J
Jamie Morken
Hi,
Does circularly polarized light have a rotating electric field, or is it
light that has a phase shift between the electric and magnetic fields?
I thought it was a phase shift between the electric and magnetic fields,
with a +90 or -90 degree phase shift being circularly polarized light
(left or right circularly polarized), and anything in between 0 and 90
degrees is elliptically polarized. However when I read about it, the
electric field rotating is always mentioned to described circularly
polarized light instead of the electric and magnetic field being phase
shifted.
If circular/elliptical polarized light is caused by a phase shift
between the electric and magnetic fields, this is similar to the concept
of power factor in electronics, and I think they are related, as power
factor describes the phase relationship between the voltage (electric
field) and current ((magnetic field) waveforms. So light that is linear
polarized, with the magnetic field and electric field in phase, would
have a power factor of one I guess!
cheers,
Jamie
Does circularly polarized light have a rotating electric field, or is it
light that has a phase shift between the electric and magnetic fields?
I thought it was a phase shift between the electric and magnetic fields,
with a +90 or -90 degree phase shift being circularly polarized light
(left or right circularly polarized), and anything in between 0 and 90
degrees is elliptically polarized. However when I read about it, the
electric field rotating is always mentioned to described circularly
polarized light instead of the electric and magnetic field being phase
shifted.
If circular/elliptical polarized light is caused by a phase shift
between the electric and magnetic fields, this is similar to the concept
of power factor in electronics, and I think they are related, as power
factor describes the phase relationship between the voltage (electric
field) and current ((magnetic field) waveforms. So light that is linear
polarized, with the magnetic field and electric field in phase, would
have a power factor of one I guess!
cheers,
Jamie