Polarization by Reflection

Assume that the interface lies in the plane of the computer screen.

First, compute the transmitted angle.

θ_t = °

Now compute the reflectivities:

R_|| =

Describe the polarization of the R_|| reflected component:
In the plane of the computer screen.
Transverse to the plane of the computer screen (in/out).
Oriented in a direction that makes an angle of 40° w.r.t. the normal to the interface.
Oriented in a direction that makes an angle of 50° w.r.t. the normal to the interface.
None of these choices are correct.
Cannot be determined from the available information.

R_⊥ =

Describe the polarization of the R_⊥ reflected component:
In the plane of the computer screen.
Transverse to the plane of the computer screen (in/out).
Oriented in a direction that makes an angle of 40° w.r.t. the normal to the interface.
Oriented in a direction that makes an angle of 50° w.r.t. the normal to the interface.
None of these choices are correct.
Cannot be determined from the available information.

To estimate the degree of polarization of the reflected beam, imagine rotating a linear polarizer in the reflected beam. There will be two components to this beam whose intensities are:

1. I_|| = (1/2)I₀R_||
2. I_⊥ = (1/2)I₀R_⊥

where the factor of (1/2) comes from the fact that natural light has exactly half of its power in any given linear polarization state. If either of these intensities is zero (i.e., the beam is incident at Brewster's angle), then the beam is totally polarized. If the beams were equal, the reflected beam beam would be unpolarized.

Thus, a reasonable measure of the degree of polarization for the reflected beam is given by

As the polarizer is rotated, the transmission would be amplitude modulated according to the above ratio. Here, V stands for visibility (contrast between max and min transmission values).

Using this formula, what is the degree of polarization for the reflected beam?

What is the degree of polarization for the transmitted beam?