Can Circularly Polarized Light Maintain Its Polarization After Reflection?

[Sean Torrebadel]

I don't know if it is just my text/sources, but it appears that physics books ignore the phenomenon of left and right polarized light. What I would like help understanding is whether it is possible in the lab to divide plane polarized light into its two circularly polarized components. I know from experience, that it is possible to change the direction of the net polarization by passing light through chemicals- something I vaguely remember doing in 2nd year chem lab at UBC.

Now the point being, that if it is possible to isolate, say, a stream of circularly polarized light. Is it them possible to reflect the said light on a surface and measure to see if the light has remained c-polarized? Or, as I would expect- does it change from left to right, that is-reverse polarize?

Anyone have any experience in this field= or am I just gunna have to do my own experiment?

Thanks

 

[Sean Torrebadel]

Left and Right circularly polarized light discussion

The following link should summarize the phenomenon of left and right circularly polarized light:

http://focus.aps.org/story/v18/st14

1. While I know that there are two components to plane polarized light, namely left and right circularly polarized light. And:

2. That certain chemicals can affect one of these components to cause a shift,

what I want to know is if it is possible to actually isolate a pure left circularly polarized beam of light, that is, to completely separate one component from the other?

 

[astrokreng]

for your question about circularly polarized light. You are correct that physics books often do not explicitly mention left and right circularly polarized light, but it is an important phenomenon in the study of light polarization. To answer your first question, it is indeed possible to divide plane polarized light into its two circularly polarized components in the lab. This is typically done using a specialized device called a quarter-wave plate, which is made of a material that changes the polarization of light passing through it. By placing this plate in the path of the plane polarized light, it can be split into left and right circularly polarized components.

As for your second question, it is possible to reflect circularly polarized light and measure if it has remained circularly polarized. However, the polarization of the reflected light will depend on the properties of the surface it is reflecting off of. If the surface is smooth and mirror-like, the reflected light will retain its circular polarization. But if the surface is rough or has certain optical properties, the polarization of the reflected light may change. This phenomenon is known as circular dichroism.

In terms of your own experiment, it is certainly possible to set up a simple experiment to explore the properties of circularly polarized light. You can use polarizing filters, quarter-wave plates, and a light source to create and manipulate circularly polarized light and observe how it behaves when reflected off different surfaces. This can be a fun and educational project to further your understanding of circular polarization. Good luck!