scholarly journals X. On the elliptic polarization of light by reflexion from metallic surfaces

1845 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
pp. 269-282 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Metallic Surface ◽  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Elliptic Polarization ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
Comparative Results ◽  
Polarization Of Light

In a former paper, inserted in the Philosophical transactions, 1843, Part I., I detailed observations on some phenomena of elliptic polarization by reflexion from certain metallic surfaces; but with reference only to one class of comparative results. From these I have been led to pursue the subject into other relations besides those at first contemplated; but, from various causes, have only been able tat this interval to submit to the results to the Royal Society as a sequel to my former observations. The changes in the degree of ellipticity, investigated in my former paper, correspond to certain changes in the thickness of metallic films . If we now consider the case of reflexion from a simple polished metallic surface , and admit that in this case it may be supposed to take place by the penetration of the ray to a certain minute depth, or to some action of a thin transparent lamina of the metal, then, in like manner, —dependent on the law of metallic retardation, —the effect would vary with a difference in the effective thickness of the lamina, produced by changing the inclination of the incident ray; and that this is the case in general is well known, viz. that as the incidence is increased, the ellipticity increases up to a maximum, which occurs for most metals at an incidence between 70° and 80°, beyond which it decreases up to 90°.

scholarly journals On the elliptic polarization of light by reflexion from metallic surfaces

1851 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 557-557
Keyword(s):  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Elliptic Polarization ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
Comparative Results ◽  
Polarization Of Light

In a former paper, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1843, the author gave an account of the observations he had made on the phænomena of elliptic polarization by reflexion from certain metallic surfaces, but with reference only to one class of comparative results. He has since pursued the inquiry into other relations besides those at first contemplated, and the present paper is devoted to the details of these new observations, obtained by va­rying the inclination of the incident rays, and the position of the plane of analysation, and by employing different metals as the re­flecting surfaces. By the application of the undulatory theory of light to the circumstances of the experiments and the resulting phænomena, the law of metallic retardation is made the subject of ana­lytic investigation. A polariscope of peculiar construction, of which a description is given at the conclusion of the paper, was employed in the experiments: and tables are subjoined of the numerical re­sults of the observations.

scholarly journals On the phenomena and laws of elliptic polarization, as exhibited in the action of metals upon light

1833 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 406-408
Keyword(s):  
Circular Polarization ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
Metallic Surface ◽  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Metallic Lead ◽  
Elliptic Polarization ◽  
Curious Property ◽  
As If

The action of metals upon light has always presented a remarkable, and hitherto inexplicable, anomaly in the science of polarization. Malus, to whom this branch of optics owes its origin, had at first an­nounced that metals exerted no polarizing influence on light; but Dr. Brewster, by employing a different method of observation, ascer­tained that the light reflected from metallic surfaces was modified in such a manner as to exhibit, when transmitted through thin crystal­lized plates, the complementary colours of polarized light. He af­terwards discovered the curious property possessed by silver and gold, of dividing a polarized ray into complementary colours by successive reflexions. M. Biot, to whom the author communicated this disco­very, pursued the inquiry to which it led, and arrived at the same conclusions as to the mode in which this class of phenomena should be explained. Subsequent researches, however, convinced the author that these generalizations had been too hastily formed; and the study of Fresnel’s curious discoveries' respecting circular polarization ena­bled him to advance still further in the inquiry, and he now presents to the Royal Society in this paper, a complete analysis of the singular phenomena exhibited in the action of metals upon light. The first section of the paper treats of the action of metals upon common light. A ray of common light reflected from a metallic surface when analysed by a rhomb of calcareous spar, exhibits a de­falcation of light in one of the images, as if a portion of the light was polarized in the plane of reflexion. This effect will be still more distinctly seen on examining the system of polarized rings formed round the axes of crystals by means of the light reflected from me­tals. If the light had suffered no modification by reflexion, or if the metal reflected in equal quantities the light polarized in opposite planes, the rings would not be visible at all, whereas it is found that they are easily visible in the light reflected from all metals. They are most distinctly perceived at an incidence of about 74°, and become more and more faint as the incidence succeeds or falls short of that angle. They appear best defined in light reflected from galena, and from metallic lead, and with least distinctness in light reflected from silver and gold. On examining the effect of successive reflexion of the same ray by metallic surfaces, the author found that the quan­tity of light which each polarizes in the plane of reflexion, increases with every reflexion, and that in several cases the whole incident pencil is completely polarized.

scholarly journals Experimental researches on the elliptic polarization of light

1843 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 394-394
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Tabular Form ◽  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Analytical Results ◽  
Elliptic Polarization ◽  
Polarization Of Light ◽  
Experimental Researches

This paper contains an experimental investigation of the phenomena of elliptic polarization resulting from the reflexion of polarized light from metallic surfaces, and the theory on which they are explicable; the analytical results being given in a tabular form, and applied to the cases of the experiments themselves.

XVI. The Bakerian Lecture.— On the radiation of heat from the moon, the law of its absorption by our atmosphere, and of its variation in amount with her phases

1873 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 587-627 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Radiant Heat ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Short Series ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

In the years 1869 and 1870 I communicated to the Royal Society the results of a series of experiments made with the view of determining, if possible, the amount of radiant heat coming to the earth from the moon in various conditions of phase, and the nature of that heat as regards the average refrangibility of the rays. Though more successful than I had at first been led to expect, the imperfect accordance between many of the observations still left much to be desired, and the novelty and importance of the subject appeared sufficient to render it advisable to pursue the investigation with greater care and closer attention to details than had hitherto been deemed necessary. Since the conclusion of the series of observations which form the subject of the second paper above referred to, nothing (with the exception of a short series of observations in August and October 1870, of which mention is made towards the end of this paper) was done towards pursuing the subject till the spring of the following year (1871), when the series of observations which form the subject of the present paper were commenced, the same apparatus (only slightly modified) being used and the same method of observation adopted; but, with the view of obtaining an approximate value of the absorption of the moon’s heat in its passage through our atmosphere, and of rendering possible the satisfactory comparison of observations made at different zenith-distances of the moon, the observations were in many cases carried on at intervals at all possible zenith- distances on the same night, and the most favourable opportunities for observing the moon at very different zenith-distances in various conditions of the atmosphere were not lost.

scholarly journals V. Observations on certain cases of elliptic polarization of light by reflexion

1843 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
General Formula ◽  
Experimental Test ◽  
Metallic Surface ◽  
Elliptic Polarization ◽  
Peculiar Character ◽  
Polarization Of Light

The peculiar character impressed on light, originally polarized in a plane inclined to that of incidence and reflected from a metallic surface, discovered by Sir D. Brewster, and named by him elliptic polarization, has been since shown to coincide with what, from a different analogy, is termed elliptic polarization in the undulatory theory ; and which is also exhibited by an interposed plate of mica, or by total internal reflexion, as in Fresnel’s rhomb. The most distinct experimental test of the existence of this property and a measure of its amount, is the well-known dislocation of the polarized rings, seen by a plate of calc-spar and a tourmaline, in light of this kind. And this, as in other similar cases, is represented theoretically by a formula for the intensity at any part of the plate, in the case of the rhomb , for circular polarization, as in Mr. Airy’s tract on the undula-tory theory (Art. 160.) ; and for elliptic , as in the same author’s paper on quartz. A general formula for the rings in light of all degrees of ellipticity, not restricted by the peculiar conditions of the rhomb , has not been hitherto published : but I am in­debted to Mr. Airy for the communication of such a formula, which will be given in the sequel, as leading to some remarkable applications.

III. On the law of the partial polarization of light by reflexion

1830 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 69-84
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Experimental Result ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Angle Of Incidence ◽  
Physical Change ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Polarization Of Light ◽  
Partial Polarization

In the year 1815 I communicated to the Royal Society a series of experiments on the polarization of light by successive reflexions, which contain the germ of the investigations, the results of which I now propose to explain. From these experiments it appeared that a given pencil of light could be wholly polarized at any angle of incidence, provided it underwent a sufficient number of reflexions, either at angles wholly above or wholly below the maximum polarizing angle, or at angles partly above and partly below that angle; and it was scarcely possible to resist the conclusion, that the light not polarized by the first reflexion had suffered a physical change at each action of the reflecting force which brought it nearer and nearer to the state of complete polarization. This opinion, however, which I have always regarded as demonstrable, appeared in a different light to others. Guided probably by an experimental result, apparently though not really hostile to it, Dr. Young and MM. Biot, Arago, and Fresnel, have adhered to the original opinion of Malus, that the reflected and refracted pencils consist partly of light wholly polarized, and partly of light in its natural state; and more recently Mr. Herschel has given the weight of his opinion to the same view of the subject.

scholarly journals The Bakerian lecture. - On the radiation of heat from the moon, the law of its absorption by our atmosphere, and its variation in amount with her phases

1873 ◽  
Vol 21 (139-147) ◽  
pp. 241-242 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Zenith Distance ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Single Curve ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
Made In

In this paper is given an account of a series of observations made in the Observatory of Birr Castle, in further prosecution of a shorter and less carefully conducted investigation, as regards many details, which forms the subject of two former communications to the Royal Society. The observations were first corrected for change of the moon’s distance from the place of observation and change of phase during the continuance of each night’s work, and thus a curve, whose ordinates represented the scale-readings (corrected) and whose abscissas represented the corresponding altitudes, was obtained for each night’s work. By combining all these, a single curve and table for reducing all the observations to the same zenith-distance was obtained, which proved to be nearly, but not quite, the same as that found by Professor Seidel for the light of the stars.

IX. On the laws of the polarization of light by refraction

1830 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 133-144 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Physical Change ◽  
General Law ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Polarization Of Light

In the autumn of 1813 I announced to the Royal Society the discovery which I had then made of the polarization of light by refraction; and in the November following I communicated an extensive series of experiments which established the general law of the phænomena. During the sixteen years which have since elapsed, the subject does not seem to have made any progress. From experiments indeed stated to have been performed at all angles of incidence with plates of glass, M. Arago announced that the quantity of light which the plate polarized by reflexion at any given angle was equal to the quantity polarized by transmission; but this result, founded upon incorrect observation, led to false views, and thus contributed to stop the progress of this branch of optics. I had shown in 1813, from incontrovertible experiments, that the action of each refracting surface in polarizing light, produced a physical change on the refracted pencil, and brought it into a state approaching more and more to that of complete polarization. But this result, which will be presently demonstrated, was opposed as hypothetical by Dr. Young and the French philosophers; and Mr. Herschel has more recently given it as his decision, that of the two contending opinions, that which was first asserted by Malus, and subsequently maintained by Biot, Arago, and Fresnel, is the most probable, —namely, that the unpolarized part of the pencil, in place of having suffered any physical change, retains the condition of common light.

scholarly journals Observations on certain cases of elliptic polarization of light by reflection

1843 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 436-437
Keyword(s):  
General Result ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Experimental Examination ◽  
Intermediate Point ◽  
Reflected Light ◽  
Elliptic Polarization ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Reflection Of Light ◽  
Polarization Of Light ◽  
Curious Property

The author, by way of introduction, passes in review the labours of various inquirers on the subject of the elliptic polarization of light, and notices more particularly those of Sir David Brewster, who first discovered this curious property, as recorded in the Philosophical Transactions for 1830; of Mr. Airy, in the Cambridge Transactions for 1831 and 1832; and of Professor Lloyd, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1840, and in the Reports of the British Association for 1841. He then proceeds to give an account of his own experimental examination of the phenomena of elliptic polarization in the reflection of light from various surfaces, by observing the modifications of the polarized rings under different conditions, both of surface and of incidence, and by endeavouring to ascertain both the existence and amount of ellipticity, as shown by the dislocation of those rings, and to determine its peculiar chataracter, as indicated by the direction in which the dislocation takes place; the protrusion of the alternate quadrants appearing it certain cases, in one direction, and in others in the opposite. These observations are reducible to two classes; first, those designed to contribute to the inquiry, what substances possess the property of elliptic polarization, by examining the light reflected from bodies; and second, those made on certain cases on of films of several kinds, including those formed on metals by oxidation or other action upon the metal itself, as well as by extraneous deposition. The author found the general result, in all these cases, to be, that from any one tint to another, through each entire order of tints, the form of the rings in the reflected light undergoes certain regular changes, passing from a dislocation in one direction to that in the opposite, through an intermediate point of no dislocation, or of plane polarization; and thus exhibiting a dark and a bright centred system alternately, as long as the order of tints are preserved pure. These changes in the form of the rings, he observes, are precisely those expressed by successive modifications of Mr. Airy's formula, corresponding to the increments in the retardation which belong to the periodical colours of the films. The remaining portion of the paper is occupied by a description of the apparatus and mode of conducting the experiments; and of the observations made on mica, on decomposed glass, plumbago, daguerreotype, and other metallic plates, and on the coloured films produced on steel and on copper by the action of heat, and of voltaic electricity. The author gives, in conclusion, an analytical investigation of Mr. Airy’s general formula.

II. Some experiments on metallic reflection. IV. On the amount of light reflected by metallic surfaces. II

1883 ◽  
Vol 36 (228-231) ◽  
pp. 187-198
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Metallic Surface ◽  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Unpolarised Light

In a paper which Professor Stokes did me the honour of communicating to the Royal Society, and which appeared in the “Proceedings,” vol. 35, p. 26, I gave an account of some experiments I had made on the amount of light reflected by polished metallic surfaces when ordinary unpolarised light was incident upon them. The light of a paraffine lamp fell either directly, or after reflection from the metallic surface, on a photometer, and the readings were made by altering the distance at which another similar lamp had to be placed from the photometer in order to produce an equal illumination.

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