The figure to the left is a three-dimensional sketch of a birefringent crystal.

Question

The figure to the left is a three-dimensional sketch of a birefringent crystal. The dotted lines illustrate how a thin parallel-faced slab of material could be cut from the larger specimen with the crystal's optic axis parallel to the faces of the plate. A section cut from the crystal in this manner is known as a retardation plate. When a beam of light is incident on the plate perpendicular to the direction of the optic axis as shown in the figure to the right, the O ray and the E ray travel along a single straight line but with different speeds. The figure shows the wave fronts for the two rays. Let the thickness of the plate be d. Show that the phase difference between the O ray and the E ray after traveling the thickness of the plate is theta = 2pid/lambda ?nO - nE? where lambda is the wavelength in air. Work done on paper Score: 1 out of 1 Comment: In a particular case, the incident light has a wavelength of 450 nm. Find the minimum value of d for a zinc sulfide plate for which theta = pi/2. Such a plate is called a quarter-wave plate. Use values of no and nE from this table.

Explanation / Answer

u=lambda/4

=0.1125 um

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