Sifat Cahaya

What is Light ?
Light is a form of electromagnetic energy detected
through its effects, e.g. heating of illuminated objects,
conversion of light to current, mechanical pressure
(Maxwell force) etc.
Light energy is conveyed through particles: photons
ballistic behavior, e.g. shadows

Light energy is conveyed through waves

wave behavior, e.g. interference, diffraction

Quantum mechanics reconciles the two points of view,

through the wave/particle duality assertion

Particle properties of light

Photon = elementary light particle
Mass
=0
Speed (c) = 3 108m/sec

According to Special Relativity, a mass-less particle

travelling at light speed can still carry momentum!
relates the dual particle
Energy E = h
& wave nature of light;
h : Plancks constant = 6.6262 10-34 J sec
: the temporal oscillation frequency of the light waves

The sinusoidal (in space) wave

One wavelength takes 2 radians
Described by
AA A
A=Amaxcos(2 x/ )

A=Amaxsin(2 x/ )
A=Amaxcos(2 x/

The sinusoidal (in time) wave

A cycle completes one period in 2 radians
Described by
A
T
A=Amaxcos(2 t/T+ )
A=Amaxsin(2 t/T + )
t

Wave vocabulary
wavelength = distance per cycle
wave number k = radians per distance
2 / = rad/cycle (cycle/m) = rad/m = k
period T = time per cycle
angular frequency = radians per second
2 /T = rad/cycle (cycle/s) = rad/s =
frequency f = number of cycles per second
f = cycles/second = 1/(second/cycles) = 1/T
Speed v = distance per time; wave travels in T
v = /T

The traveling wave

A wave varies in both space and time:
At one location, the amplitude varies in time
At one time, the amplitude varies in space

A sinusoidal wave moving toward positive x is

described by
A = Amaxcos(kx t + )
A sinusoidal wave moving toward negative x is
described by
A = Amaxcos(kx + t + )

Wave properties of light

: wavelength
(spatial period)
k=2/
wavenumber
: temporal
frequency

=2
angular
frequency
E: electric
field

Light In Matter

E.g. vacuum n=1, air n 1;

glass n1.5; glass fiber has 0.25dB/km=0.0288/km

Overview of light sources

non-Laser
Thermal: polychromatic,
spatially incoherent
(e.g. light bulb)
Gas discharge: monochromatic,
spatially incoherent
(e.g. Na lamp)

Light emitting diodes (LEDs):

monochromatic, spatially
incoherent

Laser
Continuous wave (or cw):
strictly monochromatic,
spatially coherent
(e.g. HeNe, Ar+, laser diodes)

Pulsed: quasimonochromatic,
spatially coherent
(e.g. Q-switched, modelocked)

Monochromatic, spatially coherent

light
nice, regular sinusoid
, well defined
stabilized HeNe laser

good approximation
most other cw lasers

rough approximation
pulsed lasers & nonlaser

sources need
more complicated

description
Incoherent: random, irregular waveform

The concept of a monochromatic

ray
t=0
(frozen)

direction of
energy propagation:
light ray
wavefronts
In homogeneous media,
light propagates in rectilinear paths

The concept of a monochromatic

ray
t=t
(advanced)
direction of
energy propagation:
light ray

wavefronts
In homogeneous media,
light propagates in rectilinear paths

Colors

Light is characterized by frequency, or more commonly, by

wavelength
Visible light spans from 400 nm to 700 nm
or 0.4 m to 0.7 m; 0.0004 mm to 0.0007 mm, etc.

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Additive Colors
Red, Green, and Blue light
sources can be used to
synthesize almost any
perceivable color
Red + Green = Yellow
Red + Blue = Magenta
Green + Blue = Cyan
These three dual-source
colors become the
primary colors for
subtraction
why? because absence of
green is magenta
absence of red is cyan, etc.

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Introduction to Spectra
We can make a spectrum out of light,
dissecting its constituent colors
A prism is one way to do this
A diffraction grating also does the job

The spectrum represents the wavelength-bywavelength content of light

can represent this in a color graphic like that above
or can plot intensity vs. wavelength
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The concept of a polychromatic

ray
t=0
(frozen)

energy from
pretty much
all wavelengths
propagates along
the ray
wavefronts

In homogeneous media,
light propagates in rectilinear paths

White light
White light is the combination of all wavelengths,
with equal representation
red hot poker has much more red than blue light
experiment: red, green, and blue light bulbs make
white
RGB monitor combines these colors to display white
combined, white light

called additive color

combinationworks
with light sources

blue light
Spring 2008

green light

red light

wavelength
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Fermat principle

is chosen to minimize this

path integral, compared to
alternative paths
(aka minimum path principle)
Consequences: law of reflection, law of refraction

The law of reflection

a) Consider virtual source P
instead of P
b) Alternative path POP is
longer than POP

c) Therefore, light follows

the
symmetric path POP.

mirror

The law of refraction

reflected
reflected

incident

Snells Law of Refraction

Total Internal Reflection (TIR)

becomes imaginary when

refracted beam disappears, all energy is reflected

Prisms

air

glass

air
air

air

glass
air
23

air

Dispersion
Refractive index n is function of the wavelength

white light
(all visible
wavelengths)

red
air

glass
Newtons prism

gree
n
blue

Frustrated Total Internal Reflection

(FTIR)
glass
Reflected rays are missing
where index-matched surfaces
Touch shadow is formed

Angle of incidence
exceeds critical
angle

other
material

air gap

Fingerprint sensor
finger
air

glass | air
TIR occurs

glass | finger
TIR does not occurs
(FTIR)

Optical waveguide

Planar version: integrated optics

Cylindrically symmetric version: fiber optics
Permit the creation of light chips and light cables, respectively,
where
light is guided around with few restrictions
Materials research has yielded glasses with very low losses
(<0.25dB/km)
Basis for optical telecommunications and some imaging (e.g.
endoscopes)
and sensing (e.g. pressure) systems