PROBLEM SHEET 3

1. Gold has a frequency dependent permittivity of ε(ω) = −4.2137 + 2.5289i at a wavelength of

525 nm. Calculate the skin depth at this wavelength.

2. Two light waves are propagating in a uniaxial medium. Both waves have the same vacuum
wavelength of 600 nm. One wave has its electric field oriented (polarisation) along the extraordinary
axis while in the other wave, the electric field is oriented along the ordinary axis. The extraordinary
refractive index (ne ) is 1.7, while the ordinary refractive index (no ) is 1.5. What is the phase
difference at a distance of 300 nm?

3. Construct the wave-vector surface for a biaxial material with refractive indices nx = 1, ny = 2,
nz = 1.8.
(a) In which plane does the optic axis lie?
(b) Derive the dispersion relation for light propagating in this plane.
(c) Calculate the direction of the optic axis.

4. Two co-polarized plane electromagnetic waves with same frequency, amplitude and constant
phase are propagating in opposite directions in free space. Find time averaged energy density and
Poynting vector at a given point in space.

5. Using energy conservation arguments, show that the amplitude of a cylindrical wave must vary
as r−1/2

6. An isotropic monochromatic wave radiates at a rate of 100W. What is the flux density at a
~ and B
distance d = 1m from the source? What are the amplitudes of E ~ fields at this point?
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SOLUTIONS

1. First of all, we need the complex refractive index. There is a simple relationship:

ε(ω) = n(ω)2 ,

from which we obtain: n(ω) = 0.59188 + 2.1364i which allows us to calculate the required
skin-depth, using the equation:

k(ω) = n(ω)k0 .

At a given wavelength, we can write the expressions for the time-space varying field as

~ 0 e−k00 z ei(k0 z−ωt) ,

~ =E
E

where k 0 is the real part of the wavevector and k 00 is the imaginary component. This shows that
in a medium with a complex n, either a metal (always complex in optics) or a dielectric (close in
frequency to a resonance) there will be attenuation as a function of distance in the medium (z).
Now, we want intensity, which is proportional to the field-squared, so our attenuation factor is:

00 z
e−i2k .

Finally, he ‘skin-depth’ is defined as the distance travelled by the wave when the intensity falls to
1/e, hence:

1 1 λ0 2π
z1/e = 00
= 00
= , with k0 =
2k 2k0 n 4πn00 λ0

Plugging the data in, the final answer will be:

525 nm
z1/e = = 19.5 nm
4 × π × 2.1364

2. First of all, this is a positive uniaxial crystal. So, we need the phase difference (radians)
developed by the two waves propagating along the extra- and ordinary axis. We can compute this
for each wave and simply subtracting one phase from the other. The two total phases accumulated
after a distance d are given by:

ϕe = k0 ne d

ϕo = k0 no d
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and hence the phase difference will be:

∆ϕ = ϕe − ϕo = k0 d(ne − no ) =
2π
= (ne − no )
λ0
2π
= (1.7 − 1.5) 300 × 10−9 m
600 × 10−9 m
π
= .
5
This means that the extraordinary wave can fit an extra tenth of a cycle in the 300 nm distance,
as it has a smaller effective wavelength in the medium (λ = λ0 /10). (See the Next Section where a
phase difference between orthogonally polarised waves give rise to new polarisation states!)

3. We input the polarisation tensor into the wave equation and get three coupled equations (one
per each diagonal component of the polarisation tensor). To find the solutions we impose the
determinant of the associated matrix to be zero. Let’s first consider the propagation in the xy-
plane (so kz = 0) and end up with the following equation:
ω2 2 ω2 2 ω2 2
     
2 2 2 2 2
−kx − ky + 2 nz −kx + 2 ny −ky + 2 nx − (kx ky ) = 0
c c c
Which is solved by each of the terms being zeros so:
ω2 2 ω2
 
−kx − ky + 2 nz = 0 equation of a circumference of radius 2 n2z
2 2
c c
2 2
   
ω ω ω ω
−kx2 + 2 n2y −ky2 + 2 n2x − (kx ky )2 = 0 equation of an ellipse with axes nx and ny
c c c c
We can draw the two curves (the dispersion relation) in the xy-plane using the values nx = 1,
ny = 2, nz = 1.8
We can do the exact same thing in the other two planes and get the following two graphs:
To find the direction of the optic axis we need to find the intersection between the two curves in
the plane kz = 0, so:
ω2 2
kx2 + ky2 = n
c2 z
kx2 ky2
ω2 2
+ ω2 2
=1
n
c2 y
n
c2 x
ω2
Substituting c2
= k02 we have:

kx2 + ky2 = k02 n2z

kx2 ky2
+ =1
k02 n2y k02 n2x
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ky(m-1)

nz ω
Optic axis c Optic axis
nx ω
c

-ny ω -nz ω nz ω ny ω
c c c c
kx(m-1)

-nx ω
c

-nz ω
c

kz(m-1)

ny ω
c

nx ω
c

-ny ω -nz ω nz ω ny ω
c c c c
kx(m-1)

-nx ω
c

-ny ω
c

Remember, since kz = 0 we can also write ~k as

~k = ~kx + ~ky = n~k0 = nk0 cos θx̂ + nk0 sin θŷ

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kz(m-1)

ny ω
c

nx ω
c
nz ω nx ω nx ω nz ω
c c c c
ky(m-1)

nx ω
c
ny ω
c

with:

~kx = nk0 cos θx̂

~ky = nk0 cos θŷ

Substituting kx and ky in the equation of the ellipse we get:

2
n2 k 2 2 2 
0 cos θ + n k
2
0 sin θ = 1
k 2 2 2 2
0 ny k
0 nx
cos2 θ sin2 θ 1
2
+ 2
= 2
ny nx n

Using the trigonometric identities:

1 − cos 2θ
sin2 θ =
2
1 + cos 2θ
cos2 θ =
2
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We can write:

1 + cos (2θ) 1 − cos (2θ) 1

2
+ 2
= 2 ⇒
2ny 2nx n
n2x + n2x cos (2θ) + n2y − n2y cos (2θ) 2
⇒ 2 2
= 2 ⇒
nx ny n
2n2x n2y
⇒ cos (2θ)(n2x − n2y ) = − (n2x + n2y )
n2
h 2n2 n2 i 1
x y 2 2
⇒ cos (2θ) = 2
− (n x + n y )
n nx − n2y
2

2n2x n2y − n2 (n2x + n2y )

⇒ cos (2θ) =
n2 (n2x + n2y )

The optic axis is when n = nz , so:

2n2x n2y − n2z (n2x + n2y )

cos (2θ) =
n2z (n2x + n2y )

So with:

nx = 1 ⇒ n2x = 1

ny = 2 ⇒ n2y = 4

nz = 1.8 ⇒ n2z = 3.24

8 − 3.24(1 + 4) −8.2
cos (2θ) = = = 0.84
3.24 ∗ (1 + 4) 16.2

So 2θ = 32.5◦ ⇒ θ = 16.2◦

4. The fields of the two identical co-polarised plane waves propagating in opposite directions can
be written as:

~ 0 cos(~k · ~r − ωt + φ0 )
~1 = E
E
~ 0 cos(−~k · ~r − ωt + φ0 )
~2 = E
E

So the total field is given by:

~ =E
E ~1 + E ~ 0 cos(~k · ~r − ωt + φ0 ) + E
~2 = E ~ 0 cos(−~k · ~r − ωt + φ0 )

Remembering that the addition rule:

   
a+b a−b
cos(a) + cos(b) = 2cos cos
2 2
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Then:

~ 0 cos(~k · ~r) cos(−ωt + φ0 ) = 2E

~ = 2E
E ~ 0 cos(~k · ~r) cos(ωt − φ0 )

Where we used the fact that cos(a) = cos(−a).

Analogously, we could have written the fields as:

~ 0 ei(~k·~r−ωt+φ0 ) + E
~ =E
E ~ 0 ei(−~k·~r−ωt+φ0 )
 
~ 0 e−i(ωt−φ0 ) ei~k·~r + e−i~k·~r
=E

~ 0 cos(~k · ~r)e−i(ωt−φ0 )
= 2E

The time-averaged energy density is given by:

1 D ~ 2E 1 D ~ 2E
hW i = ε E + B
2 2µ
nE
For plane waves the electric and magnetic fields amplitudes are related by c = B so we can write:
1 n2
hW i = ε E 2 + 2 E 2
2 2c µ
Substituting
n2 1
= 2 = εµ
c2 v
We get:

hW i = ε E 2
~ 0 cos2 (~k · ~r) cos2 (ωt − φ0 )
~0 · E
= 4εE
| {z }
1
2

= 2εE02 cos2 (~k · ~r)

The time averaged Poynting vector is:

* + 
D E ~ ×B
E ~ nE 2

n
~ =
|S| = = 2E 2 cos2 (~k · ~r)
µ cµ cµ 0

5. Let’s consider two cylinders of radii r1 and r2 both with the same height L as drawn in the
figure.
Since the energy is conserved, the flux of the Poynting vector across the two cylindical surfaces
must be the same:

hS1 i 2πr1 L = hS2 i 2πr2 L

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This must be valid for any cylinder so:

hSi r = constant

This means that

1
hSi ∝
r

Using the fact that

hSi ∝ E 2

We get:

1
E∝√
r

6. The flux density (intensity) is defined as the power over a surface. We can consider a sphere of
radius r around the source, whose surface is given by S = 4πr2 . Given the power P = 100W the
intensity is:

P
I=
4πr2

For r = 1m then I = 100W ~ and B

= 8W/m2 . The amplitudes of E ~ are given by:
4π
r
2I E
E= B=
ε0 c c