Magnetic field light wave

A wave is a disturbance which travels and spreads out through some medium. Examples include ripples on the surface of water, vibrations in a string, and vibrating electric and magnetic fields (light waves). The wave disturbance can take many mathematical forms, but the simplest is the sinusoidal wave shown in Fig. 1,1. This illustrates how the displacement of the medium (y) varies with position (x) at three successive times. 

In this discussion we define the x direction to be the direction of propagation of the light waves. This means that the yz plane contains the oscillating electrical and magnetic fields which carry the energy of the radiation. Only the electric field concerns us in scattering. Since the oscillation is periodic in both time t and location x, the electric field can be represented by the equation... 

FIGURE 27.23 Electric (E) and magnetic (H) vectors in a linearly polarized light wave. The plane of polarization contains the electric field vectors in space. At a fixed focation, the tip of the electric vector traces a straight line as a function of time. (From Muller, 1973, with permission from Wiley-VCH.)... 

The oscillating electric and magnetic fields of a beam of ordinary light in one plane. The waves depicted here occur in all possible planes in ordinary light. 

The word radiant energy is the energy transmitted from one body to another in the form of radiations. This energy has wave nature and because it is associated with electric and magnetic fields, it is also called electro-magnetic radiations. The visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, X-rays, radio-waves and microwaves are all different forms of electromagnetic radiations. 

The factor 1(0) in Eq. (7.2) is a function of 8 and the polarization of the incident light these features are discussed shortly. However, we first examine the remarkable amplitude, polarization, and phase behaviors of the electric fields [from which 1(0) is derived] and the magnetic fields of the TIR evanescent wave. The field components are listed below, with incident electric field amplitudes Aps and phase factors relative to those of the incident E field s phase at z = 0. (The coordinate system is chosen such that the x-z plane is the plane of incidence. Incident polarizations p and s are parallel and perpendicular to the plane of incidence, respectively.)... 

Light has both wave-like and particle-like properties. As a wave, it is a combination of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other and to the direction of propagation (Fig. 3.10). The distance between consecutive peaks is the wavelength, A, and the number of complete cycles passing a fixed point in 1 s is the frequency, v. They are inversely proportional through the relationship... 

FIGURE 3.10 The instantaneous electric (Ev) and magnetic (H. ) field strength vectors of a plane-polarized light wave as a function of position along the axis of propagation (jc) (from Calvert and Pitts, 1966). 

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