PE-0300 Reflection and Transmission

Reflection of light on surfaces is a familiar phenomenon of daily life. Therefore it is no surprise that the reflection law is one of the well known optical laws and was first stated by Ibn Al Haitham beginning of the 10th century. Little is commonly known about polarization of light and its connection with reflection and refraction. This connection is formulated in the Fresnel Laws which are usually expressed as transmittance and reflectance as a function of the index of refraction and angle of reflection. The four formulas which were deduced by Augustin Fresnel in 1821 contain the complete theory of reflection, refraction and polarization of isotropic materials. The fundamental understanding of reflection and transmission is essential for the design of laser mirror, sun glasses and a lot more. By dielectric coating such components are made either to optimize or to suppress reflection. Within this experiment the reflection law which is verified using a metal coated mirror. The next part covers the quantitative verification of the Fresnel Laws on a specially shaped glass plate using polarized light. Finally the spectral performance of a dielectric coated mirror is investigated using a white LED and a grating.