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Fresnel's Equations For Reflection and Transmission: Incident, Transmitted, and Reflected Beams
Fresnel's Equations For Reflection and Transmission: Incident, Transmitted, and Reflected Beams
Reflection and
transmission
coefficients
Brewster's Angle
Power reflectance
and transmittance Augustin Fresnel
1788-1827
Posing the problem
What happens when light, propagating in a
uniform medium, encounters a smooth interface
which is the boundary of another medium (with a
different refractive index)?
k-vector of the
incident light
nincident boundary First we need to
ntransmitted define some
terminology.
Definitions: Plane of Incidence and
plane of the interface
reflecting medium
reflected light
In other words,
The component of ki kr
the E-field that lies in Er
the xz plane is Ei ni
continuous as you Bi i r Br
move across the
plane of the interface. Interface
Here, all E-fields are t
Et nt
in the z-direction,
which is in the plane Bt kt
of the interface.
*It's really the tangential B/, but we're using i t 0
Reflection and Transmission for
Perpendicularly Polarized Light
Ignoring the rapidly varying parts of the light wave and keeping
only the complex amplitudes:
E0i E0 r E0t
B0i cos(i ) B0 r cos( r ) B0t cos(t )
Reflection coefficient, r
for both polarizations.
Brewster’s angle
.5
Zero reflection for parallel r||=0! r||
polarization at:
“Brewster's angle”
0
The value of this angle
depends on the value of
the ratio ni/nt:
Brewster = tan-1(nt/ni) -.5 r┴
Reflection coefficient, r
Total internal reflection
above the "critical angle" .5 r┴
Total internal
reflection
crit sin-1(nt /ni) 0
41.8° for glass-to-air
Brewster’s
angle
(The sine in Snell's Law -.5
can't be greater than one!) Critical r||
angle
-1.0
0° 30° 60° 90°
Incidence angle, i
The obligatory java applet.
http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/docs_applets/Doc_PolarEn.html
Reflectance (R) c
I n 0 0 E0
2
2
I r Ar
R Reflected Power / Incident Power A = Area
I i Ai
wi i r
ni wi
nt
2
E0 r
So: R r2 since 2
r2
E0i
c
I n 0 0 E0
2
Transmittance (T) 2
I t At
T Transmitted Power / Incident Power A = Area
I i Ai
i
If the beam wi
ni At wt cos(t )
has width wi:
nt
wt Ai wi cos(i )
t
0 c0 2
I t At nt E0t
wt
2 2
2 n E wt nt wt 2 E0t
T t 0t
t since t2
I i Ai 0 c0 2
2
wi ni E0i wi ni wi E0i
2
i
n 0i
E
2
nt cos t 2
T t
ni cos i
Reflectance and Transmittance for an
Air-to-Glass Interface
R R
0 0
0° 30° 60° 90° 0° 30° 60° 90°
Incidence angle, i Incidence angle, i
R R
0 0
0° 30° 60° 90° 0° 30° 60° 90°
Incidence angle, i Incidence angle, i
Note that the critical angle is the same for both polarizations.
And still, R+T =1
Reflection at normal incidence, i = 0
2
When i = 0, the Fresnel nt ni 4 nt ni
equations reduce to: R T
nt ni nt ni
2
R = 4% and T = 96%
“lens flare”
Where you’ve seen Fresnel’s Equations in action
Windows look like mirrors at night
(when you’re in a brightly lit room).
0% reflection!