Optoelectronics

Arkady Major
ECE 4580, Lecture 5

1
 Previous Highlights

Radiometry, photometry, and radiation sources

• Radiometry and photometry were defined. The difference
between them is related to the human vision.
• Basic radiometric and photometric units and quantities were
introduced and explained.
• Relationships among these quantities and units were
presented, along with several examples common to the
optoelectronics applications.
• Radiation sources and common radiation profiles (point,
Lambertian and exponential) were discussed.

2
 Outline

• Geometric Optics
• Reflection and Refraction

• Snell’s Law

• Total Internal Reflection

• Brewster’s angle

3
 Geometric Optics
The approximation, when treatment of light propagation through an optical
system does not consider its wave-like properties, is called geometric (or
geometrical) optics. In other words, the wavelength of light is considered
to be negligible compared with the dimensions of the relevant components
of the optical system.

Hence, in geometric optics light is understood to travel from its source

along the straight lines, or rays. The ray is then simply the path along
which light energy is transmitted from one point to another in an optical
system. The laws that describe the direction of the rays in an optical
system are the Law of Reflection and Refraction.

We can also say that geometric optics is the process of tracing light rays
through lenses and mirrors to determine the location and size of the image
from a given object.

4
 Law of Reflection
The law of reflection states:
1) The incident ray, the reflected ray and the line OP, perpendicular to
the mirror surface at point O, are all in the same plane (plane of
incidence).
2) The incident angle θi (or θ1) equals the reflected angle θr (or θ2).

P O

5
www.members.shaw.ca
 Reflection Coefficient
The reflected flux Φr is always less than the incident flux Φi by the reflection
coefficient R:
Φr
R (flux can be in lm or W)
Φi

6
en.wikipedia.org
 Example
Find how much radiation is absorbed by a gold heat shield of 0.5 cm 2 area
which is in an intense UV radiation field of 200 nm wavelength at radiant
incidence of 0.2 mW/mm2 ?

The absorbed power is the difference between the incident power and
reflected. The incident power is:

Φi  Ei A  0.2  0.5 102  10 mW

The reflection coefficient R of gold at 200 nm is ~0.2. Therefore,

Φr  Φi R  10  0.2  2 mW

And the absorbed power is

Φa  Φi  Φr  8 mW

7
 Reflections
Reflection of incident rays depends on the surface of the reflecting material.

If the reflecting pattern of the surface is known, the maximum reflected

intensity may be calculated. Reflection from a randomly rough (diffuse or
matt) surface gives a Lambertian pattern and the maximum intensity is:

Φi R
I0 

8
www.olympusmicro.com
 Refraction
Refraction is a change in the direction of propagation of the light ray at the
interface between two media. The amount of reflection and refraction
depends on the angle of the incident ray and the relative change in the
speed of light in the media, i.e. on refractive index n:
c
n
v media
Generally, the denser the material, the higher its refractive index n. Its value
also depends on wavelength (dispersion), increasing at shorter wavelength
and decreasing at longer.

9
www.olympusmicro.com www.answers.com
 Snell’s Law
The laws of reflection and refraction can be formulated as shown below

1) The incident ray, the refracted ray, the reflected ray and that perpendicular
to the interface at point O, are all in the same plane.
2) The incident angle θ1 equals the reflected angle (θ1).
3) The refracted angle θ2 can be calculated from the incident angle using
Snell’s law: n1 sin(θ1) = n2 sin(θ2) or θ2 = sin-1[(n1/n2)sin(θ1)]

10
http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/refraction/refraction.html www.olympusmicro.com
 Examples
Spearfishing
Dispersing prism

Flattened Sun at sunset

11
http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/refraction/refraction.html www.olympusmicro.com
 Total Internal Reflection
Going from less dense medium (with a smaller refractive index) to a more
dense medium (with higher n), the ray always bends closer to the
perpendicular. From the opposite direction, the ray bends away from the
perpendicular. Snell’s law, however, applies in either case.

In the second case, at some incidence angle θc called critical, the exit ray
will be parallel to the interface (θ2 = 90º). Beyond that point, total internal
reflection takes place.
c  critical angle  sin 1 (n1 / n2 )
Between crown glass (n2 = 1.52) and air (n1 = 1) it is 41.14º 12
www.olympusmicro.com
 Mirage and Looming

13
www.olympusmicro.com © W. H. Lehn
Hafgerdingar

14
© W. H. Lehn
 Total Internal Reflection
Total internal reflection phenomenon is essential in understanding the
transmission of light along simple transparent glass slabs. Functioning of
all fiber optic cables is based on this principle.

Mirrors

Lenses

Waveguides

Fibers

15
 Total Internal Reflection
Boundary conditions for propagating EM waves state that at the interface
between two dielectric media (absence of free electric charges and
currents), the tangential components of the electric and magnetic fields
must be continuous. n 1
This means that there is still a wave in medium 1.
This wave is called evanescent and it propagates n2
along the interface.

Glass Glass
Air
Air
Glass
z

E ( z )  E0e  z
evanescent amplitude www.brantacan.org.uk

2
 n12 sin 2 (inc )  n22 Evanescent field decays to zero on the order of16.
 We can use this for optical tunneling.
 Fresnel Reflection
Reflection of a portion of incident light at the interface between two
different media (n1 ≠ n2) is called Fresnel (after Augustin-Jean Fresnel),
who derived the so called Fresnel equations to calculate the reflection
coefficient R. The calculations of R depend on polarization of the incident
light.

The light polarized perpendicular to the plane of incidence is called

s-polarization (or TE, transverse electric). The light polarized parallel to the
plane of incidence is called p-polarization (or TM, transverse magnetic). The
plane of incidence is the plane that contains the incident and reflected lights.

(TM)
(TE)

reflected light

17
jolisfukyu.tokai-sc.jaea.go.jp
 Fresnel Reflection
For p-polarisation
θi
n1
For s-polarisation
n2
θt

Transmission in each case is Ts(p) = 1 – Rs(p)

For randomly polarized incident wave we have R = (Rs + Rp)/2 and

sin 2 (t   i ) tan 2 (t   i )
R 
2 sin (t  i ) 2 tan 2 ( t  i )
2

When incident wave is perpendicular to the interface

18
en.wikipedia.org
 Brewster’s Angle
At one particular angle for a given n1 and n2, the value of Rp goes to zero
and a p-polarized incident ray is purely refracted. This angle is known as
Brewster's angle, and is around 56° for a glass medium in air or vacuum.
Note that this statement is only true when the refractive indexes of both
materials are real numbers, as is the case for materials like air and glass.
For materials which absorb light, like metals and semiconductors, n is
complex, and Rp does not generally go to zero

19
en.wikipedia.org
 Brewster’s Angle
Unpolarized light (p+s) Polarized light
Only s-polarized At θB dipoles
wave is reflected can not radiate
θB = θ1 in this direction
n1 n1
n2 n2
θ2 Dipole oscillation and
radiation pattern We have no loss
for p-polarized wave!

From dipole considerations 1   2  90 and using Snell’s law

n1 sin( B )  n2 sin(90  1 )
n1 sin( B )  n2 cos( B )
 n2 
 B  tan  
1

 n1 
en.wikipedia.org

Polarized sunglasses use the principle of Brewster's angle to eliminate (s-

polarized) glare from the sun reflecting off of water or any other reflective surface.
20
 Example
Given:
n1 = 1 (air)
n2 = 1.52 (Crown glass)
θ1 = 30°

Find: θ2, R and θB

θ2 = sin-1[(n1/n2)sin(θ1)] = sin-1[(1/1.52)sin(30°)] = 19.47°

And
R = sin2(θ1 - θ2)/2sin2(θ1 + θ2) + tan2(θ1 - θ2)/2tan2(θ1 + θ2)
R = sin2(30 – 19.47)/2sin2(49.47) + tan2(30 – 19.47)/2tan2(49.47)
R = 0.0415 this is a typical value for uncoated optical components
So, 4.15% of the incident light is reflected and 95.85% is refracted.

 n2 
Brewster’s angle:  B  tan 1    tan 1 (1.52)  56.7
 n1  21
 Examples

Rearview mirror

22
http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/refraction/refraction.html
 Summary
• In geometric optics wave-like properties of light are not
considered.
• Light propagation is governed by reflection and refraction,
summarized by the Snell’s law.
• Light reflection is determined by its polarization, incidence
angle and refractive properties of the medium.
• Total internal reflection is valid for all polarizations and can
be used to guide light in transparent media or create
mirages.
• Brewster’s angle works only for p-polarization.

23
 Next Lecture

Lecture 6

Geometric Optics:
Lenses and mirrors
Image formation
ABCD law for rays
Basic optical components

24