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Lecture 9

This chapter discusses the electromagnetic approach to the laws of reflection and refraction of light, focusing on the behavior of planar monochromatic light waves at the interface between two dielectric media. It establishes boundary conditions for the electric field at the interface and derives key relationships, including the law of reflection and Snell's Law. The chapter emphasizes the continuity of the electric field components and the coplanarity of wave vectors involved in the reflection and transmission of light.

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10 views3 pages

Lecture 9

This chapter discusses the electromagnetic approach to the laws of reflection and refraction of light, focusing on the behavior of planar monochromatic light waves at the interface between two dielectric media. It establishes boundary conditions for the electric field at the interface and derives key relationships, including the law of reflection and Snell's Law. The chapter emphasizes the continuity of the electric field components and the coplanarity of wave vectors involved in the reflection and transmission of light.

Uploaded by

mohammadtaoubi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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The propagation of light / Chapter 2 P2205/2023/page76

2-6)The Electromagnetic Approach


There are many methods to get the laws of reflection and refraction: Scattering Theory, the Theorem of Malus and Dupin,
and Fermat’s Principle, or by using the electromagnetic theory.
In this chapter we are going to use the electromagnetic theory.
Suppose that the incident monochromatic lightwave is planar, so that it has the form:
Ԧ
𝐸𝑖 = 𝐸0𝑖 𝑒 𝑖(𝑘𝑖 .𝑟−𝑤 𝑖 𝑡) (82)
Or more simply :
𝐸𝑖 = 𝐸0𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑘𝑖 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑖 𝑡) (83)

we can write the reflected and transmitted waves as


𝐸𝑟 = 𝐸0𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑘𝑟 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑟 𝑡 + 𝜀𝑟 ) (84)

And

𝐸𝑡 = 𝐸0𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑘𝑡 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑡 𝑡 + 𝜀𝑡 ) (85)

Here 𝜀𝑟 and 𝜀𝑡 are phase constants relative to 𝐸𝑖 . The


figure below depicts the waves in the vicinity of the
planar interface between two homogeneous lossless
dielectric media of indices ni and nt .

Plane waves incident on the boundary


between two homogeneous, isotropic,
lossless dielectric media.
The propagation of light / Chapter 2 P2205/2023/page77

The laws of Electromagnetic Theory lead to certain requirements that must be met by the fields, and they are referred to as
the boundary conditions. Specifically, one of these is that the component of the electric field E$ that is tangent to the
interface must be continuous across it.
𝐸𝑇−𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 = 𝐸𝑇−𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 (86)

Since 𝑢𝑛 is the unit vector normal to the interface, regardless of the direction of the electric field within the wavefront, the
cross-product of it with 𝑢𝑛 will be perpendicular to 𝑢𝑛 and therefore tangent to the interface. Hence

[𝑢𝑛 × 𝐸𝑖 + 𝑢𝑛 × 𝐸𝑟 = 𝑢𝑛 × 𝐸𝑡 ]𝑦=𝑏 (87)


Then
𝑢𝑛 × 𝐸0𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑘𝑖 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑖 𝑡 + 𝑢𝑛 × 𝐸0𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑘𝑟 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑟 𝑡 + 𝜀𝑟 = 𝑢𝑛 × 𝐸0𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑘𝑡 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑡 𝑡 + 𝜀𝑡 )|𝑦=𝑏 (88)

This relationship must obtain at any instant in time and at any point on the interface (y = b). Consequently, 𝐸𝑖 , 𝐸𝑟 and
𝐸𝑡 must have precisely the same functional dependence on the variables t and r, which means that

𝑘𝑖 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑖 𝑡 |𝑦=𝑏 = 𝑘𝑟 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑟 𝑡 + 𝜀𝑟 |𝑦=𝑏 = (𝑘𝑡 . 𝑟Ԧ − 𝑤𝑡 𝑡 + 𝜀𝑡 )|𝑦=𝑏 (89)

With this as the case, the cosines in Eq. (88) cancel, leaving an expression independent of t and r, as indeed it must be.
Inasmuch as this has to be true for all values of time, the coefficients of t must be equal

𝑤𝑖 = 𝑤𝑟 = 𝑤𝑡 = 𝑤 (90)

Recall that the electrons within the media are undergoing (linear) forced vibrations at the frequency of the incident wave.
Whatever light is scattered has that same frequency. Furthermore

𝑘𝑖 . 𝑟Ԧ |𝑦=𝑏 = 𝑘𝑟 . 𝑟Ԧ + 𝜀𝑟 |𝑦=𝑏 = (𝑘𝑡 . 𝑟Ԧ + 𝜀𝑡 )|𝑦=𝑏 (91)


The propagation of light / Chapter 2 P2205/2023/page78

From the first two terms 𝑘𝑖 . 𝑟Ԧ |𝑦=𝑏 = 𝑘𝑟 . 𝑟Ԧ + 𝜀𝑟 |𝑦=𝑏 we obtain

[ 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑟 . 𝑟]
Ԧ 𝑦=𝑏 = 𝜀𝑟 (92)

Recalling Eq. (30) 𝑘. 𝑟Ԧ = 𝑎 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡, this expression simply says that the endpoint of 𝑟Ԧ sweeps out a plane (which is of
course the interface) perpendicular to the vector 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑟 . To phrase it slightly differently, 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑟 is parallel to 𝑢𝑛 .
Notice, however, that since the incident and reflected waves are in the same medium, 𝑘𝑖 = 𝑘𝑟 . From the fact that
𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑟 has no component in the plane of the interface, that is, 𝑢𝑛 × 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑟 = 0, we conclude that 𝑘𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 = 𝑘𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑟
Hence we have the first part of the law of reflection 𝜃𝑖 = 𝜃𝑟 .
Furthermore, since is parallel 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑟 to 𝑢𝑛 all three vectors, 𝑘𝑖 , 𝑘𝑟 and 𝑢𝑛 , are in the same plane, the plane-of-
incidence.

Again, from Eq. (91)


[ 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑡 . 𝑟]
Ԧ 𝑦=𝑏 = 𝜀𝑡 (93)

And, therefore 𝑘𝑖 − 𝑘𝑡 is also normal to the interface. Thus all three vectors, 𝑘𝑖 , 𝑘𝑡 and 𝑢𝑛 are coplanar and we can write
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑡
𝑘𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 = 𝑘𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑡 then = but 𝑛𝑖 𝜆𝑖 = 𝑛𝑡 𝜆𝑡 then we conclude that 𝑛𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 = 𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑡 which is Snell’s Law.
𝜆𝑖 𝜆𝑡

Finally, if we had chosen the origin O to be in the interface, it is evident from Eqs. (92) and (93) that 𝜀𝑟 and 𝜀𝑡 would both
have been zero. That arrangement, though not as instructive, is certainly simpler, and we’ll use it from here on.

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