Chapter 5 polarization of Light

[5. Polarization: Plane, elliptic and circular polarization, double refraction, rotatory polarization,
polarimeter.]

Polarization of light: the process of confining the vibrations of the electric vector of light waves to one
direction is called polarization.
Plane of polarization and plane of vibration:
Ordinary light is not polarized. When ordinary light is
passed through a tourmaline crystal, the light is polarized
and vibrations are confined to only one direction
perpendicular to the direction of propagation of lights.
Looking along a ray of light, the electric vectors make all
angles with the vertical. Light that is plane polarized in
the vertical plane has only vertical electric vectors. The
plane of polarization is the plane that includes both the
vibration direction and the ray path The plane of
polarization is that plane in which no vibrations occur. The plane EFGH, in the following figure, is the
plane of polarization and the plane ABCD, in which the vibrations occur is known as plane of vibration.
Plane circular and elliptical polarized light:
In un-polarized light the electric field vibrates in all
directions perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
After reflection or transmission through certain
substances, the electric field is confined to one direction
and the radiation is said to
be plane polarized light.
In circularly polarized light
the tip of the electric vector
describes a circular helix
about the direction of
propagation with a
frequency equal to the
frequency of the light.
In elliptically polarized light
the vector also rotates about
the direction of propagation but the amplitude changes.

Light waves are transverse: Let light from a source ś fall on a tourmaline crystal A which is cut parallel
to its axis. On rotating the crystal A, no remarkable change is noticed. Now place another crystal B
parallel to A.
(i) Rotate both the crystals together so that their axes are always parallel. No change is observed in the
light coming out of B.
(ii) Keep the crystal A fined and rotate the crystal B. The light transmitted through B and becomes
dimmer and dimmer. When B is at right angles to A, light emerges out of B.
If the crystal B is further rotated, the intensity of
light coming out of if gradually increases and is Polarized Light Polarized Light
Unpolarized Light
maximum again when the two crystals are
parallel. This experiment shows conclusively that
light is not a longitudinal wave. The light waves
A B
are transverse, waves. It is clear that after passing
Unpolarized Light Polarized Light
through the crystal A, the light waves bitrate only No Light
in one direction. Therefore, light coming out of
the crystal A is said to be polarized because it has
acquired the property of one sidedness with A B
regard to the direction to the rays.
Plane of polarization: When ordinary light is passed through a tourmaline crystal, the light is polarized
and vibrations are confined to only one direction perpendicular to the direction of propagation of lights.
The plane of polarization is that plane in which no vibrations occur. The plane ABCD, in the following
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figure, is the plane of polarization and the plane EFGH, in which the vibrations occur is known as plane
of vibration.
Polarization of light by reflection: Polarization of light by reflection from the surface of glass was
discovered by Malus in 1808. He found that polarized light is obtained when ordinary light is reflected by
a plane sheet of glass consider a light incident along the path AB on the glass surface (Fig). Light is
reflected along BC. In the path of BC place a tourmaline crystal and rotate slowly. It will be observed
that light is completely extinguished only at one particular angle of incidence. This angle of incidence is
equal to 57.50 for a glass surface and is known as the polarizing angle.
The production of polarized light by glass is explained as
follows. The vibrations of the incident light can be resolved into
components parallel to the glass surface and perpendicular to the A
glass surface. Due to parallel components to the glass surface
light is reflected and due to the components perpendicular to the
glass surface light is transmitted.
Thus the light reflected by glass is plane polarized and can be
detected by a tourmaline crystal. B
Brewster’s law: Brewster’s law states that the tangent
of the angle of polarization is numerically equal to N
refractive index of the medium. Moreover, the reflected
and the refracted rays are perpendicular to each other. C
Suppose the un-polarized light is incident at an angle A
equal to the polarizing angle on the glass surface. It is
reflected along BC and refracted along BD. (Fig)

From snell’s law-

B

From Brewster’s law-

D
From eq (i) & (ii)

Therefore, the reflected and refracted rays are at right angle to

each other.

Double refraction:
Light passing through a calcite (CaCO3) crystal is split into
two rays. This phenomenon, first reported by Erasmus
Bartholinus in 1669, is called double refraction. The two rays
of light are each plane polarized by the calcite such that the
planes of polarization are mutually perpendicular.
The two rays of light are each plane polarized by the calcite such that the planes of polarization are
mutually perpendicular. For normal incidence (a Snell’s law angle of 0°), the two planes of polarization
are also perpendicular to the plane of incidence.

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Nicol prism: When a beam of light is transmitted through a calcite crystal it breaks up into two rays (i)
the ordinary ray and (ii) the extraordinary ray.
The nicol prism is made in such a way that it eliminates one of the two rays by total internal reflection. It
is generally found that the ordinary ray is eliminated and only the extra ordinary ray is transmitted
through the prism.
To prepare a nicol prism, a calcite crystal whose length is three times its breadth is taken. Then the
crystal is cut in a special way and ground and polish the cut surfaces to make optically flat. Then the two
pieces cemented together by Canada balsam whose refractive index lies between the refractive indices for
the ordinary and the extra ordinary rays for calcite.

Nicol prism as a polarizer and as an analyzer: Nicol prism can be used for the production and
detection of plane polarized light. When two nicol prisms P1and P2 are placed adjacent to each other as
shown in the following figure one of them act as a polarizer and the other act as an analyzer.
If the second prism P2 is gradually rotated the intensity of the extraordinary decreases. When two prisms
are crossed, then no light comes out of the second prism P2. It means that light coming out of P1 is plane
polarized. When the plane polarized extraordinary ray enters the prism P2 in this position, it acts as an
ordinary ray and is totally internally reflected by canda balsam layer and so no light comes out of P2.
Thus prism P1 produces plane polarized light and P2 detects it. So P1 is a polarizer and P2 is an analyzer.

P1 P2

P1
P2

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Optical activity:
Optical activity is the ability of a substance to rotate the plane of polarization of a beam of polarized
light that is passed through it. A compound is said to be optically active when the linearly polarized light
is being rotated when it is passing through it. Example: quartz, sugar, cinnabar, sodium chlorate.

Optically active substances are classified into two types:

1. Dextrorotatory substances – Substances that rotate the plane of polarization of the light towards the
right are known as right-handed or dextrorotatory.
2. Laevorotatory substances – Substances which rotate the plane of polarization of the light toward the
left are known as left-handed or laevorotatory substances.
Specific Optical Rotation
When a beam of polarized light is passed through an optically active substance the plane of polarization
is rotated by the substance. The amount of rotation is depends on the concentration and length of the
substance, wavelength and temperature.
 l
 c
 = s lc
Here, s is the specific rotation of the material

s=
lc
10
s=
lc
Here l is in decimeter and c is in gm/cm3.

Polarimeter:
A polarimeter is an instrument used for determining the optical rotation of solutions.
When used for determining the quantity of sugar in a solution it is called a sccharimeter.