CrossedPolarizers

Anidealpolarizerproduceslinearlypolarizedlight fromunpolarizedlight.Twoidealpolarizerswould eliminatealllightiftheirtransmissiondirectionsare placedatrightangles.Thetwosheetsofpolaroidat leftarecrossedandplacedonanoverheadprojector.

Index Polarization concepts

Polaroidmaterialsaccomplishpolarizationbydichroism.Atanglesotherthan 90,thetransmittedintensityisgivenbytheLawofMalus. Whathappensifyouputathirdpolarizerat45betweenthem? HyperPhysics*****LightandVision

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PolarizerPuzzle
Ifcrossedpolarizersblockalllight,whydoesputtingathirdpolarizerat45 betweenthemresultinsometransmissionoflight?

Index Polarization concepts

Indichroicmaterialslikepolaroid,thecomponentofthefieldperpendicularto thetransmissionplaneisselectivelyabsorbed.Thisachievesarotationofthe planeofpolarization,butthemechanismisdifferentfromthatinopticallyactive materials.

Intheimageatleftabove,thepolaroidsarecrossed,resultinginminimum transmission.Atrightabove,athirdsheetofpolaroidisinsertedbetweenthe crossedpolarizers.Inthesituationshown,thetransmittedintensitycanbe calculatedbyapplyingtheLawofMalustwice.Ifthecenterpolarizerisplaced at45betweencrossedpolarizers,25%ofthelightwillbetransmitted. HyperPhysics*****LightandVision

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LawofMalus
Whenasecond polarizeris rotated,thevector component perpendicularto itstransmission planeisabsorbed, reducingits amplitudeto

Sincethe transmitted Index intensityis proportionaltothe Polarization amplitudesquared, concepts theintensityis givenby:

= If then =

TheLawofMalusgivesthetransmittedintensitythroughtwoidealpolarizers. Notethatitgiveszerointensityforcrossedpolarizers. HyperPhysics*****LightandVision

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