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Lecture 2: Physics of Light
Electromagnetic Waves

 Newton believed in the particle theory of light. He explained

the straight-line casting of sharp shadows of objects placed in
a light beam. but he could not explain the textures of shadows
 Wave theory: Explains the interference where the light
intensity can be enhanced in some places and diminished in
other places behind a screen with a slit or several slits. The
wave theory is also able to account for the fact that the edges
of a shadow are not quite sharp.
 This theory describes: Propagation, reflection, refraction and
attenuation
 Electromagnetic Waves - contd.

1864 James Clerk Maxwell

His mathematical theory of electromagnetism led to the view that light
is of electromagnetic nature, propagating as a wave from the source to
the receiver.

1880s Heinrich Hertz

Discovered experimentally the existence of electromagnetic waves at
radio-frequencies.

Wave theory does not describe the absorption of light by a

photosensitive materials
Electromagnetic Waves - contd.

 The wave is composed of a combination of

mutually perpendicular electric and magnetic fields
the direction of propagation of the wave is at right
angles to both field directions.
Wavelength, Period and Frequency

 The Wavelength is the distance between to identical points

(the points having the same phase) of two successive cycles of
a wave.
 The Period is the time it takes a wave’s two identical point to
pass in sequence, the same space location.
Wavelength 
Eo c T
z c  f 
Phase
For vacuum at c=3.0 x 108 m/s ("speed of
light")
Wave Propagation
• For most purposes, a travelling light wave can be presented as
a one-dimensional, scalar wave provided it has a direction of
propagation.
• Such a wave is usually described in terms of the electric field
E. A plane wave propagating
Eo in the direction of z is:

z E ( z , t )  Eo cos(t   z )

 2
 
The propagation constant (or wave number) vp 
Phase velocity vp  c / n n = Propagation medium refractive index
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic Spectrum – contd.
 Reflection and Refraction of Light
Medium 1

1 3 Refracted
n1 2 n2 ray
Boundary
n2 n1
Incident 1 3
2 ray
Reflected
Medium 2 ray
n1 < n 2 n1 > n 2
Using the Snell's law at the boundary we have:
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2

1 = The angle of incident

 Total Internal Reflection
• As θ1 increases then n1 > n 2 n2
2 = 90o
there is no reflection
• The incident angle
c 3
θ1 = θc = Critical Angle
n1
• Beyond the critical angle, light ray
becomes totally internally reflected n1 > n 2 n2

When θ2 = 90o
1>c 3
n1 sin θ1 = n2 n1

 n2 
Thus the critical angle  c  sin  
1

 n1 
Total Internal Reflection
 Quantum View

1900-20 Max Planck, Neils Bohr and Albert Einstein

Invoked the idea of light being emitted in tiny pulses of
energy. physics state that an atom can have only discrete
Quantum
energy values, and atom can change energy when electrons
jump from one level to another.

E3
E3
E2
Energy

E1

E0
 Photons
A Photon is the quantum energy released when an electron jumps from
an upper energy level to a lower energy level, and is equal to the energy
gap between the two levels.
The energy released when an atom jumps from E3 to E2 :

Ep = hxf Joules (J)

= ∆E = E3 – E2
where; h = Plank's constant = 6.626 x 10-34 J.s, f = Frequency Hz

The convenient unit of energy is electron volt (eV), which is the kinetic
energy acquired by an electron when accelerated to 1 eV = 1.6 x 10 -19 J.

The wavelength of the photon can be given by:

  ch E3  E2
 Pumping and Radiation

Energy
When an atom absorbs external E2
energy it raises to higher level,
l
na
this is referred to as pumping. ter
Ex ergy
En
E1
Pumping

Energy
When an atom drops down E2
from a higher level to a lower Ep
level it radiates light. Ep

E1
Radiation
Absorption and Non-interaction
When an external photon strikes a medium, if the energy E p
= hf is equal to the energy gap, ∆E, the photon when will be
absorbed by the atom and the atom will jump to the
appropriate higher level, else the photon will pass without
interaction
Energy

E3 Energy
E3

E p =E 3 -E 2 E p ≠E 3 -E 2 E p ≠E 3 -E 2

E2 E2

Absorption Non-interaction