BSc Physics 2

PHY 264 OPTICS

2023 ACADEMIC YEAR
SEMESTER TWO
 INTRODUCTION
Optics deals with the phenomena associated with light.
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behaviour
and properties of light, including its interactions with matter
and the construction of instruments that use or detect it.

The branch of physics that deals with light and vision, chiefly
the generation, propagation, and detection of
electromagnetic radiation.

The word optics comes from the ancient Greek word ὀπτική,
meaning "appearance”, or “look”
 Course objectives
This course provides an introduction and in-depth
examination to wave models of optical propagation.

Considers properties and behavior of light in conditions when

the wave nature of light becomes dominant.

Optical instrumentation and optical devices are all around us

and they determine many aspects of our daily life.
– What is light and how does it interact with matter?
– What are the basic properties that define electromagnetic
waves and affect their propagation?
 RESOURCES
1. Web pages
There are many useful web pages on the internet, although these should
be treated with some caution! One relatively safe source is
HyperPhysics.
2. Texts
Optics is either very simple, or very, very complicated. As a consequence
of this it is hard to find entirely suitable text books. Many optics texts
concentrate on the “very, very complicated” bits, and pass over the “very
simple” bits in a few pages. For this reason you may find more
appropriate treatments in single-volume physics texts.
1. Fundamentals of Optics. Jenkins and White.
2. Geometrical Optics and waves. R.S. Longhurst. John Wiley and Sons.
3. Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics. 9 TH Ed.
Raymond A. Serway and John W. Jewett, Jr
4. Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker.
 APPLICATIONS IN OPTICS

Scientific
Medicine, Biotechnology, Surgery,
Ophthalmology and Optometry
Telecommunication
Metrology/Industrial
Astronomy
Photography
DETAILED SCHEDULES
 1. REVIEW OF OPTICS

I. Introduction And Elementary Theories

Nature of light - Rays, Waves and particles

II. Historical development (refinement) of the

nature of light/correspondence principles

III. Scales of treatment of optical phenomena

2. OPTICAL PHENOMENA BY DIVISION OF
THE WAVEFRONT
Interference of light
Interference effects
Huygens Principle,
The Young’s double slit experiment. Applications in
Interferometer.
Fresnel biprism and other apparatus depending on
division of the wave front.
Phase change upon reflection
Theory of coherence; complete coherence, partial
coherence and incomplete coherence. Fringe contrast
(visibility).
3. OPTICAL PHENOMENA BY DIVISION OF
AMPLITUDE

Michelson interferometer Circular fringes localized

fringes. Index of refraction by an interference
method. Interference involving multiple reflections:

Reflection from a plane-parallel film; the wedge

film, Newton's rings, Applications, measurement of
film thickness Nonreflecting films, sharpness of
fringe. Fabry-Perot interferometer, Chromatic-
resolving power.
Study of Hyperfine structure and of line shape.
Interference filters. Fresnel and Franhofer Diffraction
by the single slit (elementary consideration). The
Fresnel Kirchhoff Integral and its application in the
various apertures.

Chromatic resolving power of a microscope. The

double slit, derivation of the equation for the intensity.
Distinction between interference and diffraction.
Maxima and Minima. Missing orders. The diffraction
grating, Intensity distribution from an ideal grating.
Formation of spectra by a grating. Overlapping
orders. Resolving power of the grating.
Polarization. Representation of the vibrations in light.
Methods of polarization
• selective absorption
• reflection
• double refraction
• scattering
Polarizing angle and Brewster law.
Polarization by a pile of plates.
Polarization by dichroic crystals.
Polarization by double refraction, optic axis.
The Nicol Prism.
Interference of polarized light, quarter and half-wave
plates.
 Review of Physical Optics

Introduction and Elementary Theory

Light Rays?
Waves?
Particles?
In the late 1600s, important questions were
raised, asking if light is made up of particles, or is
it waves .?
 Epochs in the development of optics
Ancient Greeks (~5-3 century BC)
– Pythagoras (rays emerge from the eyes)
– Democritus (bodies emit “magic” substance, simulacra)
– Plato (combination of both of the above)
– Aristotle (motion transfer between object & eye)
Middle Ages (Mediaeval)
– Alkindi, Alhazen defeat emission hypothesis (~9-10 century AD)
– Lens is invented by accident (northern Italy, ~12th century AD)
– Della Porta, da Vinci, Descartes, Gallileo, Kepler formulate geometrical optics, explain lens
behavior, construct optical instruments (~15th century AD)
Beyond the middle ages:
– Newton (1642-1726) and Huygens (1629-1695) fight over nature of light18th–19th centuries
– Fresnel, Young experimentally observe diffraction, defeat Newton’s particle theory
– Maxwell formulates electro-magnetic equations, Hertz verifies antenna emission principle
(1899)
20th century
– Quantum theory explains wave-particle duality
– Invention of holography (1948)
– Invention of laser (1956)
– Optical applications proliferate
• computing, communications, fundamental science, medicine, manufacturing, entertainment
Theory of propagation of light energy:

Energy can be transferred from one point to

another in two different ways.

(1) Through a particle

(2) Through a wave (i.e. vibration of

particles in the medium)
 The NATURE of LIGHT
NEWTON vs HUYGHENS
(PARTICLE THEORY vs WAVE THEORY)
The history of Optics is made interesting by the
frequent swings of physicists' viewpoints about
whether light is of a wave nature or of a particle
nature. The investigations about the nature of
light have made significant contributions to the
development of an altogether different branch of
physics known as quantum physics, one of the
crowning achievements of the physicists of the
20th century.
 Acceptability of Theories
The rule was that any new theory becomes
welcome when it is able to explain existing
observations or experiments.

Theories become inadequate when they fail to

explain new experiments or observations. In such
circumstance the theories are either reformed to
meet current observations, otherwise they are
jettisoned. (Unexplained phenomena)

A new theory must be able to explain both the old

and new observations/experiments
NEWTON CORPUSCULAR THEORY
Propositions
Light energy propagates from one point to
another in the form of particle.

From the source of light very small tiny

particles are emitted in all directions which
travel with a tremendous speed of 3 x 10E8
m/sec in straight lines and when these
corpuscles strike the retina of eye we feel
the sensation of light.
Newton attributed different colors to the
different size of the corpuscles.

With the help of corpuscular theory Newton

could explain both the phenomenon of
reflection and refraction.
Newton’s 2nd law (refraction being explained by
forces acting on boundaries between different
media).

The dependence of refraction on colour was

explained by assuming the force acting at
interfaces depends on colour.
 Unexplained phenomena (weakness)

1. Interference
2. Diffraction

Newton’s corpuscular theory could not explain

these phenomena.

Due to this failures Newton’s corpuscular theory

was discarded (shelved).

But remember jettisoning may be temporal

 The new
Huygens's wave theory of light

Huygens put forward his wave theory according

to which light energy propagated in the form of
wave.

With the help of wave theory he could

successfully explain the phenomenon of
reflection and refraction, interference and
diffraction.
Waves travel more slowly in a medium than in air –
refraction. Causing the direction of propagation of the
wave to change.
 Unexplained phenomena (weakness)
But light was known to travel through vacuum
& the definition of wave requires a material
medium for its propagation?
That time they were conversant with mechanical waves like sound wave.

Way out
Hence Huygens had to assume the existence of
an all pervading hypothetical medium known as
luminiferous ether.
 Luminiferous ether as the savior !!!!

But all elaborate experiments disproved the existence

of the ether.

The Michelson and Morley

Michelson and Morley tried to detect ether medium
but experimental result was negative. With this result
the wave theory of light became a doubtful
proposition. (But hey !!! Conditions weren’t that
permanent )
 Unexplained phenomena (weakness)
Was light longitudinal or transverse

The question was raised about the nature of light

wave, whether it is longitudinal or transverse.

Since the phenomenon of reflection, refraction,

interference and diffraction all could be
explained by longitudinal as well as transverse
nature of wave hence Huygens could not arrive
at any conclusion.
Way out

Then phenomenon of polarization was

discovered and Fresnel showed that polarization
could only be explained by transverse nature of
wave and not by longitudinal nature.

Hence it was concluded that light is a transverse

wave
Maxwell

Maxwell in England was doing experiment on

electromagnetic induction and there he found a
new type of energy propagation which travel
through the vibration of electromagnetic field
vectors at right angle to each other.
This new wave was known as electromagnetic
wave. Maxwell said that since light is travel
through vacuum with a speed 3 x 10E8 m/s

Conclusion:
Thus light is an electromagnetic wave and
which can travel through vacuum and is
transverse in nature
 The Union

Wave- particle duality

Optics has different realms in which light can have
different models and therefore subject to different
methods of theoretical treatment.
Field of Scale Model
Treatment
Geometrical Macroscopic Consists of fast moving
particles (corpuscles) which
travel in straight lines called
rays
Physical Microscopic Deals with the nature of light
and here light is reckoned as a
wave (Electromagnetic wave)
Quantum Atomic A collection of chunks of
energy called photons
Which particular model is used depends roughly upon
the dimensions of the object with which light is
interacting; it depends upon the actual physical
situation. These divisions are only for convenience of
analysis. In the actual physical situation, a lot of
phenomena are going on at the same time, both on a
microscopic and a macroscopic level. We just choose
the model which helps us to describe the situation
well for us.