PHY136H5 Lecture Notes - Optical Axis, Electric Field, Black Rod
Document Summary
Laser light (peak wavelength = 650 nm) is passed through two polarizers. As the second polarizer (the analyzer) is rotated by hand, the relative light intensity is recorded as a function of the angle between the axes of polarization of the two polarizers. Rotary motion sensor that is coupled to the polarizer with a drive belt. The plot of light intensity versus angle can be fitted to the square of the cosine of the angle allowing us to verify the law of. As part of the two polarizer experiment, we demonstrate that the diode laser is 100% polarized. We use this to simulate a three polarizer system. The non-rotating polarizer is set perpendicular to the laser polarization so transmission is minimized. The analyzer is then placed between the laser and the fixed polarizer and the student finds that some of the beam is now transmitted. This allows a striking verification of the vector nature of the electric field.
