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Lecture

Advanced Optics: Dielectric Media

In course

MICRO-420: Selected topics in advanced optics

This course proposes a selection of different facets of modern optics and photonics. ...

Description

This lecture covers the behavior of electromagnetic waves in dielectric media, focusing on the creation of polarization density in response to an electric field. Topics include linear, nondispersive, homogeneous, and isotropic media, as well as anisotropic media and refractive indices. The lecture also delves into inhomogeneous media, tensorial susceptibility, permittivity, and the characteristics of anisotropic crystals. Additionally, it explores nonlinear media, the breakdown of the superposition principle, and the nonlinear relation between polarization and electric field strength.

Instructor

Olivier Martin

Olivier J.F. Martin received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics in 1989 and 1994, respectively, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. In 1989, he joined IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, where he investigated thermal and optical properties of semiconductor laser diodes. Between 1994 and 1997 he was a research staff member at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETHZ). In 1997 he received a Lecturer fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). During the period 1996-1999, he spent a year and a half in the U.S.A., as invited scientist at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). In 2001 he received a Professorship grant from the SNSF and became Professor of Nano-Optics at the ETHZ. In 2003, he was appointed Professor of Nanophotonics and Optical Signal Processing at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), where he is currently head of the Nanophotonics and Metrology Laboratory and Director of the Microengineering Section.

Official source

Related concepts (29)

Permittivity

In electromagnetism, the absolute permittivity, often simply called permittivity and denoted by the Greek letter ε (epsilon), is a measure of the electric polarizability of a dielectric. A material with high permittivity polarizes more in response to an applied electric field than a material with low permittivity, thereby storing more energy in the material. In electrostatics, the permittivity plays an important role in determining the capacitance of a capacitor.

Crystal optics

Crystal optics is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in anisotropic media, that is, media (such as crystals) in which light behaves differently depending on which direction the light is propagating. The index of refraction depends on both composition and crystal structure and can be calculated using the Gladstone–Dale relation. Crystals are often naturally anisotropic, and in some media (such as liquid crystals) it is possible to induce anisotropy by applying an external electric field.

Dielectric

In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an electrical insulator that can be polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the material as they do in an electrical conductor, because they have no loosely bound, or free, electrons that may drift through the material, but instead they shift, only slightly, from their average equilibrium positions, causing dielectric polarisation.

Relative permittivity

The relative permittivity (in older texts, dielectric constant) is the permittivity of a material expressed as a ratio with the electric permittivity of a vacuum. A dielectric is an insulating material, and the dielectric constant of an insulator measures the ability of the insulator to store electric energy in an electrical field. Permittivity is a material's property that affects the Coulomb force between two point charges in the material. Relative permittivity is the factor by which the electric field between the charges is decreased relative to vacuum.

Refractive index

In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or refracted, when entering a material. This is described by Snell's law of refraction, n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2, where θ1 and θ2 are the angle of incidence and angle of refraction, respectively, of a ray crossing the interface between two media with refractive indices n1 and n2.

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Index ellipsoid: wave equation and dispersion relation

Explores the wave equation, dispersion relation, index ellipsoid, and energy conservation in dielectric media.

Dispersion in anisotropic media

Explores dispersion in anisotropic media, covering k surface, uniaxial crystals, double refraction, beam walk-off, and applications of birefringent crystals.

Polarization Methods

Explores linear polarization generation, birefringence, dichroism, and crystal classification.

Atoms and Radiation: Electromagnetic Wave Propagation

Explores electromagnetic wave propagation, including Poynting vector, irradiance, dipole radiation, dielectric constant, and natural linewidth in atoms and radiation.

Dielectric Properties: Insulators and Capacitors