OPTICAL MINERALOGY

Dr.AZZARAGAB

Theelectromagneticspectrum(Light)

Itisaformofenergy,whichcanbetransmittedfromone
placetoanotheratafinitevelocity.
Visiblelightisasmallportionofacontinuousspectrumof
radiationrangingfromGammaraystoradiowaves.
Gamma rays (3x10-9m) Radio waves (3x106m)

 Nature of electromagnetic radiation

Requires no supporting media

Uniform velocity in vacuum (2.9979 x 108 m s-1)
Twocomplimentarytheorieshavebeenproposedtoexplain
howlightbehavesandtheformbywhichittravels.
Photonsorwaves?

Particletheory(Photons)releaseofasmall
amountofenergyasaphotonwhenanatomisexcited.
Discontinuous packets or quanta of energy
Defined by Planck's constant (h) = 6.6310-34
Jsec
Photons best explain some aspects of
shortwave radiation behaviour

 Wavetheoryradiantenergytravelsasawavefrom
onepointtoanother.

Wavetheoryeffectivelydescribesthephenomenaofpolarization,
reflection,refractionandinterference,whichformthebasisfor
opticalmineralogy.

-Waves best explain some aspects of long wave

radiation behaviour
Plane waves of energy
Waveshaveelectricalandmagneticproperties=>
electromagneticvariations.
(Electric and magnetic fields at right angles)

 Waves

Theelectricandmagneticcomponentsvibrateatrightanglesto
eachotherandatrightanglestothedirectionofpropogation

Inopticalmineralogyonlytheelectriccomponent,
referredtoastheelectricvector,isconsideredandisreferred
toasthevibrationdirectionofthelightray.

Thevibrationdirectionoftheelectricvectoris
perpendiculartothedirectioninwhichthelightis
propagating.

Thebehaviouroflightwithinmineralsresultsfromthe
interactionoftheelectricvectorofthelightraywiththe
electriccharacterofthemineral,whichisareflectionofthe
atomsandthechemicalbondswithinthatminerals.

Lightwavesaredescribedintermsofvelocity,frequency
andwavelength.

Nature of electromagnetic radiation

Physics is stuck with particle-wave duality

(also known as wave corpuscle dichotomy)

We can classify EMR according to

Wavelength, usually microns (10-6m) or mm
Frequency in hertz
Polarization (vertical or horizontal)

 Wavelength

Thevelocity(V)andthewavelengtharerelatedinthefollowingequation,
Frequency velocity
(constant)

wavelength

Frequency

Whathappensaslightmovesthroughthescope?
Microscope light is white light,
i.e. its made up of lots of different wavelengths;
Each wavelength of light corresponds to a different color

From390m(violetcolour,shortestwave)to
770m(redcolour,longestwave)

Can prove this with a prism,

which separates white light into its
constituent wavelengths/colors

WAVEFRONT,WAVENORMAL
Withaninfinitenumberofwavestravellingtogetherfromalight
source,wenowdefine:

1.Wavefrontparallelsurfaceconnectingsimilarorequivalent
pointsonadjacentwaves.

2.WaveNormalalineperpendiculartothewavefront,
representingthedirectionthewaveismoving.

3.LightRayisthedirectionofpropagationofthelightenergy.


Minerals can be subdivided, based on the interaction
ofthelightraytravellingthroughthemineralandthe
nature of the chemical bonds holding the mineral
together,intotwoclasses:

IsotropicMinerals
showthesamevelocityoflightinalldirectionsbecause
thechemicalbondsholdingthemineralstogetherarethe
sameinalldirections.
Examples:isometricminerals(cubic)Fluorite,Garnet,
Halite
InisotropicmaterialstheWaveNormalandLightRayare
parallel.

 AnisotropicMinerals
haveadifferentvelocityforlight,depending
onthedirectionthelightistravelling
throughthemineral.Thechemicalbonds
holdingthemineraltogetherwilldiffer
dependingonthedirectionthelightray
travelsthroughthemineral.
Anisotropicmineralsbelongtotetragonal,
hexagonal,orthorhombic,monoclinicand
triclinicsystems.
InanisotropicmineralstheWaveNormal
andLightRayarenotparallel.

Lightwavestravellingalongthesamepath
inthesameplanewillinterferewitheachother.

 PHASEANDINTERFERENCE

Beforegoingontoexaminehowlightinteactswithmineralswe
mustdefineoneterm:

RETARDATION - (delta) represents the distance that one

ray lags behind another. Retardation is measured in
nanometres, 1nm = 10-7cm, or the number of wavelengths
by which a wave lags behind another light wave.

Therelationshipbetweenraystravellingalongthesamepath
andtheinterferencebetweentheraysisillustratedinthefollowing
threefigures:

1.Ifretardationisawholenumber(i.e.,0,1,2,3,etc.)ofwavelengths
Thetwowaves,AandB,areINPHASE,andtheyconstructively
interferewitheachother.Theresultantwave(R)isthesumof
waveAandB.

2.Whenretardationis=,1,2..wavelengths.

ThetwowavesareOUTOFPHASEtheydestructivelyinterfere,
cancellingeachotherout,producingtheresultantwave(R),
whichhasnoamplitudeorwavelength.

 3.Iftheretardationisanintermediatevalue,thetwowaveswill:

a.bepartiallyinphase,withtheinterferencebeingpartially
constructive.

b.bepartiallyoutofphase,partiallydestructive.

Inavacuumlighttravelsat3x1010cm/sec(3x1017nm/sec)
Whenlighttravelsthroughanyothermediumitissloweddown,tomaintainconstantfrequency

thewavelengthoflightinthenewmediummustalsochanged.
 REFLECTIONANDREFRACTION
Attheinterfacebetweenthetwomaterials,e.g.airandwater,light
maybereflectedattheinterfaceorrefracted(bent)intothenew
medium.

Reflectiontheangleofincidence=angleofreflection.

Refractionthelightisbentwhenpassingfromone
materialtoanother,atanangleotherthanperpendicular.

Ameasureofhoweffectiveamaterialisinbendinglightiscalledthe
IndexofRefraction(n),where:

IndexofRefractioninVacuum=1andforallothermaterialsn>1.0

Mostmineralshavenvaluesintherange1.4to2.0.

AhighRefractiveIndexindicatesalowvelocityforlighttravelling
throughthatparticularmedium.

 Snell'sLaw:

Snell'slawcanbeusedtocalculatehowmuchthelightwillbendon
travellingintothenewmedium.

Iftheinterfacebetweenthetwomaterialsrepresentstheboundary
between
air(n~1)andwater(n=1.33)andifangleofincidence=45,using
Snell's
Lawtheangleofrefraction=32.

Theequationholdswhetherlighttravelsfromairtowater,orwaterto
air.

Ingeneral,thelightisrefractedtowardsthenormaltotheboundaryon
enteringthematerialwithahigherrefractiveindexandisrefractedaway

fromthenormalonenteringthematerialwithlowerrefractiveindex.