POLARIZATION

UMAIR JAVAID (09-6332) MUHAMMAD AHKAM KHAN (09-6394)

TOPICS TO BE COVERED
Polarization Different Types of Polarization
Linear

Circular
Elliptical

Applications of Polarization

POLARIZATION
Polarization is a property of waves that can

oscillate with more than one orientation.

Polarization refers to the orientation of electric field

vector which may be in a fixed direction or may change with time.

TYPES OF POLARIZATION
Three main types of Polarization:
LINEAR

POLARIZATION

CIRCULAR

POLARIZATION
POLARIZATION

ELLIPTICAL

LINEAR POLARIZATION
Linear polarization or plane

polarization of electromagnetic radiation is a confinement of the electric field vector or magnetic field vector to a given plane along the direction of propagation.

CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
Circular polarization of an

electromagnetic wave is a polarization in which the electric field vector changes with time in a circular fashion.
Electric field vector defines the strength and direction of electric field.

Right-handed/clockwise circularly polarized light

 Electric field divides into two components (vertical

and horizontal) which are at right angles to each other. Horizontal component leads the vertical component by one quarter of a wavelength. It is this quadrature phase relationship which creates the helix.

Left-handed/counter-clockwise circularly polarized light

 In left-handed, the rightward (relative to the

direction of travel) horizontal component laggs the vertical component by one quarter of a wavelength rather than leading it.

Left/right handedness conventions

From the point of view of the source.

From the point of view of the receiver.

Applications
FM Radio (87.5 to 108.0 MHz)

circular polarization is often used to describe mixed polarity signals used mostly in FM radio where a vertical and a horizontal component are propagated simultaneously by a single or a combined array.
Circular dichroism

CD is the differential absorption of left and right handed circularly polarized light. CD is the basis of a form of spectroscopy that can be used to determine the optical isomerism and secondary structure of molecules.

ELLIPTICAL POLARIZATION
Elliptical polarization is the

polarization of electromagnetic radiation such that the tip of the electric field vector describes an ellipse.
Electric field vector defines the strength and direction of electric field.

 Elliptical polarization results when one of the two

linear components in Circular Polarization has greater amplitude than the other.
One way to look at elliptical polarization is that the

two components of circular polarization are not exactly 90 degrees apart.

APPLICATIONS
Communications Polarization in antennas can be horizontal, vertical, circular and elliptical also exists. Alternating horizontal and vertical results in circular and elliptical polarization which is used in satellite communication. 3D Glasses Polarized 3D glasses make sure each eye receives only the intended image. Circular /Elliptical Polarization makes lefteye/right-eye separation insensitive to viewing orientation.