Thin Films

• Light which partially passes through and partially reflects off a thin film of material can also interfere with itself
• If a light ray in one substance reflects off an interface to a material with a higher index of refraction, its phase is reversed
• If a ray which reflects off the front surface a film, and a ray which reflects off the back surface of a film, recombine in phase, one sees the reflected light; if they recombine out of phase, no reflection appears
• The reflection from a thin film can depend strongly on wavelength

• Viewgraph 1

• Viewgraph 2

• Viewgraph 3

• Viewgraph 4

• Viewgraph 5

• Viewgraph 6

• Viewgraph 7

Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.