Reflection of a polarized light cone

Abstract

We introduce a visually appealing experimental demonstration of Fresnel reflection. In this simple optical experiment, a polarized light beam travels through a high numerical-aperture microscope objective, reflects off a glass slide, and travels back through the same objective lens. The return beam is sampled with a polarizing beam splitter and produces a surprising geometric pattern on an observation screen. Understanding the origin of this pattern requires careful attention to geometry and an understanding of the Fresnel coefficients for S and P polarized light. We demonstrate that in addition to a relatively simple experimental implementation, the shape of the observed pattern can be computed both analytically and by using optical modeling software. The experience of working through complex mathematical computations and demonstrating their agreement with a surprising experimental observation makes this a highly educational experiment for undergraduate optics or advanced-lab courses. It also provides a straightforward yet non-trivial system for teaching students how to use optical modeling software.

Complex far fields and optical singularities due to propagation beyond tight focusing: combined effects of wavefront curvature and aperture diffraction

“…For the purpose of experimental observations, we build an optical system based on a normal incidence and reflection scheme [4,8,10,22,24,26,27], as shown in figure 12. A Gaussian He-Ne laser beam (λ = 632.8 nm) from the source L S is passed through a collimating lens pair L P .…”

A reflexão da luz nos periódicos de Ensino de Física: evidenciando tendências e carências de pesquisa a partir de uma revisão bibliográfica

“…Ouseph (2002) também apresenta uma combinação de teoria e sugestões experimentais, mas com menor rigor algébrico, razão pela qual consideramos seu artigo como uma adequada introdução às relações entre os fenômenos da reflexão e da polarização, em especial no tocante à variação do nível de polarização com o ângulo de incidência, mesmo para estudantes de ensino médio. Percebe-se, entretanto, que o artigo citado tem sua origem em um tratamento prévio conduzido pelo grupo de estudos do pesquisador (OUSEPH, et al, 2001), no qual o tratamento matemático equivale ao exposto por Brody et al (2013), sendo adequado apenas para o nível superior. Consideramos interessante a percepção do pesquisador de que seu trabalho poderia ser simplificado, em uma tentativa de transposição didática para plateias formadas por não especialistas.…”

Accessing select properties of the electron with ImageJ: an open-source image-processing paradigm

“…For example, we have previously employed video-based methods for investigating damped harmonic motion [1] and analysing the nonlinear vibrations of an oscillating string [2]. The role of still digital photography is also becoming more commonplace as demonstrated in the recent literature [3][4][5]. Digital photography followed by the necessary assistance of image analysis has received a flurry of interest in the physics laboratory, owing to the straightforward availability and everreducing costs of dramatically high-imaging resolutions, and working examples of image processing from other fields, particularly the medical sciences.…”