .............................................................................................. 22
1.12 DIFFRACTION GRATINGS AND APPLICATIONS .............................................................. 27
1.13 DIFFRACTION OF X-RAYS BY CRYSTALS ......................................................................... 29
1.14 QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 31
1.15 PROBLEMS................................................................................................................................ 31
2 LASERS AND FIBRE OPTICS ........................................................................................................... 38
2.1 LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) ......................................... 38
2.2 PRINCIPLE & PRODUCTION OF LASERS ............................................................................ 38
2.3 POPULATION INVERSION & METASTABLE STATES ...................................................... 40
2.4 EINSTEIN COEFFICIENTS ...................................................................................................... 40
2.5 PRINCIPLE OF LASER: ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A LASER .................................. 45
2.6 RUBY LASER ............................................................................................................................ 45
2.7 He-Ne LASER ............................................................................................................................ 46
2.8 SEMICONDUCTOR LASER ..................................................................................................... 47
2.9 APPLICATIONS OF LASER ..................................................................................................... 49
2.10 OPTICAL FIBRES ..................................................................................................................... 49
2.11 ANGLE OF ACCEPTANCE AND NUMERICAL APERTURE .............................................. 50
2.12 TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBRES .................................................................................................. 52
2.13 TYPES OF ATTENUATION ..................................................................................................... 55
2.14 DISTORTION IN OPTICAL FIBRE.......................................................................................... 56
2.15 APPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 58
2.16 QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 59
2.17 PROBLEMS................................................................................................................................ 59

1
3 QUANTUM PHYSICS ........................................................................................................................ 63
3.1 BLACKBODY RADIATION AND PLANCK’S HYPOTHESIS.............................................. 63
3.2 PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT ..................................................................................................... 67
3.3 COMPTON EFFECT .................................................................................................................. 69
3.4 PHOTONS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES [DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT] ............... 72
3.5 DE BROGLIE HYPOTHESIS - WAVE PROPERTIES OF PARTICLES ................................ 72
3.6 THE QUANTUM PARTICLE.................................................................................................... 73
3.7 DOUBLE–SLIT EXPERIMENT REVISITED .......................................................................... 76
3.8 UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE ................................................................................................... 76
3.9 QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 77
3.10 PROBLEMS................................................................................................................................ 78
4 QUANTUM MECHANICS ................................................................................................................. 82
4.1 AN INTERPRETATION OF QUANTUM MECHANICS ........................................................ 82
4.2 THE SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION .......................................................................................... 84
4.3 PARTICLE IN AN INFINITE POTENTIAL WELL (PARTICLE IN A “BOX”) .................... 84
4.4 A PARTICLE IN A POTENTIAL WELL OF FINITE HEIGHT .............................................. 86
4.5 TUNNELLING THROUGH A POTENTIAL ENERGY BARRIER ......................................... 88
4.6 THE SIMPLE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR ............................................................................. 89
4.7 QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 90
4.8 PROBLEMS................................................................................................................................ 91
5 MOLECULES AND SOLIDS .............................................................................................................. 93
5.1 MOLECULAR BONDS ............................................................................................................. 93
5.2 ENERGY STATES AND SPECTRA OF MOLECULES .......................................................... 96
5.3 ROTATIONAL MOTION OF MOLECULES ........................................................................... 96
5.4 VIBRATIONAL MOTION OF MOLECULES .......................................................................... 98
5.5 MOLECULAR SPECTRA ......................................................................................................... 99
5.6 BONDING IN SOLIDS ............................................................................................................ 101
5.7 FREE-ELECTRON THEORY OF METALS ........................................................................... 104
5.8 BAND THEORY OF SOLIDS ................................................................................................. 108
5.9 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION IN METALS, INSULATORS AND SEMICONDUCTORS 110
5.10 SUPERCONDUCTIVITY-PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS ......................................... 113
5.11 QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 115
5.12 PROBLEMS.............................................................................................................................. 116
6 INTRODUCTION TO NANOSCIENCE ........................................................................................... 119
6.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 119
6.2 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY ..................................................................... 121
6.3 SURFACE TO VOLUME RATIO ........................................................................................... 122

2
6.4 QUANTUM CONFINEMENT ................................................................................................. 123
6.5 QUANTUM DOTS (QDs) ........................................................................................................ 125
6.6 PREPARATION TECHNIQUES OF NANOMATERIALS .................................................... 126
6.7 APPLICATIONSOFNANOTECHNOLOGY ........................................................................... 131
6.8 QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 133

3
1 WAVE OPTICS
OBJECTIVES

• To study the concept of electromagnetic wave and its propagation.

• To describe the phenomena of interference and diffraction.
• To explain the interference from thin films and its applications.

1.1 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

In 1865, James Clark Maxwell laid the foundation for the grand unification theory (GUT) by
combining electric and magnetic phenomena. He showed that electric and magnetic fields
fluctuating together could form a propagating wave appropriately called an electromagnetic
wave. Sunlight is a mixture of electromagnetic wave having different wavelengths. Each
wavelength corresponds to a unique colour in the visible range. An electromagnetic wave in a
vacuum consists of mutually perpendicular and oscillating electric and magnetic fields. The
wave is a transverse wave since the fields are mutually perpendicular to the direction along
which the wave travels. In general, waves are the means of transporting energy or information.
A wave is a function of both space and time.

Figure 1.1: Electric and magnetic fields of an electromagnetic wave traveling at velocity c in the
positive x direction. The field vectors are shown at one instant of time and at one position in
space. These fields depend on x and t.

To understand the prediction of electromagnetic wave that travels in x direction (the direction
of propagation), let us consider the electric field E is in the y direction and the magnetic field
B is in the z direction (Figure 1.1). Such waves, in which the electric and magnetic fields are
restricted to being parallel to a pair of perpendicular axes, are said to be linearly polarized
waves. Furthermore, let's assume the field magnitudes E and B depend on x and t only, not on
the y or z coordinate. Let's also imagine that the source of the electromagnetic waves is such
that a wave radiated from any position in the yz plane propagates in the x direction and all such
4
waves are emitted in phase. If we define a ray as the line along which the wave travels, all rays
for these waves are parallel. This entire collection of waves is often called a plane wave.
A surface connecting points of equal phase on all waves is a geometric plane called a wave
front. In comparison, a point source of radiation sends waves out radially in all directions. A
surface connecting points of equal phase for this situation is a sphere, so this wave is called a
spherical wave. The properties of electromagnetic waves can be deduced from Maxwell’s
equations.

1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS

There are four equations that are regarded as the basis of all electrical and magnetic phenomena.
These equations, developed by Maxwell, are as fundamental to electromagnetic phenomena as
Newton’s laws are to mechanical phenomena. The theory that Maxwell developed was more
far-reaching than even he imagined because it turned out to agree with the special theory of
relativity, as Einstein showed in 1905. Maxwell’s equations represent the laws of electricity
and magnetism. For simplicity, Maxwell’s equations given below are applied to free space, that
is, in the absence of any dielectric or magnetic material. The four equations are,

Gauss’s law: the total electric flux through any closed surface equals the net charge inside that
surface divided by ε0 (absolute permittivity). This law relates an electric field to the charge
distribution that creates it.

1.1
Gauss’s law in magnetism: It states that the net magnetic flux through a closed surface is zero.
That is, the number of magnetic field lines that enter a closed volume must equal the number
that leave that volume, which implies that magnetic field lines cannot begin or end at any point.
If they did, it would mean that isolated magnetic monopoles existed at those points. That
isolated magnetic monopoles have not been observed in nature can be taken as a confirmation
of the equation.

1.2

Faraday’s law of induction: This equation the creation of an electric field by a changing
magnetic flux. This law states that the emf, which is the line integral of the electric field around

5
any closed path, equals the rate of change of magnetic flux through any surface bounded by
that path. One consequence of Faraday’s law is the current induced in a conducting loop placed
in a time-varying magnetic field.

1.3
Ampère–Maxwell law: It describes the creation of a magnetic field by a changing electric field
and by electric current: the line integral of the magnetic field around any closed path is the sum
of µ0 (absolute permeability) multiplied by the net current through that path and ε0 µ0 multiplied
by the rate of change of electric flux through any surface bounded by that path.

1.4
1.3 ENERGY CARRIED BY ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

We know that electromagnetic waves bring energy into a system by virtue of their electric and
magnetic fields. These fields can exert forces and move charges in the system and, thus, do
work on them. The rate of transfer of energy by an electromagnetic wave is described by a
⃗ , called the Poynting vector, which is defined by the expression
vector 𝑺

⃗ = 𝟏𝑬
𝑺 ⃗ ×𝑩
⃗⃗
𝝁𝟎
1.5
The magnitude of the Poynting vector represents the rate at which energy passes through a
unit surface area perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. Therefore, the magnitude
⃗ represents power per unit area. The direction of the vector is along the direction of wave
of 𝑺
propagation, as shown in the figure below.

⃗ are Js-1m-2 = W/m2. As an example, let us evaluate the magnitude of 𝑺

The SI units of 𝑺 ⃗ for a
⃗⃗⃗⃗ × ⃗𝑩
plane electromagnetic wave where |𝑬 ⃗ | = EB. In this case,

𝑬𝑩
𝑺=
𝝁𝟎

1.6
Because B=E/c, we can also express this result as

𝑬𝟐 𝒄𝑩𝟐
𝑺= =
𝒄𝝁𝟎 𝝁𝟎
1.7

6
These equations for S, apply at any instant of time and represent the instantaneous rate at which
energy is passing through a unit area in terms of the instantaneous values of E and B.

What is of greater interest for a sinusoidal plane electromagnetic wave is the time average of S
over one or more cycles, which is called wave intensity I. When this average is taken, we obtain
1
an expression involving the time average of cos2(𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡), which equals 2. Hence, the

average value of S (in other words, the intensity of the wave) is

𝑬𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝑩𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝑬𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝟐 𝒄𝑩𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝟐

𝑰 = 𝑺𝐚𝐯𝐠 = = =
𝟐𝝁𝟎 𝟐𝝁𝟎 𝒄 𝟐𝝁𝟎
1.8
Recall that the energy per unit volume associated with an electric field, which is the
instantaneous energy density 𝑢𝐸 , is given by,

𝟏 𝟐
𝒖𝑬 = 𝜺 𝑬
𝟐 𝟎
1.9
Also, recall that the instantaneous energy density 𝑢𝐵 associated with a magnetic field is given
by,

𝑩𝟐
𝒖𝑩 = 𝟐𝝁𝟎
1.10

Figure 1.2: The Poynting vector ⃗𝑺 for a plane electromagnetic wave is along the direction of
wave propagation.

Because E and B vary with time for an electromagnetic wave, the energy densities also vary
with time. Using relationships B=E/c and c = 1⁄√𝜇0 𝜀0 , the expressions for 𝑢𝐵 becomes

(𝑬⁄𝒄)𝟐 𝝁𝟎 𝜺𝟎 𝟏
𝒖𝑩 = = 𝑬𝟐 = 𝜺 𝑬 𝟐
𝟐𝝁𝟎 𝟐𝝁𝟎 𝟐 𝟎
1.11

Comparing this result with the expression for 𝑢𝐸 , we see that

7
 𝟏 𝑩𝟐
𝒖𝑩 = 𝒖𝑬 = 𝜺 𝑬𝟐 =
𝟐 𝟎 𝟐𝝁𝟎
1.12
That is, the instantaneous energy density associated with the magnetic field of an
electromagnetic wave equals the instantaneous energy density associated with the electric field.
Hence, in a given volume, the energy is equally shared by the two fields.

The total instantaneous energy density 𝑢 is equal to the sum of the energy densities associated
with the electric and magnetic fields:

𝑩𝟐
𝒖 = 𝒖𝑩 + 𝒖𝑬 = 𝜺𝟎 𝑬𝟐 = 𝝁𝟎
1.13
When this total instantaneous energy density is averaged over one or more cycles of an
1
electromagnetic wave, we again obtain a factor of 2. Hence, for any electromagnetic wave, the

total average energy per unit volume is

𝟏 𝑩𝟐 𝐦𝐚𝐱
𝒖𝐚𝐯𝐠 = 𝜺𝟎 (𝑬)𝟐 𝐚𝐯𝐠 = 𝜺 𝑬𝟐 𝐦𝐚𝐱 =
𝟐 𝟎 𝟐𝝁𝟎
1.14
Comparing the result with the equation for the average value of S, we see that

𝑰 = 𝑺𝐚𝐯𝐠 = 𝒄𝒖𝐚𝐯𝐠
1.15
In other words, the intensity of an electromagnetic wave equals the average energy density
multiplied by the speed of light.

1.4 MOMENTUM AND RADIATION PRESSURE

Electromagnetic waves transport linear momentum and energy. As this momentum is absorbed
by some surface, pressure is exerted on the surface. Therefore, the surface is a non-isolated
system for momentum. In this discussion, let us assume the electromagnetic wave strikes the
surface at normal incidence and transports a total energy TER in this time interval (as does a
⃗ transported to the surface has a magnitude
blackbody), the total momentum 𝐩

𝑻𝐄𝐑
𝒑= 𝒄
1.16
⁄
The pressure P exerted on the surface is defined as force per unit area, 𝐹 𝐴, which when
combined with Newton’s second law gives

𝑭 𝟏 𝒅𝒑
𝑷= =
𝑨 𝑨 𝒅𝒕
1.17
Substituting Equation 1.16 into 1.17 to find the pressure P given as,

8
 𝟏 𝒅𝒑 𝟏 𝒅 𝑻𝐄𝐑 𝟏 𝒅𝑻𝐄𝐑 ⁄𝒅𝒕
𝑷= = ( )= ( )
𝑨 𝒅𝒕 𝑨 𝒅𝒕 𝒄 𝒄 𝒄
1.18
We recognize (𝑑𝑇ER ⁄𝑑𝑡)/A is the rate at which energy is arriving at the surface per unit area,
which is the magnitude of the Poynting vector. Therefore, the radiation pressure P exerted on
the perfectly absorbing surface is

𝑺
𝑷= (complete absorption)
𝒄
1.19
If the surface is a perfect reflector (such as a mirror) and the incidence is normal, the momentum
transported to the surface in a time interval ∆𝑡 is twice that given by the equation number. That
is, the momentum transferred to the surface by the incoming light as well as that transferred by
the reflected light is 𝑇ER ⁄𝑐 . Therefore,

𝟐𝑻𝐄𝐑
𝒑= (complete absorption)
𝒄
1.20
The radiation pressure exerted on a perfectly reflecting surface for normal incidence of the
wave is

𝟐𝑺
𝑷= (complete reflection)
𝒄
1.21
The pressure on a surface having a reflectivity somewhere between these two extremes has a
value between 𝑆⁄𝑐 and 2𝑆⁄𝑐 , depending on the properties of the surface.

Although radiation pressure is very small amount (about 5 × 10-6 N/m2 for direct sunlight),
solar sailing is a low-cost means of sending spacecraft to the planets. Large sheets experience
radiation pressure from sunlight and are used in much the way canvas sheets are used on
earthbound sailboats.

1.5 THE SPECTRUM OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

The electromagnetic spectrum is shown in the figure which describes various types of
electromagnetic waves. The wide ranges of frequencies and wavelengths can be noticed in the
spectrum but there are no sharp dividing point exists between one type of wave and the next.

9
 Figure 1.3: The electromagnetic spectrum.

All forms of the various types of radiation are produced by the same phenomenon i.e.,
acceleration of electric charges. The different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are
described below.
Radio waves, whose wavelengths range from more than 104 m to about 0.1 m, are the result of
charges accelerating through conducting wires. They are generated by such electronic devices
as LC oscillators and are used in radio and television communication systems.
Microwaves have wavelengths ranging from approximately 30 cm to 0.1 mm and are also
generated by electronic devices. Because of their short wavelengths, they are well suited for
radar systems and for studying the atomic and molecular properties of matter. Microwave
ovens are an interesting domestic application of these waves.
Infrared waves have wavelengths ranging from approximately 1 mm to the longest wavelength
of visible light, 700 nm. These waves, produced by molecules and room-temperature objects,
are readily absorbed by most materials. Infrared radiation has practical and scientific

10
applications in many areas, including physical therapy, IR photography, and vibrational
spectroscopy.
Visible light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum the human eye can detect. Light is
produced by the rearrangement of electrons in atoms and molecules. The various wavelengths
of visible light, which correspond to different colours, range from red (700 nm) to violet (400
nm).
Ultraviolet waves cover wavelengths ranging from approximately 400 nm to 60 nm. The Sun
is an important source of ultraviolet (UV) light. Ultraviolet rays have been implicated in the
formation of cataracts, a clouding of the lens inside the eye.
X-rays have wavelengths in the range from approximately 10 nm to 10-12 m. The most common
source of X-rays is the stopping of high-energy electrons upon bombarding a metal target. X-
rays are used as a diagnostic tool in medicine and as a treatment for certain forms of cancer.
X-rays are also used in the study of crystal structure because x-ray wavelengths are comparable
to the atomic separation distances in solids (about 0.1 nm).
Gamma rays are electromagnetic waves emitted by radioactive nuclei and during certain
nuclear reactions. High-energy gamma rays are a component of cosmic rays that enter the
Earth’s atmosphere from space. They have wavelengths ranging from approximately 0.1 nm to
less than 10-14 m. Gamma rays are highly penetrating and produce serious damage when
absorbed by living tissues.
1.6 OVERVIEW OF INTERFERENCE

Interference in light waves from two sources was first demonstrated by Thomas Young in 1801.
A schematic diagram of the apparatus Young used is shown Figure 1.4 (a). Plane light waves
arrive at a barrier that contains two slits S1 and S2. The light from S1 and S2 produces on a
viewing screen a visible pattern of bright and dark parallel bands called interference fringes
(Figure 1.4 (b)). When the light from S1 and S2 both arrive at a point on the screen such that
constructive interference occurs at that location, a bright fringe appears. When the light from
the two slits combines destructively at any location on the screen, a dark fringe results.

11
 Figure 1.4: (a) Schematic diagram of Young’s double-slit experiment. Slits S1 and S2 behave as
coherent sources of light waves that produce an interference pattern on the viewing screen
(drawing not to scale). (b) An enlargement of the center of a fringe pattern formed on the viewing
screen.

To observe interference of waves from two sources, the following conditions must be met:
• The sources must be coherent; that is, they must maintain a constant phase with respect
to each other.
• The sources should be monochromatic; that is, they should be of a single wavelength.
Thus, interference is the phenomenon in which redistribution of light energy takes place due
to the superposition of two or more coherent light waves.

Figure 1.5 (a) Geometric construction for describing Young’s double-slit experiment (not to
scale). (b) The slits are represented as sources, and the outgoing light rays are assumed to be
parallel as they travel to P.

Consider Young’s double-slit experiment where the viewing screen is located at a distance L
from the barrier containing two slits, S1 and S2 (Figure 1.5 (a)). These slits are separated by a

12
distance d, and the source is monochromatic. To reach any arbitrary point P in the upper half
of the screen, a wave from the lower slit must travel farther than a wave from the upper slit by
a distance d sin  (Figure 1.5 (b)). This distance is called the path difference . If we assume
the rays labelled r1 and r2 are parallel, which is approximately true if L is much greater than d,
then  is given by
 = r2 − r1 = d sin 
1.22
The value of  determines whether the two waves are in phase when they arrive at point P.
The condition for bright fringes, or constructive interference, at point P is,
d sin bright = m ; ( m = 0,  1,  2, ...)
1.23
The number m is called the order number.
The condition for dark fringes, or destructive interference, at point P is,
 1
d sin  dark =  m +   ; ( m = 0,  1,  2, ...)
 2
1.24
y
From the triangle OPQ in Figure 1.5 (a), tan  = .
L
Using this result, the linear positions of bright and dark fringes are given by,
m
ybright = L tan  bright (or) ybright = L (small angle approximation)
d
1.25
 1
m + 
= L
2
ydark = L tan  dark (or) ydark (small angle approximation)
d
1.26
Consider two coherent sources of sinusoidal waves such that they have same angular frequency
 and phase difference . The total magnitude of the electric field at point P on the screen in
Figure 1.5 (a) is the superposition of the two waves. If the two waves have same amplitude E0
, we can write the magnitude of electric field at point P due to each source as
E1 = E0 sin  t and E2 = E0 sin ( t +  )
1.27
The expression for light intensity at point P is given by,
 
I = I max cos 2  
2
1.28
where I max is the maximum intensity on the screen.

13
 In terms of path difference, intensity expression is given as,
 d sin  
I = I max cos 2  
  
1.29

Figure 1.6: Light intensity versus d sin for a double-slit interference pattern when the screen is
far from the two slits (L >> d).
1.7 INTERFERENCE FROM THIN FILMS

Interference effects are commonly observed in thin films, such as thin layers of oil on water or
the thin surface of a soap bubble. The varied colors observed when white light is incident on
such films result from the interference of waves reflected from the two surfaces of the film.
Consider a film of uniform thickness t and index of refraction n. Assume light rays traveling in
air are nearly normal to the two surfaces of the film as shown in Figure 1.7.

Figure 1.7: Light paths through a thin film.

14
If  is the wavelength of the light in free space and n is the index of refraction of the film

material, then the wavelength of light n in the film is n = . In general, an electromagnetic
n
wave undergoes a phase change of 180° upon reflection from a medium that has a higher index
of refraction than the one in which the wave is traveling. This is called reflection phase shift
and it is proved by Lloyd’s mirror experiment.
In Figure 1.7, reflected ray 1, which is reflected from the upper surface (A) undergoes a phase
change of 180° with respect to the incident wave. Reflected ray 2, which is reflected from the
lower film surface (B), undergoes no phase change because it is reflected from a medium (air)
that has a lower index of refraction. Therefore, ray 1 is 180° out of phase with ray 2, which is
equivalent to a path difference of n/2. We must also consider that ray 2 travels an extra distance
2t before the waves recombine in the air above surface A. (Remember that we are considering
light rays that are close to normal to the surface. If the rays are not close to normal, the path
difference is larger than 2t). If 2t = n/2, rays 1 and 2 recombine in phase and the result is
constructive interference.
In general, the condition for constructive interference in thin film is,
 1
2t =  m +  n (m = 0, 1, 2, ...)
 2
 1
OR 2nt =  m +   (m = 0, 1, 2, ...)
 2
1.30
If the extra distance 2t travelled by ray 2 corresponds to a multiple of n the two waves combine
out of phase and the result is destructive interference.
The general equation for destructive interference in thin films is,
2nt = m (m = 0, 1, 2, ...)

1.31

1.8 NEWTON’S RINGS

When a plano-convex lens is placed on top of a flat glass surface as shown in Figure 1.8 (a),
interference fringes are formed, and these fringes can be seen under the traveling microscope.
With this arrangement, the air film between the glass surfaces varies in thickness from zero at
the point of contact to some value t at point P. If the radius of curvature R of the lens is much
greater than the distance r and the system is viewed from above, a pattern of light and dark
rings is observed as shown in Figure 1.8 (b).

15
 Figure 1.8: (a) The combination of rays reflected from the flat plate and the curved lens surface
gives rise to an interference pattern known as Newton’s rings. (b) Photograph of Newton’s rings.

Using the geometry shown in Figure 1.8 (a), we can obtain expressions for the radii of the
bright and dark rings in terms of the radius of curvature R and wavelength . For the thin air
film trapped between the two glass surfaces as shown in the figure above, the condition for
destructive (dark rings) interference is
2nt = m , m = 0, 1, 2, 3...
1.32
For air film, n  1 ,  2t = m

From the above figure, t = R − R2 − r 2

1.33
12
 r  2

t = R − R 1 −   
  R  

n(n − 1) 2
Binomial theorem is, (1 + y )n = 1 + ny + y + .......
2!
If r / R  1, using binomial theorem and neglecting higher order terms,

 1  r 2  r2
t = R − R 1 −   + ........ 
 2  R   2 R
1.34
Substituting the value of t in above equation, we get
rdark  mR (m = 0, 1, 2, ...)
1.35
In general, for any thin film of refractive index n film , the expression for the radii of the dark

rings is given by,

16
 mR
rdark  (m = 0, 1, 2, ...)
n film
1.36
Similarly, the expression for the radii of the bright rings is given by,

 1
 m +  R
rbright   2
(m = 0, 1, 2, ...)
n film
1.37
That is, the diameters of Newton’s dark rings are proportional to square root of the natural
numbers and the diameters of Newton’s bright rings are proportional to square root of natural
odd numbers.
1.9 ANTI-REFLECTION COATINGS: SINGLE AND MULTI-LAYERED FILMS

Many useful and interesting applications of thin films make use of multilayer stacks of films.
It is possible to evaporate multiple layers while maintaining control over both refractive index
(choice of material) and individual layer thickness. Such techniques provide a great deal of
flexibility in designing interference coatings with almost any specified frequency-dependent
reflectance or transmittance characteristics. Useful applications of such coatings include
antireflecting multilayers for use on the lenses of optical instruments and display windows;
multipurpose broad and narrow band-pass filters, available from near ultraviolet to near
infrared wavelengths; thermal reflectors and cold mirrors, which reflect and transmit infrared,
respectively.

17
Reflectance at normal incidence:

Figure 1.9: Reflection of a beam from a single layer

Reflection of a beam from a single layer:

Reflection coefficient is given by,

1.38
where,

1.39
For normal incidence,

1.40
The reflectance R, which determines the reflected irradiance, is defined by

1.41
To calculate R, first notice that the reflection coefficient r is complex and that it has the general
form

1.42

18
so that

1.43
Hence, reflectance can be written as

1.44
The important case of quarter-wave film thickness,

1.45
So, for normal incidence quarter-wave thickness,

1.46

Two-Layer Antireflecting Films

Figure 1.10: Antireflecting double layer, using quarter wavelength thickness films.

Normal incidence quarter-wave thickness,

1.47

19
Zero reflectance is possible if,

1.48
Or

1.49
Note: Three-Layer Antireflecting Films

Figure 1.11: Antireflecting triple layers, quarter wavelength layers.

Zero reflectance is possible if,

1.50
For multilayer films, the reflectance is given by,

20
1.10 MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER

The interferometer, invented by American physicist A. A. Michelson, splits a light beam into
two parts and then recombines the parts to form an interference pattern. A schematic diagram
of the interferometer is shown in Figure 1.12. A ray of light from a monochromatic source is
split into two rays by mirror M0, which is inclined at 45° to the incident light beam. Mirror M0,
called a beam splitter, transmits half the light incident on it and reflects the rest. One ray is
reflected from M0 to the right toward mirror M1, and the second ray is transmitted vertically
through M0 toward mirror M2. Hence, the two rays travel separate paths L1 and L2. After
reflecting from M1 and M2, the two rays eventually recombine at M0 to produce an interference
pattern, which can be viewed through a telescope.
The interference condition for the two rays is determined by the difference in their path length.
When the two mirrors are exactly perpendicular to each other, the interference pattern is a target
pattern of bright and dark circular fringes. As M1 is moved, the fringe pattern collapses or
expands, depending on the direction in which M1 is moved. For example, if a dark circle
appears at the center of the target pattern (corresponding to destructive interference) and M1 is
then moved a distance /4 toward M0, the path difference changes by /2. This replaces dark
circle at center by bright circle. Therefore, the fringe pattern shifts by one-half fringe each time
M1 is moved a distance /4. The wavelength of light is then measured by counting the number
of fringe shifts for a given displacement of M1. So it can also be used to detect small change in
path length as in the laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory.

21
 Figure 1.12: Schematic diagram of Michelson Interferometer

Applications: Michelson interferometer is used in number of applications like Fourier

transform spectrometer, gravitational wave detection, and stellar measurements.
1.11 OVERVIEW OF DIFFRACTION

Light of wavelength comparable to or larger than the width of a slit spreads out in all forward
directions upon passing through the slit. This phenomenon is called diffraction. When light
passes through a narrow slit, it spreads beyond the narrow path defined by the slit into regions
that would be in shadow if light travelled in straight lines. Other waves, such as sound waves
and water waves, also have this property of spreading when passing through apertures or by
sharp edges.
A diffraction pattern consisting of light and dark areas is observed when a narrow slit is
placed between a distant light source (or a laser beam) and a screen, the light produces a
diffraction pattern like that shown in Figure 1.13 (a). The pattern consists of a broad, intense
central band (called the central maximum) flanked by a series of narrower, less intense
additional bands (called side maxima or secondary maxima) and a series of intervening dark
bands (or minima).

22
 Figure 1.13: (a) The diffraction pattern that appears on a screen when light passes through a
narrow vertical slit. (b) Diffraction pattern created by the illumination of a penny, with the penny
positioned midway between the screen and light source.

Figure 1.13 (b) shows a diffraction pattern associated with the shadow of a penny. A bright
spot occurs at the center, and circular fringes extend outward from the shadow’s edge. From
the viewpoint of ray optics (in which light is viewed as rays traveling in straight lines), we
expect the center of the shadow to be dark because that part of the viewing screen is completely
shielded by the penny. We can explain the central bright spot by using the wave theory of light,
which predicts constructive interference at this point.
Let’s consider light passing through a narrow opening modelled as a slit and projected onto a
screen. To simplify our analysis, we assume the observing screen is far from the slit and the
rays reaching the screen are approximately parallel. In laboratory, this situation can also be
achieved experimentally by using a converging lens to focus the parallel rays on a nearby
screen. In this model, the pattern on the screen is called a Fraunhofer diffraction pattern.
Until now, we have assumed slits are point sources of light. In this section, we abandon that
assumption and see how the finite width of slits is the basis for understanding Fraunhofer
diffraction. We can explain some important features of this phenomenon by examining waves
coming from various portions of the slit as shown in Figure 1.14.
According to Huygens’s principle, each portion of the slit acts as a source of light waves.
Hence, light from one portion of the slit can interfere with light from another portion, and the
resultant light intensity on a viewing screen depends on the direction . Based on this analysis,
we recognize that a diffraction pattern is an interference pattern in which the different sources
of light are different portions of the single slit.

23
 Figure 1.14: (a) Geometry for analyzing the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of a single slit. (b)
Photograph of a single-slit Fraunhofer diffraction pattern.

The general condition for destructive interference is


sin dark = m m = 1,  2,  3, ...
a
1.51
Analysis of the intensity variation in a diffraction pattern from a single slit of width ‘a’ show
that the intensity is given by
 sin ( a sin  /  ) 
2

I = I max  
  a sin  /  
1.52
where Imax is the intensity at  = 0 (the central maximum) and  is the wavelength of light used
to illuminate the slit. Intensity variation plot and photograph of the pattern are shown below.

Figure 1.15: A plot of light intensity I versus (/)a sin  for the single-slit Fraunhofer
diffraction pattern. (b) Photograph of a single slit Fraunhofer diffraction pattern.

24
When more than one slit is present, we must consider not only diffraction patterns due to the
individual slits but also the interference patterns due to the waves coming from different slits.
Intensity due to combined effect is given by

  sin ( a sin  /  ) 
2
  d sin 
I = I max cos  2
 
     a sin  /  
1.53
Above equation represents the single-slit diffraction pattern (the factor in square brackets)
acting as an “envelope” for a two slit interference pattern (the cosine-squared factor).
We have seen that angular position of interference maxima is given by d sin  = m, where d
is the distance between the two slits. Also, the first diffraction minimum occurs when a sin 
= , where a is the slit width. Dividing interference equation by diffraction equation,
𝒅
=𝒎
𝒂
1.54
In this case, mth interference maximum coincides with first diffraction minimum.

Figure 1.16: The combined effects of two-slit and single-slit interference.

The ability of optical systems to distinguish between closely spaced objects is limited because
of the wave nature of light. To understand this limitation, consider Figure 1.17, which shows
two light sources far from a narrow slit of width a. The sources can be two noncoherent point
sources S1 and S2; for example, they could be two distant stars. If no interference occurred
between light passing through different parts of the slit, two distinct bright spots (or images)
would be observed on the viewing screen. Because of such interference, however, each source
is imaged as a bright central region flanked by weaker bright and dark fringes, a diffraction

25
pattern. What is observed on the screen is the sum of two diffraction patterns: one from S1 and
the other from S2.

Figure 1.17: Two-point sources far from a narrow slit each produce a diffraction pattern. (a) The
sources are separated by a large angle. (b) The sources are separated by a small angle.

When the central maximum of one image falls on the first minimum of another image, the
images are said to be just resolved. This limiting condition of resolution is known as Rayleigh’s
criterion.
From Rayleigh’s criterion, we can determine the minimum angular separation min subtended
by the sources at the slit in Figure 1.17. for which the images are just resolved. The first
minimum (m = 1) in a single-slit diffraction pattern occurs at the angle for which

sin  = 𝑎

1.55
where a is the width of the slit. According to Rayleigh’s criterion, this expression gives the
smallest angular separation for which the two images are resolved. Because  << a in most
situations, sin  is small and we can use the approximation sin   . Therefore, the limiting
angle of resolution for a slit of width a is

𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝒂
1.56
where min is expressed in radians. Hence, the angle subtended by the two sources at the slit
must be greater than /a if the images are to be resolved.
Many optical systems use circular apertures rather than slits. The diffraction pattern of a
circular aperture as shown in the photographs of Figure 1.18 consists of a central circular bright
disk surrounded by progressively fainter bright and dark rings. It shows diffraction patterns for
three situations in which light from two point sources passes through a circular aperture. When
the sources are far apart, their images are well resolved (Figure 1.18 (a)). When the angular

26
separation of the sources satisfies Rayleigh’s criterion, the images are just resolved (Figure
1.18 (b)). Finally, when the sources are close together, the images are said to be unresolved
(Figure 1.18 (c)) and the pattern looks like that of a single source. Analysis shows that the
limiting angle of resolution of the circular aperture is

𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟐 𝑫
1.57
where D is the diameter of the aperture. This expression is similar to Eq. 1.56 except for the
factor 1.22, which arises from a mathematical analysis of diffraction from the circular aperture.

Figure 1.18: Individual diffraction patterns of two-point sources (solid curves) and the resultant
patterns (dashed curves) for various angular separations of the sources as the light passes
through a circular aperture. In each case, the dashed curve is the sum of the two solid curves.

1.12 DIFFRACTION GRATINGS AND APPLICATIONS

27
 Figure 1.19: Side view of a diffraction grating. The slit separation is d, and the path difference
between adjacent slits is d sin.
The diffraction grating, a useful device for analyzing light sources, consists of many equally
spaced parallel slits. A transmission grating can be made by cutting parallel grooves on a glass
plate with a precision ruling machine. The spaces between the grooves are transparent to the
light and hence act as separate slits. A reflection grating can be made by cutting parallel
grooves on the surface of a reflective material. The reflection of light from the spaces between
the grooves is specular, and the reflection from the grooves cut into the material is diffuse.
Therefore, the spaces between the grooves act as parallel sources of reflected light like the slits
in a transmission grating.
A plane wave is incident from the left, normal to the plane of the grating. The pattern observed
on the screen far to the right of the grating is the result of the combined effects of interference
and diffraction. Each slit produces diffraction, and the diffracted beams interfere with one
another to produce the final pattern. The waves from all slits are in phase as they leave the slits.
For an arbitrary direction  measured from the horizontal, however, the waves must travel
different path lengths before reaching the screen. Notice in Figure 1.19, that the path difference
 between rays from any two adjacent slits is equal to d sin. If this path difference equals one
wavelength or any integral multiple of a wavelength, waves from all slits are in phase at the
screen and a bright fringe is observed. Therefore, the condition for maxima in the interference
pattern at the angle bright is

d sin bright = m m = 0,  1,  2,  3, ...

1.58

Figure 1.20: Intensity versus sin  for a diffraction grating. The zeroth-, first-, and second-order
maxima are shown.
The intensity distribution for a diffraction grating obtained with the use of a monochromatic
source is shown in Figure 1.20. Notice the sharpness of the principal maxima and the broadness

28
of the dark areas compared with the broad bright fringes characteristic of the two-slit
interference pattern.

Figure 1.21: Diagram of a diffraction grating spectrometer.

A schematic drawing of a simple apparatus used to measure angles in a diffraction pattern is

shown in Figure 1.20. This apparatus is a diffraction grating spectrometer. The light to be
analyzed passes through a slit, and a collimated beam of light is incident on the grating. The
diffracted light leaves the grating at angles that satisfy equation 1.58 and a telescope is used to
view the image of the slit. The wavelength can be determined by measuring the precise angles
at which the images of the slit appear for the various orders. The spectrometer is a useful tool
in atomic spectroscopy, in which the light from an atom is analyzed to find the wavelength
components. These wavelength components can be used to identify the atom.
1.13 DIFFRACTION OF X-RAYS BY CRYSTALS

In principle, the wavelength of any electromagnetic wave can be determined if a grating of the
proper spacing (on the order of ) is available. X-rays, discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen, are
electromagnetic waves of very short wavelength (on the order of 0.1 nm). It would be
impossible to construct a grating having such a small spacing by the cutting process. The
atomic spacing in a solid is known to be about 0.1 nm, however. Max von Laue suggested that
the regular array of atoms in a crystal could act as a three-dimensional diffraction grating for
x-rays. Subsequent experiments confirmed this prediction. The diffraction patterns from
crystals are complex because of the three-dimensional nature of the crystal structure.
Nevertheless, x-ray diffraction has proved to be an invaluable technique for elucidating these
structures and for understanding the structure of matter.

29
 Figure 1.22: Crystalline structure of sodium chloride (NaCl).

The arrangement of atoms in a crystal of sodium chloride (NaCl) is shown in Figure 1.22. Each
unit cell (the geometric solid that repeats throughout the crystal) is a cube having an edge length
a. A careful examination of the NaCl structure shows that the ions lie in discrete planes (the
shaded areas in Figure 1.22). Now suppose an incident x-ray beam makes an angle  with one
of the planes as in Figure 1.22. The beam can be reflected from both the upper plane and the
lower one, but the beam reflected from the lower plane travels farther than the beam reflected
from the upper plane. The effective path difference is 2dsin. The two beams reinforce each
other (constructive interference) when this path difference equals some integer multiple of .
The same is true for reflection from the entire family of parallel planes. Hence, the condition
for constructive interference (maxima in the reflected beam) is

2d sin  = m m = 1, 2, 3, ...
1.59
This condition is known as Bragg’s law, after W. L. Bragg, who first derived the relationship.
If the wavelength and diffraction angle are measured, above can be used to calculate the spacing
between atomic planes.

Figure 1.23: A two-dimensional description of the reflection of an x-ray beam from two parallel
crystalline planes separated by a distance d.

30
1.14 QUESTIONS

1. Explain the significance of Maxwell’s equations.

2. Explain the term Poynting vector.
3. Show that instantaneous energy density associated with the magnetic field of an
electromagnetic wave equals the instantaneous energy density associated with the
electric field.
4. Write a note on energy carried by electromagnetic waves.
5. Show that the intensity of an electromagnetic wave equals the average energy density
multiplied by the speed of light.
6. Obtain an expression for radiation pressure exerted on a perfectly reflecting surface for
normal incidence of the wave.
7. Explain the term radiation pressure and momentum carried by electromagnetic waves.
8. Write a note on electromagnetic spectrum.
9. What is coherence? Mention its importance.
10. Write the conditions for constructive and destructive interference of reflected light from
a thin soap film in air, assuming normal incidence.
11. Obtain an expression for radii of the dark fringes in Newton’s rings.
12. Explain the formation of fringes in Michelson interferometer.
13. Using reflection co-efficient, derive an expression for (a) reflectance (b) quarter wave
thickness.
14. Explain the principle of antireflection coating. How do you select materials for single
layer antireflection coating of quarter wave thickness?

15. What is diffraction grating? Write the grating equation.

16. Briefly explain x-ray diffraction and Bragg’s law.
1.15 PROBLEMS

1. Suppose you are located 180 m from a radio transmitter. (a) How many wavelengths are
you from the transmitter if the station calls itself 1150 AM? (The AM band frequencies
are in kilohertz.) (b) What if this station is 98.1 FM? (The FM band frequencies are in
megahertz.) Ans: (a) 0.690 wavelengths (b) 58.9 wavelengths
2. A standing-wave pattern is set up by radio waves between two metal sheets 2.00 m apart,
which is the shortest distance between the plates that produces a standing-wave pattern.
What is the frequency of the radio waves? Ans: 75.0 MHz

31
3. An electromagnetic wave in vacuum has an electric field amplitude of 220 V/m. Calculate
the amplitude of the corresponding magnetic field. Ans: 733 nT
4. If the intensity of sunlight at the Earth’s surface under a fairly clear sky is 1000
W/m2, how much electromagnetic energy per cubic meter is contained in sunlight?
Ans: 3.33 x 10-6 J/m3
5. A community plans to build a facility to convert solar radiation to electrical power. The
community requires 1.00 MW of power and the system to be installed has an efficiency of
30.0% (that is, 30.0% of the solar energy incident on the surface is converted to useful
energy that can power the community). Assuming sunlight has a constant intensity of 1
000 W/m2, what must be the effective area of a perfectly absorbing surface used in such
an installation? Ans: 3.3 x 103 m2
6. A 25.0 mW laser beam of diameter 2.00 mm is reflected at normal incidence by a perfectly
reflecting mirror. Calculate the radiation pressure on the mirror. Ans: 5.31 x 10-5 N/m2
7. 15.0 mW Helium–Neon laser emits a beam of circular cross section with a diameter
of 2.00 mm. (a) Find the maximum electric field in the beam. (b) What total energy
is contained in a 1.00 m length of the beam? (c) Find the momentum carried by a 1.00
m length of the beam. Ans: (a) 1897.3 V/m (b) 5.0 x 10-11 J (c) 1.67 x 1-19 kg m/s
8. A Helium–Neon laser emits a beam of circular cross section with a radius r and a power
P. (a) Find the maximum electric field in the beam. (b) What total energy is contained in
a length l, of the beam? (c) Find the momentum carried by a length l of the beam.
Ans: (a) (b) Pl/c (c) Pl/c2

9. A viewing screen is separated from a double slit by 4.80 m. The distance between the
two slits is 0.0300 mm. Monochromatic light is directed toward the double slit and
forms an interference pattern on the screen. The first dark fringe is 4.50 cm from the
center line on the screen. (A) Determine the wavelength of the light. (B) Calculate the
distance between adjacent bright fringes. Ans: 562 nm and 9 cm
10. A light source emits visible light of two wavelengths:  = 430 nm and  = 510 nm. The
source is used in a double-slit interference experiment in which L = 1.50 m and d = 0.025
mm. Find the separation distance between the third-order bright fringes for the two
wavelengths. Ans: 1.44 cm
11. A laser beam ( = 632.8 nm) is incident on two slits 0.200 mm apart. How far apart are
the bright interference fringes on a screen 5.00 m away from the double slits? Ans: 15.8
mm

32
12. A Young’s interference experiment is performed with monochromatic light. The
separation between the slits is 0.500 mm, and the interference pattern on a screen
3.30 m away shows the first side maximum 3.40 mm from the center of the pattern.
What is the wavelength? Ans: 515 nm
13. Young’s double-slit experiment is performed with 589 nm light and a distance of 2.00 m
between the slits and the screen. The tenth interference minimum is observed 7.26 mm
from the central maximum. Determine the spacing of the slits. Ans: 1.54 mm
14. Two radio antennas separated by d = 300 m as shown in figure simultaneously broadcast
identical signals at the same wavelength. A car travels due north along a straight line at
position x = 1000 m from the center point between the antennas, and its radio receives the
signals. (a) If the car is at the position of the second maximum after that at point O when
it has travelled a distance y = 400 m northward, what is the wavelength of the signals? (b)
How much farther must the car travel from this position to encounter the next minimum
in reception? Note: Do not use the small-angle approximation in this problem. Ans: 55.7
m and 124 m

15. Two narrow parallel slits separated by 0.250 mm are illuminated by green light ( = 546.1
nm). The interference pattern is observed on a screen 1.20 m away from the plane of the
slits. Calculate the distance (a) from the central maximum to the first bright region on
either side of the central maximum and (b) between the first and second dark bands. Ans:
2.62 mm and 2.62 mm
16. In a Young’s interference experiment, the two slits are separated by 0.150 mm and the
incident light includes two wavelengths: 1 = 540 nm (green) and
2 = 450 nm (blue). The overlapping interference patterns are observed on a screen 1.40
m from the slits. Calculate the minimum distance from the center of the screen to a point

33
 where a bright fringe of the green light coincides with a bright fringe of the blue light.
Ans: 2.52 cm
17. In a double slit experiment, let L = 120 cm and d = 0.250 cm. The slits are illuminated
with coherent 600-nm light. Calculate the distance y above the central maximum for which
the average intensity on the screen is 75.0% of the maximum. Ans: 48 micrometer
18. Show that the two waves with wave functions E1 = 6.00 sin(100t ) and
E 2 = 8.00 sin(100t +  / 2) add to give a wave with the wave function E R sin(100t +  )

Find the required values for E R and  . Ans: 10 and 53.1

19. Calculate the minimum thickness of a soap-bubble film that results in constructive
interference in the reflected light if the film is illuminated with light whose wavelength in
free space is  = 600 nm. The index of refraction of the soap film is 1.33. (b) What if the
film is twice as thick? Does this situation produce constructive interference? Ans: 113 nm
and No
20. Solar cells—devices that generate electricity when exposed to sunlight—are often
coated with a transparent, thin film of silicon monoxide (SiO, n = 1.45) to minimize
reflective losses from the surface. Suppose a silicon solar cell (n = 3.5) is coated with
a thin film of silicon monoxide for this purpose. Determine the minimum film
thickness that produces the least reflection at a wavelength of 550 nm, near the center
of the visible spectrum. Ans: 95 nm
21. A thin film of oil (n = 1.25) is located on smooth, wet pavement. When viewed
perpendicular to the pavement, the film reflects most strongly red light at 640 nm and
reflects no green light at 512 nm. How thick is the oil film? Ans: 512 nm.
22. An oil film (n = 1.45) floating on water is illuminated by white light at normal incidence.
The film is 280 nm thick. Find (a) the wavelength and color of the light in the visible
spectrum most strongly reflected and (b) the wavelength and color of the light in the
spectrum most strongly transmitted. Explain your reasoning. Ans: 541 nm and 406 nm
23. An air wedge is formed between two glass plates separated at one edge by a very fine wire
of circular cross section as shown in below Figure. When the wedge is illuminated from
above by 600 nm light and viewed from above, 30 dark fringes are observed. Calculate
the diameter d of the wire. Ans: 8.7 micrometer

34
24. When a liquid is introduced into the air space between the lens and the plate in a
Newton’s-rings apparatus, the diameter of the tenth ring changes from 1.50 to 1.31
cm. Find the index of refraction of the liquid. Ans: 1.31
25. A certain grade of crude oil has an index of refraction of 1.25. A ship accidentally spills
1.00 m3 of this oil into the ocean, and the oil spreads into a thin, uniform slick. If the film
produces a first-order maximum of light of wavelength 500 nm normally incident on it,
how much surface area of the ocean does the oil slick cover? Assume the index of
refraction of the ocean water is 1.34. Ans: 5 km2
26. In a Newton’s-rings experiment, a plano-convex glass (n = 1.52) lens having radius r =
5.00 cm is placed on a flat plate. When light of wavelength 650 nm is incident normally,
55 bright rings are observed, with the last one precisely on the edge of the lens. (a) What
is the radius R of curvature of the convex surface of the lens? (b) What is the focal length
of the lens? Ans: 70.5 m and 138 m
27. Monochromatic light is beamed into a Michelson interferometer. The movable mirror is
displaced 0.382 mm, causing the interferometer pattern to reproduce itself 1700 times.
Determine the wavelength of the light. What color is it? Ans: 449 nm, Blue
28. Mirror M1 in Michelson interferometer is moved through a displacement L. During
this displacement, 250 fringe reversals (formation of successive dark or bright bands)
are counted. The light being used has a wavelength of 632.8 nm. Calculate the
displacement L. Ans: 39.6 micrometer
29. One leg of a Michelson interferometer contains an evacuated cylinder of length L, having
glass plates on each end. A gas is slowly leaked into the cylinder until a pressure of 1 atm
is reached. If N bright fringes pass on the screen during this process when light of
wavelength  is used, what is the index of refraction of the gas? Ans: n = 1 + (Nλ)/(2L)
30. Light of wavelength 540 nm passes through a slit of width 0.200 mm. (a) The width of the
central maximum on a screen is 8.10 mm. How far is the screen from the slit? (b)
Determine the width of the first bright fringe to the side of the central maximum. Ans: (a)
1.5 m (b) 4.05 mm
31. Helium–Neon laser light ( = 632.8 nm) is sent through a 0.300 mm-wide single slit. What
is the width of the central maximum on a screen 1.00 m from the slit? Ans: 4.22 mm

35
32. A screen is placed 50.0 cm from a single slit, which is illuminated with light of
wavelength 690 nm. If the distance between the first and third minima in the
diffraction pattern is 3.00 mm, what is the width of the slit? Ans: 2.3  10-4 m
33. A beam of monochromatic light is incident on a single slit of width 0.600 mm. A
diffraction pattern forms on a wall 1.30 m beyond the slit. The distance between the
positions of zero intensity on both sides of the central maximum is 2.00 mm. Calculate the
wavelength of the light. Ans: 462 nm
34. A diffraction pattern is formed on a screen 120 cm away from a 0.400-mm-wide slit.
Monochromatic 546.1-nm light is used. Calculate the fractional intensity I/Imax at a point
on the screen 4.10 mm from the center of the principal maximum. Ans: 0.0162
35. Yellow light of wavelength 589 nm is used to view an object under a microscope. The
objective lens diameter is 9.00 mm. (a) What is the limiting angle of resolution? (b)
Suppose it is possible to use visible light of any wavelength. What color should you choose
to give the smallest possible angle of resolution, and what is this angle? (c) Suppose water
fills the space between the object and the objective. What effect does this change have on
the resolving power when 589-nm light is used? Ans: (a) 79.8 x 10-6 rad (b) 400nm, 54.2
x 10-6 rad (c) Resolving power will improve with minimum resolvable angle 60 x 10-6 rad
36. The angular resolution of a radio telescope is to be 0.100° when the incident waves
have a wavelength of 3.00 mm. What minimum diameter is required for the
telescope’s receiving dish? Ans: 2.1 mm
37. White light is spread out into its spectral components by a diffraction grating. If the grating
has 2000 grooves per centimeter, at what angle does red light of wavelength 640 nm appear
in first order? Ans: θ = 7.35o
38. Light of wavelength 500 nm is incident normally on a diffraction grating. If the third-order
maximum of the diffraction pattern is observed at 32.0°, (a) what is the number of rulings
per centimeter for the grating? (b) Determine the total number of primary maxima that can
be observed in this situation. Ans: 3530 rulings/cm (b) 11
39. If the spacing between planes of atoms in a NaCl crystal is 0.281 nm, what is the predicted
angle at which 0.140 nm x-rays are diffracted in a first-order maximum? Ans: θ = 14.4o
40. A 400 Å thick film of ZrO2 (n = 2.10) is deposited on glass (n = 1.50). Determine the
normal reflectance for sodium light of wavelength 589.3 nm. Ans: 17.4%

36
41. A high-reflectance stack like that of following figure incorporates six double layers
of SiO2 (n = 1.46) and ZnS (n = 2.35) films on a glass (n = 1.48) substrate. What is the
reflectance percentage for light of 550 nm at normal incidence? Ans: 99.1%

37
2 LASERS AND FIBRE OPTICS

OBJECTIVES:

• To explain basic interactions of radiation with matter.

• To describe the basic principle of lasing system.
• To understand the basic working principle of optical fibre.
• To classify different types of optical fibres and explain their merits & demerits.

2.1 LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

Laser light is highly monochromatic, coherent, directional and can be sharply focused. Each of
these characteristics that are not normally found in ordinary light makes laser a unique and the
most powerful tool. Lasers find a wide variety of applications in the field of scientific research,
engineering and medicine.

2.2 PRINCIPLE & PRODUCTION OF LASERS

There are three possible ways through which interaction of radiation and matter can take place,
absorption of radiation is one means, and the emission of radiation, as suggested by Einstein in
1917, can occur in two ways namely the spontaneous emission, and the stimulated emission.

All the three are described as follows by considering an atom as a system.

Absorption: Absorption of a photon of frequency f takes place when the energy difference
E2 – E1 of the allowed energy states of the atomic system equals the energy hf of the
photon. Then the photon disappears and the atomic system moves to upper energy state E2.

Figure 2.1: Absorption

38
Spontaneous Emission: Spontaneous emission is the emission of a photon when a system
transits from a higher energy state to a lower energy state without the aid of any external
agency. The average life time of the atomic system in the excited state is of the order
of 10–8 s. After the life time of the atomic system in the excited state, it comes back
to the state of lower energy on its own accord by emitting a photon of energy hf =
E2– E1 .

In an ordinary light source, the radiation of light from different atoms is not coherent.
The radiations are emitted in different directions in random manner. Such type of
emission of radiation is called spontaneous emission.

Figure 2.2: Spontaneous Emission

Stimulated Emission: When a photon (called stimulating photon) of suitable frequency

interacts with an excited atomic system, the latter comes down to ground state before its life
time. Such an emission of radiation is called stimulated emission. In stimulated emission,
both the stimulating photon and the stimulated photon are of same frequency, same
phase and are in same state of polarization. These photons are emitted in the same direction.
In other words, these two photons are coherent.

Figure 2.3: Stimulated Emission

This is the kind of emission, which is responsible for laser action.

39
2.3 POPULATION INVERSION & METASTABLE STATES

From Boltzmann statistics, the ratio between population of atoms in two energy states E1 and
E2 at equilibrium temperature T is,

𝑵𝟐
= 𝒆−(𝑬𝟐 −𝑬𝟏 )/𝒌𝑻
𝑵𝟏
2.1
where k is Boltzmann constant, N1 is density of atoms with energy E1 & N2 is density of atoms
with energy E2 . Under normal condition, where populations are determined only by the action
of thermal agitation, population of the atoms in upper energy state is less than that in lower
energy state (i.e. N2 < N1, Figure 2.4 a).

Figure 2.4: (a) Normal thermal equilibrium distribution of atomic systems (b) An inverted
population.

For the stimulated emission rate to exceed the absorption rate it is necessary to have higher
population of upper energy state than that of lower energy state. This condition is called
population inversion (N2 > N1, Figure 2.4b). This is a non-equilibrium condition and is
facilitated by the presence of energy states called ‘metastable states’ where the average
life time of the atom is 10-3 s which is much longer than that of the ordinary excited state (
10-8s).

2.4 EINSTEIN COEFFICIENTS

Einstein coefficients give the probability associated with the absorption and emission
processes. Consider two energy states 𝐸1 and 𝐸2 of a system of atoms (E2 > E1 ). Let N₁ and
N2 be the density of atoms with energies 𝐸1 and E2 respectively, per unit volume of the system.
Let radiations with a continuous spectrum of frequencies be incident upon the system. Let there
be a radiation of frequency 𝑓 such that 𝑓 = (𝐸2 − 𝐸1 )/ℎ. Also let I𝑓 𝑑𝑓 be the energy
incident/unit volume of the system considering only those radiations whose frequencies lie in
the range 𝑓 and 𝑓 +𝑑𝑓 . Then, 𝐼𝑓 represents the energy density of frequency 𝑓.

Let us consider the absorption, and the two emission processes case by case.

40
(1) In the case of absorption, an atom in the level 𝐸₁ can go to the level 𝐸2 , when it absorbs
a radiation of frequency 𝑓 such that 𝑓 = (𝐸2 − 𝐸1 )/ℎ (Fig. 2.1).

The number of such absorptions per unit time, per unit volume is called rate of absorption.
The rate of absorption depends upon,

(a) the number density of lower energy state, i.e., 𝑁₁, and, (b) the energy density i.e., 𝐼𝑓 .

∴ Rate of absorption ∝ 𝑵𝟏 𝑰𝒇 OR Rate of absorption = 𝑩₁₂ 𝑵₁ 𝑰𝒇 2.2

where, 𝐵₁₂ is the constant of proportionality called Einstein coefficient of induced absorption.

(2) In the case of spontaneous emission, an atom in the higher energy level 𝐸2 undergoes
transition to the lower energy level 𝐸1 , voluntarily by emitting a photon (Fig. 2.2).

Since it is a voluntary transition, it is independent of the energy density of any frequency in the
incident radiation. The number of such spontaneous emissions per unit time, per unit volume
is called rate of spontaneous emission which is proportional to only the number density in the
higher energy state, i.e., 𝑁2 .

∴ Rate of spontaneous emission = 𝑨𝟐𝟏 𝑵₂ 2.3

where, 𝐴21 is the constant of proportionality called the Einstein coefficient of spontaneous
emission.

(3) In case of stimulated emission, the system requires an external photon of appropriate
frequency 𝑓 = [(𝐸₂ − 𝐸₁)/ℎ], to stimulate the atom for the corresponding downward
transition, and thereby cause emission of stimulated photons (Fig. 2.3), the energy density 𝐼𝑓 ,
has a role to play in this case.

The number of stimulated emissions per unit time per unit volume, called rate of stimulated
emission, is proportional to, a) the number density of the higher energy state, i.e., 𝑁₂ and, b)
the energy density, i.e., 𝐼𝑓 .

∴ Rate of stimulated emission ∝ 𝑵𝟐 𝑰𝒇 OR Rate of stimulated emission = 𝑩𝟐𝟏 𝑵𝟐 𝑰𝒇

2.4
where, 𝐵21 is the constant of proportionality called the Einstein coefficient of simulated
emission.

41
In thermal equilibrium, the total energy of the system remains unchanged in spite of the
interaction that is taking place between itself and the incident radiation. Under such a condition,
the number of photons absorbed by the system per second must be equal to the number of
photons it emits per second by both the stimulated and the spontaneous emission processes.

∴ At thermal equilibrium,

Rate of absorption = Rate of spontaneous emission + Rate of stimulated emission,

∴ From Eqs (2.2), (2.3) & (2.4), we have 𝑩₁₂ 𝑵₁ 𝑰𝒇 = 𝑨𝟐𝟏 𝐍𝟐 + 𝑩𝟐𝟏 𝑵𝟐 𝑰𝒇
2.5
Or 𝐼𝑓 (𝐵₁₂ 𝑁₁ − 𝐵21 𝑁2 ) = 𝐴21 N2

𝐴21 N2
Or, 𝐼𝑓 = (𝐵₁₂ 𝑁₁ − 𝐵21 𝑁2 )

By rearranging the above equation, we get,

𝑨 𝟏
𝑰𝒇 = 𝑩𝟐𝟏 [ 𝑩₁₂ 𝑵₁ ]
𝟐𝟏 −𝟏
𝑩𝟐𝟏 𝐍𝟐
2.6

But, by Boltzmann's law, we have,

𝒉𝒇 𝒉𝒇
𝑵𝟐 𝑵
= 𝒆−(𝑬𝟐 −𝑬𝟏 )/𝒌𝑻 = 𝒆−𝒌𝑻 ∴ 𝑵𝟏 = 𝒆𝒌𝑻
𝑵𝟏 𝟐
2.7
Eq (2.6) becomes,

𝑨 𝟏
𝑰𝒇 = 𝑩𝟐𝟏 [ 𝒉𝒇 ]
𝟐𝟏 𝑩₁₂
𝒆𝒌𝑻 − 𝟏
𝑩𝟐𝟏
2.8
According to Planck's law, the equation for 𝐼𝑓 , is,

𝟖𝝅𝒉𝒇𝟑 𝟏
𝑰𝒇 = [ 𝒉𝒇 ]
𝒄𝟑
𝒆𝒌𝑻 − 𝟏
2.9
Now, comparing the equations (2.8) and (2.9), term by term on the basis of positional identity,
we have,

𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝑓 3 𝐵₁₂

= and, =1 or 𝐵12 = 𝐵21
𝐵21 𝑐3 𝐵21

42
which implies that the probability of induced absorption is equal to the probability of stimulated
emission. Because of the above identity, the subscripts could be dropped, and 𝐴21 & 𝐵21 can
be represented simply as A and B and Eq (2.8) can be rewritten.

𝐀
∴ At thermal equilibrium the equation for energy density is, 𝑰𝒇 = 𝒉𝒇
𝑩[𝒆𝒌𝑻 − 𝟏]

2.10
INTERPRETATION OF EINSTEIN’S COEFFICIENTS:
Dependence of nature of emission on frequency:

𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝑓 3 𝐴21

We have, = 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 ∝ 𝑓3
𝐵21 𝑐3 𝐵21

Since 𝑓 = (Δ𝐸/ℎ), the above proportionality implies that for large f values, i.e., when the
energy difference between the two levels 𝐸1 and 𝐸2 is large,

𝐴21
≫ 1, or, 𝐴21 ≫ 𝐵21
𝐵21

For higher Δ𝐸 values, the transitions in the system are such that, the probability of spontaneous
emission supersedes that for stimulated emissions by a large margin.
Case (i) 𝒉𝒇 >> 𝒌𝑻 :
ℎ𝑓
When the frequency of radiation is high, ℎ𝑓 >> 𝑘𝑇, due to which 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 ≫ 1
𝐴21
Hence in Eq (2.8), ≫ 1, i.e.. A21≫ 𝐵21
𝐵21

Hence the spontaneous emissions will be much larger in number than the stimulated emissions.

Case (ii) 𝒉𝒇 ≈ 𝒌𝑻 :
ℎ𝑓
For ℎ𝑓 ≈ 𝑘𝑇, 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 will be low and comparable to 1.

∴ 𝐴21 & 𝐵21 become comparable, which means, the process of stimulated emissions become
significant.

Case (iii) 𝒉𝒇 << 𝒌𝑻 :

ℎ𝑓
𝐴21
For ℎ𝑓 ≪ 𝑘𝑇, (𝑒 𝑘𝑇 − 1) << 1, and, ≪ 1, Or, B21 ≫ 𝐴21
𝐵21

Hence for lower frequencies, stimulated emissions dominate the emission process. This is what
we observe at room temperature in the atomic transitions which generate microwaves.

Non-Equilibrium conditions leading to amplification (Laser action):

43
We have from equation (2.5),

Rate of emission 𝐴21 𝑁2 + 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝐼𝑓 𝑁2 𝐴21 + 𝐵21 𝐼𝑓

= = [ ]
Rate of absorption 𝐵₁₂ 𝑁₁ 𝐼𝑓 𝑁1 𝐵₁₂ 𝐼𝑓

Since in the Einstein’s theory we have 𝐵12 = 𝐵21 ,

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝑵𝟐 𝑨𝟐𝟏

= [ + 𝟏] 2.11
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝑵𝟏 𝑩𝟐𝟏 𝑰𝒇

Now let us again get back to Eq (2.8). If for the system, the energy levels 𝐸1 & 𝐸2 , involved in
the transitions are such that Δ𝐸 << 𝑘𝑇, i.e., ℎ𝑓 << 𝑘𝑇, then as per Eq (2.8).

𝐴21
≪1
𝐵21 𝐼𝑓

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝑵𝟐
∴ Eq (2.11) can be expressed as, = 2.12
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝑵𝟏

Under normal conditions in all the systems, 𝑁2 will always be lesser than 𝑁₁.

Now let us consider a system which can support the energy level population status with N2>N1,
between certain pair of energy levels i.e., the system in which population inversion could be
achieved. By some suitable means of energy supply when the population is inverted between
the pair of energy levels in the system, the system will then be under non-equilibrium
conditions since the Boltzmann factor conditions are violated.

As per Eq (2.12), under non-equilibrium conditions, rate of emission exceeds the rate of
absorption. Further if the photons emitted in a particular direction are returned into the system
by reflecting them back and forth, then the rate of stimulated emission soon exceeds the
absorption rate. If right conditions are provided, all the stimulated emissions could be arranged
to be identical in respect of wavelength, phase & direction to the one starting stimulating
radiation. In other words, we can say that, the single starting stimulating radiation itself has
been multiplied or, amplified. But the amplification takes place at the cost of downward
transitions which will soon reverse the condition, 𝑁2 > 𝑁1. In order to sustain the status of
population inversion, energy is provided in the right manner to keep lifting atoms to higher
energy level continuously so long as amplification is required to be maintained.

This forms the basis for functioning of every laser.

44
2.5 PRINCIPLE OF LASER: ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A LASER

The laser device basically consists of three elements (Fig 2.5).

• pumping system
• Lasing medium/ active medium
• A resonant cavity or an optical cavity

Lasing medium has atomic systems (active centers), with special energy levels which are
suitable for laser action. This medium may be a gas, or a liquid, or a crystal or a
semiconductor. The atomic systems in this may have energy levels including a ground
state (E1), an excited state (E3) and a metastable state (E2).

Figure 2.5: Block diagram of laser system

2.6 RUBY LASER

In ruby laser, the lasing medium is a ruby rod which has chemical composition of Al2O3
doped with Cr2O3. Cr3+ ions are the active centers, which has approximately similar
energy level structure as shown in Figure 2.7. The resonant cavity is a pair of parallel
mirrors to reflect the radiation back into the lasing medium. Pumping is a process of
exciting more number of atoms in the ground state to higher energy states, which is
required for attaining the population inversion. The atoms in the state E3 may come down
to state E1 by spontaneous emission or they may come down to metastable state (E2)
by collision. The atoms in the state E2 come down to state E1 by stimulated emission.
These radiations may be reflected due to mirror action of the end faces. When population
inversion takes place at E2, a stray photon of right energy stimulates chain reaction,
accumulates more photons, all coherent. The reflecting ends turn the coherent beam
back into active region so that the regenerative process continues and part of the light

45
beam comes out from the partial mirror as a laser pulse. The output is an intense beam
of coherent light. The construction of Ruby laser is shown in fig.2.6.

Fig. 2.6 Construction of Ruby laser

Figure 2.7: The basic three-level scheme for laser operation

2.7 He-Ne LASER

He-Ne Laser has a glass discharge tube filled with He (80%) and Ne (20%) at low
pressure. Helium gas is the “pumping” medium and Neon gas is the “lasing” medium
(Figure 2.8). The simplified energy level diagram (Figure 2.9) shows four levels: Eo, E1,
E2 and E3. Electrons and ions in the electrical gas discharge occasionally collide with
He-atoms, raising them to level E3 (a metastable state). During collisions between He-
and Ne- atoms, the excitation energy of He-atom is transferred to Ne-atom (level E2),
selectively populating E2 due to resonant energy transfer. Thus, population inversion occurs
between levels E2 and E1. This population inversion is maintained because (i) the
metastability of level E3 ensures a ready supply of Ne-atoms in level E2 and (ii) level
E1 decays rapidly to Eo. Stimulated emission from level E2 to level E1 predominates,
and red laser light is generated. The mirror M1 is fully reflective and the mirror M2 is

46
partially reflective to allow the laser beam to come out. The Brewster’s windows W
‘s are at polarizing angles to the mirrors, to reduce the reflection loss.

Figure 2.8 Basic elements of He-Ne gas laser

Figure 2.9: Atomic levels involved in the operation of He-Ne gas laser

2.8 SEMICONDUCTOR LASER

The semiconductor laser was first constructed by Hall et al. in 1962. The active medium in a
semiconductor laser is a p-n junction diode and hence the semiconductor laser is also called
diode laser.
Principle: It is based on the principle of the emission of the recombination energy in
form of light in certain semiconducting materials such as GaAs, GaAlAs, etc. By heavily
doping the p-n junction diode and by applying a high current density, the stimulated emission
of light is produced and hence the laser operation is made possible in the semiconductor laser.

47
C p-n junction of a semiconductor laser is prepared using n-GaAs and p-
GaAs. The height, width and breadth of this laser are 1 mm x 1 mm x 1 mm respectively. The
upper and bottom surface of the p-n junction are used for ohmic contact, the front and back
surfaces are used as resonators. For resonators, the end faces are made perfectly parallel to each
other and highly polished. One end is made fully reflecting, whereas the other end is made
partially reflecting. The remaining two surfaces are made rough, so as to prevent the leakage
of light through these faces. The diode is forward biased, with a voltage nearly equal to the
band gap voltage of the material. The p and n-type layers are heavily doped.
heavily doping of the and n-type regions produces population inversion
in the depletion region of the diode. The diode is forward biased with a voltage equal to the V=
Eg/e energy gap voltage, and hence the recombination of the holes and electrons takes place.
In order to produce and maintain the stimulated emission continuously, a high current density
nearly in the order of 20 kA/cm2 is applied. Due to the high current density, more and more
number of electrons are injected into the n-region and more number of holes are injected into
the p-region and hence the continuous emission of light is made possible. Since, more number
of charge carriers are injected, the laser is also called injection laser. The output laser beam
emerges from the p-n junction of the partially reflecting surface as shown in fig.2.10. The
output wavelength is given by

Figure 2.10: Semiconductor laser

For GaAs, Eg 1.44 eV and the output wavelength emitted by a diode laser made up of
GaAs is

48
2.9 APPLICATIONS OF LASER

Laser is used in various scientific, engineering and medical applications. It is used in

investigating the basic laws of interaction of atoms and molecules with electromagnetic wave
of high intensity. Laser is widely used in engineering applications like optical communication,
micro welding and sealing etc. In medical field, laser is used in bloodless and painless surgery
especially in treating the retinal detachment. Also used as a tool in treating dental decay, tooth
extraction, cosmetic surgery.

2.10 OPTICAL FIBRES

Optical fibres are thin, flexible strands of transparent dielectric material such as glass or plastic.
They are basically used to guide infrared & visible light waves through curved paths.
Construction of optical fibre:

It consists of a central cylindrical core made of pure glass or plastic of refractive index n1
surrounded by a cladding made of similar material but of lower refractive index n2 (n2 < n1).
But there is a material continuity from core to cladding. The cladding is enclosed in a
polyurethane jacket that protects the fibre from external damaging factors such as abrasion,
crushing & chemical reactions (Figure 2.11). Many such protected fibres are grouped to form
a cable. The diameter of the core varies between 10 to 200 m that of the cladding varies
between 50 to 250 m.

Figure 2.11: Optical fibre – sectional view

Principle of optical fibres: Optical fibres work on the principle of total internal reflection of
light. When a beam of light traveling in an optically denser medium falls on interface
separating denser medium from relatively less dense medium, if the angle of incidence is
greater than particular angle called critical angle (C) for the pair of media, the light undergoes
total internal reflection (Figure 2.12). Total internal reflection is the most superior type of
reflection. Reflection is total in the sense that almost the entire energy is returned to the first
49
medium through reflection without any loss of energy. Due to this the optical fibres are able
to sustain light signal transmission over very long distances despite infinite number of
reflections.

Figure 2.12: Total internal reflection

2.11 ANGLE OF ACCEPTANCE AND NUMERICAL APERTURE

Consider an optical fibre with refractive index of the material of the core n1 and cladding n2
placed in a surrounding medium of refractive index n0 (Figure 2.13). Let a ray AO of light enter
the core of the fibre at an angle 0. Let this ray after refraction through an angle 1 at O strikes
the interface between the core and the cladding at the critical angle such that the refracted ray
grazes the interface.

Figure 2.13: Wave propagation through fibre

Applying Snell’s law of refraction at O, we have,

sin  0 n1
=
sin  1 n0

50
 n1
 sin  0 = sin  1 2.13
n0

Similarly, applying Snell’s law at B,

sin ( 90 −  1 ) n n2
= 2 or cos  1 =
sin 90 n1 n1

n22
sin  1 = 1− 2.14
n12

Substituting Eq. (2.12) in Eq. (2.11) and simplifying,

1
sin  0 = n12 − n22 2.15
n0

0 is called the acceptance angle or half angle of the acceptance cone. The acceptance angle
is generally about 5 for a single mode fibre & 10 to 15 for multimode fibres. The term
n0 sin0 is called numerical aperture (NA), which indicates the light gathering power of the
optical fibre. It is evident that any ray that enters the fibre at an angle less than 0, strikes the
core-cladding interface at angle greater than the critical angle and undergoes total internal
reflection each time it strikes the interface. The optical fibre sustains the light signal
transmission over a long distance.

Fractional refractive index change ( ): It is the ratio of the difference in the refractive
indices (n1−n2) between the core & the cladding to the refractive index n1 of the core.

( n1 − n 2 )
= 2.16
n1
Since n1 > n2,  is always positive.

Relation between NA &  :

From Eq. 2.13, assuming n0 = 1, NA = n12 − n22 = ( n1 − n2 )( n1 + n2 )

From Eq. 2.14, (n1−n2) = n1  and since n1  n2, we can approximate (n1+n2)  2 n1.

Therefore, NA = ( n1  ) ( 2n1 ) = n1 2 (2.17)

The light accepting capacity of a fibre can be increased by making  large. But there are
practical limitations to achieve this. Also a very large  may cause signal distortion.

51
SKIP DISTANCE (Ls): Skip distance is the distance between two successive reflections of
the ray of light which propagates through the optical fibre. Consider a portion of the optical
fibre through which a light signal is transmitted.

Figure 2.14: Skip distance

From the Figure 2.14,

Ls = d cot  1 = d cos ec 2 1 − 1

n12 n0
Ls = d −1 ( sin  1 = sin  ) (2.18)
n02 sin 2  n1

2.12 TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBRES

Based on their refractive index profile and geometry, optical fibres may be broadly classified
into
a) single mode step index optical fibres
b) multi-mode step index optical fibres
c) multi-mode graded index optical fibres
Number of modes of transmission through an optical fibre: Depending on the launch angle
into the fibre, there can be hundreds of ray paths or modes by which energy can propagate
down the core. The ray paths corresponding to the same propagating wave front is called a
mode. An optical fibre permits a discrete number of modes to propagate through it. Not all the
rays that enter the acceptance cone sustain propagation. Only those modes that satisfy the
coherent phase condition are successfully propagated. The rays belonging to the same
propagating wave-front must remain in step despite the phase changes that occur on reflection
and traversing different optical paths.

The number of modes supported for propagation through an optical fibre is determined by a
parameter called normalized frequency (V) given by

52
 d
V= n0 n12 − n22 where d is the diameter of the core and  is the wavelength of the light

V2
propagated. If V >>1, then the number of successfully propagated modes is .
2

Single mode step index optical fibre: A single mode optical fibre consists of a core having a
uniform refractive index n1 that abruptly decreases at the core-cladding interface to a lower
value n2, the refractive index of the cladding. The diameter of the core is narrow (5-10m)
generally a few times the wavelength of the light propagating through it. Only rays nearly
parallel to the fibre axis will travel through. It supports a single mode propagation because of
its narrow core.

Figure 2.15: Single mode step-index fibre

Step-Index Multimode fibre: In this case also the refractive index profile is similar to step
index fibre i.e., fibre consists of a core having a uniform refractive index n1 that abruptly
decreases at the core-cladding interface to a lower value n2 the refractive index of the cladding.
But the diameter of the core is large (50-200 m). The comparatively large central core makes
it rugged and easily infused with light, as well as easily terminated and coupled. It also supports
a large number of modes for propagation.

53
 Figure 2.16: Multi mode step-index fibre

Graded-Index Multimode fibre (GRIN): It consists of a core whose refractive index

decreases gradually from its axis radially outward and becomes equal to the refractive index of
the cladding at the core-cladding interface. The refractive index of the cladding remains
uniform. Dimensions of the core and cladding are similar to that of step index multimode fibres.
It supports a large number of modes for propagation because of its large core diameter.

Figure 2.17: Multi mode graded index fibre

54
2.13 TYPES OF ATTENUATION

Attenuation is the loss of power of the light signal that occurs during its propagation through
the optical fibre. The main sources of attenuation are
1. absorption
2. scattering
3. other losses
Absorption: Absorption of light during propagation occurs due to the impurities present in
the fibre material and also due to the intrinsic nature of the material itself.

The impurities generally present are

a) Transition metals such as iron, chromium, cobalt, copper etc.

b) The hydroxy ions (OH-) that enter into the fibre material at the time of fabrication.

The photons absorbed by the impurities may be lost as heat or may be reemitted as light energy
of different wavelengths and different phase from the one that is propagated. Hence it results
in a loss. Intrinsic absorption occurs by the pure material itself even if the material is free from
impurities and inhomogeneities. Intrinsic absorption though quite less compared to the loss due
to the impurities, it cannot be eliminated.
Scattering: Glass is a heterogeneous mixture of oxides of silicon, phosphorus, germanium etc.
Structural inhomogeneities in the core index will set in the fibre material during solidification
of glass from its molten state. It will also result in a fluctuation of the molecular density. These
inhomogeneities act as scattering centers. Since their dimensions are smaller than  the
wavelength of the light propagated through the fibre, the energy loss that occurs due to such
1
scattering resemble Rayleigh scattering that is proportional to . The losses due to these
4
scattering cannot be eliminated by any process. There are other structural inhomogeneities &
defects that set in during fabrication of the fibre that contribute to the loss due to scattering.
Their sources are trapped gas bubbles, unreacted starting materials etc. However, these can be
reduced to a great extent by improved methods of manufacturing.
Other losses: a) Due to dimensional irregularities and imperfections in the fibres (that are
called microscopic bends) the light may not sustain total internal reflection. The energy will
escape from the core.

55
 Figure 2.18: Signal attenuation in optical fibre due to microscopic bending

b) Macroscopic bends occur during wrapping the fibre on a spool or negotiating a curve during
cable laying. Fibres can withstand bends of curvature up to about 10cm without significant
loss. For higher curvature (smaller radius of curvature) than this, the loss increases
exponentially.

Amplification is therefore needed in communication applications at regular intervals in order

to compensate for the losses that occur despite all precautions. An optical repeater is used to
boost the signal.

2.14 DISTORTION IN OPTICAL FIBRE

A light pulse launched into a fibre decreases in amplitude, as it travels along the fibre, due to
losses in the fibre. It also spreads during its travel. The pulse received at the output is wider
than input pulse, as shown in figure 2.19. Such distortion arises due to dispersion effects.

Figure 2.19: Broadening of the signal due to distortion

There are three mechanisms which contribute to the distortion (signal spreading) of the light
pulse in a fibre.

56
(i) Material dispersion: The material dispersion is due to the dependence of the refractive
indices of glass and consequently the group velocity of the optical signal. A LED emits a broad
spectrum of light. Whenever a LED is used as a source, the broad spectrum contains a number
of wavelengths. These different wavelengths of light are travelling through optical fibre at
different speeds because the refractive indices of the glass vary with wavelengths. The short
wavelength waves travel slower than long wavelength waves in a material. Hence, narrow
pulses of light tend to broaden as they travel down the optical fibre. This is known as material
dispersion (Fig. 2.20 (a)). Material dispersion is present in both single mode and multimode
fibres. The material dispersion is given by the equation

λ (Δλ) d2 𝑛
D𝑚 = L 2
c dλ

where λ is the peak wavelength, Δλ is the spectral width, L is the length of the core, and
n is the refractive index of the core.

To cite an example, an LED operating at 820 nm and having a spectral width of 38 nm results
in a dispersion of about 3 ns/km in a certain fibre. In the same fiber, dispersion can be reduced
to 0.3 ns/km using a laser diode operating at 1140 nm and having a 3 nm spectral width. Thus,
material dispersion can be reduced using a more and more monochromatic source.

57
 Figure 2.20: (a) Material dispersion (b) Waveguide dispersion (c) Intermodal dispersion

(ii) Waveguide dispersion: Waveguide dispersion arises from the guiding properties of the
fibre. Pulses at different wavelengths, through propagating in the same mode, travel at slightly
different angles. This is known as waveguide dispersion (Fig. 2.20 (b)). It is present in both
single mode and multimode fibres

(iii) Intermodal dispersion: A ray of light launched into a fibre follows different zigzag paths.
When numerous modes are propagating in a fibre, they travel with different net velocities with
respect to fibre axis. Parts of the wave arrive at the output before other parts leading to a spread
of the input pulse. This is known as intermodal dispersion (Fig. 2.20 (c)). It does not depend
on the spectral width of the source. A light pulse from an ideal monochromatic source (Δλ =0)
would still exhibit spreading. In single- mode fibres, since there in only one mode, there is no
intermodal dispersion.

2.15 APPLICATIONS

Optical communication: Optical communication is communication at a distance using light

to carry information. An optical communication system uses a transmitter, which encodes a
message into an optical signal, a channel (optical fibre), which carries the signal to its
destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal
(Fig.2.21). Optical communication has several advantages – can carry large data in digital form,
interference and noise free.

Figure 2.21: Simplified block diagram of optical communication system

Optical fibres are also used in sensors, flexible fibrescope (endoscope) and other industrial
applications.

58
2.16 QUESTIONS

2.1 LASER
1 Mention the characteristics of a laser beam.
2 Explain the following terms with reference to lasers:
(a) spontaneous emission
(b) stimulated emission
(c) metastable state
(d) population inversion
(e) pumping
(f) active medium
(g) resonant cavity.
3 Explain the principle of a laser.
4 Explain construction and operation of ruby laser with necessary diagrams.
5 Explain construction and operation of He-Ne laser with necessary diagrams.
6 Write a note on semiconductor lasers.
7 Mention any four applications of laser.
2.2 OPTICAL FIBRES
7 What is a critical angle? Define total internal reflection
8 With necessary diagram, derive an expression for angle of acceptance and numerical
aperture.
9 Define fractional refractive index change  and get the relation between  & numerical
aperture NA.
10 What is skip distance? With neat diagram, derive an expression for it.
11 What are different types of optical fibres? Briefly explain them with diagrams.
12 What are the different types of attenuations possible in optical fibres? Explain them.
Explain different types of distortion in optical fibres.
13 Mention any four applications of optical fibre.

2.17 PROBLEMS

2.1 LASER

59
1 A three level laser of the type shown in figure,
emits laser light at a wavelength 550 nm, near
the centre of the visible band. If the optical
mechanism is shut off, what will be the ratio
of the population of the upper level E2 to that
of the lower level E1 at 300 K ? At what
temperature for the condition of (a) would the ratio of populations be half
?
Ans: (a) 1.77 x 10-38 (b) 37800 K
2 A pulsed ruby laser has a ruby rod (Al2O3
doped with Cr2O3) as an active medium, which
is 6 cm long and 1 cm in diameter. There is
one aluminium ion (active centre, with energy
levels of the type shown in the figure) for
every 3500 chromium ions. The ruby laser
light has a wavelength of 694.4 nm. Suppose
that all the chromium ions are in metastable state (E2) and none are in ground
state (E1). How much energy is there in a single laser pulse if all these ions
come down to ground state in a single stimulated emission chain reaction episode
? Density of Al2O3 is 3700 kg/m3. Molar mass of Al2O3 is 0.102 kg/mol.
Ans: Total energy per pulse= 16.9 J
3 A ruby laser emits light at a wavelength of 694.4 nm. If a laser pulse is
emitted for 12.0 ps and the energy release per pulse is 150 mJ, (a) what is
the length of the pulse, and (b) how many photons are there in each pulse
?
(a) 3.6 x 10-3 m (b) 5.25 x 1017
4 It is entirely possible that techniques for modulating the frequency or amplitude
of a laser beam will be developed so that such a beam can serve as a carrier
for television signals, much as microwave beams do now. Assume also that
laser systems will be available whose wavelengths can be precisely tuned to
anywhere in the visible range (400 nm to 700 nm). If a television channel
occupies a bandwidth of 10 MHz, how many channels could be accommodated

60
 with this laser technology ? Comment on the intrinsic superiority of visible
light to microwaves as carriers of information. Ans: 3.27 x 107
5 A He-Ne laser emits light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm and has an output
power of 2.3 mW. How many photons are emitted each minute by this laser
when operating ? Ans: 4.4 x 1017 /min
6 An atom has two energy levels with a transition wavelength of 582 nm. At
300 K, 4.0 x 1020 atoms are in the lower state. (a) How many occupy the
upper state under conditions of thermal equilibrium ? (b) Suppose, instead, that
7.0 x 1020 atoms are pumped into upper state, with 4.0 x 1020 atoms in the lower
state. How much energy could be released in a single laser pulse ?

Ans: (a) 6.6 x 10-16  0 (b) 240 J

7
Calculate the ratio of, (i) Einstein’s coefficients (ii) stimulated to spontaneous
emissions, for a system at 300 K in which radiations of wavelength 1.39 µm are
emitted. [Ans: The ratio of [A21/B12] is 6.2 x 10-15, and ratio of stimulated to
spontaneous emissions 10-15]

2.2 OPTICAL FIBRE

8 A step index optical fibre 63.5 m in core-diameter has a core of refractive index
1.53 and a cladding of index 1.39. Determine (a) the numerical aperture for the
fibre, (b) the critical angle for core-cladding interface, (c) the acceptance cone
half-angle (the maximum entrance angle) (d) the number of reflections in 1.0 m
length of the fibre for a ray at the maximum entrance angle, (e) the number of
reflections in 1.0 m length of the fibre for a ray at half the maximum entrance
angle.
Ans: a) 0.639 b) 65.290 (c) 39.710 (d) 7.25 x 103 (e) 358 x 103
9 A glass optical fibre of refractive index 1.450 is to be clad with another to ensure total
internal reflection that will contain light traveling within 5 of the fibre-axis. What
maximum index of refraction is allowed for the cladding? Ans: 1.444
10 The numerical aperture of an optical fibre is 0.2 when surrounded by air.
Determine the refractive index of its core. The refractive index of the cladding is

61
 1.59. Also find the acceptance cone half-angle when the fibre in water. Refractive
index of water is 1.33.
Ans: 1.6, 8.650
11 The angle of acceptance of an optical fibre is 30 when kept in air. Find the angle of
acceptance when it is in a medium of refractive index 1.33. Ans: 220

62
3 QUANTUM PHYSICS
OBJECTIVES:
• To learn certain experimental results that can be understood only by particle theory
of electromagnetic waves.
• To learn the particle properties of waves and the wave properties of the particles.
• To understand the uncertainty principle.
3.1 BLACKBODY RADIATION AND PLANCK’S HYPOTHESIS

A black body is an object that absorbs all incident radiation. A small hole cut into a cavity is
the most popular and realistic example. None of the incident radiation escapes. The radiation
is absorbed in the walls of the cavity. This causes a heating of the cavity walls. The oscillators
in the cavity walls vibrate and re-radiate at wavelengths corresponding to the temperature of
the cavity, thereby producing standing waves. Some of the energy from these standing waves
can leave through the opening. The electromagnetic radiation emitted by the black body is
called black-body radiation.

Figure 3.1: A physical model of a blackbody

• The black body is an ideal absorber of incident radiation.

• A black-body reaches thermal equilibrium with the surroundings when the incident
radiation power is balanced by the power re-radiated.
• The emitted "thermal" radiation from a black body characterizes the equilibrium
temperature of the black-body.
• The nature of radiation from a blackbody does not depend on the material of which the
walls are made.
Basic laws of radiation
(1) All objects emit radiant energy.

63
(2) Hotter objects emit more energy (per unit area) than colder objects. The total power of the
emitted radiation is proportional to the fourth power of temperature. This is called Stefan’s
Law and is given by
P =  A e T4 (3.1)
where P is power radiated from the surface of the object (W), T is equilibrium surface
temperature (K), σ is Stefan-Boltzmann constant (= 5.670 x 10−8 W/m2K4 ), A is surface area
of the object (m2) and e is emissivity of the surface (e =1 for a perfect blackbody).
(3) The peak of the wavelength distribution shifts to shorter wavelengths as the black body
temperature increases. This is Wien’s Displacement Law and is given by
λm T = constant = 2.898 × 10−3 m.K , or λm  T−1 (3.2)
where λm is the wavelength corresponding to peak intensity and T is equilibrium temperature
of the blackbody.

Figure 3.2: Intensity of blackbody radiation versus wavelength at two temperatures

(4) Rayleigh-Jeans Law: This law tries to explain the distribution of energy from a black
body. The intensity or power per unit area I (,T)d, emitted in the wavelength interval  to
+d from a blackbody is given by
2  c kB T (3.3)
I(  ,T ) =
 4

kB is Boltzmann’s constant, c is speed of light in vacuum, T is equilibrium blackbody

temperature. It agrees with experimental measurements only for long wavelengths. It predicts
an energy output that diverges towards infinity as wavelengths become smaller and is known
as the ultraviolet catastrophe.

64
 Figure 3.3: Comparison of experimental results and the curve predicted by the Rayleigh–
Jeans law for the distribution of blackbody radiation

(5) Planck‘s Law:

Max Planck developed a theory of blackbody radiation that leads to an equation for I (,T) that
is in complete agreement with experimental results. To derive the law, Planck made two
assumptions concerning the nature of the oscillators in the cavity walls:
(i) The energy of an oscillator is quantized hence it can have only certain discrete values:
En = n h f (3.4)
where n is a positive integer called a quantum number, f is the frequency of cavity oscillators,
and h is a constant called Planck’s constant. Each discrete energy value corresponds to a
different quantum state, represented by the quantum number n.
(ii) The oscillators emit or absorb energy only when making a transition from one quantum
state to another. Difference in energy will be integral multiples of hf.

65
 Figure 3.4: Allowed energy levels for an oscillator with frequency f

Planck’s law explains the distribution of energy from a black body which is given by,

2 h c 2 1
I(  , T ) =
 5 hc
λk B T
(3.5)
e −1

where I (,T) d is the intensity or power per unit area emitted in the wavelength interval d
from a blackbody, h is Planck’s constant, kB is Boltzmann's constant, c is speed of light in
vacuum and T is equilibrium temperature of blackbody .
The Planck‘s Law gives a distribution that peaks at a certain wavelength, the peak shifts to
shorter wavelengths for higher temperatures, and the area under the curve grows rapidly with
increasing temperature. This law is in agreement with the experimental data.
The results of Planck's law:
▪ The denominator [exp(hc/λkT)] tends to infinity faster than the numerator (λ–5), thus
resolving the ultraviolet catastrophe and hence arriving at experimental observation:
I (λ, T) → 0 as λ → 0.
hc
▪ For very large λ, exp ( hckT ) − 1   kT  I(  ,T ) → 2  c −4 k T

i.e. I (λ, T) → 0 as λ → .
From a fit between Planck's law and experimental data, Planck’s constant was derived to be h
= 6.626 × 10–34 J-s.

66
3.2 PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT

Ejection of electrons from the surface of certain metals when it is irradiated by an

electromagnetic radiation of suitable frequency is known as photoelectric effect.

E
V

Figure 3.5: (a) Apparatus (b) circuit for studying Photoelectric Effect (T – Evacuated glass/
quartz tube, E – Emitter Plate / Photosensitive material / Cathode, C – Collector Plate /
Anode, V – Voltmeter, A - Ammeter)
Experimental Observations:

Figure 3.6: Photoelectric current versus applied potential difference for two light intensities

1. When plate E is illuminated by light of suitable frequency, electrons are emitted from E
and a current is detected in A (Figure 3.5).
2. Photocurrent produced vs potential difference graph shows that kinetic energy of the most
energetic photoelectrons is,

67
 Kmax = e Vs (3.6)
where Vs is stopping potential
3. Kinetic energy of the most energetic photoelectrons is independent of light intensity.
4. Electrons are emitted from the surface of the emitter almost instantaneously
5. No electrons are emitted if the incident light frequency falls below a cutoff frequency.
6. Kinetic energy of the most energetic photoelectrons increases with increasing light
frequency.
Classical Predictions:

1. If light is really a wave, it was thought that if one shine of light of any fixed wavelength,
at sufficient intensity on the emitter surface, electrons should absorb energy continuously
from the em waves and electrons should be ejected.
2. As the intensity of light is increased (made it brighter and hence classically, a more
energetic wave), kinetic energy of the emitted electrons should increase.
3. Measurable / larger time interval between incidence of light and ejection of photoelectrons.
4. Ejection of photoelectron should not depend on light frequency
5. In short experimental results contradict classical predictions.
6. Photoelectron kinetic energy should not depend upon the frequency of the incident light.
Einstein’s Interpretation of electromagnetic radiation:
1. Electromagnetic waves carry discrete energy packets (light quanta called photons now).
2. The energy E, per packet depends on frequency f: E = hf.
3. More intense light corresponds to more photons, not higher energy photons.
4. Each photon of energy E moves in vacuum at the speed of light: c = 3 x 108 m/s and each
photon carries a momentum, p = E/c.
Einstein’s theory of photoelectric effect:
A photon of the incident light gives all its energy hf to a single electron (absorption of energy
by the electrons is not a continuous process as envisioned in the wave model) and the kinetic
energy of the most energetic photoelectron
Kmax = hf −  (Einstein’s photoelectric equation) (3.7)
 is called the work function of the metal. It is the minimum energy with which an electron is
bound in the metal.
All the observed features of photoelectric effect could be explained by Einstein’s photoelectric
equation:
1. Equation shows that Kmax depends only on frequency of the incident light.

68
2. Almost instantaneous emission of photoelectrons due to one -to –one interaction between
photons and electrons.
3. Ejection of electrons depends on light frequency since photons should have energy greater
than the work function  in order to eject an electron.
4. The cutoff frequency fc is related to  by fc =  /h. If the incident frequency f is less
than fc , there is no emission of photoelectrons.
The graph of kinetic energy of the most energetic photoelectron Kmax vs frequency f is a
straight line, according to Einstein’s equation.

Figure 3.7: A representative plot of Kmax versus frequency of incident light for three different
metals

3.3 COMPTON EFFECT

When X-rays are scattered by free/nearly free electrons, they suffer a change in their
wavelength which depends on the scattering angle. This scattering phenomenon is known as
Compton Effect.
Classical Predictions: Oscillating electromagnetic waves (classically, X-rays are em waves)
incident on electrons should have two effects: i) oscillating electromagnetic field causes
oscillations in electrons. Each electron first absorbs radiation as a moving particle and then re-
radiates in all directions as a moving particle and thereby exhibiting two Doppler shifts in the
frequency of radiation. ii) radiation pressure should cause the electrons to accelerate in the
direction of propagation of the waves. Because different electrons will move at different speeds
after the interaction, depending on the amount of energy absorbed from electromagnetic waves,
the scattered waves at a given angle will have all frequencies (Doppler- shifted values).

69
Compton’s experiment and observation: Compton measured the intensity of scattered X-
rays from a solid target (graphite) as a function of wavelength for different angles. The
experimental setup is shown in Figure 3.8. Contrary to the classical prediction, only one
frequency for scattered radiation was seen at a given angle. This is shown in the Figure 3.9.
The graphs for three nonzero angles show two peaks, one at o and the other at ’ >o . The
shifted peak at ’ is caused by the scattering of X-rays from free electrons. Shift in wavelength
was predicted by Compton to depend on scattering angle as

λ′ − λ = h
mc
(1−cos θ) (3.8)

where m is the mass of the electron, c is velocity of light, h is Planck’s constant.

ℎ
This is known as Compton shift equation, and the factor 𝑚𝑐
is called the Compton
ℎ
wavelength and 𝑚𝑐
= 2.43 pm.

Figure 3.8 Schematic diagram of Compton’s apparatus. The wavelength is measured with a
rotating crystal spectrometer for various scattering angles θ.

Figure 3.9: Scattered x-ray intensity versus wavelength for Compton scattering at  = 0°,
45°, 90°, and 135° showing single frequency at a given angle

Derivation of the Compton shift equation:

Compton could explain the experimental result by treating the X-rays not as waves but rather
as point like particles (photons) having energy E = hfo = hc/o , momentum p = hf/c = h/ and

70
zero rest energy. Photons collide elastically with free electrons initially at rest and moving
relativistically after collision.
Let o , po = h/o and Eo = hc/o be the wavelength, momentum and energy of the incident
photon respectively. ’, p’ = h/’ and E’ = hc/’ be the corresponding quantities for the
scattered photon.
We know that, for the electron, the total relativistic energy 𝐸 = √𝑝2 𝑐 2 + 𝑚2 𝑐 4
Kinetic energy K = E − m c2
1
And momentum p =  mv. where
=
1 − vc 2
2

v and m are the speed and mass of the electron respectively.

Figure 3.10: Quantum model for X-ray scattering from an electron

In the scattering process, the total energy and total linear momentum of the system must
be conserved.
For conservation of energy we must have, Eo = E’ + K
ie, Eo = E’ + (E − m c2)
Or Eo − E’ + m c2 = 𝐸 = √𝑝2 𝑐 2 + 𝑚2 𝑐 4
Squaring both the sides, (𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸′)2 + 2(𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸′) 𝑚𝑐 2 + 𝑚2 𝑐 4 = 𝑝2 𝑐 2 + 𝑚2 𝑐 4
For conservation of momentum, x-component: 𝑝𝑜 = 𝑝′ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 + 𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜙
y-component: 0 = 𝑝′ 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 − 𝑝 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜙
Rewriting these two equations
𝑝𝑜 − 𝑝′ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 = 𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜙
𝑝′ 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 = 𝑝 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜙
Squaring both the sides and adding,

71
 𝑝𝑜2 − 2𝑝𝑜 𝑝′ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 + 𝑝′2 = 𝑝2
Substituting this 𝑝2 in the equation :
(𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸′)2 + 2(𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸′) 𝑚𝑐 2 = 𝑝2 𝑐 2 , one gets
(𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸′)2 + 2(𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸′) 𝑚𝑐 2 = (𝑝𝑜2 − 2𝑝𝑜 𝑝′ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 + 𝑝′2 )𝑐 2
Substituting photon energies and photon momenta one gets
ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 2 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 2 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 2
( 𝜆𝑜
− 𝜆′
) +2( 𝜆𝑜
− 𝜆′
) 𝑚𝑐 2 = ( 𝜆𝑜
) − 2( 𝜆𝑜
) ( 𝜆′ ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 + ( 𝜆′ )

Simplifying one gets

ℎ𝑐 2 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 2 1 1 ℎ𝑐 2 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐
( 𝜆 ) − 2 ( 𝜆 ) ( 𝜆′ ) + ( 𝜆′ ) + 2 ℎ𝑐 ( 𝜆𝑜
− 𝜆′
) 𝑚𝑐 2 = ( 𝜆𝑜
) − 2( 𝜆𝑜
) ( 𝜆′ ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
𝑜 𝑜

ℎ𝑐 2
+ ( 𝜆′ )
ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐
i.e., − + ( 𝜆1𝑜 − 1
𝜆′
) 𝑚𝑐 2 = − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
𝜆𝑜 𝜆′ 𝜆𝑜 𝜆′
′ ℎ𝑐
OR, (𝜆𝜆−𝜆𝜆𝑜′ ) 𝑚𝑐 2 = (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃)
𝑜 𝜆𝑜 𝜆′

Compton shift:
𝒉
𝝀′ − 𝝀𝒐 = (𝟏 − 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽)
𝒎𝒄

3.4 PHOTONS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES [DUAL NATURE OF

LIGHT]

• Light exhibits diffraction and interference phenomena that are only explicable in terms of
wave properties.
• Photoelectric effect and Compton Effect can only be explained taking light as photons /
particle.
• This means true nature of light is not describable in terms of any single picture, instead
both wave and particle nature have to be considered. In short, the particle model and the
wave model of light complement each other.

3.5 DE BROGLIE HYPOTHESIS - WAVE PROPERTIES OF PARTICLES

We have seen that light comes in discrete units (photons) with particle properties (energy E
and momentum p) that are related to the wave-like properties of frequency and wavelength.
Louis de Broglie postulated that because photons have both wave and particle characteristics,
perhaps all forms of matter have wave-like properties, with the wavelength λ related to
momentum p in the same way as for light.

72
 ℎ ℎ
de Broglie wavelength: 𝜆 = = (3.9)
𝑝 𝑚𝑣

where h is Planck’s constant and p is momentum of the quantum particle, m is mass of the
particle, and v is speed of the particle. The electron accelerated through a potential difference
of V, has a non-relativistic kinetic energy 1
2
𝑚 𝑣 2 = 𝑒 ∆𝑉 where e is electron
charge.
Hence, the momentum (p) of an electron accelerated through a potential difference of V is
𝑝 = 𝑚 𝑣 = √2 𝑚 𝑒 ∆𝑉 (3.10)
𝐸
Frequency of the matter wave associated with the particle is , where E is total relativistic
ℎ

energy of the particle

Davisson-Germer experiment and G P Thomson’s electron diffraction experiment confirmed
de Broglie relationship p = h /. Subsequently it was found that atomic beams, and beams of
neutrons, also exhibit diffraction when reflected from regular crystals. Thus de Broglie's
formula seems to apply to any kind of matter. Now the dual nature of matter and radiation is
an accepted fact and it is stated in the principle of complementarity. This states that wave and
particle models of either matter or radiation complement each other.

3.6 THE QUANTUM PARTICLE

Quantum particle is a model by which particles having dual nature are represented. We must
choose one appropriate behavior for the quantum particle (particle or wave) in order to
understand a particular behavior.
To represent a quantum wave, we have to combine the essential features of both an ideal
particle and an ideal wave. An essential feature of a particle is that it is localized in space. But
an ideal wave is infinitely long (non-localized) as shown in Figure 3.11.

Figure 3.11: Section of an ideal wave of single frequency

Now to build a localized entity from an infinitely long wave, waves of same amplitude, but
slightly different frequencies are superposed (Figure 3.12).

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 Figure 3.12: Superposition of two waves Wave 1 and Wave 2

If we add up large number of waves in a similar way, the small localized region of space where
constructive interference takes place is called a wave packet, which represents a quantum
particle (Figure 3.13).

Figure 3.13: Wave packet

Mathematical representation of a wave packet:

Superposition of two waves of equal amplitude, but with slightly different frequencies, f1 and
f2, traveling in the same direction are considered. The waves are written as
𝑦1 = 𝐴 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑘1 𝑥 − 𝜔1 𝑡) and 𝑦2 = 𝐴 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑘2 𝑥 − 𝜔2 𝑡)
where 𝑘 = 2𝜋/𝜆 , 𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓
The resultant wave y = y1 + y2
𝛥𝑘 𝛥𝜔 𝑘1 +𝑘2 𝜔1 +𝜔2
𝑦 = 2𝐴 [𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 2 𝑥 − 2
𝑡) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 2
𝑥 − 2
𝑡)]

where k = k1 – k2 and  = 1 – 2.

Figure 3.14: Beat pattern due to superposition of wave trains y1 and y2

74
The resulting wave oscillates with the average frequency, and its amplitude envelope (in square
brackets, shown by the blue dotted curve in Figure 3.14) varies according to the difference
frequency. A realistic wave (one of finite extent in space) is characterized by two different
speeds. The phase speed, the speed with which wave crest of individual wave moves, is given
by
𝜔
𝑣𝑝 = 𝑓 𝜆 or 𝑣𝑝 = (3.11)
𝑘

The envelope of group of waves can travel through space with a different speed than the
individual waves. This speed is called the group speed or the speed of the wave packet which
is given by
(𝛥𝜔
2
) 𝛥𝜔
𝑣𝑔 = = (3.12)
(𝛥𝑘
2
) 𝛥𝑘

For a superposition of large number of waves to form a wave packet, this ratio is 𝑣𝑔 =
𝑑𝜔
𝑑𝑘

In general these two speeds are not the same.

Relation between group speed (vg) and phase speed (vp):
𝜔
𝑣𝑃 = = 𝑓𝜆  𝜔 = 𝑘 𝑣𝑃
𝑘
𝑑𝜔 𝑑(𝑘𝑣𝑃 ) 𝑑𝑣𝑃
But 𝑣𝑔 = = = 𝑘 + 𝑣𝑃
𝑑𝑘 𝑑𝑘 𝑑𝑘

Substituting for k in terms of λ, we get

𝑑𝑣𝑃
𝑣𝑔 = 𝑣𝑃 − 𝜆 ( ) (3.13)
𝑑𝜆

Relation between group speed (vg) and particle speed (u):

𝐸 2𝜋 2𝜋 2𝜋𝑝
𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓 = 2𝜋 and 𝑘 = = =
ℎ 𝜆 ℎ⁄𝑝 ℎ
2𝜋
𝑑𝜔 𝑑𝐸 𝑑𝐸
ℎ
𝑣𝑔 = = 2𝜋 =
𝑑𝑘 ℎ
𝑑𝑝 𝑑𝑝

For a classical particle moving with speed u, the kinetic energy E is given by
𝑝2 2 𝑝 𝑑𝑝 𝑑𝐸 𝑝
𝐸 = 1
2
𝑚 𝑢2 = and 𝑑𝐸 = or = = 𝑢
2𝑚 2𝑚 𝑑𝑝 𝑚
𝑑𝜔 𝑑𝐸
𝑣𝑔 = = = 𝑢 (3.14)
𝑑𝑘 𝑑𝑝

i.e., we should identify the group speed with the particle speed, speed with which the energy
moves. To represent a realistic wave packet, confined to a finite region in space, we need the
superposition of large number of harmonic waves with a range of k-values.

75
3.7 DOUBLE–SLIT EXPERIMENT REVISITED

One way to confirm our ideas about the electron’s wave–particle duality is through an
experiment in which electrons are fired at a double slit. Consider a parallel beam of mono-
energetic electrons incident on a double slit as in Figure 3.15. Let’s assume the slit widths are
small compared with the electron wavelength so that diffraction effects are negligible. An
electron detector screen (acts like the “viewing screen” of Young’s double-slit experiment) is
positioned far from the slits at a distance much greater than d, the separation distance of the
slits. If the detector screen collects electrons for a long enough time, we find a typical wave
interference pattern for the counts per minute, or probability of arrival of electrons. Such an
interference pattern would not be expected if the electrons behaved as classical particles, giving
clear evidence that electrons are interfering, a distinct wave-like behavior.

Figure 3.15: (a) Schematic of electron beam interference experiment, (b) Photograph of a
double-slit interference pattern produced by electrons
If we measure the angle θ at which the maximum intensity of the electrons arrives at the
detector screen, we find they are described by exactly the same equation as that for light:
𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 = 𝑚 𝜆 , where m is the order number and λ is the electron wavelength. Therefore,
the dual nature of the electron is clearly shown in this experiment: the electrons are detected
as particles at a localized spot on the detector screen at some instant of time, but the
probability of arrival at the spot is determined by finding the intensity of two interfering
waves.
3.8 UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

It is fundamentally impossible to make simultaneous measurements of a particle’s position

and momentum with infinite accuracy. This is known as Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
The uncertainties arise from the quantum structure of matter.

76
For a particle represented by a single wavelength wave existing throughout space,  is precisely
known, and according to de Broglie hypothesis, its p is also known accurately. But the position
of the particle in this case becomes completely uncertain.
This means  = 0, p =0; but x = 
In contrast, if a particle whose momentum is uncertain (combination of waves / a range of
wavelengths are taken to form a wave packet), so that x is small, but  is large. If x is
made zero,  and thereby p will become .
In short ( x ) ( px) ≥ h / 4 (3.15)
where x is uncertainty in the measurement of position x of the particle and px is uncertainty
in the measurement of momentum px of the particle.
One more relation expressing uncertainty principle is related to energy and time which is given
by
( E ) ( t ) ≥ h / 4 (3.16)
where E is uncertainty in the measurement of energy E of the system when the
measurement is done over the time interval t.
3.9 QUESTIONS

1. Explain (a) Stefan’s law (b) Wien’s displacement law (c) Rayleigh-Jeans law.
2. Sketch schematically the graph of wavelength vs intensity of radiation from a blackbody.

3. Explain Planck’s radiation law.

4. Write the assumptions made in Planck’s hypothesis of blackbody radiation.

5. Explain photoelectric effect.

6. What are the observations in the experiment on photoelectric effect?
7. What are the classical predictions about the photoelectric effect?

8. Explain Einstein’s photoelectric equation.

9. Which are the features of photoelectric effect-experiment explained by Einstein’s

photoelectric equation?

10. Sketch schematically the following graphs with reference to the photoelectric effect: (a)
photoelectric current vs applied voltage (b) kinetic energy of most-energetic electron vs
frequency of incident light.

11. Explain Compton effect.

77
12. Explain the experiment on Compton effect.
13. Derive the Compton shift equation.
14. Explain the wave properties of the particles.
15. Explain a wave packet and represent it schematically.

16. Explain (a) group speed (b) phase speed, of a wave packet.

17. Show that the group speed of a wave packet is equal to the particle speed.

18. (a) Name any two phenomena which confirm the particle nature of light.
(b) Name any two phenomena which confirm the wave nature of light.
19. Explain Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

20. Write the equations for uncertainty in (a) position and momentum (b) energy and time.

21. Mention two situations which can be well explained by the uncertainty relation.

3.10 PROBLEMS

1 Find the peak wavelength of the blackbody radiation emitted by each of the following.
A. The human body when the skin temperature is 35°C
B. The tungsten filament of a light bulb, which operates at 2000 K
C. The Sun, which has a surface temperature of about 5800 K.
Ans: 9.4 μm, 1.4 μm, 0.50 μm
2 A 2.0- kg block is attached to a spring that has a force constant of k = 25 N/m. The
spring is stretched 0.40 m from its equilibrium position and released.
A. Find the total energy of the system and the frequency of oscillation according to
classical calculations.
B. Assuming that the energy is quantized, find the quantum number n for the system
oscillating with this amplitude.
C. Suppose the oscillator makes a transition from the n = 5.4 x 1033 state to the state
corresponding to n = 5.4 x 1033 – 1. By how much does the energy of the
oscillator change in this one-quantum change.
Ans: 2.0 J, 0.56 Hz, 5.4 x 1033, 3.7 x 10–34 J
3 The human eye is most sensitive to 560 nm light. What is the temperature of a black
body that would radiate most intensely at this wavelength?
Ans: 5180 K
4 A blackbody at 7500 K consists of an opening of diameter 0.050 mm, looking into an oven.
Find the number of photons per second escaping the hole and having wavelengths between
500 nm and 501 nm.

78
 Ans: 1.30 x 1015/s
5 The radius of our Sun is 6.96 x 108 m, and its total power output is 3.77 x 1026 W. (a)
Assuming that the Sun’s surface emits as a black body, calculate its surface
temperature. (b) Using the result, find max for the Sun.
Ans: 5750 K, 504 nm
6 Calculate the energy in electron volts, of a photon whose frequency is (a) 620 THz, (b)
3.10 GHz, (c) 46.0 MHz. (d) Determine the corresponding wavelengths for these
photons and state the classification of each on the electromagnetic spectrum.
Ans: 2.57 eV, 1.28 x 10–5 eV, 1.91 x 10–7 eV, 484 nm, 9.68 cm, 6.52 m
7 An FM radio transmitter has a power output of 150 kW and operates at a frequency of
99.7 MHz. How many photons per second does the transmitter emit?
Ans: 2.27 x 1030 photons/s
8 A sodium surface is illuminated with light having a wavelength of 300 nm. The work
function for sodium metal is 2.46 eV. Find
A. The maximum kinetic energy of the ejected photoelectrons and
B. The cutoff wavelength for sodium.
Ans: 1.67 eV, 504 nm
9 Molybdenum has a work function of 4.2eV. (a) Find the cut off wavelength and cut off
frequency for the photoelectric effect. (b) What is the stopping potential if the incident
light has wavelength of 180 nm?
Ans: 296 nm, 1.01 x 1015 Hz, 2.71 V
10 Electrons are ejected from a metallic surface with speeds up to 4.60 x 105 m/s when light
with a wavelength of 625 nm is used. (a) What is the work function of the surface? (b)
What is the cut-off frequency for this surface?
Ans: 1.38 eV, 3.34 x 1014 Hz

11 The stopping potential for photoelectrons released from a metal is 1.48 V larger
compared to that in another metal. If the threshold frequency for the first metal is
40.0 % smaller than for the second metal, determine the work function for each
metal.
Ans: 3.70 eV, 2.22 eV
12 Two light sources are used in a photoelectric experiment to determine the work function
for a metal surface. When green light from a mercury lamp ( = 546.1 nm) is used, a
stopping potential of 0.376 V reduces the photocurrent to zero. (a) Based on this what is

79
 the work function of this metal? (b) What stopping potential would be observed when
using the yellow light from a helium discharge tube ( = 587.5 nm)?
Ans: 1.90 eV, 0.215 V
13 X-rays of wavelength o = 0.20 nm are scattered from a block of material. The scattered
X-rays are observed at an angle of 45° to the incident beam. Calculate their wavelength.
What if we move the detector so that scattered X-rays are detected at an angle larger than
45°? Does the wavelength of the scattered X-rays increase or decrease as the angle 
increase?
Ans: 0.200710 nm, INCREASES
14 Calculate the energy and momentum of a photon of wavelength 700 nm.
Ans: 1.78 eV, 9.47 x 10–28kg.m/s
15 A 0. 00160 nm photon scatters from a free electron. For what photon scattering
angle does the recoiling electron have kinetic energy equal to the energy of the
scattered photon?
Ans: 70°
16 A 0.880 MeV photon is scattered by a free electron initially at rest such that the
scattering angle of the scattered electron is equal to that of the scattered photon ( = ).
(a) Determine the angles  & . (b) Determine the energy and momentum of the
scattered electron and photon.
Ans: 43°, 43°, 0.602 MeV, 3.21 x 10–22 kg.m/s, 0.278 MeV, 3.21 x 10–22 kg.m/s
17 Calculate the de- Broglie wavelength for an electron moving at 1.0 x 107 m/s.
Ans: 7.28 x 10–11 m
18 A rock of mass 50 g is thrown with a speed of 40 m/s. What is its de Broglie
wavelength?
Ans: 3.3 x 10–34 m
19 A particle of charge q and mass m has been accelerated from rest to a nonrelativistic
speed through a potential difference of V. Find an expression for its de Broglie
wavelength.
h
Ans: λ =
√2 m q Δv
20 (a) An electron has a kinetic energy of 3.0 eV. Find its wavelength. (b) Also find the
wavelength of a photon having the same energy.
Ans: 7.09 x 10–10 m, 4.14 x 10–7 m
21 In the Davisson-Germer experiment, 54.0 eV electrons were diffracted from a nickel
lattice. If the first maximum in the diffraction pattern was observed at = 50.0°, what
was the lattice spacing a between the vertical rows of atoms in the figure?
Ans: 2.18 x 10–10 m

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22 Consider a freely moving quantum particle with mass m and speed u. Its energy is E= K=
mu2/2. Determine the phase speed of the quantum wave representing the particle and
show that it is different from the speed at which the particle transports mass and energy.
Ans: vGROUP = u ≠ vPHASE
23 Electrons are incident on a pair of narrow slits 0.060 m apart. The ‘bright bands’ in the
interference pattern are separated by 0.40 mm on a ‘screen’ 20.0 cm from the slits.
Determine the potential difference through which the electrons were accelerated to give
this pattern.
Ans: 105 V
24 The speed of an electron is measured to be 5.00 x 103 m/s to an accuracy of 0.0030%.
Find the minimum uncertainty in determining the position of this electron.
Ans: 0.383 mm
25 The lifetime of an excited atom is given as 1.0 x 10-8 s. Using the uncertainty
principle, compute the line width f produced by this finite lifetime?
Ans: 8.0 x 106 Hz
26 Use the uncertainty principle to show that if an electron were confined inside an
atomic nucleus of diameter 2 x 10–15 m, it would have to be moving relativistically,
while a proton confined to the same nucleus can be moving nonrelativistically.
Ans: vELECTRON  0.99996 c, vPROTON  1.8 x 107 m/s
27 Find the minimum kinetic energy of a proton confined within a nucleus having a
diameter of 1.0 x 10–15 m.
Ans: 5.2 MeV

81
 4 QUANTUM MECHANICS
OBJECTIVES:
• To learn the application of Schrödinger equation to a bound particle and to learn the
quantized nature of the bound particle, its expectation values and physical
significance.
• To understand the tunneling behavior of a particle incident on a potential barrier.
• To understand the behavior of quantum oscillator.

4.1 AN INTERPRETATION OF QUANTUM MECHANICS

Experimental evidences proved that both matter and electromagnetic radiation exhibit wave
and particle nature depending on the phenomenon being observed. Making a conceptual
connection between particles and waves, for an electromagnetic radiation of amplitude E, the
probability per unit volume of finding a photon in a given region of space at an instant of time
as

PROBABILITY
∝ 𝐸2
𝑉

Figure 4.1: Wave packet

Taking the analogy between electromagnetic radiation and matter-the probability per unit
volume of finding the particle is proportional to the square of the amplitude of a wave
representing the particle, even if the amplitude of the de Broglie wave associated with a particle
is generally not a measurable quantity. The amplitude of the de Broglie wave associated with
a particle is called probability amplitude, or the wave function, and is denoted by .
In general, the complete wave function  for a system depends on the positions of all the
particles in the system and on time. This can be written as
(r1,r2,…rj,…,t) = (rj) e–it
where rj is the position vector of the jth particle in the system.
For any system in which the potential energy is time-independent and depends only on the
position of particles within the system, the important information about the system is contained

82
within the space part of the wave function. The wave function  contains within it all the
information that can be known about the particle. | |2 is always real and positive, and is
proportional to the probability per unit volume, of finding the particle at a given point at some
instant. If  represents a single particle, then ||2 - called the probability density - is the
relative probability per unit volume that the particle will be found at any given point in the
volume.
One-dimensional wave functions and expectation values: Let  be the wave function for a
particle moving along the x axis. Then P(x) dx = ||2dx is the probability to find the particle
in the infinitesimal interval dx around the point x. The probability of finding the particle in the
arbitrary interval a ≤ x ≤ b is
𝑏
𝑃𝑎𝑏 = ∫𝑎 |𝜓|2 𝑑𝑥 (4.1)
The probability of a particle being in the interval a ≤ x ≤ b is the area under the probability
density curve from a to b. The total probability of finding the particle is one. Forcing this
condition on the wave function is called normalization.
+∞
∫−∞ |𝜓|2 𝑑𝑥 = 1 (4.2)

Figure 4.2: An arbitrary probability density curve for a particle

All the measurable quantities of a particle, such as its position, momentum and energy can be
derived from the knowledge of . e.g., the average position at which one expects to find the
particle after many measurements is called the expectation value of x and is defined by the
equation

+∞
〈𝑥〉 ≡ ∫−∞ 𝜓 ∗ 𝑥 𝜓 𝑑𝑥 (4.3)

The important mathematical features of a physically reasonable wave function (x) for a
system are
• (x) may be a complex function or a real function, depending on the system.

83
 • (x) must be finite, continuous and single valued everywhere.
• The space derivatives of, must be finite, continuous and single valued
everywhere.
•  must be normalizable.

4.2 THE SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION

The appropriate wave equation for matter waves was developed by Schrödinger. Schrödinger
equation as it applies to a particle of mass m confined to move along x axis and interacting
with its environment through a potential energy function U(x) is

ℏ2 𝑑2 𝜓
− +𝑈𝜓 = 𝐸𝜓 (4.4)
2 𝑚 𝑑𝑥 2

where E is a constant equal to the total energy of the system (the particle and its environment)
and ħ = h/2.This equation is referred to as the one dimensional, time-independent Schrödinger
equation.
Application of Schrödinger equation:

1. Particle in an infinite potential well (particle in a box)

2. Particle in a finite potential well
3. Tunneling
4. Quantum oscillator

4.3 PARTICLE IN AN INFINITE POTENTIAL WELL (PARTICLE IN A “BOX”)

Figure 4.3: (a) Particle in a potential well of infinite height, (b) Sketch of potential well

Consider a particle of mass m and velocity v, confined to bounce between two impenetrable
walls separated by a distance L as shown in Figure 4.3(a). Figure 4.3(b) shows the potential
energy function for the system.
U(x) = 0, for 0 <x<L,
U (x) =  , for x≤ 0, x≥L

84
Since U (x)=  , for x< 0, x>L , (x) = 0 in these regions. Also (0) =0 and (L) =0. Only
those wave functions that satisfy these boundary conditions are allowed. In the region 0 <x<L,
where U = 0, the Schrödinger equation takes the form
𝑑2𝜓 2𝑚
+ 𝐸 𝜓 = 0
𝑑𝑥 2 ℏ2

𝑑2 𝜓 2𝑚𝐸 √2𝑚𝐸
Or = − 𝑘2 𝜓 , where 𝑘 2 = or 𝑘 =
𝑑𝑥 2 ℏ2 ℏ

The most general form of the solution to the above equation is

(x) = Asin(kx) + B cos(kx)
where A and B are constants determined by the boundary and normalization conditions.
Applying the first boundary condition,
i.e., at x = 0,  = 0 leads to
0 = A sin 0 + B cos 0 or B = 0 ,
And at x = L ,  = 0 ,
0 = A sin(kL) + B cos(kL) = A sin(kL) + 0 ,
Since A  0 , sin(kL) = 0 . k L = nπ; ( n = 1, 2, 3, ……….. )
𝑛𝜋𝑥
Now the wave function reduces to 𝜓𝑛 (𝑥) = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( )
𝐿

To find the constant A, apply normalization condition

+∞ 𝐿 𝑛𝜋𝑥 2
∫−∞ |ψ|2 dx = 1 or ∫0 𝐴2 [𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( 𝐿
)] 𝑑𝑥 = 1 .
𝐿1
𝐴2 ∫0 2
[1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠(
2𝑛𝜋𝑥
𝐿
)] 𝑑𝑥 = 1

2
Solving we get 𝐴 = √𝐿

2 𝑛𝜋𝑥
Thus 𝜓𝑛 (𝑥) = √𝐿 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( ) is the wave function for particle in a box.
𝐿

√2𝑚𝐸
Since 𝑘 = and kL = nπ
ℏ

√2𝑚𝐸
We get, 𝐿 = 𝑛𝜋.
ℏ
ℎ2
∴ 𝐸𝑛 = ( 8 𝑚 𝐿2) 𝑛2 , n = 1, 2, 3, . . . . .
(4.5)

Each value of the integer n corresponds to a quantized energy value, En .

ℎ2
The lowest allowed energy (n = 1), 𝐸1 = .
8 𝑚 𝐿2

This is the ground state energy for the particle in a box. Excited states correspond to n = 2, 3,
4,…which have energies given by 4E1 , 9E1 , 16E1…. respectively. Energy level diagram, wave

85
function and probability density sketches are shown in Figure 4.4 and 4.5 respectively. Since
ground state energy E1 ≠0, the particle can never be at rest.

Figure 4.4 Energy level diagram for a particle in potential well of infinite height

Figure 4.5: Sketch of (a) wave function, (b) Probability density for a particle in potential well
of infinite height

4.4 A PARTICLE IN A POTENTIAL WELL OF FINITE HEIGHT

86
 Figure 4.6: Potential well of finite height U and length L

Consider a particle with the total energy E, trapped in a finite potential well of height U such
that
U(x) = 0 , 0 <x<L,
U(x) = U , x≤ 0, x≥L
Classically, for energy E<U, the particle is permanently bound in the potential well. However,
according to quantum mechanics, a finite probability exists that the particle can be found
outside the well even if E<U. That is, the wave function is generally nonzero in the regions I
and III. In region II, where U = 0, the allowed wave functions are again sinusoidal. But the
boundary conditions no longer require that the wave function must be zero at the ends of the
well.
Schrödinger equation outside the finite well in regions I & III
𝑑2 𝜓 2𝑚 𝑑2 𝜓 2𝑚
= (𝑈 − 𝐸) 𝜓 or = 𝐶 2 𝜓 where 𝐶2 = (𝑈 − 𝐸)
𝑑𝑥 2 ℏ2 𝑑𝑥 2 ℏ2

General solution of the above equation is

(x) = AeCx + B e−Cx
where A and B are constants.
A must be zero in Region III and B must be zero in Region I, otherwise, the probabilities
would be infinite in those regions. For solution to be finite,
I = AeCx for x≤ 0
III = Be-Cx for x≥L
This shows that the wave function outside the potential well decay exponentially with distance.
Schrodinger equation inside the square well potential in region II, where U = 0
𝑑2 𝜓𝐼𝐼 2𝑚 2𝑚𝐸
+ ( 𝐸) 𝜓𝐼𝐼 = 0 , = 𝑘2
𝑑𝑥 2 ℏ2 ℏ2

General solution of the above equation

𝜓𝐼𝐼 = 𝐹 𝑠𝑖𝑛[𝑘𝑥] + 𝐺 𝑐𝑜𝑠[𝑘𝑥]
To determine the constants A, B, F, G and the allowed values of energy E, apply the four
boundary conditions and the normalization condition:
𝑑𝜓 𝑑𝜓𝐼𝐼
At x = 0 , I(0) = II(0) and [ 𝑑𝑥𝐼 ] = [ ]
𝑥=0 𝑑𝑥 𝑥=0
𝑑𝜓𝐼𝐼 𝑑𝜓𝐼𝐼𝐼
At x = L , II(L) = III(L) and [ ] = [ ]
𝑑𝑥 𝑥=𝐿 𝑑𝑥 𝑥=𝐿
+∞
∫ |𝜓|2 𝑑𝑥 = 1
−∞

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Figure 4.7 shows the plots of wave functions and their respective probability densities.

Figure 4.7: Sketch of (a) wave function, (b) Probability density for a particle in potential well
of finite height
It is seen that wavelengths of the wave functions are longer than those of wave functions of
infinite potential well of same length and hence the quantized energies of the particle in a finite
well are lower than those for a particle in an infinite well.

4.5 TUNNELLING THROUGH A POTENTIAL ENERGY BARRIER

Consider a particle of energy E approaching a potential barrier of height U, (E<U). Potential

energy has a constant value of U in the region of width L and is zero in all other regions. This
is called a square barrier and U is called the barrier height. Since E<U, classically the regions
II and III shown in the figure are forbidden to the particle incident from left. But according to
quantum mechanics, all regions are accessible to the particle, regardless of its energy.

Figure 4.8:Tunneling through a potential barrier of finite height

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By applying the boundary conditions, i.e. and its first derivative must be continuous at
boundaries (at x = 0 and x = L), full solution to the Schrödinger equation can be found which
is shown in figure. The wave function is sinusoidal in regions I and III but exponentially
decaying in region II. The probability of locating the particle beyond the barrier in region III
is nonzero. The movement of the particle to the far side of the barrier is called tunneling or
barrier penetration. The probability of tunneling can be described with a transmission
coefficient T and a reflection coefficient R.
The transmission coefficient represents the probability that the particle penetrates to the other
side of the barrier, and reflection coefficient is the probability that the particle is reflected by
the barrier. Because the particles must be either reflected or transmitted we have, R + T = 1.

An approximate expression for the transmission coefficient, when T<< 1 is

√ 2 𝑚 (𝑈−𝐸)
T ≈ e−2CL , where 𝐶 = . (4.6)
ℏ

4.6 THE SIMPLE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

Consider a particle that is subject to a linear restoring force 𝐹 = −𝑘𝑥, where k is a constant
and x is the position of the particle relative to equilibrium (at equilibrium position x=0).
Classically, the potential energy of the system is,
1 1
𝑈 = 𝑘𝑥 2 = 𝑚𝜔2 𝑥 2
2 2
where the angular frequency of vibration is 𝜔 = √𝑘/𝑚.
The total energy E of the system is,
1 1
𝐸 = 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 + 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 = 𝐾 + 𝑈 = 𝑘𝐴2 = 𝑚𝜔2 𝐴2
2 2
where A is the amplitude of motion. In the classical model, any value of E is allowed, including
E= 0, which is the total energy when the particle is at rest at x=0.
A quantum mechanical model for simple harmonic oscillator can be obtained by substituting
1
𝑈 = 2 𝑚𝜔2 𝑥 2 in Schrödinger equation:
ℏ2 𝑑 2  1
− + 𝑚𝜔2 𝑥 2  = 𝐸
2𝑚 𝑑𝑥 2 2
The solution for the above equation is
2
 = 𝐵𝑒 −𝐶𝑥
1
where 𝐶 = 𝑚𝜔/2ℏ and 𝐸 = 2 ℏ𝜔. The constant B can be determined from normalization
condition.
In quantum model, the energy levels of a harmonic oscillator are quantized. The energy of a
state having an arbitrary quantum number n is given by
1
𝐸𝑛 = (𝑛 + 2) ℏ𝜔; 𝑛 = 0, 1, 2 …. (4.7)
1
The state n = 0 corresponds to the ground state, whose energy is 𝐸0 = 2 ℏ𝜔 the state n = 1
3
corresponds to the first excited state, whose energy is 𝐸1 = 2 ℏ𝜔 and so on. The energy-level
diagram for this system is shown in Figure 4.9. The separations between adjacent levels are
equal and given by ∆𝐸 = ℏ𝜔.

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 Figure 4.9: Energy-level diagram for a simple harmonic oscillator, superimposed on the
potential energy function.
4.7 QUESTIONS

1 What is a wave function ? What is its physical interpretation ?

2 What are the mathematical features of a wave function?
3 By solving the Schrödinger equation, obtain the wave-functions for a
particle of mass m in a one-dimensional “box” of length L.
4 Apply the Schrödinger equation to a particle in a one-dimensional
“box” of length L and obtain the energy values of the particle.
5 Sketch the lowest three energy states, wave-functions, probability
densities for the particle in a one-dimensional “box”.
6 The wave-function for a particle confined to moving in a one-
dimensional box is
ψ(x) = A sin(nπx L
) . Use the normalization condition on  to show

that 𝐴 = √2𝐿 .
7 The wave-function of an electron is ψ(x) = A sin(nπx L
) . Obtain an
expression for the probability of finding the electron between x = a
and x = b.
8 Sketch the potential-well diagram of finite height U and length L,
obtain the general solution of the Schrödinger equation for a particle
of mass m in it.
9 Sketch the wave-functions and the probability densities for the lowest
three energy states of a particle in a potential well of finite height.

10 Give a brief account of tunneling of a particle through a potential

energy barrier.
11 Give a brief account of the quantum mechanical treatment of a simple
harmonic oscillator.

90
4.8 PROBLEMS

1 A particle wave function is given by the equation  (𝐱) = 𝐀 𝒆−𝒂𝒙𝟐

(A) What is the value of A if this wave function is normalized?
(B) What is the expectation value of x for this particle?
Ans: A = (2a/π)¼ , x = 0
2 A free electron has a wave function 𝛙(𝐱) = 𝑨 𝐞𝐱𝐩[𝒊(𝟓. 𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟎 )𝒙]
where x is in meters. Find (a) its de Broglie wavelength, (b) its momentum, and (c)
its kinetic energy in electron volts.
Ans: 1.26 x 10–10m, 5.27 x 10–24kg.m/s, 95.5 eV
3 An electron is confined between two impenetrable walls 0.20 nm apart. Determine the
energy levels for the states n =1 ,2 , and 3.
Ans: 9.2 eV, 37.7 eV, 84.8 eV
4 A 0.50 kg baseball is confined between two rigid walls of a stadium that can be modeled
as a “box” of length 100 m. Calculate the minimum speed of the baseball. If the baseball
is moving with a speed of 150 m/s, what is the quantum number of the state in which the
baseball will be?
Ans: 6.63 x 10–36 m/s, 2.26 x 1037
5 A proton is confined to move in a one-dimensional “box” of length 0.20 nm. (a) Find
the lowest possible energy of the proton. (b) What is the lowest possible energy for
an electron confined to the same box? (c) Account for the great difference in results
for (a) and (b).
Ans: 5.13 x 10–3 eV, 9.41 eV
6 (A) Using the simple model of a particle in a box to represent an atom, estimate the
energy (in eV) required to raise an atom from the state n =1 to the state n =2.
Assume the atom has a radius of 0.10 nm and that the moving electron carries
the energy that has been added to the atom.
(B) Atoms may be excited to higher energy states by absorbing photon energy.
Calculate the wavelength of the photon that would cause the transition from the
state n =1 to the state n =2.
Ans: 28.3 eV, 43.8 nm
7 A 30-eV electron is incident on a square barrier of height 40 eV. What is the probability
that the electron will tunnel through the barrier if its width is (A) 1.0 nm? (B) 0.10 nm?
Ans: 8.5 x 10–15, 0.039
8 An electron with kinetic energy E = 5.0 eV is incident
on a barrier with thickness L = 0.20 nm and height U =
10.0 eV as shown in the figure. What is the probability
that the electron (a) will tunnel through the barrier? (b)
will be reflected?
Ans: 0.0103, 0.990
9 A quantum simple harmonic oscillator consists of an electron bound by a restoring
force proportional to its position relative to a certain equilibrium point. The

91
 proportionality constant is 8.99 N/m. What is the longest wavelength of light that can
excite the oscillator?
Ans: 600 nm
10 A quantum simple harmonic oscillator consists of a particle of mass m bound by a restoring
force proportional to its position relative to a certain equilibrium point. The proportionality
constant is k. What is the longest wavelength of light that can excite the oscillator? Ans:
𝑚
2𝜋𝑐√ 𝑘

92
 5 MOLECULES AND SOLIDS
OBJECTIVES:

• To understand the bonding mechanism, energy states and spectra of molecules

• To understand the cohesion of solid metals using bonding in solids
• To comprehend the electrical properties of metals, semiconductors and
insulators
• To understand the effect of doping on electrical properties of semiconductors
• To understand superconductivity and its engineering applications

5.1 MOLECULAR BONDS

The bonding mechanisms in a molecule are fundamentally due to electric forces between atoms
(or ions). The forces between atoms in the system of a molecule are related to a potential energy
function. A stable molecule is expected at a configuration for which the potential energy
function for the molecule has its minimum value. A potential energy function that can be used
to model a molecule should account for two known features of molecular bonding:
1. The force between atoms is repulsive at very small separation distances. This repulsion is
partly electrostatic in origin and partly the result of the exclusion principle.
2. At relatively at larger separations, the force between atoms is attractive. Considering these
two features, the potential energy for a system of two atoms can be represented by an
expression of the form (Lennard–Jones potential)
A B
U (r ) = − n + m
r r (5.1)
where r is the internuclear separation distance between the two atoms and n and m are small
integers. The parameter A is associated with the attractive force and B with the repulsive force.
Potential energy versus internuclear separation distance for a two-atom system is graphed in
Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1: Total potential energy as a function of internuclear separation distance for a
system of two atoms.

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Ionic Bonding: When two atoms combine in such a way that one or more outer electrons are
transferred from one atom to the other, the bond formed is called an ionic bond. Ionic bonds
are fundamentally caused by the Coulomb attraction between oppositely charged ions.

Figure 5.2: Total energy versus internuclear separation distance for Na+ and Cl- ions.

A familiar example of an ionically bonded solid is sodium chloride, NaCl, which is common
table salt. Sodium, which has the electronic configuration 1s22s22p63s1, is ionized relatively
easily, giving up its 3s electron to form a Na+ ion. The energy required to ionize the atom to
form Na+ is 5.1 eV. Chlorine, which has the electronic configuration 1s22s22p5 is one electron
short of the filled-shell structure of argon. The amount of energy released when an electro joins
Cl atom to make the Cl ̶ ion, called the electron affinity of the atom, is 3.6 eV. Therefore, the
energy required to form Na+ and Cl ̶ from isolated atoms is 5.1 - 3.6 = 1.5 eV. The total energy
of the NaCl molecule versus internuclear separation distance is graphed in Figure 5.2. At very
large separation distances, the energy of the system of ions is 1.5 eV as calculated above. The
total energy has a minimum value of - 4.2 eV at the equilibrium separation distance, which is
̶
approximately 0.24 nm. Hence, the energy required to break the Na+ ̶ Cl bond and form
neutral sodium and chlorine atoms, called the dissociation energy, is 4.2 eV. The energy of
the molecule is lower than that of the system of two neutral atoms. Consequently, it is
energetically favorable for the molecule to form.
Covalent Bonding: A covalent bond between two atoms is one in which electrons supplied by
either one or both atoms are shared by the two atoms. Many diatomic molecules such as H2,
F2, and CO—owe their stability to covalent bonds. The bond between two hydrogen atoms can
be described by using atomic wave functions for two atoms. There is very little overlap of the
wave functions ψ1(r) for atom 1, located at r = 0, and ψ2(r) for atom 2, located some distance
away (Figure 5.3 (a)). Suppose now the two atoms are brought close together, their wave
functions overlap and form the compound wave function ψ1(r) + ψ2(r) shown in Figure 5.3b.
Notice that the probability amplitude is larger between the atoms than it is on either side of the

94
combination of atoms. As a result, the probability is higher that the electrons associated with
the atoms will be located between the atoms than on the outer regions of the system.
Consequently, the average position of negative charge in the system is halfway between the
atoms.

Figure 5.3: Ground-state wave functions ψ1(r) and ψ2(r) for two atoms making a covalent
bond. (a) The atoms are far apart, and their wave functions overlap minimally. (b) The atoms
are close together, forming a composite wave function ψ1(r) + ψ2(r) for the system.
Van der Waals Bonding: Ionic and covalent bonds occur between atoms to form molecules
or ionic solids, so they can be described as bonds within molecules. The van der Waals force
results from the following situation. While being electrically neutral, a molecule has a charge
distribution with positive and negative centers at different positions in the molecule. As a result,
the molecule may act as an electric dipole. Because of the dipole electric fields, two molecules
can interact such that there is an attractive force between them. There are three types of van
der Waals forces.

The first type, called the dipole– dipole force, is an interaction between two molecules each
having a permanent electric dipole moment. For example, polar molecules such as HCl have
permanent electric dipole moments and attract other polar molecules.

The second type, the dipole–induced dipole force, results when a polar molecule having a
permanent electric dipole moment induces a dipole moment in a nonpolar molecule. In this
case, the electric field of the polar molecule creates the dipole moment in the nonpolar
molecule, which then results in an attractive force between the molecules.

95
The third type is called the dispersion force, an attractive force that occurs between two
nonpolar molecules. Two nonpolar molecules near each other tend to have dipole moments that
are correlated in time so as to produce an attractive van der Waals force.

Hydrogen Bonding: Because hydrogen has only one electron, it is expected to form a covalent
bond with only one other atom within a molecule. A hydrogen atom in a given molecule can
also form a second type of bond between molecules called a hydrogen bond. Let’s use the
water molecule H2O as an example. In the two covalent bonds in this molecule, the electrons
from the hydrogen atoms are more likely to be found near the oxygen atom than near the
hydrogen atoms, leaving essentially bare protons at the positions of the hydrogen atoms. This
unshielded positive charge can be attracted to the negative end of another polar molecule.
Because the proton is unshielded by electrons, the negative end of the other molecule can come
very close to the proton to form a bond strong enough to form a solid crystalline structure, such
as that of ordinary ice. The bonds within a water molecule are covalent, but the bonds between
water molecules in ice are hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen bond is relatively weak compared
with other chemical bonds and can be broken with an input energy of approximately 0.1 eV.
Because of this weakness, ice melts at the low temperature of 0°C.

5.2 ENERGY STATES AND SPECTRA OF MOLECULES

Consider an individual molecule in the gaseous phase of a substance. The energy E of the
molecule can be divided into four categories: (1) electronic energy, due to the interactions
between the molecule’s electrons and nuclei; (2) translational energy, due to the motion of the
molecule’s center of mass through space; (3) rotational energy, due to the rotation of the
molecule about its center of mass; and (4) vibrational energy, due to the vibration of the
molecule’s constituent atoms:
E = Eel + Etrans + Erot + Evib
Because the translational energy is unrelated to internal structure, this molecular energy is
unimportant in interpreting molecular spectra. Although the electronic energies can be studied,
significant information about a molecule can be determined by analyzing its quantized
rotational and vibrational energy states. Transitions between these states give spectral lines in
the microwave and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, respectively.
5.3 ROTATIONAL MOTION OF MOLECULES

Let’s consider the rotation of a diatomic molecule around its center of mass (Figure 5.4a). A
diatomic molecule aligned along a y axis has only two rotational degrees of freedom,

96
corresponding to rotations about the x and z axes passing through the molecule’s center of
mass. If  is the angular frequency of rotation about one of these axes, the rotational kinetic
energy of the molecule about that axis can be expressed as
1 2
Erot = I
2 (5.2)

In this equation, I is the moment of inertia of the molecule about its center of mass, given by
 mm 
I =  1 2  r2 =  r2 (5.3)
 m1 + m2 

where m1 and m2 are the masses of the atoms that form the molecule, r is the atomic separation,
and  is the reduced mass of the molecule
m1m2
=
m1 + m2 (5.4)

Figure 5.4: Rotation of a diatomic molecule around its center of mass. (a) A diatomic
molecule oriented along the y axis. (b) Allowed rotational energies of a diatomic molecule
expressed as multiples of E1 = ℏ2/I.
The magnitude of the molecule’s angular momentum about its center of mass is L=Iω, which
can attain quantized values given by,

L = J ( J + 1) J = 0, 1, 2, ... (5.5)

where J is an integer called the rotational quantum number. Combining Equations 5.5 and
5.2, we obtain an expression for the allowed values of the rotational kinetic energy of the
molecule:
2
Erot = EJ = J ( J + 1) J = 0, 1, 2, ... (5.6)
2I

97
The allowed rotational energies of a diatomic molecule are plotted in Figure 5.4b. The allowed
rotational transitions of linear molecules are regulated by the selection rule ΔJ =±1. From
Equation 5.6, the energies of the absorbed photons are given by,
2
h2
Ephoton = J= J J = 1, 2, 3, ... (5.7)
I 4 2 I

where J is the rotational quantum number of the higher energy state.

5.4 VIBRATIONAL MOTION OF MOLECULES

If we consider a molecule to be a flexible structure in which the atoms are bonded together by
“effective springs” as shown in Figure 5.5a, we can model the molecule as a simple harmonic
oscillator as long as the atoms in the molecule are not too far from their equilibrium positions.
Figure 5.5b shows a plot of potential energy versus atomic separation for a diatomic molecule,
where r0 is the equilibrium atomic separation. For separations close to r0, the shape of the
potential energy curve closely resembles a parabola. According to classical mechanics, the
frequency of vibration for the system is given by

1 k
f = (5.8)
2 

where k is the effective spring constant and  is the reduced mass given by Equation 6.4. The
vibrational motion and quantized vibrational energy can be altered if the molecule acquires
energy of the proper value to cause a transition between quantized vibrational states. The
allowed vibrational energies are
 1
Evib =  v +  hf v = 0, 1, 2, ... (5.9)
 2

where v is an integer called the vibrational quantum number.

Figure 5.5 (a) Effective-spring model of a diatomic molecule. (b) Plot of the potential energy
of a diatomic molecule versus atomic separation distance.

98
 Figure 5.6 Allowed vibrational energies of a diatomic molecule, where f is the frequency of
vibration of the molecule
Substituting Equation 6.8 into Equation 6.9 gives the following expression for the allowed
vibrational energies:

 1 h k
Evib =  v +  v = 0, 1, 2, ... (5.10)
 2  2 

The selection rule for the allowed vibrational transitions is Δv = ±1. The photon energy for
transition is given by,

h k
Ephoton = Evib = (5.11)
2 

The vibrational energies of a diatomic molecule are plotted in Figure 5.6. At ordinary
temperatures, most molecules have vibrational energies corresponding to the v = 0 state
because the spacing between vibrational states is much greater than kBT, where kB is
Boltzmann’s constant and T is the temperature.
5.5 MOLECULAR SPECTRA

In general, a molecule vibrates and rotates simultaneously. To a first approximation, these

motions are independent of each other, so the total energy of the molecule is the sum of
Equations 6.6 and 6.9:

 1 2
E =  v +  hf + J ( J + 1)
 2 2I (5.12)

The energy levels of any molecule can be calculated from this expression, and each level is
indexed by the two quantum numbers v and J. From these calculations, an energy-level diagram
like the one shown in Figure 5.7a can be constructed. For each allowed value of the vibrational

99
quantum number v, there is a complete set of rotational levels corresponding to J = 0, 1, 2, . . .
. The energy separation between successive rotational levels is much smaller than the
separation between successive vibrational levels. The molecular absorption spectrum in Figure
6.7b consists of two groups of lines: one group to the right of center and satisfying the selection
rules ΔJ = +1 and Δv = +1, and the other group to the left of center and satisfying the selection
rules ΔJ = -1 and Δv = +1. The energies of the absorbed photons can be calculated from
Equation 5.12:
2
Ephoton = E = hf + ( J + 1) J = 0, 1, 2, ... ( J = +1) (5.13)
I

2
Ephoton = E = hf − J J = 1, 2, 3, ... ( J = −1) (5.14)
I

where J is the rotational quantum number of the initial state.

Figure 5.7: (a) Absorptive transitions between the v = 0 and v = 1 vibrational states of a
diatomic molecule. (b) Expected lines in the absorption spectrum of a molecule.
The experimental absorption spectrum of the HCl molecule shown in Figure 5.8. One
peculiarity is apparent, however: each line is split into a doublet. This doubling occurs because
two chlorine isotopes were present in the sample used to obtain this spectrum. Because the
isotopes have different masses, the two HCl molecules have different values of I.

100
 Figure 5.8: Experimental absorption spectrum of the HCl molecule
The second function determining the envelope of the intensity of the spectral lines is the
Boltzmann factor. The number of molecules in an excited rotational state is given by
−ℏ2 𝐽(𝐽+1)
𝑛 = 𝑛0 𝑒 2𝐼𝑘𝐵 𝑇
where n0 is the number of molecules in the J = 0 state.
Multiplying these factors together indicates that the intensity of spectral lines should be
described by a function of J as follows:
−ℏ2 𝐽(𝐽+1)
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 ∝ (2𝐽 + 1)𝑒 2𝐼𝑘𝐵 𝑇
(5.15)

5.6 BONDING IN SOLIDS

A crystalline solid consists of a large number of atoms arranged in a regular array, forming a
periodic structure.
Ionic Solids: Many crystals are formed by ionic bonding, in which the dominant interaction
between ions is the Coulomb force. Consider a portion of the NaCl crystal shown in Figure
5.9a. The red spheres are sodium ions, and the blue spheres are chlorine ions. As shown in
Figure 6.9b, each Na+ ion has six nearest-neighbor Cl- ions. Similarly, in Figure 6.9c, each Cl-
ion has six nearest-neighbor Na+ ions. Each Na+ ion is attracted to its six Cl- neighbors. The
corresponding potential energy is -6kee2/r, where ke is the Coulomb constant and r is the
separation distance between each Na+ and Cl-. In addition, there are 12 next-nearest-neighbor
Na+ ions at a distance of √2r from the Na+ ion, and these 12 positive ions exert weaker repulsive
forces on the central Na+. Furthermore, beyond these 12 Na+ ions are more Cl2 ions that exert
an attractive force, and so on. The net effect of all these interactions is a resultant negative
electric potential energy

e2
U attractive = − ke (5.16)
r

101
where α is a dimensionless number known as the Madelung constant. The value of α depends
only on the particular crystalline structure of the solid (α = 1.747 for the NaCl structure). When
the constituent ions of a crystal are brought close together, a repulsive force exists because of
electrostatic forces and the exclusion principle. The potential energy term B/rm in Equation
5.17 accounts for this repulsive force. The repulsive forces occur only for ions that are very
close together.
Therefore, we can express the total potential energy of the crystal as
e2 B
U total = − ke + (5.17)
r rm

where m in this expression is some small integer.

Figure 5.9: (a) Crystalline structure of NaCl. (b) Each positive sodium ion is surrounded by
six negative chlorine ions. (c) Each chlorine ion is surrounded by six sodium ions

Figure 5.10: Total potential energy versus ion separation distance for an ionic solid, where
U0 is the ionic cohesive energy and r0 is the equilibrium separation distance between ions
A plot of total potential energy versus ion separation distance is shown in Figure 5.10. The
potential energy has its minimum value U0 at the equilibrium separation, when r = r0.

102
 e2  1 
U 0 = − ke 1 − 
r0  m  (5.18)

This minimum energy U0 is called the ionic cohesive energy of the solid, and its absolute value
represents the energy required to separate the solid into a collection of isolated positive and
negative ions.

Covalent Solids: Solid carbon, in the form of diamond, is a crystal whose atoms are covalently
bonded. In the diamond structure, each carbon atom is covalently bonded to four other carbon
atoms located at four corners of a cube as shown in Figure 5.11(a). The crystalline structure of
diamond is shown in Figure 5.11 (b). The basic structure of diamond is called tetrahedral (each
carbon atom is at the center of a regular tetrahedron), and the angle between the bonds is 109.5°.
Other crystals such as silicon and germanium have the same structure. Covalently bonded
solids are usually very hard, have high bond energies and high melting points, and are good
electrical insulators.

Figure 5.11: (a) Each carbon atom in a diamond crystal is covalently bonded to four other
carbon atoms so that a tetrahedral structure is formed. (b) The crystal structure of diamond,
showing the tetrahedral bond arrangement
Metallic Solids: Metallic bonds are generally weaker than ionic or covalent bonds. The outer
electrons in the atoms of a metal are relatively free to move throughout the material, and the
number of such mobile electrons in a metal is large. The metallic structure can be viewed as a
“sea” or a “gas” of nearly free electrons surrounding a lattice of positive ions (Fig. 5.12). The
bonding mechanism in a metal is the attractive force between the entire collection of positive
ions and the electron gas.

Light interacts strongly with the free electrons in metals. Hence, visible light is absorbed and
re-emitted quite close to the surface of a metal, which accounts for the shiny nature of metal

103
surfaces. Because the bonding in metals is between all the electrons and all the positive ions,
metals tend to bend when stressed.

Figure 5.12: Highly schematic diagram of a metal

5.7 FREE-ELECTRON THEORY OF METALS

Quantum based free electron theory of metals is centered on wave nature of electrons. In this
model, one imagines that the outer-shell electrons are free to move through the metal but
are trapped within a three-dimensional box formed by the metal surfaces. Therefore,
each electron is represented as a particle in a box and is restricted to quantized energy
levels. Each energy state can be occupied by only two electrons (one with spin up & the
other with spin down) as a consequence of exclusion principle. In quantum statistics, it is
shown that the probability of a particular energy state E being occupied by an electrons is
given by

1
f (E) = (5.19)
 E − EF 
exp   + 1
 kT 

where f(E) is called the Fermi-Dirac distribution function and EF is called the Fermi
energy. Plot of f(E) versus E is shown in figure 5.13.

104
Figure. 5.13: Plot of Fermi-Dirac distribution function f(E) Vs energy E at (a) T = 0K and (b)
T > 0K
At zero kelvin (0 K), all states having energies less than the Fermi energy are occupied, and
all states having energies greater than the Fermi energy are vacant. i.e. Fermi energy is the
highest energy possessed by an electron at 0 K (Figure 5.13a). As temperature increases (T >
0K), the distribution rounds off slightly due to thermal excitation and probability of Fermi level
being occupied by an electron becomes half (Figure 5.13b). In other words, Fermi energy is
that energy state at which probability of electron occupation is half. The Fermi energy EF also
depends on temperature, but the dependence is weak in metals.

Density of states: From particle in a box problem, for a particle of mass m is confined to move
in a one-dimensional box of length L, the allowed states have quantized energy levels given
by,

h2 
2 2
En = 2
n =
2
2
n2 n = 1, 2, 3 . . . (5.20)
8mL 2mL

An electron moving freely in a metal cube of side L, can be modeled as particle in a three-
dimensional box. It can be shown that the energy for such an electron is

2 2

2 ( x
E= n 2 + ny2 + nz2 ) (5.21)
2mL

where m is mass of the electron and nx, ny, nz are quantum numbers(positive integers). Each
allowed energy value is characterized by a set of three quantum numbers (nx, ny, nz - one
for each degree of freedom). Imagine a three-dimensional quantum number space
whose axes represent nx, ny, nz. The allowed energy states in this space can be represented
as dots located at positive integral values of the three quantum numbers as shown in the
Figure 5.14.

105
 Figure 5.14: Representation of the allowed energy states in a quantum number space (dots
represent the allowed states)
Eq. 5.21 can be written as

E
nx2 + n y2 + nz2 = = n2 (5.22)
Eo

2
2 E
where Eo = 2
and n =
2mL Eo

Eq. 5.22 represents a sphere of radius n. Thus, the number of allowed energy states
having energies between E and E+dE is equal to the number of points in a spherical
shell of radius n and thickness dn. In this quantum number space each point is at the corners
of a unit cube and each corner point is shared by eight unit cubes and as such the contribution
of each point to the cube is 1/8 th. Because a cube has eight corners, the effective point per unit
cube and hence unit volume is one. In other words, number of points is equal to the volume
of the shell. The “volume” of this shell, denoted by G(E)dE.

1 1
G(E) dE =   ( 4 n 2 dn ) =    n dn
2

8  
2

 E   E  1 2  E
G ( E ) dE = 12    d    using the relation n =
E 
 o   o  
E Eo

106
  E  − 12 −1 −3 1
G ( E ) dE = 1
2   Eo
1
2 E 2
dE = 1
4  Eo 2
E 2
dE
 Eo 

−3
 2 2  2
1
G ( E ) dE = 1
4  2 
E 2
dE
 2mL 

3
2 m 2 L3 1 2
G ( E ) dE = E dE , L3 = V
2 2 3

Number of states per unit volume per unit energy range, called density of states, g(E) is
given by

g(E) = G(E)/V

3
2
G(E ) 2 m 1
g ( E ) dE = dE = E 2
dE
V 2 2 3

3
4 2 m 2 1 h
g ( E ) dE = E 2
dE =
h3 2

Finally, we multiply by 2 for the two possible spin states of each particle.

3
8 2 m 2 1
g ( E ) dE = E 2
dE (5.23)
h3

g(E) is called the density-of-states function.

Electron density: For a metal in thermal equilibrium, the number of electrons N(E) dE,
per unit volume, that have energy between E and E+dE is equal to the product of the
density of states and the probability that a state is occupied. that is,

N(E)dE = [ g(E)dE ] f(E)

3 1
8 2 m 2
E 2 dE
N ( E ) dE = (5.24)
h3  E − EF 
exp   + 1
 kT 

Plots of N(E) versus E for two temperatures are given in figure 5.15.

107
 Figure 5.15: Plots of N(E) versus E for (a) T = 0K (b) T = 300K
If ne is the total number of electrons per unit volume, we require that

 3  1
8 2 m 2
E 2 dE
ne =  N ( E ) dE =  (5.25)
h3  E − EF 
 + 1
0 0
exp 
 kT 

At T = 0K, the Fermi-Dirac distribution function f(E) = 1 for E <EF and f(E) = 0 for E >EF.
Therefore, at T = 0K, Equation 5.25 becomes

3 3 3
8 2 m 8 2 m 16 2  m
2 EF 2 2

 ( ) EF
1 3 3
ne = E 2
dE = 2
3
2
= EF 2 (5.26)
h3 0
h3 3 h3

Solving for Fermi energy at 0K, we obtain

2
h 2  3 ne  3
EF ( 0 ) =   (5.27)
2 m  8 

The average energy of a free electron in a metal at 0K is Eav = (3/5)EF.

5.8 BAND THEORY OF SOLIDS

When a quantum system is represented by wave function, probability density ||2 for that
system is physically significant while the probability amplitude  not. Consider an atom such
as sodium that has a single s electron outside of a closed shell. Both the wave functions  S ( r )
+

and  S ( r ) are valid for such an atom [ S ( r ) and  S ( r ) are symmetric and anti symmetric
− + −

wave functions]. As the two sodium atoms are brought closer together, their wave functions
begin to overlap. Figure 5.16 represents two possible combinations : i) symmetric - symmetric
and ii) symmetric – antisymmetric . These two possible combinations of wave functions
represent two possible states of the two-atom system. Thus, the states are split into two
energy levels. The energy difference between these states is relatively small, so the two states
are close together on an energy scale.

108
When two atoms are brought together, each energy level will split into 2 energy levels. (In
general, when N atoms are brought together N split levels will occur which can hold 2N
electrons). The split levels are so close that they may be regarded as a continuous band of
energy levels. Figure 5.17 shows the splitting of 1s and 2s levels of sodium atom when :
(a) two sodium atoms are brought together (b)five sodium atoms are brought together (c)
a large number of sodium atoms are assembled to form a solid. The close energy levels
forming a band are seen clearly in (c).

Figure. 5.16: The wave functions of two atoms combine to form a composite wave function :
a) symmetric-symmetric b) symmetric-antisymmetric

Figure 5.17: Splitting of 1s and 2s levels of sodium atoms due to interaction between them
Some bands may be wide enough in energy so that there is an overlap between the
adjacent bands. Some other bands are narrow so that a gap may occur between the allowed
bands, and is known as forbidden energy gap. The 1s, 2s, and 2p bands of solid sodium
are filled completely with electrons. The 3s band (2N states) of solid sodium has only
N electrons and is partially full; The 3p band, which is the higher region of the overlapping
bands, is completely empty as shown in Figure 5.18

109
 Figure 5.18: Energy bands of a sodium crystal
5.9 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION IN METALS, INSULATORS AND
SEMICONDUCTORS

Good electrical conductors contain high density of free charge carriers, and the density
of free charge carriers in insulators is nearly zero. In semiconductors free-charge-carrier
densities are intermediate between those of insulators and those of conductors.
Metals: Metal has a partially filled energy band (Figure 5.19 (a)). At 0K Fermi level is
the highest electron-occupied energy level. If a potential difference is applied to the
metal, electrons having energies near the Fermi energy require only a small amount of
additional energy to reach nearby empty energy states above the Fermi-level. Therefore,
electrons in a metal experiencing a small force (from a weak applied electric field) are free to
move because many empty levels are available close to the occupied energy levels. The model
of metals based on band theory demonstrates that metals are excellent electrical conductors.
Insulators: Consider the two outermost energy bands of a material in which the lower band is
filled with electrons and the higher band is empty at 0 K (Figure 5.19 (b)). The lower, filled
band is called the valence band, and the upper, empty band is the conduction band. The energy
separation between the valence and conduction band, called energy gap Eg, is large for
insulating materials. The Fermi level lies somewhere in the energy gap. Due to larger energy
gap compare to thermal energy kT (26meV) at room temperature, excitation of electrons from
valence band to conduction band is hardly possible. Since the free-electron density is nearly
zero, these materials are bad conductors of electricity.
Semiconductors: Semiconductors have the same type of band structure as an insulator, but the
energy gap is much smaller, of the order of 1 eV. The band structure of a semiconductor is
shown in Figure 5.19c. Because the Fermi level is located near the middle of the gap for a
semiconductor and Eg is small, appreciable numbers of electrons are thermally excited from
the valence band to the conduction band. Because of the many empty levels above the thermally
filled levels in the conduction band, a small applied potential difference can easily raise the

110
energy of the electrons in the conduction band, resulting in a moderate conduction. At T = 0
K, all electrons in these materials are in the valence band and no energy is available to excite
them across the energy gap. Therefore, semiconductors are poor conductors at very low
temperatures. Because the thermal excitation of electrons across the narrow gap is more
probable at higher temperatures, the conductivity of semiconductors increases rapidly with
temperature. This is in sharp contrast with the conductivity of metals, where it decreases with
increasing temperature. Charge carriers in a semiconductor can be negative, positive, or both.
When an electron moves from the valence band into the conduction band, it leaves behind a
vacant site, called a hole, in the otherwise filled valence band.

Figure 5.19: Band structure of (a) Metals (b) Insulators (c) Semiconductors
In an intrinsic semiconductor (pure semiconductor) there are equal number of conduction
electrons and holes. In the presence of an external electric field, the holes move in
the direction of field and the conduction electrons move opposite to the direction of
the field. Both these motions correspond to the current in the same direction (Figure
5.20).

Figure 5.20: Movement of electrons and holes in an intrinsic semiconductor

Doped Semiconductors (Extrinsic semiconductors): Semiconductors in their pure form are
called intrinsic semiconductors while doped semiconductors are called extrinsic

111
semiconductors. Doping is the process of adding impurities to a semiconductor. By doping
both the band structure of the semiconductor and its resistivity are modified. If a
tetravalent semiconductor (Si or Ge) is doped with a pentavalent impurity atom (donor
atom), four of the electrons form covalent bonds with atoms of the semiconductor and
one is left over (Figure 5.21). At zero K, this extra electron resides in the donor-levels,
that lie in the energy gap, just below the conduction band. Since the energy Ed between
the donor levels and the bottom of the conduction band is small, at room temperature,
the extra electron is thermally excited to the conduction band. This type of
semiconductors are called n-type semiconductors because the majority of charge carriers
are electrons (negatively charged).
If a tetravalent semiconductor is doped with a trivalent impurity atom (acceptor atom),
the three electrons form covalent bonds with neighboring semiconductor atoms, leaving
an electron deficiency (a hole) at the site of fourth bond (Figure 5.22). At zero K, this
hole resides in the acceptor levels that lie in the energy gap just above the valence
band. Since the energy Ea between the acceptor levels and the top of the valence band
is small, at room temperature, an electron from the valence band is thermally excited
to the acceptor levels leaving behind a hole in the valence band. This type of
semiconductors are called p-type semiconductors because the majority of charge carriers
are holes (positively charged).

Figure 5.21: n-type semiconductor – two dimensional representation and band structure
When conduction in a semiconductor is the result of acceptor or donor impurities, the material
is called an extrinsic semiconductor. The typical range of doping densities for extrinsic
semiconductors is 1013 to 1019 cm-3, whereas the electron density in a typical semiconductor is
roughly 1021 cm-3.

112
 Figure 5.22: p-type semiconductor: two-dimensional representation and band structure
5.10 SUPERCONDUCTIVITY-PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

Superconductor is a class of metals and compounds whose electrical resistance decreases to

virtually zero below a certain temperature Tc called the critical temperature. The critical
temperature is different for different superconductors. Mercury loses its resistance completely
and turns into a superconductor at 4.2K. Critical temperatures for some important
elements/compounds are listed below.

Element/Compound Tc (K)
La 6.0
NbNi 10.0
Nb3Ga 23.8

Figure 5.23: Plot of Resistance Vs Temperature for normal metal and a superconductor

113
Meissner Effect: In the presence of magnetic field, as the temperature of superconducting
material is lowered below Tc, the field lines are spontaneously expelled from the interior of the
superconductor(B = 0, Figure 5.24). Therefore, a superconductor is more than a perfect
conductor; it is also a perfect diamagnet. The property that B = 0 in the interior of a
superconductor is as fundamental as the property of zero resistance. If the magnitude of the
applied magnetic field exceeds a critical value Bc, defined as the value of B that destroys a
material’s superconducting properties, the field again penetrates the sample. Meissner effect
can be explained in the following way.

Figure 5.24: A superconductor in the form of a long cylinder in the presence of an external
magnetic field.

A good conductor expels static electric fields by moving charges to its surface. In effect, the
surface charges produce an electric field that exactly cancels the externally applied field inside
the conductor. In a similar manner, a superconductor expels magnetic fields by forming surface
currents. Consider the superconductor shown in Figure 5.24. Let’s assume the sample is
initially at a temperature T>Tc so that the magnetic field penetrates the cylinder. As the cylinder
is cooled to a temperature T<Tc, the field is expelled. Surface currents induced on the
superconductor’s surface produce a magnetic field that exactly cancels the externally applied
field inside the superconductor. As expected, the surface currents disappear when the external
magnetic field is removed.

BCS Theory: In 1957, Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer gave a successful theory to explain the
phenomenon of superconductivity, which is known as BCS theory. According to this theory,
two electrons can interact via distortions in the array of lattice ions so that there is a net
attractive force between the electrons. As a result, the two electrons are bound into an entity

114
called a Cooper pair, which behaves like a single particle with integral spin. Particles with
integral spin are called bosons. An important feature of bosons is that they do not obey the
Pauli exclusion principle. Consequently, at very low temperatures, it is possible for all bosons
in a collection of such particles to be in the lowest quantum state and as such the entire
collection of Cooper pairs in the metal is described by a single wave function. There is an
energy gap equal to the binding energy of a Cooper pair between this lowest state and the next
higher state. Under the action of an applied electric field, the Cooper pairs experience an
electric force and move through the metal. A random scattering event of a Cooper pair from a
lattice ion would represent resistance to the electric current. Such a collision would change the
energy of the Cooper pair because some energy would be transferred to the lattice ion. There
are no available energy levels below that of the Cooper pair (it is already in the lowest state),
however, and none available above because of the energy gap. As a result, collisions do not
occur and there is no resistance to the movement of Cooper pairs.

Applications: Most important and basic application of superconductors is in high field

solenoids which can be used to produce intense magnetic field. Superconducting magnets are
used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. Magnetic levitation, based on Meissner
effect, is another important application of superconductors. This principle is used in maglev
vehicles. Detection of a weak magnetic field and lossless power transmission are some other
important applications of superconductors.

5.11 QUESTIONS

1. Sketch schematically the plot of potential energy and its components as a function
of inter-nuclear separation distance for a system of two atoms.
2. Explain briefly (a) ionic bonding, (b) covalent bonding, (c) van der Walls bonding,
(d) hydrogen bonding.
3. Obtain an expression for rotational energy of a diatomic molecule. Sketch schematically
these rotational energy levels.
4. Obtain expressions for rotational transition photon energies and frequencies.
5. Obtain an expression for vibrational energy of a diatomic molecule. Sketch schematically
these vibrational energy levels. Obtain expression for vibrational transition photon
energies.
6. Write expression for total energy (vibrational and rotational) of a molecule. Sketch
schematically these energy levels of a diatomic molecule for the lowest two
vibrational energy values, indicating the possible transitions. Write the expressions
for the energy of the photon in the molecular energy transitions. Write the
expression for the frequency separation of adjacent spectral lines.

115
7. Explain the expression for the total potential energy of a crystal. Sketch
schematically the plot of the same.
8. Define (a) ionic cohesive energy (b) atomic cohesive energy, of a solid.
9. Write the expression for Fermi-Dirac distribution function. Sketch schematically the
plots of this function for zero kelvin and for temperature above zero kelvin.
10. Derive an expression for density-of-states.
11. Assuming the Fermi-Dirac distribution function , obtain an expression for the density
of free-electrons in a metal with Fermi energy EF, at zero K and, hence obtain
expression for Fermi energy EF in a metal at zero K. [ Given: density-of-states
3
8 2  m 2 12
function g( E ) dE = E dE ]
h3
12. Explain the formation of energy bands in solids with necessary diagrams.
13. Distinguish between conductors, insulators and semiconductors on the basis of band
theory
14. Indicate the position of (a) donor levels (b) acceptor levels, in the energy band
diagram of a semiconductor.
15. What is the difference between p-type and n-type semiconductors? Explain with band
diagram.
16. With necessary diagrams, explain doping in semiconductors.
17. Why the electrical conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor increases with increasing
temperature?
18. What are superconductors? Draw a representative graph of Resistance Vs Temperature for
a superconductor.
19. Explain Meissner effect.
20. Explain briefly the BCS theory of superconductivity in metals.
5.12 PROBLEMS

1. A K+ ion and a Cl– ion are separated by a distance of 5.00 x 10–10 m. Assuming
the two ions act like point charges, determine (a) the force each ion exerts on
the other and (b) the potential energy of the two-ion system in electron volts.
Ans: a) 921 pN toward the other ion b) - 2.88 eV
2. The potential energy (U) of a diatomic molecule is given by Lennard-Jones potential:
A B
U = − 6
r 12 r

where A and B are constants. Find, in terms of A and B, (a) the value of ro at
which the energy is minimum and (b) the energy E required to break up a diatomic
molecule. (c) Evaluate ro in metres and E in electron-volts for the H2 molecule.
Take A = 0.124 x 10–120 eV.m12 and B = 1.488 x 10–60 eV.m6.
Ans: a) (2A/B)1/6 b) B2/4A c) 74.2 pm, 4.46 eV

116
 3. An HCl molecule is excited to its first rotational energy level, corresponding
to
J = 1. If the distance between its nuclei is ro = 0.1275 nm, what is the angular
speed of the molecule about its center of mass ?
Ans: 5.691012 rad/s
4. The rotational spectrum of the HCl molecule contains lines with wavelengths of
0.0604, 0.0690, 0.0804, 0.0964, and 0.1204 mm. What is the moment of inertia of the
molecule?
Ans: 2.72x10-47 kg.m2
5. The frequency of photon that causes v = 0 to v = 1 transition in the CO molecule
is
6.42 x 1013 Hz. Ignore any changes in the rotational energy. (A) Calculate the force
constant k for this molecule. (B) What is the maximum classical amplitude of
vibration for this molecule in the v = 0 vibrational state ?
Ans: A) 1.85103 N/m B) 0.00479 nm
6. Consider a one-dimensional chain of alternating positive and negative ions. Show that
the potential energy associated with one of the ions and its interactions with the
rest of this hypothetical crystal is

e2
U(r ) = − k e 
r
where the Madelung constant is  = 2 ln 2 and r is the inter-ionic spacing.
Hint: Use the series expansion
x2 x3 x4
ln (1 + x ) = x − + − + ...
2 3 4
7. Each atom of gold (Au) contributes one free-electron to the metal. The concentration of free-
electron in gold is 5.90 x 1028/m3. Compute the Fermi Energy of gold.
Ans: 5.53 eV
8. Sodium is a monovalent metal having a density of 971 kg/m3 and a molar mass of
0.023 kg/mol. Use this information to calculate (a) the density of charge carriers
and (b) the Fermi energy.
Ans: 2.54 x 1028/m3, 3.15 eV
9. Calculate the energy of a conduction electron in silver at 800 K, assuming the probability
of finding an electron in that state is 0.950. The Fermi energy is 5.48 eV at this
temperature.
Ans: 5.28 eV
10. Show that the average kinetic energy of a conduction electron in a metal at zero
K is (3/5) EF
Suggestion: In general, the average kinetic energy is
1
ne 
E AV = E N( E ) dE

where the density of particles

117
 
ne =  N( E ) dE
0
3 1
8 2 m 2
E dE
2
N( E ) dE =
h3  E − EF 
exp   + 1
 kT 
11. (a) Consider a system of electrons confined to a three-dimensional box. Calculate
the ratio of the number of allowed energy levels at 8.50 eV to the number at 7.00
eV. (b) Copper has a Fermi energy of 7.0 eV at 300 K. Calculate the ratio of
the number of occupied levels at an energy of 8.50 eV to the number at Fermi
energy. Compare your answer with that obtained in part (a).
Ans: (a) 1.10 (b) 1.4610-25
12. Most solar radiation has a wavelength of 1 μm or less. What energy gap should the material
in solar cell have in order to absorb this radiation ? Is silicon (Eg= 1.14 eV) appropriate?
Ans: 1.24 eV or less; yes
13. The energy gap for silicon at 300 K is 1.14 eV. (a) Find the lowest-frequency photon that can
promote an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. (b) What is the wavelength
of this photon?
Ans: 2.7x1014 Hz, 1090 nm
14. A light-emitting diode (LED) made of the semiconductor GaAsP emits red light ( λ=
650nm). Determine the energy-band gap Eg in the semiconductor.
Ans: 1.91 eV

118
6 INTRODUCTION TO NANOSCIENCE

OBJECTIVES:

• To understand the concept of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

• To comprehend the concept of quantum confinement.
• To get an insight into the preparation techniques

6.1 INTRODUCTION

The concept of nanostructures and nanotechnology dates back to the history of the Nobel
Laureate Richard Feynman’s famous lecture in 1959 where he speculated the possibility of
manoeuvring things atom by atom. He proudly said, “There is plenty of room at the bottom”.
By this sentence, he strongly pointed out that there is a lot of scope and application of materials
at very small scale, i.e., at atomic or molecular level. Why cannot we write the entire 24
volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin? One may wonder what it is so
special at the nanoscale? The answer to these questions is against the very notion that specific
physical properties of a given material are the characteristic of the material itself and are
irrespective of their size. This is no longer valid at the nanoscale. There will be a drastic change
in properties which are counter-intuitive and unbelievable. Gold, the yellow metal, is no more
yellow in any size or dimension. It may be purple red and orange. CdS under colloidal solution
may yield a rainbow spectrum of colour. Ceramic oxides are not always brittle. Nanoceramics
are ductile and malleable. What sounded as scientific fantasy or myth at that time, today has
turned into reality. Nanoscience and technology cut across disciplines without boundary.

For physicists and chemists, nano means in the range of dimension of a few atoms and
molecules. For biologists, the visualization is to the dimension of the size of a DNA or to the
scale of a cell. Scientists have now devised techniques to prepare nanoparticles which have
peculiar properties. Nanotechnology is now a portal opening onto a new world. This chapter
will provide a brief look at nanoscale and its visualization.

The building block of Carbon 60 (C60) molecule is a truncated icosahedron with 60

vortices and 32 faces. Among 32 faces, 12 are pentagons and 20 are hexagons. All the rings
are fused and the double bonds are conjugated. The combination of pentagon and hexagon is
very necessary as only hexagons like graphite cannot be folded up into a sphere. The basic
requirement here is that the structure must be closed perfectly without gaps and overlaps. The

119
Buckministerfullerene has high symmetry. It is very easy to produce and most popularly
applied in a variety of fields ranging from Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. The
new field of carbon chemistry emerged from the discovery of C60. The other two cousins of
zero-dimensional (0D) fullerene are, one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotube (CNT) and two-
dimensional (2D) graphene.

Figure 6.1: Buckministerfullerene (Bucky ball)

Figure 6.2 : Representation of a single and multi walled nanotubes

Figure 6.3 Graphene, a single layer of atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice
nanostructure.

120
Graphene:

Graphene is a 2D nanomaterial possessing several distinct properties. Graphite can be viewed

where a number of 2D graphene crystals are weakly coupled together. Here carbon atoms are
arranged in planner and hexagonal form. It has a honeycomb structure and it acts as a precursor
for other members of carbon family like graphite, CNT and fullerene. Graphene sheets are held
together by van der Waals forces. Graphene has high spring constant of the order 1-5 N/m and
its Young’s modulus is of 0.5 TPa. These high values make graphene strong and rigid and helps
in using graphene as pressure sensor and resonators. The thermal conductivity of graphene is
100 times larger than that of graphite.

6.2 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanoscience is the study of the phenomenon and manipulation of materials at nanoscale where
properties differ significantly from those at larger scale. A ten centimeter piece of any material,
say, copper would have similar properties as a one centimeter piece, or even a one millimeter
piece. However, at the other extreme, one or two isolated atoms of copper would show quite
different properties. Some bulk properties of matter lose their identity while others show a
drastic change in the context of atoms and molecules. The properties of nanoparticles are
therefore strongly dependent on the number of atoms or size of the cluster. Nanotechnology
deals with the design, characterization, production and application of structures, devices by
controlling the shape and size of the material at nanometer scale. Size effects constitute a
peculiar and fascinating aspect of nanomaterials. Nanoscience and nanotechnology explore and
benefit from quantum phenomenology in the ultimate limit of miniaturization. At length scales
comparable to atoms and molecules, quantum effects strongly modify properties of matter like
“colour”, reactivity, magnetic or electrical and other physical properties. The drastic change in
properties make nano a thrust area or driving force for developing high performance, low cost,
miniaturized solid-state devices. Nature also mimics nanoscience, for example, the minute
structures that make up the wings of a butterfly, a peacock feather, spider thread and a lotus
leaf. To be more specific, on the properties front, we have the following amazing properties:
(i) 6 nm copper is 5 times as hard as the bulk copper (ii) Nanoceramics are ductile and malleable
whereas bulk ceramics are rigid (iii) Nano size titanium sinters at lower temperature (600 °C),
whereas bulk titanium sinters at 1400 °C (iv) Rutiles becomes ductile in the nano form (v)
particles of size 10–30 nm cannot scatter visible light, hence all particles of this size, no matter

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what they are made of, are transparent (vi) different sized nano CdSe exhibit different colours
– a boon for band gap engineers; this is due to the quantum size effect. (vii) Electrical insulators
at nanosize conduct due to tunnelling current. (Viii) 3 nm CdS melts at 700 K compared to
bulk CdS at 1678 K.

Other wonders of nanoscience include: (i) scratch resistance optical glass, (ii) dirt repellent
trains, (iii) ceramic motor car engines and tools, (iv) cancer treatment due to targeted drug
delivery and (v) corrosion protecting surface. The widespread use of nanotechnology is due to
(i) small scale miniaturization (ii) faster and cheaper manufacture, (iii) higher reliability, (iv)
lower cost nanoelectronics and many others.

6.3 SURFACE TO VOLUME RATIO

It is well known that finer particles are more reactive than larger particles. Most common
examples are: fine sugar dissolves faster, fine coal particles burn stronger than bigger size. This
may be the reason why many Ayurvedic medicines are prepared after extensive grinding and
compounding. Homeopathic medicines are taken in the form of micro fine globules. The high
reactivity results from the availability of a greater surface area by reducing the size either by
grinding, pounding, milling and so on.

Figure 6.4: Illustration of increased Surface to volume ratio as we move towards nano.

Since the surface atom possesses more energy than the bulk atoms, they are chemically more
active. Particles on surfaces are very sensitive to the environment and physical chemical
properties get modified. The new surface is more reactive and acquires special features.
Minerals get activated on grinding. Grinding and pounding of solids increase dissolution rates
not only because of increase in surface area; it also supports structural change, defects
formation and accumulation of mechanical energy that is released during dissolution. As the
size becomes smaller, the surface to volume ratio increases and this increase begins to go up
rapidly as one reaches a smaller size range. It is therefore clear that nanomaterials possess size
dependent properties.

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This can be categorized as:

(i) Thermal properties (melting point, sintering temperature, etc)

(ii) Chemical properties (reactions, catalytic properties, activation energy and dissolution)
(iii) Mechanical properties (strength, adhesion, hardness, scratch resistance)
(iv) Optical properties (absorption, scattering, band gap)
(v) Electrical properties (transport, tunnelling, resistance)
(vi) Magnetic properties (nanomagnetism, superparamagnetism)

These properties make them useful as sensors, transducers, and pharmaceutical applications.
Surface area to volume ratio is very large for nanomaterials. To understand this concept,
consider a spherical material of radius r then:

Surface area of the sphere 4𝜋𝑟 2 3

= =
Volume of the sphere 4 3 𝑟
3 𝜋𝑟

As the size of the sphere decreases, the above ratio increases. Alternatively, if the material is
cubic, as it is divided into small cubes, then also the surface area to volume ratio increases.
Hence, the nanomaterials possess large value of surface area to volume ratio as compared to
the bulk material.

6.4 QUANTUM CONFINEMENT

The drastic change in surface to volume ratio at nanorange results in change of the atomic and
electronic structure as a result, electrical, optical, magnetic, and transport properties changes.
If the size is in the nanorange only in one dimension, it leads to a thin film, i.e., 2D structures
and 1D confinement; for example, graphene. The basic idea behind quantum confinement is
keeping an electron trapped in a small area. It is due to the fact that the energy available to the
electron is less than the potential barrier it has to cross. This is similar to a particle in a well in
quantum mechanics, known as quantum well. The second arrangement is a nanorod or
nanotube (with 1D structures and 2D confinement), popularly known as a quantum wire. An
example of a quantum wire is the carbon nanotube (CNT). Three-dimensional graphite has a
3D structure and 0D confinement, whereas fullerene has a 0D structure and 3D confinement.
The most important finding of quantum confinement is the quantum dot. The quantum dot is
treated as an artificial atom or ‘super-atom’ having three-dimensional confinements and zero
dimensional structures. Like a particle in a box, the allowed energy levels can be varied at the
will and pleasure of the experimenter by changing the size of the quantum dot cluster. This in

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turn changes the material properties such as electrical and non-linear optical properties and so
on. On excitation, a smaller dot emits light of higher energy and intensity or smaller
wavelength. Hence, the emitted light is blue. As the dot enlarges in size, the emitted light is of
lower energy or larger wavelength, moving towards red. This can be verified experimentally
by taking a colloidal suspension of CdSe core with ZnS shell quantum dots of varying sizes.
Larger and smaller quantum dots exhibit red and blue colours, respectively. Cadmium sulphide,
which is orange in colour in its bulk form, for example, keeps on changing colour through
different shades of yellow and becomes white as its cluster size changes. Optical property
depends strongly upon the particle shape and size. Bulk gold (Au) is yellowish in reflected
light, but a thin gold film appears blue in transmission. Further, this blue colour changes to
purple, red and finally orange as the particle size is reduced down to 3 nm.

Figure 6.5: Effects of dimensionality of quantization on the electronic density of states.

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Figure 6.6 Change in the idealized density of state while reducing the system dimensionality
from a 3D bulk crystal to a 2D layer and, finally via a 1D wire to a 0D quantum dot.

6.5 QUANTUM DOTS (QDs)

• QDs are quite interesting as they enable the study of semiconductors on small length
scale.
• In these materials, photon of energy greater than band gap causes an electron to be
promoted to a conduction band leaving a positive hole in the valance band.
• The electron and hole as a pair constitutes an exciton [A bound electron-hole pair (in
their lowest energy states), when a photon is absorbed by a semiconductor is known as
an exciton].

• The maximum length of separation between an electron and hole at which they are still
linked by Coulombic attraction forces is called the exciton Bohr radius also referred
as de Broglie wavelength of electron.
• As the particle size approaches the exciton Bohr radius the charge carriers are confined
in three dimensions.
• This phenomenon known as quantum confinement causes the continuous band of the
bulk to split into discrete quantized levels.
In a quantum dot, the excitons are squeezed, leading to Quantum Confinement, such that the
size of the QD crystal is on the same order as the size of the exciton Bohr radius. This unique
size property causes the band of energies to turn into discrete energy levels.

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Figure 6.7: Splitting of valence band and conduction band into discrete energy levels due to
quantum confinement effect.

Bound exciton energy of a Quantum dot (EQD): When the size of the semiconductor crystal
is smaller than the Exciton Bohr radius, the Coulomb interaction energy (between electron-
hole pair) ‘EQD’ increases due the following reason:

6.6 PREPARATION TECHNIQUES OF NANOMATERIALS

There are various ways to categorize the synthesis method of nanostructured materials.
Depending on the phase of the starting material, there are two classes: via gas phase and via
condensed phase. Alternate classifications may be physical or chemical and top down or
bottom up approaches. Further, the crystallographic structure of the precursor also decides the
method of fabrication. Amorphous materials on crystallization yield 3D nanostructured
materials. Polycrystals on ball milling undergo severe plastic deformation and give rise to
nanomaterials. Single atoms may be electrodeposited in various ways or condensed to give
clusters and subsequently, on compaction yield nanoparticles. It should be noted that there
exists certain overlap between the different methods. Gas phase synthesis is sophisticated and
expensive compared to condensed phase. This method gives more insight into understanding
the basic aspects of the nanostructure. Condensed phase synthesis deals with chemical vapour

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deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition (PVD) from atomic or molecular precursors.
Bulk precursors under mechanical attrition, grinding and pounding, laser ablation, evaporation
and so on, supports nanofabrication.

The nanomaterials are synthesized using a number of methods. These methods are generally
classified into two categories, namely

1. Top-down process
2. Bottom-up process

Top down approach:

The top down approach is physics friendly and deals with taking a bulk material and is crushed
into fine particles using the processes such as mechanical alloying, laser ablation, sputtering
etc. to produce the nanostructure. The size limit that can be created depends on the tool.

The examples of top-down process are

1. Ball milling
2. Laser ablation
3. Sputtering
4. Arc evaporation
5. Electron beam evaporation
6. Photolithography, etc.

The disadvantages in this method include (i) imperfection or defects in the crystal, (ii)
crystallographic damage, and (iii) surface contamination.

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 Figure 6.8 : Top-down and bottom-up processes

Arc discharge:

The experimental set up consists of a vacuum chamber, gas flow controls and two electrodes
with power supply. The experimental arrangement is shown in the Figure 6.9. The reactant
materials are compressed into rods and are used as anode and cathode. The electrodes are
separated by distance of ~ 1 mm. A dc voltage of nearly 20 to 40 V with a current rating of 100
to 150 A is applied to the electrodes to generate an arc. The chamber is filled with inert gases
such as argon or helium and the chamber is maintained with a pressure of few hundred Torr.
The duration of discharge is usually several minutes. During discharge, due to the high current,
temperature around 3000 oC is produced. Due to this high temperature of electrodes get melted
and evaporated into clusters at atomic scale.

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 Figure 6.9: Arc discharge technique

Advantages

1. Conducting materials are used as electrodes

2. The deposition is easily controlled by adjusting the parameters such as pressure and
temperature
3. This method is used to produce nanomaterials in large quantities
4. Both single wall and multiwall nanotubes can be produced.

Disadvantages

1. High temperature around 3000 oC should be maintained between the electrodes

2. Pressure in the range 400-600 mbar should be maintained.

Bottom-up approach

In the bottom up approach, individual atom or molecules are assembled or self-assembled to

the desired size. However, to obtain an atomically perfect nanostructure is a difficult task. By
sophisticated techniques, it has been possible to arrange atomic or molecular building blocks
in electronic devices like molecular switches, molecular wires. Similarly, biologists develop
bio sensors. All living beings in nature grow to bigger size by this method. When the precursors
are at the atomic or molecular stage, this approach is favourable to obtain nanostructures. This
is analogous to the formation of ice crystals on a cold window pane or a snow flake. The

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advantage of the bottom up approach is the structural repeatability of a complex component
that forms predictable structure motifs organized over a large area or volume. Molecular beam
epitaxy (MBE) is a method of laying down layers of materials with atomic thicknesses on to
substrates. This is done by creating a “molecular beam” of a material which impinges on to the
substrate. The resulting “superlattices” have a number of technologically important uses
including quantum well lasers for semiconducting systems and giant magneto-resistance for
metallic systems. Ionized cluster beam (ICB) deposition is an ion-assisted film deposition
technique by which high quality films of metals, dielectrics and semiconductors can be formed
at a low substrate temperature. In the ICB process, film materials are vaporized from a
confinement crucible under conditions which result in the formation of aggregates of atoms
(clusters). Clusters are ionized by electron impact and subsequently accelerated by high
potentials. Through selection of available parameters, it is possible to control the average
energy of depositing species over the range from thermal to above 200 eV per atom, which
make possible well controlled crystalline film deposition and epitaxy. The pulsed laser
deposition (PLD) method of thin film growth involves evaporation of a solid target in an ultra-
high vacuum chamber by means of short and high energy laser pulses. In a typical PLD process,
a researcher places a target in a vacuum chamber. A pulsed laser beam vaporizes the surface
of the target, and the vapour condenses on to a substrate.

Figure 6.10 : The laser ablation

The laser ablation technique consists of a high intense laser beam, a vacuum chamber, sample
holder, vacuum pumps and inlet for gases. A high energy laser (for e.g., CO2 laser, ArF, KrF)
can be focussed into a small spot using a lens and it is made to incident on a target material. If
the temperature produced by the laser beam on the target material is greater than its sublimation

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point, the explosion of the target may occur and hence the target material gets efface from the
surface. The nanomaterials are collected on the air or water cooled traps. A continuous flow of
nitrogen gas with a pressure of nearly 1 Torr is maintained during the synthesis of
nanomaterials.

If the temperature produced by the laser beam on the target material is less than its sublimation
point, the laser radiation heats the target material without obvious ejection of the target
material. This method is said to be laser heating. Both laser ablation and laser heating can be
used for producing nanomaterials.

Advantages

1. The nanomaterials with perfect structures can be produced

2. The process is easily controllable by controlling the temperature, pressure and laser
output power.

Drawbacks

1. High temperature should be maintained

2. Laser source with high output energy is needed.
3. Only a small quantity of nanomaterials can be produced.

6.7 APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanomaterials are found in both biological systems and man-made structures. Nature has been
using nanomaterials for millions of years. The large surface area to volume ratio increases the
chemical activity. Nanomaterials have the following applications.

(i) Microelectronics: In microelectronics, the reduction in size of electronic components

leads to faster switching times. Nanotechnology includes fabrication of nanowires used in
semiconductors. Porous silicon emits visible light, so it finds application in optoelectronics.
Quantum dot lasers are nanoscaled objects, they emit good-quality laser beam compared to
semiconductor laser diodes. They are cheaper and the emitted wavelength depends on the
diameter of the dot.

(ii) Machine tools: Some nanocrystalline materials such as tungsten carbide, tantalum
carbide and titanium carbide are harder than conventional materials; they are more wear-
resistant and erosion resistant, so they are used in cutting tools and drill bits. Nanocrystalline
silicon nitride and silicon carbide are used in the manufacturing of high-strength springs, ball

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bearings and valve lifters because of their excellent physical, chemical and mechanical
properties. Nanocrystalline ceramics such as zirconia (ZrO2) are softer than conventional
materials, so they can be easily pressed and sintered into various shapes at significantly lower
temperatures.

(iii) High-power magnets: The magnetic strength of a material is directly proportional to

the surface area per unit volume. The magnetic nanocrystalline yttrium – samarium – cobalt
possess very high magnetic properties due to large surface area. The typical applications of
high-power rare earth magnets are in submarines, generators, electric motors, automobile
alternators, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instruments and in ultrasensitive analytical
instruments.

(iv) In television or in a monitor: In television or in a monitor, the resolution depends

on the size of the pixel made of phosphors. The phosphor glows when a beam of electrons
strike them. The resolution of images in these instruments increases as the size of pixels
reduces. Materials like nanocrystalline selenide, zinc sulphide, lead telluride and cadmium
sulphide synthesized by the sol-gel method improve the resolution. The use of nanophosphors
may reduce the making cost of high resolution television. In new generation batteries, the
separator plates are made up of nanocrystalline materials prepared by the sol-gel method, and
they hold more energy. For example, batteries made of nanocrystalline nickel and metal
hydrides are long lasting and requires minimal recharging.

(v) Motor vehicles and air craft: The thermal energy generated in engines is wasted to a
large extent. This can be reduced by coating the cylinders with nanocrystalline ceramics such
as zirconia and alumina. By retaining more heat energy, combustion of the fuel takes place
completely. In air crafts, by decreasing the grain size of the materials the fatigue strength
increases. By using nanomaterials, the fatigue life increases as much as 300%. The components
made of nanomaterials are stronger and operate at higher temperatures. So aircrafts can fly
faster using the same amount of aviation fuel.

(vi) Aerogels: Aerogels are nanocrystalline materials. They are porous and hence air is trapped
at the interstices. Using these materials for insulation at offices and homes leads to drastic
reduction in cooling and heating bills by saving power. These materials are also used as
materials for smart windows, so that the materials become darkened when the sun is too bright
and lightened when the sun is not shining brightly.

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(vii) Energy efficiency: For illumination, energy consumption can be greatly reduced by
using quantum caged atoms or light emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of ordinary filament bulbs.
Nanostructures with a continuum of energy band gaps have an increased solar energy
conversion efficiency as compared to ordinary semiconductor solar cells. In hydrogen fuel
cells, nanostructured catalyst material is used on carbon-supported noble metal particles with
diameters between 1 and 5 nm. For hydrogen storage, materials with nanosized pores like
nanotubes, zeolites, etc. are under investigation.

(viii) Medical field: Nanomaterials are used in biology for the development of diagnostic
devices, drug delivery vehicles, analytical tools and in physical therapy applications. The
genetic sequence of a sample can be detected by tagging gold nanoparticles with short segments
of DNA. Magnetic nanoparticles are used to label molecules, structures or micro-organisms of
an antibody. Iron nanoparticles are used in cancer treatment. Nanotechnology is used to
reproduce or to repair damaged tissue.

(ix) Textiles: Clothes made of nanofibres are water and stain repellent and wrinkle-free. They
can be washed less frequently at low temperatures.

(x) Computer: Quantum computers use fast quantum algorithms and have quantum bit
memory space (qubit), so it involves in several computations at the same time.

(xi) Cosmetics: Sun screens based on mineral nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide offer
several advantages. They have high UV protection compared to the bulk material.

In addition to the above, we have quantum dots, suntan lotion, nanotubes, protective coatings.
Fullerenes (C60) are used as lubricants (molecular ball bearings), diamond seeding, diamond
production, xerographic materials, photochromic goggles, etc.

6.8 QUESTIONS

1. Why nano is so important?

2. What is nanoscience and nanotechnology?
3. Write a note on surface to volume ratio. Mention its significance
4. Narrate the different applications of graphene.
5. What are quantum dots?
6. What do you mean by quantum confinement? From the quantum confinement
concept, how do properties change at the nanoscale?
7. What do you mean by ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ approach? Explain.

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8. Explain (a) arc discharge evaporation (b) laser ablation techniques to obtain
nanomaterials.
9. Mention some applications of nanomaterials.

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