how retroreflectors really work
TRANSCRIPT
Everyday Optics
How Retroreflectors Really Work Retroreflectors, wh ich reflect l ight f rom automobile headlamps back in the same direction from wh ich the l ight or iginated, are invaluable safety devices. They are entirely passive, requir ing no power supply or maintenance. They make street signs, lane dividers, bicyclists, joggers, and road crews highly visible. A l though less than 100 years o ld, the devices are now ubiquitous and i n d i s p e n s a b l e . E v e n so, most peop le do not know h o w they work, and those who think they do are probably wrong. Certainly the explanation I was given when I began my study of optics (and wh ich I have heard from others as well) was demonstrably incorrect.
There are two types of common retroreflectors—those consisting of arrays of corner cubes and those consisting of collections of "cat's eyes." 1 The former are probably the most common. They are easily manufactured in bulk out of a variety of plastics, and can be tinted in different colors. Because the cross-section is hexagonal or triangular, it is easy to completely cover the surface of a reflector w i th an array of such constructions (Fig. 1). The pr inciple is straightforward and uncompl i cated, and w i l l not concern us further.
Corner cubes require a wel l -defined and oriented surface, however, and reflective tapes and paint often use a very different method. Glass or plastic beads are embedded into the material. Light that falls upon these beads ends up being reflected pr imar i ly back along its direction of origin. The phenomenon is the same one responsible for the "g l ow" from the eyes of animals caught in one's headlights. It is used in "beaded" projection screens, and was once used in a craft called "pastinella work," in which tiny glass spheres were scattered across painting whi le the paint
was sti l l damp. When light came f rom beh ind the v iewer , such pa in t ings seemed to l ight up themselves. The u l timate inspirat ion for most of this is the na tura l phenomenon ca l led " h e i l i genschein," in wh ich a person standing before a dew-covered f ield w i th the rising sun behind h im sees his shadow surrounded by a bright g low. 2
The usual explanation given for the strongly r e t r o r e f l e c t e d l ight is that l ight fo l lows a path similar to that in the case of a pr i
mary rainbow (Fig. 2). The ray is reflected upon entering the drop, strikes the rear surface, f rom wh ich it suffers Fresnel reflection, then refracts upon str iking the side of the drop again, exiting in the direction f rom wh ich it came. There are a number of objections to this route. First, it can be shown that such a path only exists if the index of the drop lies between √2 and 2.0. Water (with an index of 1.33) w i l l not support such a
path, yet the effect is often seen in aqueous media, such as animal eyes and dewdrops. Second, l ight that is scattered f rom a spherical drop after undergoing a single internal reflection is
concentrated along the rainbow angle, approximately 138° from the direction of i n c i d e n c e ra ther than b e i n g retroreflected along the direction 180° f rom the direction of incidence. This l ight is, in addit ion, broken up into its constituent spectral colors, whi le the l ight f rom "cat's eys" retroreflectors is
white. Th i rd , even where the index is sufficiently h igh to al low retroreflect ion, the result ing rays are restricted to near the edges of the drop. The center of the drop is dark. 3 In retroreflectors, hei l igenschein, and animal eyes, the entire drop lights up uni formly bright.
The "cats eye" effect is thus rather remarkable—it occurs for drops of al l indices and sizes, prov id ing very close to exact retroreflection. The mechanism is somewhat unexpected (Fig. 3). Light f rom some distant source is focused by the drop onto a surface very close to the drop, perhaps even the rear surface of the drop. The focusing is not complete, since the surface lies closer than the focal point of the crude lens, but does result in a more constrained circle
S T E P H E N R. WILK is senior optical sys
tems engineer with Optikos Corp., Cam
bridge, Mass.
MOST PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW
HOW T H E Y WORK . . .
FIGURE 1. ARRAY OF CORNER CUBE RETROREFLECTORS (AFTER VAN LEAR).
FIGURE 2. PATH OF LIGHT IN THE COMMON EXPLANATION OF RETROREFLECTION FROM WATER DROPLETS AND "CAT'S EYES" (AFTER TRICKER). NOTE THAT NO LIGHT IS REFLECTED FROM THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE SPHERE.
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of light. Since the light paths are reversible, the drop also acts to direct light reflected f rom this surface back along its original direction. Put another way, a viewer looking nearly along the direction of the incidence is in precisely the correct location to see the drop act as a magnifier for the spot of light. In his Introduction to Meteorological Optics, Tricker shows very effectively that this is the operating mechanism by use of flasks fi l led wi th water and a white card. If the card is placed very close to the flask, the flask is seen to light up, whi le if the card is moved far away f rom the flask there is no notable retroreflection.
The result is very desirable f rom the point of v iew of manufactur ing— there are no tight tolerances on indices, reflectivities, sizes, or distances. A l l one needs is to suspend glass or plastic spheres in such a way that they become partly uncovered as the paint dries.
It is interesting to note that the na tu ra l re t ro re f lec to r effect of heiligenschein is probably responsible for an almost universal symbol of hol i ness—the halo, or aureole. Anyone observing the effect w i th a light source behind them w i l l see the head of their
shadow s u r r o u n d e d by the br igh t retroreflected light. If others are present, each w i l l see the head of his or her shadow surrounded by this burst of i l luminat ion (but they w i l l not see this halo around the shadows of their companions.) The Renaissance artist and go ldsmi th (and egotist) Benvenuto Cel l in i was said to have seen in this evidence of his own magnificence. The more prosaic explanation that only one's own head's shadow lies near the posi t ion f rom wh ich the incident l ight is retroreflected into the eye is i l lustrated by photographs of the effect taken wi th a tr ipod-mounted camera. Here it is the shadow of the unat tended camera, wh ich is surrounded by a saintly halo. 4
A more epigrammatic cal l to humi l i ty was issued a century ago in the pages of Nature: "Nature naturally takes no
account of moral analogies, of wh ich Nature herself is ful l . Else one might note that a man never sees a halo round his own head unless he turns his back to the l ight." 5
R E F E R E N C E S
1. G . A . V a n Lear , Jr. "Ref lectors used i n h igh w a y signs and w a r n i n g s ignals, parts I, II, and III," Journa l of the Op t i ca l Society of A m e r i c a 30, 1940, 462.
2. R .A .R . Tr icker , Introduction to Meteorological Optics, A m e r i c a n E lsev ier Pub l . , N e w Y o r k , N . Y . 1970, 24-42.; M . M innaer t , The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air, Dove r P u b l i cat ions 350, N e w Y o r k , N . Y . 1954, 230-234.
3. See Plate II, T r icker 6, 37. 4. Ib id. , p. 26. 5. "B .W .S . " Na tu re 38, 1888, 589.
F I G U R E 3 . T R U E L I G H T P A T H IN
" C A T ' S E Y E " T Y P E R E T R O R E F L E C T O R S .
T H E S C A T T E R I N G S U R F A C E M A Y B E
T H E R E A R S U R F A C E O F T H E S P H E R E ,
R A T H E R T H A N A S U R F A C E C L O S E T O
T H E S P H E R E .
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