Announcements 2/15/12
Prayer
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Exams: I just got them from Testing Center 1 hour ago.
Will work on grading with TAs… target time = graded by
Friday evening.
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Exam solutions: posted to website.
a. If you have questions about your exam after getting it
back, please look at the solutions first. If you can’t
figure things out from there, then come to me or the
TAs.
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Reading assignment change. For next time:
a. Remove section 6.7 (we’ll talk about that section today)
b. Add Appendix 6.A
c. Add section 7.1
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Reading Quiz
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When multiple elements are in a beam path, the
Jones matrices to find the final optical polarization
are written
a. with the first element’s matrix on the right
b. with the first element’s matrix on the left
c. in any order
Reading Quiz
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After passing through a set of polarization
elements, the intensity of the outgoing light can
become reduced relative to the intensity of the
incident light.
a. true
b. false
Review question (ungraded)
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In polaroid films, polymer chains are aligned. The
polarization axis that transmits light is oriented:
a. along the chains
b. perpendicular to the chains
c. at 45 degrees to the planes
Jones matrices: review from last time
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Matrices for linear polarizers:
a. x-polarization
b. y-polarization
c. 45 polarization
d. arbitrary angle polarization
Thought question (ungraded)
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The element that should be used to change
linearly polarized light into circularly polarized light
is the
a. quarter waveplate
b. half waveplate
c. full waveplate
(“Waveplate” is synonymous with “optical
retarder”. Through anisotropic crystal effects it
introduces a phase shift, or retardance, between
horizontally and vertically polarized light.)
Animation 4: waveplates
Waveplate = Retarder = Birefringent Crystal
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Jones matrices for quarter and half waveplates
Summary: What will be given on exam
Thought question (ungraded)
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If a RCP beam strikes a metal mirror at normal
incidence, what will the resulting beam be?
a. LCP
b. RCP
c. linearly polarized
d. unpolarized
Thought question (ungraded)
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A laser beam traveling 2 inches above the surface
of an optical table reflects off a mirror and
remains parallel to the plane of the table. Top
view is shown.
Which polarization is in the x-direction and which
is in the y-direction? (x-direction = horizontal, y =
vertical)
a. s-polar = x, p-polar = y
b. s-polar = y, p-polar = x
Final Jones matrices
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Reflection
Transmission
Class-designed problem