Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-optics-and-electrodynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/1/b/solution
Past exam of the optics and electrodynamics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
At normal incidence, continuity of tangential wave phase makes both internal wavevectors normal to the parallel faces. For the ordinary wave in a uniaxial optical medium, the electric field is an eigenpolarization of the permittivity tensor, so . ThusIts energy path is also normal to the faces. The extraordinary wave differs because but need not be perpendicular to . In a nonmagnetic crystal, and is perpendicular to . The vectors lie in the same meridional plane, with and . Therefore the electric-displacement angle from birefringent walk-off equals the angular separation between and .
The observed lateral separation is accumulated over thickness , so . With and ,The two emergent rays are parallel because their outgoing wavevectors are both normal to the faces in air; their internal energy paths can nevertheless be displaced by birefringent walk-off. The angle quoted is the positive angle between the field vectors, so the unspecified lateral direction does not affect its value. The unpolarized light excites both eigenpolarizations; it does not require their energy paths to coincide.
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