Polarization

Polarization is a property of waves that can

oscillate with more than one orientation.

Electromagnetic waves such as light exhibit

polarization, as do some other types of wave,
such as gravitational waves.

Sound waves in a gas or liquid do not exhibit

polarization, since the oscillation is always in
the direction the wave travels.
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave
Electromagnetic Wave
Light is an electromagnetic wave.
It consists of vibrations of electric field
and magnetic field.
The electric field and magnetic field are
perpendicular to each other and in phase.
EM wave is a transverse wave.
The speed of EM wave is 3 x 108 ms-1.
Electric Field Vector
Polarized Light
Polarized Light: Vibrations lie on one single
plane only.
Unpolarized Light: Superposition of many
beams, in the same direction of propagation, but
each with random polarization.

E E

Polarized Unpolarized
Methods of Polarizing Light
It is possible to transform unpolarized light into polarized
light. Polarized light waves are light waves in which the
vibrations occur in a single plane. The process of
transforming unpolarized light into polarized light is
known as polarization. There are a variety of methods of
polarizing light. The four methods discussed on this page
are:

Polarization by Transmission
Polarization by Reflection
Polarization by Refraction
Polarization by Scattering
Polarization by Polarization by
Transmission Reflection
Polarization by Refraction

Polarization by Scattering
When light strikes the atoms of a material, it will often set the
electrons of those atoms into vibration. The vibrating electrons
then produce their own electromagnetic wave that is radiated
outward in all directions. These vibrating electrons produce
another electromagnetic wave. This scattered light is partially
polarized.
Polarizing Material
A Polarizing material will only allow the passage of that
component of the electric field parallel to the polarization
direction of the material
I = I0 cos2q
Polarization In Everyday Situations

This photograph should be compared with the one above.

In this photo, the reflected glare that was seen on the
water's surface (previous photo) has been removed by the
use of a Polaroid filter. It is much easier to see the sidewalk
below the water surface.
This photograph should be compared with the one above.
The reflected glare seen on the glass panels of the lab
cabinet has been removed by the use of a Polaroid filter. It
is much easier to see what is present inside of the lab
cabinets. This set of two photos provides another example
of how a Polaroid filter can block the annoying glare that
is caused when light becomes polarized upon reflection.
Action of Polaroid Sunglass
Light reflected from surfaces like a flat road or smooth
water is generally horizontally polarized. This horizontally
polarized light is blocked by the vertically oriented
polarizers in the lenses.
Vertically Polarized Light
from Objects

Unwanted glares are

usually horizontally
polarized light
Stress Analysis
Polarized light is often used in the stress analysis of molded plastics.
Polarized light passing through molded plastics will reveal stress
marks and stress patterns that would not otherwise be apparent to
the naked eye. The plane of polarization of polarized light is rotated
by these molded plastics at any location where the plastic is stressed.
The amount of rotation depends upon the wavelength of light. White
light consists of various wavelengths, each associated with a distinct
color. Using a Polaroid filter and rotating it will reveal stress patterns
in various colors at various angles of rotation.
Polarization in 3D Movies
Polarization is often implemented in the
production and viewing of 3D films. When
watching a 3D movie, there are actually
two images being projected onto the
screen at once. The two images were
filmed with two separate cameras from
two slightly offset locations. These two
images are projected onto the screen
through Polaroid filters. The molecules of
one of the filters is aligned vertically, the
other is aligned horizontally. The audience
is given 3D glasses that have one lens
aligned horizontally and the other aligned
vertically. Thus, one eye sees one image
and the other eye sees the other image.
The brain receives both signals and
perceives depth on a flat screen.
Seven-Segment LCD
Aerial

In a vertical transmitting Maximum electron oscillation

aerial, vertical electron in the receiving aerial is
oscillation results in a achieved when the aerial is
vertical polarized radio aligned to be parallel to the
wave.
wave’s electric field.
The sky is blue because . . .
• The tiny particles in the atmosphere (dust, clumps of air
molecules, microscopic water droplets) are better at
scattering shorter wavelength blue light than the longer
wavelength red light.
• As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the
scattered blue light give the atmosphere an overall blue
glow.
The sunset is red because . . .
• At sunrise and sunset, sunlight enters our atmosphere at
a shallow angle and travels a long distance before
reaching our eyes.
• During this long passage, most of the blue light is
scattered away and virtually all that we see coming to us
from the sun is its red and orange wavelengths.
 Reference Links
• http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/lightandcolor/polarizat
ion.html
• http://dpfwiw.com/polarizer.htm#unwanted
• Blue Skies and Red Sunsets
http://science.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=qu
estion39.htm&url=http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/p
hys/Class/light/u12l2f.html
• Easy fun page with Applets, on polarizing filters
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/polarization/polari
zationI.html
• Polarization short course
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/light/u1
2l1e.html
 Polarization of Light

Introduction
Light, viewed classically, is a transverse electromagnetic wave. Namely, the underlying os-
cillation (in this case oscillating electric and magnetic fields) is along directions perpendicular
to the direction of propagation. This is in contrast to longitudinal waves, such as sound waves,
in which the oscillation is confined to the direction of propagation. Light is said to be linearly
polarized if its oscillation is confined to one direction (the direction of the oscillation of the
electric field is defined as the direction of polarization). Most light sources in nature emit unpo-
larized light i.e., light consists of many wave trains whose directions of oscillation are completely
random.
Light may be polarized by passing it through a sheet of commercial material called Polaroid,
invented by E.H. Land in 1938. A sheet of Polaroid transmits only the component of light
polarized along a particular direction and absorbs the component perpendicular to that direction.
Consider a light beam in the z direction incident on a Polaroid which has its transmission
axis in the y direction. On the average, half of the incident light has its polarization axis in the y
direction and half in the x direction. Thus half the intensity is transmitted, and the transmitted
light is linearly polarized in the y direction.

Malus’ law
Suppose we have a second piece of Polaroid whose transmission axis makes an angle θ with
that of the first one. The E vector of the light between the Polaroids can be resolved into two
components, one parallel and one perpendicular to the transmission axis of the second Polaroid
(see Figure 1). If we call the direction of transmission of the second Polaroid y 0 ,

Ex0 = E sin θ and Ey0 = E cos θ

Only the second, y 0 component is transmitted by the second Polaroid.

The intensity of light is proportional to the square of the electric field amplitude. Thus the
intensity transmitted by both Polaroids can be expressed as:

I (θ) ∼
= Ey20 = E 2 cos2 θ

If I0 ∼
= E 2 is the intensity between the two Polaroids, the intensity transmitted by both of them
would be:
I (θ) = I0 cos2 θ (1)

This equation is known as Malus Law after its discoverer, E.L. Malus (1775-1812). It applies
to any two polarizing elements whose transmission directions make an angle θ with each other.
When two polarizing elements are placed in succession in a beam of light as described here, the

1
first is called polarizer and the second is called analyzer. As you will see, no light reaches the
photocell when the polarizer and analyzer are crossed (θ = 90◦ ).

ht

Figure 1: Two Polaroids whose transmission directions make an angle θ with each other.

Theory for three polarizers

Unpolarized light passes through 3 polarizers (see Figure 2):

Figure 2: The electric field transmitted through three polarizers.

The first and last polarizers are oriented at 90◦ with respect to each other. The second
polarizer has its polarization axis rotated an angle φ from the first polarizer. Therefore, the
third polarizer is rotated an angle π2 − φ from the second polarizer. The intensity after passing
through the first polarizer is I1 and the intensity after passing through the second polarizer, I2 ,
is given by:
I2 = I1 cos2 φ

2
The intensity after the third polarizer, I3 , is given by:
π  π 
I3 = I2 cos2 − φ = I1 cos2 φ cos2 −φ (2)
2 2
Rearranging Equation 2, we obtain:

I1
I3 = sin2 (2φ) (3)
4
Because the data acquisition begins when the transmitted intensity through Polarizer 3 is a
maximum, the angle Θ measured in the experiment is zero when the second polarizer is 45◦
from the angle φ. Thus the angle φ is related to the measured angle Θ by:

φ = 45◦ + Θ (4)

Reflectance/Brewster’s Angle
Consider unpolarized light incident on a surface separating air and glass or air and water.
Define the plane of incidence, containing the incident, reflected and refracted rays as well as the
normal to the surface.
When light is reflected from a flat surface, the reflected light is partially polarized. This
is due to the fact that the reflectance of light R = (Reflected Intensity)/(Incident Intensity)
depends on the polarization itself. The degree of polarization depends on the angle of incidence
and the indices of refraction of the two media.
For reflection at an air-glass interface (indices of refraction n1 for air and n2 for glass), Fresnel
equations give the reflection coefficients rk , r⊥ :

n1 cos θ1 − n2 cos θ2
r⊥ = (5a)
n1 cos θ1 + n2 cos θ2
n1 cos θ2 − n2 cos θ1
rk = (5b)
n1 cos θ2 + n2 cos θ1

where θ1 is the angle of incidence, and θ2 is the angle of refraction.

Above rk and r⊥ refer to the reflection coefficients for polarized light whose direction of
polarization lie in the plane of incidence and perpendicular to the plane of incidence, respectively.
Reflectance R (parallel or perpendicular) is defined as the square of the corresponding re-
flection coefficient: Rk = rk2 , R⊥ = r⊥
2

Note that θ2 is not measured in this experiment and must be inferred from Snells law of
refraction:
sin θ2 n1
= (6)
sin θ1 n2
Figure 3 shows initially unpolarized light incident at the polarizing angle θp , for which the
reflected light is completely polarized with its electric field vector perpendicular to the plane of
incidence. The electric field vector E of the incident wave can be resolved into two components:
parallel to the plane of incidence and perpendicular to the plane of incidence.
Note that Rk = 0 when n1 cos θ1 = n2 cos θ2 , which leads to the definition of the Brewster

3
angle (or polarizing angle):
n2
tan θp = (7)
n1
Here θp is the angle of incidence of unpolarized light which makes the reflected light completely
polarized in the perpendicular direction to the plane of incidence (Sir David Brewster, 1812).
When the angle of incidence of the initially unpolarized light is θp , the reflected and refracted
rays are perpendicular to each other.

Figure 3: Unpolarized light incident at the polarizing angle.

Note: If the incident light has no component of E perpendicular to the plane of incidence,
there is no reflected light.

Apparatus, Experiment and Procedure

Malus’ Law: Apparatus Notes
Be careful not to leave your fingerprints on optical surfaces.
- Rotate the aperture disk so the translucent mask covers the opening to the light sensor.
- Verify that the Rotary motion sensor is mounted on the polarizer bracket and connected to
the polarizer pulley with the plastic belt.
- Place all the components on the Malus Law Optics Track in the order shown in Fig. 4. Space
components apart along the optics track (largest distance should be between the detector and
the polarizer).

4
 Figure 4: Experiment Components.

To open up the software necessary for this part of the experiment, click on the desktop
shortcut Polarization of Light. Click on the little arrow located in the upper left corner of the
screen to start the acquisition. The program is self-explanatory.

Exercise 1: Two Polarizers, verify Malus’ law

In the first two procedure steps, polarizers are aligned to allow the maximum amount of light
through. Since the laser electromagnetic wave is already polarized, the first polarizer must be
aligned with the polarization axis of light.
- Remove the holder with the polarizer and Rotary motion sensor from the track. Slide all the
other components on the track close together and dim the room lights. Click ON/OFF and
rotate the polarizer that does not have the Rotary motion sensor until the light intensity on
the graph is at its maximum, but keep in mind that the detector should NOT be saturated. An
intensity level of ≈ 3.5-4 V is acceptable.
- To allow the maximum intensity of light through both polarizers, bring back the holder with
the polarizer and Rotary motion sensor on the track, and rotate the polarizer until light intensity
on the graph is maximum (take the same precaution as before). Before you begin a new scan,
you may clear previous data. Note: If the maximum exceeds 4.5 V, decrease the gain on the light
sensor. If the maximum is less than 0.5 V, increase it.
- To scan the light intensity versus angle press ON/OFF and rotate the polarizer which has the
Rotary motion sensor through 180 degrees. Rotation should be constant. Do not rotate back!
Acquisition stops by itself at the end of 180 degrees. Practise until you get the best (smooth)
recording of Intensity of light vs. angle.

Analysis

Students not from PHY224/324: Export data, analyze dependencies: Intensity vs. cos θ,
and Intensity vs. cos2 θ
⇒ PHY224/324 students: Python Requirement 1: write a fitting program for Intensity vs.

5
cos2 θ. You have to include experimental errors for both light intensity and angle readings. The
data set includes about 300 values (Intensity, θ). Compare with Malus Law prediction, Eq. 1.

Exercise 2: Three Polarizers

Repeat the experiment with 3 polarizers (see setup in Figure 5). Remove the rotary motion
sensor from the track, insert Polarizer 1 and rotate it until the transmitted light is a maximum.
Insert Polarizer 2 and rotate it until the transmitted light is a minimum.
Place the rotary motion sensor between the two polarizers and collect data through 360o . Try
the qualitative fitter from the LabView application.

Figure 5: Experiment components for the three polarizer part of the experiment.

Select your data from 2 polarizers and from 3 polarizers. What two things are different for
the Intensity vs. Angle graph for 3 polarizers compared to 2 polarizers?
Export data and find the best fit matching Equation (3). Include experimental errors.
⇒ Python Requirement 2 (PHY224/324 students only): write a fitting program using your
data and the intensity function from Equation 3.

Questions

- For 3 polarizers, what is the angle between the middle polarizer and the first polarizer to get
the maximum transmission through all 3 polarizers? Remember: in the experiment, the angle
of the middle polarizer automatically reads zero when you start taking data but that doesn’t
mean the middle polarizer is aligned with the first polarizer
- For 3 polarizers, what is the angle between the middle polarizer and the first polarizer to get
the minimum transmission through all 3 polarizers?

Brewster’s Angle: Apparatus Notes

Light from a diode laser is reflected off the flat side of an acrylic semi-circular lens. The
reflected light passes through a square polarizer and is detected by a light sensor. The angle of
reflection is measured by a rotary motion sensor mounted on the spectrophotometer table. The
intensity of the reflected polarized light versus reflected angle is graphed to determine the angle

6
at which the light intensity is a minimum. This is Brewster’s Angle, which is used to calculate
the index of refraction of acrylic (Eq. 7).
You will use this apparatus to measure the intensity of parallel and perpendicular polarization
components of refrected light at a range of incident angles. The preliminary setup include:
- Move the diode laser to the optics bench marked Brewsters angle,
- Attach 2 polarizers to the same holder, and place the collimating slits on the track as shown in
Figure 6. Make sure the rotary motion sensor is mounted on the spectrophotometer table with
the bigger diameter of spindle against the table (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Complete setup for Exercise 3. Note that the computer interface is different in your
experiment.

- Open the LabView application, Brewsters Angle tab.

- Remove the analyzing (square) polarizer and the D-lens and rotate the sensor arm to 180o ,
in-line with the light source.
- Use the x − y adjustment screws on the back of the laser diode to align the beam onto the
light sensor.
- Rotate polarizer 1 until a maximum sigal is measured by the light sensor (without saturating
it).
- Replace the D-lens and the square polarizer.
- Rotate the second polarizer (second from laser diode) to 225o and lock it in place by tightening
the brass screw. (In reality, this is a 45 degree polarizer, used to solve the problem that the laser
light is already polarized). The first polarizer (closest to the laser diode) is used throughout the
experiment to adjust the light level.
- The square analyzing polarizer (see Figure 7) has its transmission axis marked, and will be
used to select the horizontal or vertical polarization component of the reflected light.

7
 Figure 7: The analyzing segment of the setup.

Note about reflection angle measurements: The angle is calculated by dividing the actual angle
(recorded by the computer) by two, with a correction with respect to the spindle diameter. The
markings on Brewster’s disk are there only for convenience (in this experiment) and are not
used directly. To get the laser beam exactly on to the slit, you must make fine adjustments while
watching the digits display on computer for the maximum light intensity. You can adjust either
the Brewsters disk or the spectrophotometer arm until the intensity is maximized.

Exercise 3: Polarization by Reflection and Brewster’s angle

Dim the room lights. With the Brewsters Angle application open and the unobstructed
opening on the light sensor, rotate the D-lens (together with the Brewsters disk) so that the
incident and reflected beams make an angle of ≈ 120o . Start the acquisition and, while watching
the digits display of light intensity, rotate the spectrophotometer arm to get the beam onto the
light sensor. Rotate the first polarizer (nearest to the laser) to adjust the intensity level to be
as high as possible. The light sensor should be on gain of 1 or 10. This will set up the starting
point of the rotational motion sensor.
Start the acquisition without the square polarizer: slowly rotate the spectrophotometer arm
clockwise, while at the same time rotating the Brewster’s disk to keep the reflected beam
aligned with the opening at the Light Sensor. Use the cursors to read the intensity (I0 ) and
angle values of graph maxima.
Place the square analyzing polarizer (axis horizontal) on the spectrophotometer arm as in
Fig. 7. Do an acquisition with horizontal axis polarizer using the same procedure as before.
Read intensity (I) and angle values of graph maxima. Repeat with vertical axis polarizer.

Analysis

- Plot Ik and I⊥ versus angle. Include uncertainties in reading intensity and angle. Determine
the Brewsters angle.

8
- Use Brewster’s angle to calculate the index of refraction of acrylic using Equation 7. Use
n1 = 1.
- Calculate the parallel and perpendicular reflectances using Fresnel equations (5a and 5b).
⇒ Python Requirement 3 (PHY224/324 students only): do the three analysis steps above by
writing a program to fit the data and to output Brewsters angle, index of refraction of acrylic
and the two reflectances from (5a) and (5b).

Questions

1. Would Brewster’s angle be more or less for light in air reflecting off water?

2. How would data look like for an arrangement with vertical square polarizer?

3. How do polarized sunglasses reduce glare? Which direction is the axis of polarization in a
pair of polarized sunglasses? How could you check this?

References
1. Halliday/Resnick/Walker Fundamentals of Physics, Chapter 33, 7th ed. Wiley 2005

2. PASCO EX9917A and EX9919 guide sheets (written by Ann Hanks)

Revised by Ruxandra Serbanescu in 2017 with notes from Kyle Manchee. The acquisition
DAQ board was built and programmed by Larry Avramidis.

9
Lecture 18:
Polarisation of light, introduction

Lecture aims to explain:

1. Light as a transverse electro-magnetic wave

2. Importance of polarisation of light

3. Linearly polarised light

4. Natural light

5. Linear polarisers and Malus’ law

Light as a transverse wave
Light as a transverse electro-magnetic wave
E and B- fields are orthogonal
x
The wave propagates in the
direction ExB

Oscillating electric field of the wave:


E ( z, t ) = iˆE0 x sin (kz − ωt ) + ˆjE0 y sin (kz − ωt + ε )
Polarisation state of light
x
The polarization of light is described by
specifying the orientation of the electric
field at a point in space over one period
of the oscillation
y
Practical approach: (i) neglect the spatial term,
(ii) consider time evolution of projections of the
z
electric field on two orthogonal axis

E x (t ) = iˆE0 x sin (ωt )
y
E
Ey

E y (t ) = ˆjE0 y sin (ωt + ε )
Ex x
The shape traced out in a fixed plane by
the electric field vector is a description of
the polarization state
Importance of polarisation of light
Examples in everyday life and nature

Light reflected from dielectrics is partially or fully linearly polarised

Polarisation by scattering occurs as light passes through

atmosphere

Many natural crystalline materials exhibit birefringence,

dependence of the refractive index on the direction of light
propagation in the crystal, leading to interesting polarisation effects

Atoms, molecules, semiconductor nanostructures emit polarised

light, effects particularly pronounced when magnetic field is applied

Some animals (insects, octopuses etc) are capable of detecting

polarised light, possibly used for communication
Polarisation in applications

Communication and detection systems: fibre

optics (waveguides), fast light modulators, lasers,
radars, satellite communication

Liquid crystal display technology

Optical microscopy: medicine, biology, geology,

physics, chemistry

Optical spectroscopy: physics, chemistry,

medicine, biology, geology

Material science

Photography, sunglasses, 3D movies

Linearly polarised light
Linearly polarised light
Light is called linearly polarised if the
plane of E-field oscillation is fixed
y
Both Ex and Ey components oscillate
with a phase difference ε=πm
Ey
Ex
E x (t ) = E x 0 sin (ωt ) Ex x

E y (t ) = E y 0 sin (ωt + πm ) Ey

“The shape traced out in a fixed plane by

the electric field vector is a description of
the polarization state”
Natural light
Natural light
Light sources consist of a very large number of
randomly oriented atomic emitters which emit
polarised light randomly every 0.1-1 ns

This results in a very quick change of polarisation and

an undefined polarisation state of light

Natural light can be represented by two independent (with

random relative phase i.e. incoherent) orthogonally linearly
polarised waves of the same amplitude

E x (t ) = E0 sin (ωt ) E y (t ) = E0 sin (ωt + ε )

In this case the intensity measured by the detector is A=E02. Each

linearly polarised component contributes E02/2 of the total irradiance
(see Lecture 9 for detailed calculations)
Linear polarisers and Malus’ law
Linear polarisers
Device whose input is light of any polarisation state
and output is linearly polarised light

Underlying property of the polariser material is anisotropy

associated with transmission of light having different linear
polarisation
Physical mechanisms: (i) dichroism, or selective absorption; (ii)
reflection; (iii) scattering

After the linear polariser, light will be

linearly polarised parallel to the
transmission axis of the polariser
Malus’ Law

Describes transmission of linearly Transmission

polarised light through a linear polariser axis
Etransmitted
The transmitted intensity after an ideal
linear polariser is described as θ
I (θ ) = I (0) cos θ 2
Erejected
Here θ - angle between the plane of light
polarisation and transmission axis

Etienne-Louis Malus (1775-1812) was a French officer, engineer,

physicist, and mathematician. His discovery of the polarization of light
by reflection was published in 1809 and his theory of double refraction
of light in crystals, in 1810.
EXAMPLE 18.1

Unpolarised light of intensity Io is incident on an ideal linear polariser

(no absorption). What is the transmitted intensity.

EXAMPLE 18.2

Four ideal linear polarisers are placed in a row with the polarising axes
vertical, 200 to vertical, 550 to vertical and 900 to vertical. Natural light of
intensity I0 is incident on the first polariser.

(a) Calculate the intensity of light emerging from the last polariser.
(b) Is it possible to reduce the intensity of transmitted light (whilst
maintaining some light transmission) by removing one of the
polarisers?
(c) Is it possible to reduce the intensity of transmitted light to zero by
removing a polariser(s)?
Summary
Light is a transverse electromagnetic wave

Linearly polarised light: Ex and Ey components oscillate with a

phase difference ε=πm
Natural light can be represented by two independent orthogonally
linearly polarised waves of the same amplitude

Malus law: the transmitted intensity after an ideal linear polariser is

described as
I (θ ) = I (0) cos θ
2

θ - angle between the plane of light polarisation and transmission axis

See Hecht pp 325-333