ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a conceptual framework to understand the response of a material to visible light, which is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It explores various interconnected relationships amongst optical constants. Knowledge of optical constants and interaction is useful for designing lasers, light-emitting diodes, non-linear optical crystals, photovoltaic cells, and materials characterization of electronic band structure, impurity levels, lattice vibrations, and magneto-optical behavior. The chapter presents some basic concepts in Maxwell’s equations related to study of optical phenomena. It explains the optical properties of glass, metals, and other non-metallic materials. The chapter lists the various spectroscopic and technological applications that use optical properties. It discusses a generalization of the free electron Drude theory, called the Drude–Lorentz theory of a dipole oscillator that explains reasonably well the optical properties of an insulator where electrons are bound to an atom.
