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Refraction Reflection Absorption

This document discusses three optical phenomena: refraction, reflection, and absorption. Refraction describes how light bends when passing from one medium to another due to changes in speed. Reflection is the scattering of light at an interface, with the reflectivity depending on the indices of refraction. Absorption occurs when light is either scattered by atomic polarization or excites electrons across band gaps, with the absorption coefficient determining how intensity decreases with distance.

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nimdie jackson
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37 views

Refraction Reflection Absorption

This document discusses three optical phenomena: refraction, reflection, and absorption. Refraction describes how light bends when passing from one medium to another due to changes in speed. Reflection is the scattering of light at an interface, with the reflectivity depending on the indices of refraction. Absorption occurs when light is either scattered by atomic polarization or excites electrons across band gaps, with the absorption coefficient determining how intensity decreases with distance.

Uploaded by

nimdie jackson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REFRACTION

REFLECTION
ABSORPTION
Refraction
• Refraction explains the apparent bending of a paddle
partly submerged in water.
Refraction
• Light that is transmitted into the interior of
transparent materials experiences a decrease in
velocity and is bent at the interface.
• This is refraction and the index of refraction n is the
ratio of the velocity in a vacuum c to the velocity in
the medium ν or
• The degree of bending depends on the wavelength of
the light.
• Each color is deflected by a different amount as it
passes into and out of a glass prism, thus separating
the colors.
Refraction
• The index of refraction affects the optical path of
light and the fraction of incident light that is reflected
at the surface.
• The medium in which the light travels more slowly is
said to be the more refractive medium.
Refraction
• The velocity of light, ν, in a medium can be expressed
as

• where ϵ and μ are the permittivity and permeability


• Thus
• where ϵr and μr are the dielectric constant and the
relative magnetic permeability.
• Most substances are only slightly magnetic, μr ≈ 1

• There is a relation between the index of refraction


and the dielectric constant.
Refraction
• Because the retardation of electromagnetic radiation
in a medium results from electronic polarization,
• the larger an atom or ion, the greater the electronic
polarization, the slower the velocity, and the greater
the index of refraction.
• Additions of large barium and lead ions (as BaO and
PbO) to a glass will increase n significantly.
• Refraction is independent of crystallographic
direction (i.e., it is isotropic).
Refraction
• Noncubic crystals are anisotropic and the index is
greatest along the directions that have the highest
density of ions.
Reflection
Reflection
• Some of the light is scattered at the interface
between two media as it passes from one medium
into another.

• The reflectivity R represents the fraction of the


incident light that is reflected at the interface
Reflection
• R = IR/IO, where
• I0 and IR are the intensities of the incident and
reflected beams, respectively.
• If the light is normal (or perpendicular) to the
interface, then

• where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction of the


two media.
• R will depend on the angle of incidence, if incident
light is not normal.
Reflection
• When light is transmitted from a vacuum or air into a
solid s, then

• Index of refraction of air is very nearly unity.


• Thus, the higher the index of refraction of the solid,
the greater the reflectivity.
• The reflectivity varies with wavelength.
• By coating the reflecting surface with very thin layers
of dielectric materials such as magnesium fluoride
(MgF2), reflection losses are minimized.
Absorption
• Nonmetallic materials may be opaque or transparent
to visible light, coloured if transparent.
• Light radiation is absorbed in nonmetals by two basic
mechanisms.
• Absorption by electronic polarization in the vicinity of
the relaxation frequency of the constituent atoms.
• Valence band–conduction band electron transitions
based on the electron energy band structure of the
material.
• Absorption of a photon of light may occur by
electron excitation across band gap into conduction
band
Absorption
• The energy of excitation E is related to the absorbed
photon frequency through ΔE = hv

• The photon energy must be greater than the band


gap Eg for absorption to occur.
• hv > Eg
Absorption
• In terms of wavelength

• By calculations, the Eg = 3.1 eV


• No visible light is absorbed by nonmetallics having band
gap energies greater than about 3.1 eV
• These materials, if of high purity, will appear
transparent and colourless.
• The maximum wavelength for visible light, (max), is
about 0.7 µm and minimum is 0.4 µm.
• Eg(min) for which there is absorption of visible light =
1.8 eV.
Absorption
• All visible light is absorbed by valence-band-to-
conduction band electron transitions for
semiconducting materials with Eg < 1.8 eV.
• Thus, these materials are opaque.
• Only a portion is absorbed by materials having Eg
between 1.8 and 3.1 eV
• These materials appear coloured.
• Every nonmetallic material becomes opaque at some
wavelength.
• Diamond of a band gap of 5.6 eV, is opaque to
radiation having wavelengths < about 0.22 µm
Absorption
• Interactions with light radiation can also occur in
dielectric solids.
• Electron levels within the band gap may be
introduced if impurities or electrically active defects
are present.
• The holes and acceptor levels lie closer to the center
of the band gap.
• Light radiation of specific wavelengths may be
emitted within the band gap.
Absorption
• Consider the impurity level shown

• The electromagnetic energy absorbed must be


dissipated in some manner.
• The dissipation may occur via direct electron and
hole recombination according to the reaction
Absorption
• In addition, multiple-step electron transitions may
occur.

• The emission of two photons; one is emitted from


the conduction band to the impurity level and the
other decays back into the valence band.
Absorption
• Alternatively, one of the transitions may involve the
generation of a phonon dissipated as heat.
• the medium as well as the path length within affects
the intensity of the net absorbed radiation.
• The intensity of transmitted or nonabsorbed
radiation IT’ continuously decreases with distance x
that the light traverses:
• Where IO’ is the intensity of the nonreflected incident
radiation and β, the absorption coefficient (in mm-1).
• x is measured from the incident surface into the
material and large β materials are highly absorptive.
Transmission
• The passage of light through a transparent solid can
reveal absorption, reflection, and transmission.

• For an incident beam of intensity IO, the transmitted


intensity at the back face IT is

• where R is the reflectance


Transmission
• The fraction of incident light transmitted depends on
losses by absorption and reflection.
• The sum of the reflectivity R, absorptivity A, and
transmissivity T, is unity.
• R, A and T depends on light wavelength.

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