The Filtering Characteristic of Polarizers - Lab Report Example

Concerning the two major classes of polarizers, several applications are drawn from their characteristic behavior (Dipak, 143).

Linear polarizers as a class of polarizers are made up of two sub-categories including absorptive and beam-splitting. The major difference between beam-splitting and absorptive polarizers is that the former splits an incident beam into two beams of varying polarization while the latter splits an unpolarized beam into two oppositely polarized states. An example of a linear polarizer is the wire-grind polarizer which is considered one of the simplest under the linear category of polarizers. An instance of the absorptive polarizer is the tourmaline crystal. However, this crystal is not used applicably as a polarizer as it appears colored (David, 13).

In practical applications, polarizers function under Malu’s Law which states that when a perfect polarizer is positioned in a beam of polarized light is affected by the initial intensity of the beam and the angle between the beam’s primary polarization path/direction and the polarizer’s axis.

Circular polarizers find more industrial use in that they are used in as filters in photography. In addition, circular polarizers are also employed in the 3D-glass lenses where determination of whether an image is supposed to be visible to the right or the left eye (Mark, 315). Read More