Optical constants of H2O, D2O (Water, heavy water, ice)
Bashkatov and Genina 2003: Water; n 0.225–1.14 µm; 20 °C
Complex refractive index (n+ik)
Derived optical constants
Dispersion formula
$$n=1.31984+5190.553\text{×}10^{-6}λ^{-2}-2.56169\text{×}10^{-4}λ^{-4}+9.39388\text{×}10^{-6}λ^{-6}$$Conditions
temperature: 293.15
Comments
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) distilled water at 20.0 °C.
There are typesetting errors in the original paper: In Table 2, the coefficient C must be multiplied by 108 (not 10−8) and the coefficient D must be multiplied by 1012. Additionally, Equation (7) must be multiplied by 1012. With these corrections, and after converting the wavelength to µm, the following expressions can be used to calculate the coefficients of the dispersion formula at any temperature in the 0–100 °C range:
A(t) = 1.3208
− 1.2325×10−5·t
− 1.8674×10−6·t2
+ 5.0233×10−9·t3
B(t) = 5.2082413×10−3
− 5.179×10−7·t
− 2.284×10−8·t2
+ 6.9608×10−11·t3
C(t) = −2.5551×10−4
− 1.8341336×10−8·t
− 9.172319×10−10·t2
+ 2.7729×10−12·t3
D(t) = 9.3495×10−6
+ 1.7855×10−3·t
+ 3.6733×10−1·t2
− 1.2932×101·t3
References
A. N. Bashkatov and E. A. Genina. Water refractive index in dependence on temperature and wavelength: a simple approximation. Proc. SPIE 5068, 393-395 (2003)
Data
Additional information
About Water
Water (H2O) is the most abundant compound on Earth's surface. It exists in various states—liquid, solid (ice), and gas (water vapor)—each having unique optical properties. In its liquid form, water is transparent over a broad range of visible wavelengths but absorbs infrared and ultraviolet light. It serves as the basis for many solvents used in optical spectroscopy. Ice, the solid state of water, also has specific optical characteristics like birefringence and is studied for its role in atmospheric optics. Water vapor, on the other hand, can act as a selective absorber of certain wavelengths and is significant in remote sensing applications. Given its ubiquity and importance in life sciences and environmental science, understanding the optical properties of water and its various states is crucial.
Other names and variations:- H2O
- Ice