Optical momentum transfer to macroscopic media

Persistent conflicts over the momentum of light in media has led researchers to apply an alternate approach to predicting the electromagnetic force on material. Direct application of the Lorentz force to media allows for the computation of electromagnetic forces while avoiding a priori assumptions for the form of optical momentum. In this view, the forces exist everywhere in matter once the field is present. Because of this, the approach can be computationally daunting, particularly when multiple particles are surrounded by a medium with a dielectric or magnetic response to the fields. The theory presented in this thesis represents a self-consistent formulation for efficiently modeling optical momentum transfer to macroscopic media. The Maxwell stress tensor and the distributed Lorentz force are first applied to calculate forces on lossless media and are shown to be in excellent agreement. It is shown that a normally incident plane wave pushes a slab in the wave propagation direction, while it pulls a half-space toward the incoming wave. The Lorentz force density is applied to the slab in a direct way, while the half-space is dealt with by introducing a finite amount of loss. The losses have to be properly accounted for, otherwise differing results are obtained.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Kemp, Brandon Alden, 1975-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jin Au Kong and Tomasz M. Grzegorczyk.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40500

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40500