EE 438/538 Optoelectronic Devices Fundamentals of Optical Waves at Interfaces

EE438/538
OptoelectronicDevices&Applications
Part1:FundamentalsofOpticalWaves
(5) Waves at interfaces
WavesatInterfaces
Sofar,wehavestudied
wavespropagatinginvacuum
wavespropagatinginuniformdielectricmaterial
shortenedwavelength
slowerphasevelocity
highlossatsomefrequencies
Whathappensattheinterfacebetweentwodielectricmedia?
Usefultoolsfordealingwiththeproblem
Phasefront(=Wavefront)
Ray
WavesatInterfaces
Sofar,wehavestudied
wavespropagatinginvacuum
wavespropagatinginuniformdielectricmaterial
shortenedwavelength
slowerphasevelocity
highlossatsomefrequencies
Whathappensattheinterfacebetweentwodielectricmedia?
Usefultoolsfordealingwiththeproblem
Phasefront(=Wavefront)
Ray
Phasematching
Two rays next to each other
Their phasefronts must be in precise alignment.

Otherwise there will be destructive interference and
they will gradually kill each other.
Reflection:TheFirstExampleofPhaseMatching
nt
ni
Ray View
Whatwillberelationbetweenthetwoangles?
Wecannotanswerthatinthisrayview
Nowsplittherayintotworaysinfinitesimallyclosetoeachother
nt
i
Ray#1
Ray#2
ni
Nowsplittherayintotworaysinfinitesimallyclosetoeachother
Eachofthemhasitsownphasefront
Two rays + Wavefront view
nt
i
Ray#1
Ray#2
ni
nt
A
i
ni
C
Ray#1
Ray#2
Since #1 and #2 are originally one, the

phase fronts must be in-phase up to AC
In phase
nt
A
i
ni
C
Ray#1
Ray#2
So this is the right picture!
In phase
Thereflectedlightcanbedescribedinthesameway
Two rays+wavefront view
nt
ni
Ray#2
Ray#1
Ray#1
Ray#2
I deliberately set i r
A
i
D
r
Ray#2
B
C
Ray#1
Ray#1
Ray#2
After reflection, along DB, will they stay in phase or not?
In phase
Not in phase
A
i
D
r
Ray#2
C
Ray#1
Ray#1
Ray#2
After reflection, along DB, will they stay in phase or not?
They must stay in-phase Otherwise, they will cancel each other to a certain amount
There are an infinite number of this two-ray pairs
Even a slight phase mismatch can cause near-total destruction of the reflection
A
i
D
r
Ray#2
C
Ray#1
Ray#1
Ray#2
To form a reflection, the two must stay in phase

Requirement for Phase Matching
A
i
D
r
Ray#2
C
Ray#1
Ray#1
Ray#2

In this setup, phase matching

requires |AB| = |CD|
i = r
Snells Law of
Reflection

In this setup, phase matching

requires |AB| = |CD| which, in
turn, requires i = r
nt
i
ni
Snells Law of
Reflection
So far, nt and ni did not play any role
ApplyingPhaseMatchingtoRefraction
nt
refraction
ni
reflection
Ray View
nt
refraction
ni
reflection
Two rays + wavefront view
Ray View
nt
ni nt
A
D
ni
C
Ray#2
Ray#1
In-phase from BD
nt
A
D
ni
In-phase up to AC
C
Then, can we just use |AB| = |CD|
as the requirement?
In-phase from BD
nt
A
D
ni
In-phase up to AC
C
Or equivalently, can we just use
sin i = sin t as the requirement?
nt
A
D
ni
C
No, because we have to deal with waves
propagating in different media this time
B
nt
A
D
ni
C
Waves propagate different media with

different phase velocities and wavelengths
Different phase change even for the same
distance !
No, because we have to deal with waves propagating in
different media this time
B
nt
A
D
ni
Waves propagate different media with different phase

velocities and wavelengths
Different phase change even for the same distance
n=1
n = 1.5
No, because we have to deal with waves propagating in
different media this time
B
nt
A
D
ni
Waves propagate different media with different phase

velocities and wavelengths
Different phase change even for the same distance
phase change = k distance (2/) distance (2/o) n distance
n=1
n = 1.5
Along path |AB|: becomes o/nt
Effectively longer for phase
calculation by a factor of nt
nt
A
D
ni
C
Similarly, for path |CD|, becomes o/ni

|CD| becomes effectively ni*|CD|
Along path |AB|: becomes o/nt
Effectively longer for phase calculation
by a factor of nt
nt
A
D
ni
Similarly, for path |CD|, becomes o/ni

C
|CD| becomes effectively ni*|CD|
Another important concept Optical Pathlength (OPL)

OPL = refractive index actual length
In this setup,
t
B
nt
OPL(AB) = OPL(CD)
A
D
ni
C
only if
ni sin i = nt sin t
Snells Law for Refraction
BehaviorsofTransmittedLight
n t > ni
t ?
nt
ni
i
The direction of
refraction will be
determined by
the magnitudes
of ni and nt
n t < ni
i
asphalt pavement
turf
turf
asphalt pavement
TotalInternalReflection
n t > ni
In any case,
as i increases,
t will also increase
n t < ni
i
Lets focus on
n t < ni
n t < ni
case
n t < ni
i
n t < ni
i
n t < ni
i
Importantfact:Whennt <ni t canexceed90

Thestartingpointofthisawkwardsituationcanbefoundbysettingt to90
ni sini = nt sin90 =nt
At thepoint,theincidenceanglei = asin (nt/ni)iscalledtheCriticalAngle c
Thenwhatwillhappenifi >c Thetransmissionanglet becomescomplex
Thelightwillget100%reflected
n t < ni
Total Internal Reflection (TIR)
Thenwhatwillhappenifi>c Thetransmissionanglet becomescomplex
Thelightwillget100%reflected
Butonthelowindexside,therewillbeasmalltailcalledtheevanescentwave
n t < ni
Total Internal Reflection (TIR)
FresnelFormula:QuantifyingReflection&Transmission
WithSnellslaw,wecanpredictinwhatdirectionsthereflectionandrefractionwilloccur
Whataboutthesplittingratio ofpowerbetweenthetwo?
Letsgetbacktotheplanewaveview
Ourgoalistoderiveexpressionsfor
Transmission coefficient:
Eto
Eio
Whatkindofinformationdowealreadyhave?
sin
Reflection coefficient:
Ero
=
Eio
sin
Snells Law
AdditionalinformationcomesfromBoundaryConditions
Thecontinuityofthetangentialcomponentofelectricfieldacrosstheboundary
Thecontinuityofthetangentialcomponentofmagneticfieldacrosstheboundary
Toapplytheseconditions,wemustseparatethefollowingtwowaveconfigurations
StateofPolarizationofEMWaves
Note:thispolarizationisdifferentfrom
butrelated
Thestateofpolarizationrepresentstheoscillationdirectionoftheelectric fieldportion
ofEMwaves(sometimesthedirectionvariesovertime).
E
test charge
And this is important because the

dipole radiation pattern is not
symmetric
induced
dipole
TE:TransverseElectric
nt
ni
The direction of
oscillation of field
is orthogonal to the
plane of incidence
nt
ni
field Skims the interface
The direction of
plane of incidence
a.k.a. S polarization
TM:TransverseMagnetic
nt
ni
The direction of
is parallel to the
plane of incidence
nt
ni
field Pokes the interface
The direction of
is parallel to the
plane of incidence
a.k.a. P polarization
nt
ni
field Skims the interface
a.k.a. S polarization
nt
ni
field Pokes the interface
The direction of
plane of incidence
The direction of
is parallel to the
plane of incidence
a.k.a. P polarization
Anyarbitrarystateofpolarizationcanbesynthesizedbycombiningthesetwo
Ofcourse,fornormalincidence,thedistinctionbetweenTEandTMvanishes
So,weneedtoderive4quantities:rTE,rTM,tTE,tTMor r,r//,t,t//
Derivation:skipped Section1.6
TEresults
E ro ,
Eto ,
Eio ,
Eio ,
cos i
cos i
nt
nt
ni sin 2 i
2
ni sin 2 i
2
2 cos i
cos i
nt
ni sin 2 i
2
TMresults
r//
E ro , //
t //
Eto , //
Eio , //
Eio , //
nt
nt
ni sin 2 i nt ni cos i
2
2
2 nt ni cos i
nt
2
Quitecomplicated.Butthesecanbemuchsimplifiedbydefininganewparameter
nt
ni sin 2 i P
2
cos i P
r
cos i P
P (nt / ni ) 2 cos i
r//
2 cos i
t
cos i P
2 (nt / ni ) cos i
t //
Quitecomplicated.Butthesecanbemuchsimplifiedbydefininganewparameter
nt
ni sin 2 i P
cos i P
r
cos i P
t
2 cos i
cos i P
r//
t //
2 (nt / ni ) cos i
ItisimportanttoseethatP canbeimaginary!
Therecanbephaseshifts associatedwithreflectionandrefraction!
P becomesimaginarywhentheincidenceanglereaches:
sin
i.e.,thecriticalangle,theonsetofTIR
PracticalExample:Glass/AirInterface
Letshavealookatthereflectioncoefficientsofglass/airinterface
High-to-Low
Internal reflection
i
glass ( = 1.44)
TE
air ( = 1)
amplitude response |r|
phase response
c
1.0
i
-
2 tan
cos 2 c
1
2
cos i
PracticalExample:Glass/AirInterface
Letshavealookatthereflectioncoefficientsofglass/airinterface
High-to-Low
Internal reflection
i
glass ( = 1.44)
TM
amplitude response |r//|
air ( = 1)
phase response
//
1.0
starting point:
same as TE
p c
p c
1
// 2 tan 2
sin c
cos 2 c
1
2
cos 1
HowaboutAir/GlassInterface?
Whatwillhappenifwereversethedirectionofpropagation?
i
glass ( = 1.44)
Low-to-High
External reflection
air ( = 1)
Willitbethesame?NO.Letshavealookatthereflectioncoefficients
1
rTM
-1
rTE
/2
i
glass ( = 1.44)
Low-to-High
External reflection
air ( = 1)
Start from a
NEGATIVE value
A built-in phase shift
rTM
-1
rTE
/2
i
glass ( = 1.44)
Low-to-High
External reflection
air ( = 1)
1
rTM
No TIR
No incidence angle-dependent,
-1
smooth change in phase

One abrupt phase change for TM
rTE
No phase change for TE at all!

/2
Onethingincommon?
Onethingthatscommontobothinternalandexternalreflections?
1
1.0
1.0
rTM
p
i
rTE
-1
/2
Onethingincommon?
Onethingthatscommontobothinternalandexternalreflections?
1
1.0
1.0
rTM
p
i
rTE
-1
/2
Incidenceangle,reflectedlight
Hmm, the floor is
not shiny.
Hey, it is shiny!
HowaboutTransmission?
Changesintransmissioncoefficientsasfunctionsofincidenceanglewillbesimplerthan
thoseofreflectioncoefficients
Unliker,wecanseethatt willalwaysbereal!
cos i P
r
cos i P
t
2 cos i
cos i P
r//
t //
2 (nt / ni ) cos i
HowaboutTransmission?
Changesintransmissioncoefficientsasfunctionsofincidenceanglewillbesimplerthan
thoseofreflectioncoefficients
Unliker,wecanseethatt willalwaysbereal!
cos i P
r
cos i P
t
2 cos i
cos i P
r//
t //
2 (nt / ni ) cos i
Ofcourse,Pcanstillbeimaginary
Butbythetime,therewillbenotransmission, duetoTIR
So,t willalwaysbearealnumber
Itwillalwaysbeapositivenumberaswell Nophasechangeatall
Justamplitudechangesinaccordancewithreflectioncoefficientchanges
HowaboutPowerSplittingRatio?
Sofar,wehavedealtwiththeamplitudesoftheelectricfieldcomponent
A complex number possesses phase information
Whenenergyandpowerareconcerned,theintensityisamorerelevant
quantity
Intensityisproportionalto|E|2/ andhasaunitof[W/m2] =(/)
ItisarealnumberwithNOphaseinformationincluded
Forreflection,
ReflectanceR |Ir|/|Ii|=|r|2
Fortransmission,weneedtoconsiderthefactthatthe
twowavesareindifferentmaterials!
TransmittanceT |It|/|Ii|=(ni/nt)|t|2
Remeber:
r+t1
|r|2 +(ni/nt)|t|2 =1
Reflectance (R)
Transmittance (T)
PeculiaritiesinReflection:(1)P
Whatisit?RecaptheTMreflection
1
1.0
Air/Glass
Glass/Air
rTM
-1
/2
There is one point in the incidence angle at which the TM reflection becomes zero!
Brewster Angle or Polarizing Angle
TM,TE
TM,TE
TE
PeculiaritiesinReflection:(1)BrewsterAngle
Whatisit?RecaptheTMreflection
1
1.0
Air/Glass
Glass/Air
-1
rTM
/2
There is one point in the incidence angle at which the TM reflection becomes zero!
The point can be easily found from the Fresnel formula
r//
E ro , //
Eio , //
nt
nt
2
ni sin i nt ni cos i
2
P tan
nt
ni
Sometimesuseful(imagefromwikipedia)
TM,TE
TM,TE
TE
AlsousefulformakingSunglasses
Makingsunglasseswithdarkenedglassissimple.BUT
Nobodywantstowearapairofsunglasseswhichisalwaysdark.
Whendopeopleneedsunglassesmost?
Probably,duringsunset
Nowweknowthatduringsunset:
Applycoating tothelensessothatonlytheTEportioncanbeblocked
Youcanstillseewiththetiny TMportion
Duringdaytime,whensunishighaboveyourhead,TE:TM~50:50
Youhavenoproblemwatchingaround
Price for non-polarized sunglasses (i.e., darkened glass) < Price for polarizing ones.
But it can cause safety problems. So reserve non-polarizing ones for ski trips only
Whydoesthispolarizingreflection happen?WhyonlytoTM?
Toanswerthat,letsgetoutofthistypicalview
TM
Letsmagnifytheareaneartheimpingingpoint
TM
http://pixabay.com/en/magnifying-glass-magnifier-glass-189254/
YouwillseealotofdipolesinducedbytheelectricfieldcomponentE which
pokestheinterface
TM
Thereradiationfromthedipolesconstitutethereflectionandtransmission!
Thereradiationfromthedipolesconstitutethereflectionandtransmission!
Dipoles along the interface are aligned with their dipole axis along Et, not Ei
Recap:DipoleradiationpatternwasNOTsphericallysymmetric!
Now it will make a real problem (or fun stuff)
These reflection and transmission directions are determined by the phase-matching
condition There is nothing the dipoles can do about it
So,thistypeofawkwardsituationispossible!
The dipole axis coincides with the direction of reflection?
Of course, there will be no reflection!
Wecanobtainthatspecificincidenceangleeasily
r = i
90 i
90 t
Wheni =p ,theanglebetweenthereflectionandtransmissionbecomes90
(90 p) + (90 t) = 90 p = 90 t
r = p
90 p
90 t
Wheni =p ,theanglebetweenthereflectionandtransmissionbecomes90
(90 p) + (90 t) = 90 p = 90 t
Brewster
condition
Plugging the relation into Snells law
ni sin i = nt sin t
ni sin p = nt sin (90 p)
p = tan-1(nt /ni)
Exactly the same Brewster angle that

we obtained from Fresnel formula!
EM Potential Dipole Radiation Pattern

Maxwells Eq. Wave Eq.
Wave solution Boundary Conditions
Fresnel Formula
Two totally separate routes Same results!
WhyonlytoTM?WhynoBrewstereffecttoTE?
TE
Dipole axis orthogonal to the plane of incidence

Radiation pattern is perfectly symmetric
All angles available for re-radiation!
PeculiaritiesinReflection:(2)EvanescentWave
Letshaveamorequantitativelook
Transmitted wave
This vector determines

the spatial properties of
the wave including:
- propagation direction
- transversal extent
Transmitted wave
Totally determined by the material
Just the position vector
one -dependent term
one -dependent term
Note: When
sin
sin
> 1 for internal
reflection
sin
1!
sin
sin
between 0 and 1
Whensin
1,whatwillhappentocos
Itcontrolshowthe
behavesinthe direction
cos
sin
Whensin
1,whatwillhappentocos
Itwillbeimaginarybecausecos
cos
sin
sin
Inotherwords
When
real
imaginary
Beyondthecriticalangle,the fieldacrosstheinterfacecanbewrittenas
Beyondthecriticalangle,the fieldacrosstheinterfacecanbewrittenas
The amplitude and phase front of the transmitted wave will look like these:
Basically, on the transmission side, there will be a wave which
decays in y-direction
while
propagating
in z-direction
Along the transversal direction:

The waves amplitude will decay exponentially: e-y
1/ gives the 1/e point of the amplitude
2
n2 sin 2 t 1
penetration depth
o
Along the direction of propagation:

Since sin t > 1, the waves phase velocity will be lower than co/nt
The node-to-node distance will get shorter than o/nt
Of course, this propagation wont last long!
As you can see, the phase is not matched across the interface
The propagation wont be sustained
The energy cannot flow either in or direction
It has to return to the only phase-matched path:
PeculiaritiesinReflection:(3)GoosHanschenShift
Someofyoumayhavewonderedwhenyousawthese
//
i
p c
1
// 2 tan 2
sin c
cos 2 c
1
2
cos 1
2 tan
cos 2 c
1
2
cos i
Someofyoumayhavewonderedwhenyousawthese
//
i
p c
1
// 2 tan 2
sin c
cos 2 c
1
2
cos 1
WhatcausesthesephaseshiftduringTIR?
2 tan
cos 2 c
1
2
cos i
Thequantitativesolutionalreadyshowedthat
There will be penetration of

the light into the other side
even under TIR!
Thequantitativesolutionalreadyshowedthat
Sothecorrectphysicalpictureis:
Thisroundtriptakestime Thatsthecauseofthephasedelay
ThiseffectiscalledGoosHanschenShift
Ingeneral:Astheincidenceangle,theGHshift aswell.
PeculiaritiesinReflection:(4)FrustratedTIR
Thepenetrationisveryshallowingeneral
e.g.ni =1.46,nt =1.43,o =850nm
y~500nm
Butnotanimpossibledistanceformechanicalcontrol
Whatifwebroughtanotherpieceofhighindexmaterialwithinthepenetration
depth?
WewillbeabletogetsomeleakagefromTIR
FrustratedTIR
Application: Tap coupler

EE 438/538 Optoelectronic Devices Fundamentals of Optical Waves at Interfaces

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EE 438/538 Optoelectronic Devices Fundamentals of Optical Waves at Interfaces

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EE438/538

Two rays next to each other

Their phasefronts must be in precise alignment.

Two rays + Wavefront view

Since #1 and #2 are originally one, the

So this is the right picture!

To form a reflection, the two must stay in phase

To form a reflection, the two must stay in phase

In this setup, phase matching

To form a reflection, the two must stay in phase

In this setup, phase matching

So far, nt and ni did not play any role

Two rays + wavefront view

Waves propagate different media with

Waves propagate different media with different phase

Different phase change even for the same distance

Waves propagate different media with different phase

Different phase change even for the same distance

phase change = k distance (2/) distance (2/o) n distance

Similarly, for path |CD|, becomes o/ni

Similarly, for path |CD|, becomes o/ni

|CD| becomes effectively ni*|CD|

Another important concept Optical Pathlength (OPL)

Snells Law for Refraction

Importantfact:Whennt <ni t canexceed90

Total Internal Reflection (TIR)

Total Internal Reflection (TIR)

And this is important because the

field Skims the interface

field Pokes the interface

field Skims the interface

field Pokes the interface

amplitude response |r|

amplitude response |r//|

smooth change in phase

No phase change for TE at all!

A complex number possesses phase information

Now it will make a real problem (or fun stuff)

Plugging the relation into Snells law

Exactly the same Brewster angle that

EM Potential Dipole Radiation Pattern

Two totally separate routes Same results!

Dipole axis orthogonal to the plane of incidence

This vector determines

Totally determined by the material

Just the position vector

one -dependent term

one -dependent term

Basically, on the transmission side, there will be a wave which

Along the transversal direction:

Along the direction of propagation:

Of course, this propagation wont last long!

There will be penetration of

Application: Tap coupler

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