Does polarization affect the results of the 2-slit experiment

[edguy99]

The wavelength of the light and the width of the distance between the slits affects the pattern of the two slit experiment. My question is: Does the polarization of the light (vertical, horizontal or circular) affect the pattern of the two slit experiment.

Thanks

 

[vanesch]

The wavelength of the light and the width of the distance between the slits affects the pattern of the two slit experiment. My question is: Does the polarization of the light (vertical, horizontal or circular) affect the pattern of the two slit experiment.

Thanks

No, normally not, as long as there aren't any anisotropic (birefringent) materials in the paths.

 

[Andy Resnick]

The wavelength of the light and the width of the distance between the slits affects the pattern of the two slit experiment. My question is: Does the polarization of the light (vertical, horizontal or circular) affect the pattern of the two slit experiment.

Thanks

The 2-slit experiment requires that the incoming wavefront be spatially coherent; the polarization state of the light just prior to each slit should be identical. The transmission of each slit may have a polarization dependence, so that can affect the overall brightness of the pattern, but it should not affect the pattern in any meaningful way.

Adding, for example, a quarter-wave plate prior to one slit will change the fringe amplitude, because by rotating the plate I change the polarization state of one arm of the interferometer.