Modern Optics PHY485/1485F
University of Toronto
Problem Set #1
September 18, 2008 due: 6 October 2008
1. Light numbers
a) The threshold of sensitivity of the human eye is about 100 photons per second. The eye is
most sensitive at a wavelength of around 550nm. For this wavelength, determine the threshold in
watts of power. Estimate the size of the pupil of the eye in a dark room, and find the irradiance.
b) What is the energy, in electron volts, of light photons at the ends of the visible spectrum, that
is, at the wavelengths of 380 nm and 770 nm?
c) Determine the wavelength and momentum of a photon whose energy equals the rest-mass
energy of an electron.
d) A 100 W light bulb is in the geometrical centre of a cubical room with sides of 3 m. Find the
time-averaged total energy within the room from the light bulb, assuming that no light is absorbed
or reflected by the walls (i.e., the walls are perfectly transparent).
e) Determine the magnitude of the magnetic field B in an electromagnetic wave in vacuum that
2
carries a power density of 100 mW/cm . How much current would be required in a long straight
wire so that a magnetic field of this same magnitude would be generated in vacuum at a distance of
1 mm from the wire?
2. Electron motion in relativistic EM fields
We saw in class that the ratio of forces on a charged particle, due to magnetic and electric fields in
light, has the relation: FB/FE ≤ v/c. That means for most EM fields we encounter, we can ignore the
dynamics that are due to the B field.
When the EM field is strong, however, the E-field of the light may drive an oscillating electron to a
speed approaching the speed of light.
a) Show that the condition for this is not just the field strength E0 — find a relationship for the
field strength, particle charge, particle mass, etc. to pass a rough threshold for onset of relativistic
effects
b) Show, qualitatively, that for linearly polarized light, of relativistic-strength fields, an electron
driven transversely at the light frequency ω0 will also oscillate longitudinally at 2ω0.
c) Starting with the Lorentz equation of motion:
!
dp # ! 1 ! !& ! ! !
= !e % E + v " B( where momentum p ! mv = " m0 v
dt $ c '
and the relativistic energy equation:
d! ! !
= "e # ( v # E) where energy ! " mc 2 = # m0c 2
dt
find separate equations of motion for p! and p! , the momenta perpendicular to, and parallel to, the
direction of propagation of the light.
d) For an electron initially at rest, integrate to find the electron coordinates at times after the light
is turned on. Show that the strong EM field leads to an average drift speed vD in the direction of the
propagating light:
1
vD a02 eE0
= where a0 =
c 4 + a02 m! c
plus a figure-eight motion superposed on top of that drift, with an equation in the drift frame:
(
16x 2 = y 2 4q 2 ! y 2 ) where q !
a0
2" 0
3. Solid-state plasmas
a) The DC conductivity of silver is σ = 6.8 × 107 MKS units and the free electron density is Ne =
1.5 × 1028 m–3. Considering silver to be a free-electron metal what is its plasma frequency? What
is the electron damping time τ?
b) For the model of a metal discussed in class, the plasma frequency ωp = 6 × 1015 rad s–1
corresponds to a wavelength λp = 314 nm. How important are collisions in determining the
attenuation of the field into the metal? Calculate numerical values for the penetration depth, with
and without an electron collision rate of γ = 1013 s–1, for light at normal incidence on a slab of metal
at the following wavelengths: 349 nm, 314 nm, and 286 nm.
4. Group and phase velocity
Consider a fictitious material with a single resonance at λ = 300 nm and with a damping coefficient
3
of 1013 s–1. Take a density N = 1 mole/m . Determine the percentage difference between the group
and phase velocity at λ = 320 nm and λ = 500 nm. What is the maximum absorption coefficient of
this material?
5. Colour centres
There is a class of electronic impurity centres in crystals called
colour centres. The absorption coefficient produced by one such
centre, the ‘F centre’ in a sodium chloride crystal, is shown the
figure at right. Treat this centre as a harmonic oscillator with the
mass of an electron, imbedded in the crystal (of background
refractive index n = 1.55). Assume the experimental lineshape to
be Lorentzian, and from it estimate the lifetime of the oscillator
and the oscillator strength. Calculate a value for the maximum
change in the real part of the index of refraction caused by the
presence of the F centres in this sample. Estimate the percentage
difference between the group and phase velocity at ν = 7 × 1014 Hz and ν = 9 × 1014 Hz.
[see, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-center Though water-clear colour is one of the “four-C’s”
of valuation, diamonds are sometimes deliberately coloured pale blue by treating them in an
electron accelerator to create crystal vacancy-defects, thus colour centres.]
