Week 5 Birefringent Devices & Interference

Question 1

what is the idea of Faraday rotation

Answer 1

Adding a left circularly polarised wave and a right circularly polarised wave gives a linear polarised wave at an angle determined by relative phase shift

Question 2

what is the faraday rotation equation

Answer 2

θ = VBd

Question 3

define interference

Answer 3

combination of a finite number of waves

Question 4

define diffraction

Answer 4

combination of an infinite number of waves

Question 5

what is the general principle of diffraction and interference

Answer 5

resultant field is the sum of the combining fields and the intensity is proportional to Etot*Etot

Question 6

what is true of total intensity

Answer 6

it is not just the sum of the intensities there is an additional term called the interference term

Question 7

what are the three coherence condition equations

Answer 7

=/= 0
ω1 ~ ω2
ε1 - ε2 = constant

Question 8

what happens to the interference term when there is no coherence

Answer 8

interference term = 0

Question 9

what are the two simplifications that can be made for interference

Answer 9

write all superscripts as exponentials as simple phase

regard each wave as a phasor

Question 10

what are the two types of coherence

Answer 10

temporal and spatial