BME5006

Lasers in Medical Science

BAU
2023-2024 Fall

Asst. Prof. Hakan Solmaz

Nature of Light
Particle or Wave?
Isaac Newton believed in the
particle theory of light, but he
could not explain the textures of
shadows.
Christian Huygens believed light
must be continous, like a wave.
He suggested that shadows are
the result of light waves bending
around corners.
Albert Einstein used the
photoelectric effect to show that
light does indeed act in some
ways like a particle.

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The Wave – Particle Duality

OR

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Particles
• Particles are discrete, their energy is concentrated
into what appears to be a finite space, which has
definite boundaries and its contents we consider to
be homogenous (the same at any point within the
particle)
• Particles exist at a specific location. If they are
shown on 3D graph, they have x, y, and z
coordinates. They can never exist in more than one
place at once, and to travel to a different place in
space, a particle must move to it under the laws of
kinematics, acceleration, velocity and so forth.

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Particles
• Interactions between particles have been
studied for many centuries, and a few simple
laws underpin how particles behave in
collisions and interactions. Newton's Cradle demonstrates
oscillatory motion, conservation
• The most primary of these are the of energy, and conservation of
momentum.
conservation of energy and momentum
which allow us to simplify calculations
between particle interactions on scales of
magnitude which vary between planets and
quarks.
• These are the essential basics of Newtonian
mechanics, a series of statements and
equations in Philosophiae naturalis principia
mathematica originally published in 1687.

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Waves
• Waves unlike particles cannot be considered as a
finite entity. Their energy cannot be considered to
exist in a single place since a wave by definition
varies in both displacement and in time.

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Wave Properties
• A wave is characterized
by four quantities:
• 1. Wavelength
• 2. Frequency
• 3. Velocity
• 4. Amplitude

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• A transverse wave has its oscillations
perpendicular to the direction the wave
moves.

 A longitudinal wave has oscillations in the same

direction as the wave moves.

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Photoelectric Effect
• Energy of the ejected electrons is
proportional to the frequency of the
illuminating light.
• This showed that what ever was
knocking the electrons out had an
energy proportional to light frequency.
• The remarkable fact that the ejection
energy was independent of the total
energy of illumination showed that the
interaction must be like that of a
particle which gave all of its energy to
the electron! This fit in well with
Planck's hypothesis

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 Photoelectric Effect
 In this “quantum-mechanical” picture, the energy of the
light particle (photon) must overcome the binding energy of the
electron to the nucleus.

 If the energy of the photon does exceed the binding energy, the
electron is emitted with a KE = Ephoton – Ebinding.

 The energy of the photon is given by E=hn, where the

constant h = 6.6x10-34 [J s] is Planck’s constant.

“Light particle”

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Before Collision After Collision
The Planck Hypothesis
• In order to explain the frequency distribution of
radiation from a hot cavity (blackbody radiation)
Planck proposed the assumption that the radiant
energy could exist only in discrete quanta which
were proportional to the frequency.

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 Black Body Radiation
• A black body is a theoretical object
that absorbs 100% of the radiation
that hits it. Therefore it reflects no
radiation and appears perfectly
black.
• In practice no material has been
found to absorb all incoming
radiation, but carbon in its graphite
form absorbs all but about 3%. It is
also a perfect emitter of radiation.
At a particular temperature the
black body would emit the
maximum amount of energy
possible for that temperature.

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Photoelectric Effect

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 Photoelectric Effect
“Classical” Method What if we try this ?
Increase energy by Vary wavelength, fixed amplitude
increasing amplitude
electrons electrons
emitted ? emitted ?
No
No
No Yes, with
low KE
No
Yes, with
No high KE

No electrons were emitted until the frequency of the light exceeded

a critical frequency, at which point electrons were emitted from
the surface! (Recall: small l  large n)
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 Photons
 Quantum theory describes light as
a particle called a photon

 According to quantum theory, a photon has an energy given by

E = hn = hc/l h = 6.6x10-34 [J*sec]

Planck’s constant, after the scientist Max Planck.

 The energy of the light is proportional to the frequency, and inversely

proportional to the wavelength! The higher the frequency (lower
wavelength) the higher the energy of the photon!

 10 photons have an energy equal to ten times a single photon.

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The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Shortest wavelengths
(Most energetic photons)

E = hn = hc/l
h = 6.6x10-34 [J*sec]
(Planck’s constant)

Longest wavelengths
(Least energetic photons)
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Interpretation of Photoelectric Effect

Vary wavelength, fixed amplitude

electrons
emitted ?
E1 = hn1 No
Increase
Energy
E2 = hn2 Yes, with
low KE
Increase
Energy Yes, with
E3 = hn3
high KE

E3 > E2 > E1
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 DeBroglie’s Relation
p=h/l

 The smaller the wavelength the larger the photon’s momentum!

 The energy of a photon is simply related to the momentum by:

E = pc (or, p=E/c )

 The wavelength is related to the momentum by: l = h/p

 The photon has momentum, and its momentum is given

by simply p = h / l .
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 Momentum of Photons
If I have a photon with energy E=1 [GeV], what is its momentum?
p = E / c = (1 [GeV])/c = 1 [GeV/c]

If I have a photon with momentum 5 GeV/c, what is its energy?

E = pc = (5 GeV/c) * c = 5 [GeV]

So, the only difference between a photons’ energy and momentum is:
Energy  [GeV]
momentum  [GeV/c]

Don’t forget though that the “c” in [GeV/c] really means 3x108 [m/s].

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Optical Force
Wave-particle duality of light
Photons have momentum: p = h / λ
Force needs to be applied to change the propagation
direction of a photon: Δp = -F·t

Reflected ray

Incident ray Reflected ray

Δp

Incident ray
F: radiation pressure

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Scattering Problem
Electron
initially at
Incident X-ray rest lf
wavelength
li=1.5 [nm]
e e

KE=0.2 [keV]

Before After

 Compute the energy of the 1.5 [nm] X-ray photon.

E = hc/l = (6.6x10-34 [J s])(3x108 [m/s]) / (1.5x10-9 [m])
= 1.3x10-16 [J]
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Scattering Example (cont)
 Express this energy in [keV].
1.3x10-16 [J] * (1 [eV] / 1.6 x10-19 [J]) = 825 [eV] = 0.825 [keV]

 What is the magnitude of the momentum of this photon?

p = E / c = 0.825 [keV]/ c = 0.825 [keV/c]

 After the collision the electron’s energy was found to be 0.2 [keV].
What is the energy of the scattered photon?

Since energy must be conserved, the photon must have E=0.825-0.2 = 0.625 [keV]

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Summary of Photons
 Photons can be thought of as
“packets of light” which behave as a
particle.

 To describe interactions of light with matter, one generally has to

appeal to the particle (quantum) description of light.

 A single photon has an energy given by

E = hc/l,
where
h = Planck’s constant = 6.6x10-34 [J s] and,
c = speed of light = 3x108 [m/s]
l = wavelength of the light (in [m])

 Photons also carry momentum. The momentum is related to the

energy by: p = E / c = h/l 23
Matter Waves ?
“If light waves can behave like a particle, might particles act like waves”?

The short answer is YES. The explanation lies in the realm of

quantum mechanics, and is beyond the scope of this course.
However, you already have been introduced to the answer.

Particles also have a wavelength given by: l = h/p = h / mv

 That is, the wavelength of a particle depends on its momentum,

just like a photon!

 The main difference is that matter particles have mass, and

photons don’t !

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Matter Waves (cont)
Compute the wavelength of a 1 [kg] block moving at 1000 [m/s].

l = h/mv = 6.6x10-34 [J s]/(1 [kg])(1000 [m/s]) = 6.6x10-37 [m].

 This is immeasureably small. So, on a large scale, we cannot

observe the wave behavior of matter

Compute the wavelength of an electron (m=9.1x10-31 [kg])

moving at 1x107 [m/s].

l = h/mv = 6.6x10-34 [J s]/(9.1x10-31 [kg])(1x107 [m/s])

= 7.3x10-11 [m].

This is near the wavelength of X-rays 25

Wave-Particle Duality
• Does light consist of particles or waves? When one focuses
upon the different types of phenomena observed with light, a
strong case can be built for a wave picture:
Phenomenon Can be explained Can be explained
in terms of waves. in terms of particles.

Reflection

Refraction

Interference

Diffraction

Polarization

Photoelectric effect
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Diffraction of Light
• Particle

• Wave

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Electromagnetic Waves

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Electromagnetic Waves

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Photons
• The wavelength is the
distance between two
successive crests.
Wavelength determines
the color of light. The
terms Color, Energy, and
Wavelength all are
synonymous.
The shorter the wavelength the bluer the
color and the more energy in the
photon.

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Models of light

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 Speed of Light
• Experimental measurements of the speed of light have been refined in progressively more
accurate experiments since the seventeenth century. Recent experiments give a speed of

• but the uncertainties in this value are chiefly those of comparisons to previous
standards for the length of the meter. Therefore the above speed of light has been
adopted as a standard value and the length of the meter is redefined to be consistent
with this value.

• The speed of light in a medium is related to the electric and magnetic properties of
the medium, and the speed of light in vacuum can be expressed as

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 Waves and Rays

A source emitting waves uniformly in

all directions. The wave fronts are
spherical, and the direction of
propagation of the wave as seen by
an observer at some point is
perpendicular to the wave front. Very
far from the source, the curvature of
the wave front is so small locally that
the wave front appears to be a plane.

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 Waves
• Waves have crests and troughs.
• The crest of a wave is sometimes called
a wave front.
• The shape of a wave is determined by its
wave front.

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Standing Waves
• A wave that is
confined between
boundaries is called a
standing wave.
• With all waves,
resonance and natural
frequency are
dependent on
reflections from
boundaries of the
system containing the
wave.
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 Standing Waves…
• The standing wave with the
longest wavelength is called the
fundamental.
• The fundamental has the lowest
frequency in a series of standing
waves called harmonics.
• The first three standing wave
patterns of a vibrating string
shows that patterns occur at
multiples of the fundamental
frequency.

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 Waves and Energy
• All waves propagate by
exchanging energy between two
forms.
• For water and elastic strings, the
exchange is between potential
and kinetic energy.
• For sound waves, the energy
oscillates between pressure and
kinetic energy.
• In light waves, energy oscillates
between electric and magnetic
fields.
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Huygens's Principle
(d) Plane waves in a
ripple tank are
incident from above
on(c)
(b)
anA
(a) Huygens
plane wave
Huygens
aperture.
wavelets
propagating
wavelets
Notice that as the
propagating
through
propagating
aperture isan
made
outward
aperture
outward the
narrower, from
from
a
produces
a spherical
plane wave
transmitted awave
wave front that
frontdeparts
front ever
generate
is not
generate
more a true
a of a
from that
another
plane
new wave
plane wave;
plane andthe
spherical
wave
wave front near
approaches, instead,
wave
the edges
front is
of
that of a point source
larger
rounded.
with radius.
its outgoing
spherical wave.

Any point on a wave front may be viewed as a source of a spherical wave, and the
new wave front can be obtained by following these new Huygens wavelets and
constructing their envelope 38
Reflection of Plane Waves

The angles of incidence and reflection for rays striking a surface

are defined as the angles the rays make with the line
perpendicular to that surface. For specular (mirror) reflection,
the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.

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Reflection of Plane Waves
The law of reflection proved by
means of the Huygens
construction. The incident plane
wave fronts shown for two
successive times are F0 and F1.
The incident wave is propagating
along I. The reflected wave front
is along BG, and propagating
along R. The triangles ADB and
AEB are congruent, and the
angles ai and ar are equal. These
angles equal the angles of
incidence and reflection,
respectively.

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Diffuse Reflection
• When the surface is rough, images are not formed,
but the light still reflects

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Diffuse Reflection
• Bumps on the surface must be less than about 1/8
the wavelength of light in order to have a smooth
surface
• Big satellite dishes are made of wire mesh and
appear smooth to the longer wavelength
microwave signals

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Index of Refraction
• A wave on a rope consisting of two sections of
different mass per unit length. The propagation
velocity is greater on the lighter section, but the
frequencies are identical for both parts of the rope.
Hence, the wavelength is greater where the speed of
propagation is greater.

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 Index of Refraction
• The index of refraction is
defined as the speed of light
in vacuum divided by the
speed of light in the
medium.

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/phys/Dept2/APPhys1/optics/optics/node7.html

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Index of Refraction

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Index of Refraction
The indices of refraction of some common
substances are given below. The values given
are approximate and do not account for the small
variation of index with light wavelength which is
called dispersion.

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Refraction
• Recall that when light passes from one material to
another, it is bent because the speed of light is
different in the two materials
• Put a stick into water as an example
• The difference in speed between a material and a
vacuum is called index of refraction

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Refraction
• The speed of surface waves
on water depends on the
depth of the water. At the
diagonal interface, the depth
in this ripple tank changes,
and plane waves incident on
this interface are refracted.
There is also some reflection
visible in the photograph.

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Refraction
• When light slows down at a boundary, it bends
toward the normal
• When light speeds up at a boundary, it bends away
from the normal
• The sines of the angles are related to the two
indices of refraction

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Refraction

50
Refraction
The angle of refraction is defined as the angle
between the refracted ray and the normal to
the refracting interface. The line AA'
represents the wave front of the incident plane
wave propagating in medium 1 in the direction
indicated by ray I. At time t = 0, the wave front
meets the interface between medium 1 and
medium 2 at A, and a spherical Huygens
wavelet propagates radially outward from that
point. In medium 1, the wave proceeds at the
speed v1, in medium 2 at the speed v2. In a
time Dt = A'B/v1 the incident wave front has
advanced from A' to B. In the same time
interval, the Huygens wave centered at A has
advanced a distance AB' = v2 Dt where v2 is
the speed of propagation in medium 2. Thus
the wave front of the plane wave transmitted
into medium 2 is BB', and the direction of
propagation in medium 2 is represented by
the vector R, perpendicular to BB'.
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Hot air has a lower index of refraction than cooler air, which is more dense. A
ray of light entering the region of hot air above a pavement on a hot summer
day is refracted as shown in the sketch. To an observer, this refraction
simulates the effect of reflection by the pavement.

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Total Internal Reflection
• Refraction of light as it
passes from a medium of
high refractive index to a
medium of lower refractive
index, as from glass to air.
When the angle of incidence
is small, some of the light is
internally reflected, some
refracted. When the angle of
incidence exceeds a certain
critical angle, all the light is
internally reflected.

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Total Internal Reflection
To emerge from the side of the
cube of Plexiglas, a ray of light
must make an angle of no more
than 41.8° with the horizontal. A
ray of light that has entered the
cube from below, however, wilt
have been refracted toward the
vertical and will make an angle
of 41.8° or less with the
vertical. Such a ray makes an
angle of 48.2° or more with the
horizontal and will therefore be
reflected internally at the side
of the cube.
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Total Internal Reflection
• At an interface, when light is going from a region of
high refractive index (lower speed) to lower index,
the light is bent away from the normal
• If the angle of incidence gets great enough it will be
bending away at 90o
• This is called the critical angle

55
Total Internal Reflection
• Once the angle of incidence is larger than the
critical angle, the light cannot escape the higher
index material
• This means that all the light is reflected from the
surface back into the higher index material
• This is total internal reflection

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Total Internal Reflection

This is used in fiber-optic cables to transmit data

signals. The light inside the cable cannot escape so
no energy (signal) is lost as it travels.
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Total Internal Reflection
• By using high index of refraction glass, we can make
prisms that exhibit total internal reflection
• We can do all sorts of interesting direction changes
of light by using these prisms

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