1

Laboratory 4. Linear Polarization

(version April 11, 2006, revised by R. Johnsen, original in MS Word)

Polarization by reflection (Fresnels equations) and Polarizers (Malus law)

Overview

There are two parts to this lab:

I. Polarization by reflection, Fresnels equations, and

II. Linear polarizers and Malus law.

You should do all parts of this lab.

Theory

All electromagnetic waves, including light, can have the electric field polarized in either
one of the two directions perpendicular to the direction of propagation. The magnetic field of
the wave is always perpendicular to the direction of the electric field.
When a wave hits an interface between two different media, in general some fraction is
reflected and some fraction is transmitted (refracted). The exact fraction depends on the angle of
incidence and also on the polarization. Fresnels equations for reflection and transmission from
an interface are given by

cos cos sin( )
cos cos sin( )
i i t t i
i i t t i
n n
r
n n
t
t

= =
+ +

(1)


||
cos cos tan( )
cos cos tan( )
t i i t i
t i i t i
n n
r
n n
t
t

= =
+ +

(2)

where r

is the amplitude reflection coefficient for light polarized perpendicular to the plane of
incidence (which is the plane including both the incident and reflected rays), r
||
is the amplitude
reflection coefficient for light polarized parallel to the plane of incidence. These two
polarizations are also known variously in the literature as s and p polarizations (senkrecht,
which is German for vertical, and parallel,) or TE and TM (transverse electric field and
transverse magnetic field).
i
and
t
are the angles of the incident and refracted rays with
respect to the normal direction. Formulas and (1) and (2) use a sign convention that differs from
that of Hecht who uses a system of coordinates in which the parallel and perpendicular
components of the electric field suffer different phase shifts at vertical incidence. Hechts
convention is inconvenient for analyzing polarization by reflection.


At a certain angle, when light goes from a low-index to a high-index medium, r
||
goes to
zero, which means that the reflected light is entirely polarized (though the transmitted light is
not.) This angle is called Brewsters angle or the polarization angle. It is given by
2

tan( ) /
B t
n n
i
= (3)

In this experiment the incident wave is polarized at an angle of 45
0
degrees with respect
to the plane of incidence. Hence the parallel and perpendicular components of the electric field
in the incident wave are equal. After reflection, the two components are in general unequal since
the reflection coefficients, given by equations (1) and (2) differ in magnitude, and also in sign for
angles larger that Brewsters angle. Hence the E-field of the reflected light oscillates in a
different plane that that of the incident wave.


r(parallel)
-1.00
-0.90
-0.80
-0.70
-0.60
-0.50
-0.40
-0.30
-0.20
-0.10
0.00
-0.20 -0.10 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
r
(
p
e
r
p
e
n
d
i
c
u
l
a
r
)
Draw line from
0/0 to point on curve
Angles of incidence
marked along curve

0deg
60deg
70deg
80deg
90deg


Figure 1: Fresnel coefficients for different angles of incidence for n=1.5. Angles of incidence
are marked along the curve in steps of 10 degrees.


3
Some insight into the polarization of the reflected beam can be gained by graphing the
two reflection coefficients as functions of the incident angle (see figure 1). The graph assumes
that light polarized at 45
0
strikes an air to glass interface with n (glass) = 1.5. The angle
between the plane of polarization of the reflected light and the vertical direction for a given angle
of incidence can be read by drawing a straight line from the 0/0 origin of the graph to the point
on the curve corresponding to angle of incidence. At Brewsters angle goes to zero. For other
angles of incidence, will vary from -45
0
to + 45
0
. In your experiment, you will determine that
angle by placing a linear polarizer into the reflected laser beam.

A linear polarizer simply eliminates whatever component of the electric field is in the
same direction as the lines of conduction in the polarizer. The direction perpendicular to these
lines is the transmission direction. If the electric field of a wave makes an angle with the
transmission direction, then geometry says that the fraction which is transmitted is simply E/E
0
=
cos .
Therefore Malus law (which is not much of a law, since it is simply geometry) gives the
intensity of the light passing through the polarizer as proportional to the square of the amplitude,

I/I
0
= cos
2
(4)


I. POLARIZATION BY REFLECTION, USING A He-Ne LASER

Equipment

Polarized He-Ne laser and laser holder with post mount
Linear polarizers from optics kit, with rotating holders on post mounts (the polarizers
need to be stuck to the mounts with tape of some sort)
Prism
Rotating stage with post mount and clamp
Protractor
Paper screen mounted on angle block on post holder or lab jack
Instructions

Figure 2 shows the layout of experiment I.

When a polarized laser is used (the currently used lasers in the lab are polarized), the
lasers polarization has to be set at 45
o
with respect to the plane of incidence by rotating the laser
in its mount. This is done after the measurement of Brewsters angle. These instructions assume
that the laser is polarized. The plane of incidence is taken to be horizontal.
(When an unpolarized laser is used, the laser light first has to be passed through a polarizer set to
transmit light at 45 degrees from the vertical).
At an angle of 45 degrees, the vertical and horizontal components of the electric field
vector are equal. After reflection, they are in general unequal, and the E-field points in a
different direction. We determine the new polarization by placing a polarizer in the path of the
reflected beam. It is best to turn the polarizer to the angle at which the reflected light is not
4
passed since it is easier to judge a zero in intensity than a maximum. The experiment is then
repeated at different angles of incidence and the results are compared to Fresnels equations.
The angles that appear in this experiment have been a constant source of confusion. Take
a good look at figure 2 to make sure you understand how to set the laser polarization and which
angles you have to measure. Pay attention to clockwise (cw) or counterclockwise (ccw)
rotations!
In the first step, mount the reflecting glass surface (one face of a prism) on the rotatable
mount. The prism face that you want to use should be centered on the turntable. Set the reference
mark of the prism angular scale to read zero and then turn the whole prism mounting post
(without changing the scale reading!) until the laser beam is reflected back into the laser
opening. This assures that the angular scale reads zero at vertical incidence.
Next, measure Brewsters angle. At this angle of incidence, light polarized in the plane
of incidence is not reflected. Vary the angle of incidence by rotating the prism until the reflected
beam looks quite dim. This will occur at an angle of incidence between 50 and 60 degrees. Now
rotate the laser (release the locking set screw first!) around its axis until the reflected light is as
dim as possible. Adjust the prism angle slightly to make the reflected beam even dimmer. Read
the angle of incidence (i.e. Brewsters angle) and record it in your notes; you will need it later to
calculate the index of refraction of the prism from the equation for Brewsters angle. Make an
estimate how accurately you can measure Brewsters angle and record your findings.


i
E
r
r
E
r
i
E
r
r
E
r
r
E
r

i
>
PRISM vertical
vertical
Set polarizer
transmission axis T
for zero transmission

LASER
POLARIZER
Before reflection After reflection
vertical vertical
vertical
45
o

SCREEN

i
<
B
B
(As seen looking in the direction of the beam, from prism to polarizer!)

Figure 2. Set-up for polarization by reflection. We use the angle to describe the direction of
the polarization of the reflected beam.
5




At this point the laser is accurately polarized in the plane of incidence. In the next step,
you have to rotate the laser by 45
o

in clockwise direction, looking from the laser towards the
prism (see figure). Since the laser mount does not have an angular scale, it is best to temporarily
put a polarizer in front of the laser. Set this polarizer for minimum transmission of the laser
beam and then rotate the polarizer clockwise by exactly 45
o
. Now rotate the laser clockwise by
about 45
o
until the transmitted intensity again goes to zero. This assures that the horizontal and
vertical components of the incident E-field are equal. Tighten the laser set screw and leave the
laser untouched for the rest of the measurements.

mark
Rotatable
polarizer
Polarization for

i
>
B

Polarization for
i
=
B

Polarization for

i
<
B

270
0
90
o
180
0
0
0
vertical
y
6



Figure 3. Polarizer as seen from the prism. Shown set at an angle where vertically polarized
light is blocked. Read (horizontal) at the mark. Your (horizontal) will be different than that
in the figure! You will rotate the polarizer clockwise from (horizontal) by angles from 0 to 45
o

to block the reflected light at angles of incidence less that Brewsters angle, counterclockwise for
larger angles of incidence larger than Brewsters angle.

For the time being leave the angle of incidence at Brewsters angle. Put the polarizer into
the reflected beam with the scale facing the prism and place a screen behind it so that you can
see the light coming through. You may have to work in a darkened room. Rotate the polarizer
until no light goes through. Read that angle [call it (horizontal)] and record it in your notes. It
is the angle at which the polarizer blocks vertically polarized light.
Now make the angle of incidence smaller than Brewsters angle and determine the angles
(
i
) for which the reflected light is blocked. You should rotate the polarizer clockwise from
(horizontal)] so that the angles that you read on the scale decrease, but stay in the range from
(horizontal)] to (horizontal)-45
0
. If you get confused about which way to turn the polarizer,
set it again to (horizontal) and again start at that angle. Take data for at least 5 angles of
incidence below Brewsters angle (for instance 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20 degrees, and smaller if
possible. As always, estimate how well you determine the angles of polarization and record your
numbers.
Note: If you see two reflected beams (the second coming from reflection at the back surfaces of
the prism) put a small piece of paper into the reflected beam to find the beam that is reflected at
the front surface of the prism.
For the next set of data make the angle of incidence larger than Brewsters angle and
again determine the angles (
i
) for which the reflected light is blocked. You should rotate the
polarizer counterclockwise from (horizontal)] so that the angles that you read on the scale
increase, but stay in the range from (horizontal)] to (horizontal)] + 45
0.
Repeat this for at
least 5 angles of incidence above Brewsters angle (for instance 60, 65, 70, 75, 80 degrees, and
larger if possible.
You cant quite get to zero or 90 degrees, but try to get close. Get an estimate of the precision of
the measured angles; you will need it for your error analysis.

Analysis:
(Graphing and computing is best done using a spreadsheet program like EXCEL. If you do
that, attach a copy of your spreadsheet and graphs etc. to your report)


1) Calculate the index of refraction from the measured value of Brewsters angle.
Make a data table of (
i
) vs.
i
and calculate the differences (
i
) = (horizontal)-(
i
)
The difference angles give you the angles of polarization of the reflected light with
respect to the vertical direction. The angles will be positive for
i
<

, negative for
i
>

angles and equal to zero for

i
=

. Make a graph of (
i
) vs.
i
.

2) Calculate the theoretical values of (
i
) from Fresnels equations and plot them on the
same graph as your data. Use Snells Law to calculate the values of
t
for each value of
7

i
. Figure 3 shows the orientation the E-vectors of the reflected beam. Their vector
components are proportional to the Fresnel coefficients. Your graph of (
i
) should
look something like figure 4 but it will not be identical because the index of refraction of
your prism may differ from that assumed in the sample graph.


Figure 4: This figure explains how to calculate the angles from the Fresnel coefficients.
-30.0
-20.0
-10.0
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
0 20 40 60 80 1 a
l
p
h
a
-50.0
-40.0
00
angle of incidence
i
t heory
exp dat a
t a n ( )
t a n ( )
i t
i t
r

=
+

sin( )
sin( )
i t
i t
r

=
+

1
tan ( / ) r r

=




Figure 5. An example of a graph of (
i
) vs.

for an assumed index of refraction. Your graph

may be slightly different.

Error analysis:
(a) Add vertical error bars to the graph of (
i
) vs.
i
. You can use analytical first-order
error propagations from the measured angles of polarization to the calculated values of
8
but the calculations are pretty tedious. If you used a computer program to compute the
s from the angles of polarization, let the computer calculate the errors in as =
(
i
+
i
) (
i
).
Treat the measured angles of incidence as free of error.

(b) From the estimated experimental error in Brewster's angle, calculate the error in the
index of refraction.

II. MALUS LAW AND LINEAR POLARIZERS

Equipment

He-Ne laser and laser holder with post mount
Linear polarizers from optical kit
Rotating holders and post mounts for polarizers
Lens from optical kit and slide holder with post mount
Photometer (light power meter) with fiber optic input and post mount

Instructions

Conceptually, this experiment is very simple, but it can be technically difficult to use the
photometer. The basic idea is to pass the laser beam through two polarizers and to measure the
transmitted power (the square of the amplitude) as a function of the angle between the polarizers,
to verify Malus law.

Place two polarizers on the table, shine the laser through both, and send the exiting beam
into the fiber optic input of the photometer. Since the laser is also polarized, first put a screen
after the first polarizer, and turn that polarizer for maximum transmission. You may need to
adjust the height of the fiber optic mount. You will get a more stable reading if you expand the
laser beam to a size of a few millimeters using a short-focal-length lens just before it hits the
fiber optic input. This helps avoid problems if the laser spot moves slightly, which can make it
miss the detector input.

LASER
E,T
Polarizer P1
(looking into laser)
x
y
E
T
Polarizer P2
(looking into laser)

Screen
Photometer
fiberoptic
cable
lens

9
Figure 6. Setup for Malus' Law experiment




The photometers have several ranges of sensitivity. To find the best range, align the polarizers
for maximum transmission, then set the photometer to read full scale. It is easy to overexpose
the photometers, in which case they will not respond quickly to a small reduction in light power.
There is a quick test to make sure it is working correctly. Put a piece of glass in front of the fiber
optic input. The photometer should drop by about 8%. If it doesnt, you probably have exceeded
the range of the photometer and need to change the range setting.

To get an accurate reading, first remove the second polarizer and record the measured
power through the first polarizer. Rotate this polarizer to the angle of maximum powerat the
photometer then put the second polarizer back. Rotate the second polarizer until no light goes
through. Read this angle, again [call it (horizontal)] and record it in your notes.

You may change the angle (

) by rotating the second polarizer CW or CCW up to 90

o
. For each
angle record the power and calculate the angle
i
= ABS|

(horizontal) |. You should

record both the input power maximum (I
0
) and the transmitted power (I), because you will want
to plot the ratio between the two.

Measure the ratio of the powers for several different angles (
i
) in steps of 10 degrees
from zero to 90 degrees. You do this by rotating the second polarizer only. Note that the power
of the laser may drift, so you should take a reading of the laser power without the second
polarizer from time to time to make sure it is stable. If it has drifted, use the new power as your
input power I
0
. To get good results you should take the full set of ratios at each angle twice.

Analysis: Plot I/I
0
vs. cos
2
. The data points should fall on a straight line.
10

EXERCISES

1. What fraction of incident power is reflected at an air/glass interface at normal incidence?
Derive an answer from Fresnels equations.


2. If unpolarized light hits three linear polarizers which have their transmissions axes at 0
degrees, 30 degrees, and 60 degrees, in order, what fraction of the incident light is transmitted?


3. Suppose you sit at the beach while wearing you new pair of polarizing sunglasses. How can
you figure out whether the sunglasses transmit vertically or horizontally polarized light? (A good
trick to impress a date.)


4. Before polaroid plastic polarizers, people used Brewster stacks to make polarized light.
These are still sometimes used for light with wavelengths outside the visible range. Light is sent
through a set of plates of glass all at Brewsters angle. Since the reflected light from each one is
polarized, and eliminated, eventually the transmitted light is mostly polarized. Calculate the
following: how many plates would you need to get 95% polarized light transmitted through the
stack? Note that to do it right you need to account for the light from reflected the second surface
of each plate.