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The refractive index of materials varies with the wavelength (and frequency) of light. [27] This is called dispersion and causes prisms and rainbows to divide white light into its constituent spectral colors. [28] As the refractive index varies with wavelength, so will the refraction angle as light goes from one material to another.
The distinction is irrelevant for an unattenuated wave, but becomes relevant in some cases below. For example, there are two definitions of complex refractive index, one with a positive imaginary part and one with a negative imaginary part, derived from the two different conventions. [2] The two definitions are complex conjugates of each other.
Standard refractive index measurements are taken at the "yellow doublet" sodium D line, with a wavelength (λ) of 589 nanometers. There are also weaker dependencies on temperature , pressure / stress , etc., as well on precise material compositions (presence of dopants , etc.); for many materials and typical conditions, however, these ...
Refraction of light at the interface between two media of different refractive indices, with n 2 > n 1.Since the velocity is lower in the second medium (v 2 < v 1), the angle of refraction θ 2 is less than the angle of incidence θ 1; that is, the ray in the higher-index medium is closer to the normal.
For step-index multimode fiber in a given medium, the acceptance angle is determined only by the indices of refraction of the core, the cladding, and the medium: =, where n is the refractive index of the medium around the fiber, n core is the refractive index of the fiber core, and n clad is the refractive index of the cladding.
In optics, Cauchy's transmission equation is an empirical relationship between the refractive index and wavelength of light for a particular transparent material. It is named for the mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy, who originally defined it in 1830 in his article "The refraction and reflection of light". [1]
The Kerr effect, also called the quadratic electro-optic (QEO) effect, is a change in the refractive index of a material in response to an applied electric field.The Kerr effect is distinct from the Pockels effect in that the induced index change for the Kerr effect is directly proportional to the square of the electric field instead of varying linearly with it.
If the first material is air or vacuum, n is the refractive index of the second material. The laws of reflection and refraction can be derived from Fermat's principle which states that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time.