Abstract
Total internal reflection occurs when light is incident on the interface of high- and low-refractive-index materials at an angle greater than the critical angle. Sunlight with high degree of linear polarization, such as atmospheric scattered skylight, can be converted with a high efficiency up to 53% to circular and elliptical polarizations by total internal reflection under water in the region outside Snell’s window. The degree of circular polarization is observed to be inversely dependent on the albedo of underwater objects and is shown to be a direct consequence of the Umov effect. Our results are important for underwater polarimetry, surveillance applications and studies of marine animals’ polarized vision near the water-air interface.
Highlights
Polarized (CP) and elliptically polarized (EP)states of light are rarely seen in nature
We study the visibility of Circularly polarized (CP) and EP light under water for objects of different albedos and show that a high degree of circular polarization (DoCP) can be observed in the region outside Snell’s window[16], which is Correspondence: Yitian Ding or Stanley Pau 1College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Our study shows that CP vision permits the discrimination of direct field-of-view and total internal reflection (TIR) reflections of an object, such as a predator or prey, and this signal is strongly determined by the reflectivity of the object
Summary
Polarized (CP) and elliptically polarized (EP)states of light are rarely seen in nature. We study the visibility of CP and EP light under water for objects of different albedos and show that a high degree of circular polarization (DoCP) can be observed in the region outside Snell’s window[16], which is Correspondence: Yitian Ding (yding@optics.arizona.edu) or Stanley Pau (spau@optics.arizona.edu) 1College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA A similar variation in the DoCP is observed when an object is illuminated with polarized light.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
