Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- 1 Electromagnetic waves, light, and lasers
- 2 Optical frequency amplifiers
- 3 An introduction to two practical laser systems
- 4 Optical resonators containing amplifying media
- 5 Laser radiation
- 6 Control of laser oscillators
- 7 Optically pumped solid-state lasers
- 8 Gas lasers
- 9 Molecular gas lasers I
- 10 Molecular gas lasers II
- 11 Tunable lasers
- 12 Semiconductor lasers
- 13 Passive optical systems
- 14 Periodic optical systems, resonators, and inhomogeneous media
- 15 The optics of Gaussian beams
- 16 Optical fibers and waveguides
- 17 The optics of anisotropic media
- 18 The electro-optic and acousto-optic effects and modulation of light beams
- 19 Introduction to nonlinear processes
- 20 Wave propagation in nonlinear media
- 21 Detection of optical radiation
- 22 Coherence theory
- 23 Laser applications
- Appendix 1 Optical terminology
- Appendix 2 The ´-function
- Appendix 3 Black-body radiation formulas
- Appendix 4 RLC circuits
- Appendix 5 Storage and transport of energy by electromagnetic fields
- Appendix 6 The reflection and refraction of a plane electromagnetic wave at a boundary between two isotropicmedia of different refractive indices
- Appendix 7 The vector differential equation for light rays
- Appendix 8 Symmetry properties of crystals and the 32 crystal classes
- Appendix 9 Tensors
- Appendix 10 Bessel-function relations
- Appendix 11 Green's functions
- Appendix 12 Recommended values of some physical constants
- Index
- References
17 - The optics of anisotropic media
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- 1 Electromagnetic waves, light, and lasers
- 2 Optical frequency amplifiers
- 3 An introduction to two practical laser systems
- 4 Optical resonators containing amplifying media
- 5 Laser radiation
- 6 Control of laser oscillators
- 7 Optically pumped solid-state lasers
- 8 Gas lasers
- 9 Molecular gas lasers I
- 10 Molecular gas lasers II
- 11 Tunable lasers
- 12 Semiconductor lasers
- 13 Passive optical systems
- 14 Periodic optical systems, resonators, and inhomogeneous media
- 15 The optics of Gaussian beams
- 16 Optical fibers and waveguides
- 17 The optics of anisotropic media
- 18 The electro-optic and acousto-optic effects and modulation of light beams
- 19 Introduction to nonlinear processes
- 20 Wave propagation in nonlinear media
- 21 Detection of optical radiation
- 22 Coherence theory
- 23 Laser applications
- Appendix 1 Optical terminology
- Appendix 2 The ´-function
- Appendix 3 Black-body radiation formulas
- Appendix 4 RLC circuits
- Appendix 5 Storage and transport of energy by electromagnetic fields
- Appendix 6 The reflection and refraction of a plane electromagnetic wave at a boundary between two isotropicmedia of different refractive indices
- Appendix 7 The vector differential equation for light rays
- Appendix 8 Symmetry properties of crystals and the 32 crystal classes
- Appendix 9 Tensors
- Appendix 10 Bessel-function relations
- Appendix 11 Green's functions
- Appendix 12 Recommended values of some physical constants
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
In this chapter we discuss wave propagation in anisotropic media. We shall see that in such media the electric vector of a propagating wave is not in general parallel to its polarization direction, which is defined by the direction of its electric displacement vector. Further, for propagation of plane waves in a particular direction through an anisotropic medium two distinct possible polarization directions exist, and waves having these polarization directions propagate with different velocities. We shall discuss an ellipsoidal surface called the indicatrix and show how with its aid the allowed polarization directions and their corresponding refractive indices can be determined for wave propagation in a given direction. Other three-dimensional surfaces related to the indicatrix and their use in describing different optical properties of anisotropic media are also discussed. We shall concentrate our attention primarily on uniaxial crystals, which have optical properties that can be referred to an indicatrix with two equal axes, and will discuss how such crystals can be used to control the polarization characteristics of light.
Important anisotropic optical media are generally crystalline, and their optical properties are closely related to various symmetry properties possessed by crystals. To assist the reader who is not familiar with basic ideas of crystal symmetry, Appendix 8 summarizes a number of aspects of this subject that should be helpful in reading this chapter and some of those succeeding it.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lasers and Electro-opticsFundamentals and Engineering, pp. 539 - 579Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
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