The Index of Refraction: Consequences

Refractive indices, n, of materials

Speed of light

Snells Law

Magnification

Gradient indices

Flattened sun

Twinkling stars

Mirages

Dispersion

The rainbow
Refractive Index and Absorption Coefficient

Refractive
index Absorption
n1 coefficient

0

Ne2 Ne2 0
N n 1
2 0c0 me (0 )2 2 4 0 me (0 ) 2 2
Refractive Index and the Speed of Light
The speed of light is /k. Since k0 becomes k = nk0 in a medium,

c /(nk0 ) ( / k0 ) / n c c0 / n

where c0 is the speed of light in vacuum.

The refractive index, n, of a medium is thus the ratio of the speed

of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium. It can be
defined as the ratio:

n c0 / c

The refractive index is usually > 1. But it can be < 1.

The Irradiance in a Medium
2
The irradiance: I c E0
1
2

Substitute for c in the medium: c = c0/n

Now we need : n2 = c02 /c2, but c02 = 1/0m0 and c2 = 1/m and m m0
so: n2 = /0
= 0 n2
c0
So the irradiance in the medium becomes: I 0 n E0
2
1 2
2
n
or: 2
I nc0 0 E0
1
2
Mirrors

Mirrors reflect light

and can be made in
a variety of ways.

Well learn later that

a very flat surface
between two media
of different refractive
indices reflects light.

A room with every surface

covered by a mirror
Angle of Incidence = Angle of Reflection
The incoming and outgoing wave-fronts must have the same spacing
(wavelength) at a boundary. Let qi be the incident-beam propagation
angle and qr be the reflected-beam propagation angle.

B E
n c Dt nic Dt n
qi qr
A qi D A qr D
Surface Surface

AD = BD/sin(qi) AD = AE/sin(qr) BD/sin(qi) = AE/sin(qr)

But: BD = c Dt = (c0 /n) Dt & AE = c Dt = (c0 /n) Dt
So: (c0 /n) Dt / sin(qi) = (c0 /n) Dt / sin(qr)
Or: sin(qi) = sin(qr) qi = qr because 90 < qi , qr < 90
Refraction and Snell's Law
The electric field (and its wave-fronts) are
continuous at a boundary. But the speed AD = BD/sin(qi)
of light will be different in the two media.
Now let qt be the transmitted-beam AD = AE/sin(qt)
propagation angle.
So: BD/sin(qi) = AE/sin(qt)
ni B
ci Dt
But: BD = ci Dt = (c0 /ni) Dt
qi AE = ct Dt = (c0 /nt ) Dt
A qi D
&

ct Dt So: (c0 /ni) Dt / sin(qi)

E qt = (c0 /nt) Dt / sin(qt )

nt qt
Or: ni sin(qi) = nt sin(qt)
Snells Law
for a
Spherical
Wave

Just considering
the change in
the speed of
light in the
second medium,
Snells Law is
evident.

Snells Law can also be derived using Fermats Principle, which

says that light always takes the shortest path. But we wont do this.
Snell's Law for
n1
Many Parallel q1
Layers q2 n2
q2
n3
If the layers are
n4
parallel, then these
internal angles are
n5
always equal. q5

n1 sin q1 n2 sin q 2 n3 sin q3 ... nm sin q m

So we can ignore the intermediate layers if were only interested

in the output angle!
Snells Law causes things to look bent in
water.

Our eyes
are
dumb;
they
assume
that light
takes a
straight-
line path.
Snells Law in Action
Refractive Indices for Various Media
Refractive
indices:

Air: 1.0003 1
Water: 1.31
Cornea: 1.38
Human lens: 1.4
Crown glass: 1.5
Flint glass: 1.6 Diamond refracts and reflects light more than
most other gems and so is often considered
High-index plastic: 1.7 more beautiful.
Sapphire: 1.8
Cubic zirconia: 2.2 Well use n = 1.5 for the glass
Diamond: 2.4 we usually encounter.
Diamond Facts
Diamond is actually very common, (>160,000,000 carats mined
annually), but the DeBeers cartel (with a stockpile worth > ~$3B)
limits availability to keep prices high.
The popularity of diamond for
romance is due to marketing by De
Beers, starting in 1938, to sell the
large quantity of diamonds
discovered in South Africa.
Blood diamonds fuel civil wars
throughout Africa.
The US government attempted to
prosecute DeBeers, but it is non-US.
Synthetic diamonds are harder, purer, The gemstone citrine,
and much less expensive. which, although much
rarer than diamond,
Yellow diamonds (with nitrogen costs ~99% less.
impurities) are the most valuable.
Refraction allows prisms to expand or
compress a beam.
qi D
Magnification (or
win
demagnification)
wint
occurs at both
surfaces. mi
A q i
int

wout wint wout wout

M q t
int
win win wint mt qt
Consider the distance AD: mi mt
win / cos(qi ) wint / cos(qiint )
cos(qiint ) cos(qt )
M
Do the same for the exit face. cos(qi ) cos(qtint )

Oblique entrance with near-normal exit For multiple prisms,

yields large magnification. multiply magnifications.
 Snells Law in
More Action

These images are complicated by the curved surfaces of the glasses, so

dont try to figure them out yet. Well need geometrical optics to do so.
Refraction makes lenses possible.
Because refraction bends rays toward the thickest part of a lens,
parallel rays incident on a convex lens converge.

Technically we need to check

that the interference is
constructive,
too.

Parallel input rays

We will,
and it is.
f

The distance at which parallel rays converge is the lens focal length, f.
Snell's Law for n1 sin q1 n2 sin q2
Various Angles
in Practice Suppose that n1 = 1 and n2 = 2.
sin q1 2sin q2

q1 = 45
q1 = 0 n1 = 1
q1 = 90

q2 = 0 n2 = 2
q2 20 q2 = 30

Light always bends toward the higher-index medium.

GRadient INdex (GRIN) Media
Snells Law also implies that a gradient in the refractive index will also
bend lighttoward the higher refractive index.

Low n

High n
A GRIN
Lens

Low n

How to think about GRIN media: Recall that a ray just grazing a
surface bends sharply into the medium.
GRIN explains why the setting sun flattens.

The refractive index

of air increases with GRIN
density (and hence
decreases with
altitude).

Light rays closer to the horizon

pass through air with larger
density gradient and so bend
more than rays further away.

This differential amount of

bending yields a smaller range
of beam angles at the eye.
 Normal path through uniform air,
Mirages yielding normal image

Warmer air is also

less dense and so
has lower n.
Normal n
Warmer air near the Low n
earths surface can Mirage
bend light upward
more than higher air.
Additional path through GRIN air: the closer to
the ground, the more path curvature

Trees can appear to reflect

(inverted) from a lake.

Blue sky reflected from a

desert in this manner can
add to the confusion.
Heat variations cause air-density and
refractive-index variations: Heat Haze.
Snells Law explains why stars twinkle.
The atmosphere naturally has non-
uniform temperature and hence
Star
non-uniform refractive index.
And these regions drift
around in time.

Cooler
regions of
air (with
higher
refractive
index)

As the air masses move about, the amount of light reaching our
eyes from the star varies.
Total Internal Suppose that n1 = 1 and n2 = 2.
Reflection sin q1 2sin q2

Reconsider the previous example casesbut now realize that the

wave equation also allows the time-reversed waves, too.

q1 = 45
q1 = 0 n1 = 1
q1 = 90

q2 = 0 n2 = 2
q2 20 q2 = 30

What if the incidence angle in the higher-index medium > 30?

Light propagating obliquely from a high-n medium to a low-n one
can have no solution to Snells Law: sin(q1) > 1.
When sin(qincident) > ntransmited /nincident, light is entirely reflected. This is
called Total Internal Reflection.
Dispersion is the tendency of optical
properties to depend
Dispersion of the
on frequency. refractive index
allows prisms to
separate white light
Dispersed beam into its components
and to measure the
wavelength of light.
White light

n(l)
Dispersive
element (prism)

Dispersion can be good or bad,

depending on what youd like to do.
Refractive Index vs. Wavelength
Since resonance frequencies exist in many spectral ranges, the
refractive index varies in a complex manner.

Regions of strong absorption and anomalous dispersion

Absorption coefficient,

Refractive index, n
Normal Normal Normal
dispersion dispersion dispersion
1

0 1 2 3
Infrared Visible Ultraviolet X-ray

Electronic resonances are usually in the UV; vibrational/rotational

resonances in the IR; and inner-shell electronic resonances in the x-ray
region.

n increases with frequency, except in anomalous dispersion regions.

Refractive Indices vs. Wavelength for
Glasses

Note that the

refractive
index
increases
drastically in
the UV where
the electronic
resonances
reside.
The Sellmeier equation approximates the
refractive-index curve for most materials.

Coefficient Value
B1 1.03961212
These values are
B2 2.31792344x10-1
obtained by
B3 1.01046945 measuring n for
C1 6.00069867x10-3 numerous
C2 2.00179144x10-2 wavelengths and
C3 1.03560653x102 then curve-fitting.
 Practical

|dn/dl| 1/mm
Numbers for
Material
Dispersion
Refractive Index

Wavelength (mm) Wavelength (mm)

Angular Dispersion Dispersion causes the refraction
from a Normal- angle to depend on wavelength:
this is called angular dispersion.
Incidence Prism
nair 1 sin(qt ) n(l )sin(qtint )
Because n generally
decreases with wave- Input white qt
length (dn/dl < 0), the beam
shorter the wavelength, n(l)
the greater the refraction
Prism Dispersed beam
angle.

Suppose light enters the prism at 0, and constant

qtint is its incidence angle at the exit face. dqt dn
cos(qt ) sin(qtint )
Differentiating implicitly w.r.t. l: dl dl

We obtain the normal- dqt dn sin(qtint )

D
incidence-prism dispersion: d l d l cos(qt )
 Use q i
int
because increased deflection
Dispersion from a decreases this angle.

General Prism qi
Use
Snells Law at both interfaces:
qt qt
sin(qi ) n(l )sin(qiint ) q i
int
because
increased
sin(qt ) n(l )sin(qtint )
q int deflection
t increases
this angle.
Differentiating these two equations:

dn dq int
dq int
dn sin( q int
i )
0 sin(qi ) n(l ) cos(qi )
int int i
i

dl dl dl d l n(l ) cos(qiint )
dqt dn dq int
cos(qt ) sin(qtint ) n(l ) cos(qtint ) t
dl dl dl
dqt cos(qtint ) dqtint dn sin(qtint )
Dividing the last equation n (l )
by cos(qt) yields dqt /dl: dl cos(qt ) d l d l cos(qt )
Dispersion from a qi

/ 2 q int
General Prism i

qiint / 2 qtint
(contd)
dqt cos(qtint ) dqtint dn sin(qtint )
n (l ) qtint qt
dl cos(qt ) d l d l cos(qt )

Now: ( / 2 qiint ) ( / 2 qtint )

The angles of a
dq dq
int int
triangle add up
qtint qiint t i
to p (180).
dl dl
dqiint dn sin(qiint )
But: Now substitute this into the
dl d l n(l ) cos(qiint ) equation at the top of the slide.

dqt dn sin(qiint ) cos(qt ) dn sin(qtint )

D int

d l d l cos(qiint ) cos(qt ) d l cos(qt )
General Prism
Dispersion in dt
di
mt
Terms of mi
Entrance and
Exit
Dispersions
and
Magnifications
The dispersion of a general prism is:

dn sin(qiint ) cos(qt ) dn sin(qtint )

D int
(ndi mt ) dt
d l cos(q int
i ) cos(qt ) d l cos(qt )

n Dispersion at Magnification Dispersion at

entrance face, di at exit face, mt exit face, dt
The Dispersion of a Series of Prisms

D1 D2
M1 M2 D4
D3
M4
M3 D5
M5
Let Di be the dispersion of the ith prism
(Di is positive for upward-pointing prisms and negative for
downward-pointing prisms) and Mi be the magnification of the ith prism.
The total dispersion of all the prisms will be:

D1 D2 DN 1
Dtot DN
M 2 M 3 M N M 3M 4 M N MN

The contribution of each prisms dispersion is reduced by the total

magnification after it! This equation was first derived by Rick Trebino.
And Chauhan and Trebino showed that it holds for all dispersive optics.
Prism HD iPad App
Dispersion is undesirable in lenses.
Unfortunately, dispersion also causes lenses to focus different
colors at different distances, making lens design difficult. This is
called chromatic aberration.

The lens refractive index

is higher for blue,
so f is smaller
for blue.

Parallel red and blue input rays

f(l)

Lens designers go to great lengths to compensate for dispersion.

The Green Flash
Just as the sun sets, it flashes
green for a fraction of a
second.
Pilots flying west occasionally
report seeing a green sun for
many minutes.

The atmospheres refractive-index

gradient bends the light. Sun
Shorter
wavelengths
are scattered
more, so blue
Earth and violet are
too dim to see.

Shorter wavelengths are bent Earths surface

more and so appear higher.
Why Lunar Eclipses Are Dark Red
Before After
Multiple
exposures of
a lunar eclipse

Total eclipse (earths shadow

entirely envelops the moon)
Suns rays

The
atmospheres
refractive-index
gradient bends
the light.

The bluer colors scatter out of the beam even more than in a sunset
the path is twice that of a sunsetyielding even darker, redder light.
Okay, whats happening here?
Rainbows result from
dispersion in the
refraction of sunlight
in water droplets.
Note that there can be
two rainbows, and the
top one is inverted.

And the sky is much

brighter below the bottom
one.

From a plane, its

possible to see that
rainbows are full
circles.
 Rainbow Geometry & Facts

Sunlight
Deflection Deflection
The primary (lower) angle = 180 angle = 138
rainbow has an
angular radius of ~42. Sunlight
This corresponds to a
light deflection angle
of 138.
The secondary (upper)
rainbow has a radius
of 52.5. Light below the primary rainbow corresponds
to deflection angles from 138 to 180.
This corresponds to a
deflection angle of
The dark region above the primary rainbow
232.5.
corresponds to deflection angles below 138.
Rainbow Explanation: Light in a
Spherical Droplet

Path Light paths Water

leading droplet
to mini-
Light can mum
enter a deflec-
droplet at tion
different 180
distances 165
from its
edge. 150

138 Minimum deflection

150 160 angle (~138)

Compute the emerging-light angle vs. incident position.

Plotting deflection angle vs. wavelength
is the key.
Because n varies with wavelength,
the minimum deflection angle varies
with color.

Significant white light below the primary

rainbow between 138 and 180.
Lots of blue deflected at this angle
138 Lots of red deflected at this angle

Plotting
only the
No light is deflected by less minimum
deflection
than 138, so its dark above
angles.
the primary rainbow below.
Explanation of the 2nd Rainbow
The 2nd (upper) rainbow results from light entering the droplet in its
lower half and making two internal reflections in the droplet.

Water droplet
The additional
reflection
inverts the 2nd
rainbow relative
to the first.

Minimum deflection angle (~232.5)

yielding a rainbow radius of 52.5.

Because energy is lost at each reflection, the 2nd rainbow is weaker.

3rd and 4th rainbows are weaker, more spread out, and toward the sun.
5th rainbow overlaps 2nd, and 6th is below the 1st, but too weak to see.
Higher-Order
Rainbows
Using sophisticated image
enhancement techniques, a
German group was able to
observe the third-order rainbow:

Fifth-order rainbow, between the first

and second rainbows, also enhanced,
photographed in New Mexico.
Sundogs
(Parhelia)
Sundogs are a similar
phenomenon, but
result from refraction
inside hexagonal ice
crystals.

The bright spots at the sides

occur because crystals align
with their flat sides horizontal
to remain in the air.
Technically, the sundogs are
just the two bright spots.