TN 2421 Optica Version: April 1, 2021

Tutorial 7
Thursday 1st April 2021

Exercise 1: Michelson Interferometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A Michelson Interferometer is illuminated with monochromatic light. One of its mirrors is
then moved 2.53 ⇥10 5 m, and it is observed that 92 fringe-pairs, bright and dark, pass by
the screen during the process. Determine the wavelength of the incident beam.

Solution:
Each time the interference pattern has gone from bright to dark and back to bright again,
the path length di↵erence has changed by one wavelength . Since there are 92 such
transitions over a distance of 2⇥2.53⇥10 5 m (the factor 2 is because the light has to
travel back and forth), this means that

2.53 ⇥ 10 5
7
=2⇥ = 5.5 ⇥ 10 m. (130)
92

Exercise 2: Two Sources Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Two mutually coherent sources, S1 and S2 are emitting radio waves with a wavelength of
3 m. The two sources are in phase, and they are separated by 3 m. An observer is walking
on a line perpendicular to S1 S2 starting at S1 . How far should he walk to encounter a
minimum of irradiance?

S1 S2

Observer

Figure 16

Solution:
Let’s call d the distance between S1 and S2 , the wavelength, and x the distance we are
looking for. For a minimum irradiance, the path length di↵erence must be /2, so we have
to solve p
d2 + x2 x = /2. (131)
This equation is solved by
d2
x= . (132)
4
For d = 3 m, = 3 m, we get x = 2 14 m.

Exercise 3: Reflection coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A thin planar film with an index of refraction of n2 = 1.5 is immersed in air with n1 = 1.
A plane wave with a wavelength of = 565.69 nm hits the film at an angle of incidence

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TN 2421 Optica Version: April 1, 2021

of ✓1 = 30 (with respect to the surface normal). Some of the light will reflect directly at
the air-glass interface, and some of the light will pass through the film once before being
reflected. The light that is reflected internally in the glass multiple times is neglected in
this exercise.

Figure 17: Thin film reflectance (from Wikipedia).

(a) What is the smallest film thickness d for which we get a maximum reflectance of
the film? Remember that the light that is reflected directly at the air-glass interface
undergoes a phase shift of ⇡.
Solution:

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TN 2421 Optica Version: April 1, 2021

To get a maximum reflectance, the light that is reflected at the back of the thin film
should be in phase with the directly reflected light. The light that enters the film will
refract according to Snell’s law

n1 sin ✓1 = n2 sin ✓2 . (133)

Inside the glass, this light will travel a distance

2d
D2 = . (134)
cos ✓2
The light that is reflected directly at the air-glass interface travels a distance

D1 = 2d tan ✓2 sin ✓1 (135)

before it catches up with the light that went through the glass. The phase di↵erence
between the light that is reflected directly and the light that went through the glass
is
2⇡
'= (n2 D2 n1 D1 ) ⇡
✓ ◆
2⇡ n2
= 2d n1 tan ✓2 sin ✓1 ⇡
cos ✓2
✓ ◆
2⇡ n2
= 2d n2 tan ✓2 sin ✓2 ⇡
cos ✓2
✓ ◆
2⇡ 1 sin2 ✓2
= 2dn2 ⇡
cos ✓2 cos ✓2
✓ ◆
2⇡ 1 sin2 ✓2 (136)
= 2dn2 ⇡
cos ✓2 cos ✓2
2⇡
= 2dn2 cos ✓2 ⇡
2⇡ p
= 2dn2 1 sin2 ✓2 ⇡
q
2⇡
= 2d n22 n22 sin2 ✓2 ⇡
q
2⇡
= 2d n22 n21 sin2 ✓1 ⇡.

When ' = m2⇡ where m is an integer, constructive interference will occur. The
smallest d for which this is the case is when ' = 0, which gives

d= q = 100 nm. (137)

4 n22 n21 sin2 ✓1

(b) What would happen if the film were 1600 nm thick?

Solution:
Filling in d = 1600 nm in Eq. 136 gives a phase di↵erence of 15⇡. Since this is an
odd multiple of ⇡, the two fields are out of phase. As a result, the reflectance will
be minimal. Technically though, it will not be zero since the amplitudes of the two
waves di↵er.

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TN 2421 Optica Version: April 1, 2021

(c) Assuming the glass has no dispersion (i.e. its refractive index is independent of the
wavelength), and d is the thickness found in the first question, for which wavelength
(closest to = 565.69 nm) of light is the reflectance is minimal?
Solution:
We set ' = ⇡ in Eq. (136) and solve for . This gives

= 282.84 nm. (138)

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