Thin Film Interference: Overview

When light shines on a very thin film, interference can occur. Sometimes the inteference pattern can be quiet sticking, like in the case of an oil slick. The interference occurs between the light reflected off the top if the film and that off the bottom of the film.

Here is a great introduction to thin film intereference.

Here is a cool video displaying thin film intereference in action.

Big Ideas

Big Idea 1: Objects and systems have properties such as mass and charge. Systems may have internal structure.

Bid Idea 2: Fields existing in space can be used to explain interactions.

Big Idea 3: The interactions of an object with other objects can be described by forces.

Big Idea 4: Interactions between systems can result in changes in those systems.

Big Idea 5: Changes that occur as a result of interactions are constrained by conservation laws.

Big Idea 6: Waves can transfer energy and momentum from one location to another without the permanent transfer of mass and serve as a mathematical model for the description of other phenomena.

Big Idea 7: The mathematics of probability can be used to describe the behavior of complex systems and to interpret the behavior of quantum mechanical systems.

Learning Objectives

BoxSand Learning Objectives

Optics.Thin-Film-Interference.LO.BS.1: Be able to identify relative phase shifts and which conditional must be used
Optics.Thin-Film-Interference.LO.BS.2: Be able to draw rays undergoing thin film interference
Optics.Thin-Film-Interference.LO.BS.3: Be able to identify where the Path Legth Difference occurs between the two interfering waves
Optics.Thin-Film-Interference.LO.BS.4: Be able to find the series of wavelengths that will interference constructive/destructively
Optics.Thin-Film-Interference.LO.BS.5: Be able to explain why we only consider the first two reflections

Optics.Thin-Film-Interference.LO.BS.6: Students should understand the interference and diffraction of waves, so they can apply the principles of interference to light reflected by thin films, so they can:

State under what conditions a phase reversal occurs when light is reflected from the interface between two media of different indices of refraction.
Determine whether rays of monochromatic light reflected perpendicularly from two such interfaces will interfere constructively or destructively, and thereby account for Newton’s rings and similar phenomena, and explain how glass may be coated to minimize reflection of visible light.

College Board Learning Objectives

Enduring Understanding and Essential Knowledge

Enduring Understanding	Essential Knowledge

Assumptions

Describe what the assumptions are and why they're important

History

Physics Fun

Fun stuff