Methods Used in Polarization of Light

There are a few different ways to polarize the light which are,

• Polarization by Transmission
• Polarization by Reflection
• Polarization by Scattering
• Polarization by Refraction

Polarization by Transmission (Polaroids)

We can observe that there is a plane of vibration parallel to the plane in the diagram below. There is also a vibration plane that is perpendicular to the plane. The first picture is one that is not polarised. The second picture is polarised, meaning it is perpendicular or parallel to the first. So let’s start with polaroids to understand polarization.

The various types of light are shown in the image added below:

Polaroids are polarising materials made up of molecules that are oriented in a specific direction. A pass axis exists on every Polaroid. Only the pass axis will enable light to flow through. Both the horizontal and vertical pass axes can exist on a polaroid. The way light passes through it is determined by these. When the light that is not polarised travels through a polaroid, it becomes polarised.

The unpolarized light passing through the polarizing filter is shown in the image below.

Polarization by Scattering

When light strikes a molecule or an atom, the light energy is absorbed and re-emitted in multiple directions. Polarization causes this scattering. Furthermore, the emitted light travels in many directions.

If the unpolarised light is incident on a particle, then we obtain dispersed light. Now when this polarized light passes through the atmosphere the molecule in the atmosphere dispersed the polarized light in all possible directions. And this is how light scattering causes polarization. The dispersed light is emitted in a direction that is perpendicular to the incident beam. Furthermore, dispersed light has complete polarization, but light travelling through molecules has partial polarization.

Polarization by Reflection and Refraction

The incident ray reflected and refracted ray may all be seen in the diagram below. Unpolarised light is visible on the incident beam. The unpolarized light is depicted in the diagram above. The dot denotes perpendicular directions, whereas the lines denote parallel directions.

The unpolarized light becomes polarized after reflection of refraction as shown in the image below.

The majority of the light in the reflected ray is polarised parallel to the plane, with only a few exceptions. In contrast, most of the light in a refracted beam is unpolarized, with one or two polarised components. As a result, we can see that the reflected and refracted rays are both partly polarised.

Polarization of Light: If you were to leave your house on a hot, sunny day, you would undoubtedly wear sunglasses. This is because the light emitted by the sun is unpolarized light and the sunglasses we wear transform the unpolarized light. Polarized light is light in which the electric field vector of the light is in the same phase and is perpendicular to the propagation of the light wave. The process of converting unpolarized light into polarized light is called polarization.

In this article, we will learn about the Polarization of light, types of polarization, Polarization of Light properties, and others in detail.