Optical constants

Refractive index of Air

Peck and Reeder 1972: n 0.185–1.7 µm

Data: formula 6
Range: 0.185–1.7 µm
Temperature: 288 K
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 1.00028
Extinction coefficient k: 0

Permittivity ε₁: 1.00055
Permittivity ε₂: 0

Absorption coefficient α: 0 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): — nm

Abbe number V_d: 89.293
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -1.59077e-05 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 1.00029
Group velocity dispersion: 0.0302311 fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: -0.164926 ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy: 2.11001 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, n_g = n − λ dn/dλ, GVD = λ³/(2πc²) d²n/dλ², D = −(λ/c) d²n/dλ². Group-velocity dispersion is given for formula data only.

Use it in Lightsmith

Load this data in Python, simulate in one more line

pip install lightsmith

import lightsmith as ls

# Air: Peck and Reeder 1972: n 0.185–1.7 µm
air = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("other", "air", "Peck", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(air.range_nm)  # (185, 1700) nm
eps = air.eps([633])  # complex permittivity

Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.

import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls

url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_87ac3dc5d674/lightsmith"
air = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(air.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (air/peck-reeder-1972).

# ... load air as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=air)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=400, stop_nm=1000, num=81),
)
res = ls.solve(sim)  # exact Mie for a sphere
print(res.q_ext)     # extinction efficiency at each wavelength

Same spec runs with DDA, FDTD, BEM or T-matrix: ls.compare(sim, ["mie", "dda"]).

Materials guide Open a sphere of it in Studio Quick start Ask the community

Lightsmith is open source (MIT): Mie, T-matrix, BEM, DDA, FDTD, RCWA, TMM, mode solvers and inverse design behind one spec, on CPU or GPU. GitHub.

Dispersion formula

Gases (formula 6), λ in µm

n - 1 = 8.06051 \times 10^{-5} + \frac{0.0248099}{132.274 - λ^{−2}} + \frac{0.000174557}{39.32957 - λ^{−2}}

Valid from 0.185 to 1.7 µm.

Coefficients as stored

C_i	Value
C1	8.06051e-05
C2	0.0248099
C3	132.274
C4	0.000174557
C5	39.32957

Comments and conditions

Standard air: dry air at 15 °C, 101.325 kPa and with 450 ppm CO₂ content.

Conditions

temperature: 288 K
pressure: 101325

References

E. R. Peck and K. Reeder. Dispersion of air. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62, 958-962 (1972)

doi:10.1364/josa.62.000958 Dispersion of Air*, Journal of the Optical Society of America (1972)

Cite

Edson R. Peck and Kaye Reeder. Dispersion of Air*. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 62, 958 (1972), doi:10.1364/josa.62.000958; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

Computed on 400 wavelengths, the same grid as the API and the library

CSV comma separated TXT tab separated YAML n, k Full database record original YAML All quantities CSV JSON metadata

Air, Peck and Reeder 1972: n 0.185–1.7 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n
0.185	1.000339
0.186031	1.000337
0.187068	1.000336
0.188111	1.000335
0.18916	1.000334
0.190214	1.000333
0.191275	1.000332
0.192341	1.000331
0.193413	1.00033
0.194491	1.000329
0.195575	1.000328
0.196666	1.000327
0.197762	1.000326
0.198864	1.000325
0.199973	1.000324
0.201088	1.000323
0.202208	1.000322
0.203336	1.000322
0.204469	1.000321
0.205609	1.00032
0.206755	1.000319
0.207908	1.000319
0.209067	1.000318
0.210232	1.000317
0.211404	1.000317
0.212582	1.000316
0.213767	1.000315
0.214959	1.000315
0.216157	1.000314
0.217362	1.000314
0.218574	1.000313
0.219792	1.000312
0.221018	1.000312
0.22225	1.000311
0.223489	1.000311
0.224734	1.00031
0.225987	1.00031
0.227247	1.000309
0.228514	1.000309
0.229788	1.000308
0.231069	1.000308
0.232357	1.000307
0.233652	1.000307
0.234954	1.000306
0.236264	1.000306
0.237581	1.000305
0.238906	1.000305
0.240237	1.000304
0.241577	1.000304
0.242923	1.000304
0.244277	1.000303
0.245639	1.000303
0.247008	1.000302
0.248385	1.000302
0.24977	1.000302
0.251162	1.000301
0.252562	1.000301
0.25397	1.0003
0.255386	1.0003
0.25681	1.0003
0.258241	1.000299
0.259681	1.000299
0.261128	1.000299
0.262584	1.000298
0.264048	1.000298
0.26552	1.000298
0.267	1.000297
0.268488	1.000297
0.269985	1.000297
0.27149	1.000296
0.273003	1.000296
0.274525	1.000296
0.276055	1.000295
0.277594	1.000295
0.279142	1.000295
0.280698	1.000295
0.282262	1.000294
0.283836	1.000294
0.285418	1.000294
0.287009	1.000294
0.288609	1.000293
0.290218	1.000293
0.291836	1.000293
0.293463	1.000293
0.295098	1.000292
0.296743	1.000292
0.298398	1.000292
0.300061	1.000292
0.301734	1.000291
0.303416	1.000291
0.305107	1.000291
0.306808	1.000291
0.308518	1.00029
0.310238	1.00029
0.311967	1.00029
0.313706	1.00029
0.315455	1.00029
0.317214	1.000289
0.318982	1.000289
0.32076	1.000289
0.322548	1.000289
0.324346	1.000289
0.326154	1.000288
0.327972	1.000288
0.329801	1.000288
0.331639	1.000288
0.333488	1.000288
0.335347	1.000287
0.337216	1.000287
0.339096	1.000287
0.340986	1.000287
0.342887	1.000287
0.344798	1.000287
0.346721	1.000286
0.348653	1.000286
0.350597	1.000286
0.352551	1.000286
0.354517	1.000286
0.356493	1.000286
0.35848	1.000285
0.360478	1.000285
0.362488	1.000285
0.364508	1.000285
0.36654	1.000285
0.368584	1.000285
0.370638	1.000285
0.372704	1.000284
0.374782	1.000284
0.376871	1.000284
0.378972	1.000284
0.381085	1.000284
0.383209	1.000284
0.385345	1.000284
0.387493	1.000283
0.389653	1.000283
0.391825	1.000283
0.39401	1.000283
0.396206	1.000283
0.398415	1.000283
0.400636	1.000283
0.402869	1.000283
0.405115	1.000282
0.407373	1.000282
0.409644	1.000282
0.411927	1.000282
0.414224	1.000282
0.416533	1.000282
0.418855	1.000282
0.42119	1.000282
0.423537	1.000282
0.425898	1.000281
0.428273	1.000281
0.43066	1.000281
0.433061	1.000281
0.435475	1.000281
0.437902	1.000281
0.440343	1.000281
0.442798	1.000281
0.445266	1.000281
0.447748	1.000281
0.450244	1.000281
0.452754	1.00028
0.455278	1.00028
0.457816	1.00028
0.460368	1.00028
0.462934	1.00028
0.465515	1.00028
0.46811	1.00028
0.470719	1.00028
0.473343	1.00028
0.475982	1.00028
0.478635	1.00028
0.481304	1.000279
0.483987	1.000279
0.486684	1.000279
0.489397	1.000279
0.492126	1.000279
0.494869	1.000279
0.497628	1.000279
0.500402	1.000279
0.503191	1.000279
0.505996	1.000279
0.508817	1.000279
0.511653	1.000279
0.514505	1.000279
0.517373	1.000279
0.520257	1.000278
0.523158	1.000278
0.526074	1.000278
0.529006	1.000278
0.531955	1.000278
0.534921	1.000278
0.537903	1.000278
0.540901	1.000278
0.543916	1.000278
0.546948	1.000278
0.549997	1.000278
0.553063	1.000278
0.556146	1.000278
0.559246	1.000278
0.562364	1.000278
0.565499	1.000278
0.568651	1.000277
0.571821	1.000277
0.575009	1.000277
0.578214	1.000277
0.581437	1.000277
0.584678	1.000277
0.587938	1.000277
0.591215	1.000277
0.594511	1.000277
0.597825	1.000277
0.601157	1.000277
0.604508	1.000277
0.607878	1.000277
0.611267	1.000277
0.614674	1.000277
0.618101	1.000277
0.621546	1.000277
0.625011	1.000277
0.628495	1.000277
0.631999	1.000277
0.635522	1.000276
0.639065	1.000276
0.642627	1.000276
0.646209	1.000276
0.649811	1.000276
0.653434	1.000276
0.657076	1.000276
0.660739	1.000276
0.664422	1.000276
0.668126	1.000276
0.671851	1.000276
0.675596	1.000276
0.679362	1.000276
0.683149	1.000276
0.686957	1.000276
0.690787	1.000276
0.694637	1.000276
0.69851	1.000276
0.702403	1.000276
0.706319	1.000276
0.710256	1.000276
0.714215	1.000276
0.718197	1.000276
0.7222	1.000276
0.726226	1.000276
0.730275	1.000276
0.734345	1.000275
0.738439	1.000275
0.742555	1.000275
0.746695	1.000275
0.750857	1.000275
0.755043	1.000275
0.759252	1.000275
0.763484	1.000275
0.76774	1.000275
0.77202	1.000275
0.776323	1.000275
0.780651	1.000275
0.785003	1.000275
0.789379	1.000275
0.793779	1.000275
0.798204	1.000275
0.802653	1.000275
0.807128	1.000275
0.811627	1.000275
0.816151	1.000275
0.820701	1.000275
0.825276	1.000275
0.829876	1.000275
0.834503	1.000275
0.839154	1.000275
0.843832	1.000275
0.848536	1.000275
0.853266	1.000275
0.858023	1.000275
0.862806	1.000275
0.867615	1.000275
0.872452	1.000275
0.877315	1.000275
0.882206	1.000275
0.887124	1.000275
0.892069	1.000275
0.897042	1.000275
0.902042	1.000275
0.907071	1.000274
0.912127	1.000274
0.917212	1.000274
0.922325	1.000274
0.927466	1.000274
0.932636	1.000274
0.937835	1.000274
0.943063	1.000274
0.94832	1.000274
0.953606	1.000274
0.958922	1.000274
0.964268	1.000274
0.969643	1.000274
0.975048	1.000274
0.980484	1.000274
0.985949	1.000274
0.991445	1.000274
0.996972	1.000274
1.00253	1.000274
1.00812	1.000274
1.01374	1.000274
1.01939	1.000274
1.02507	1.000274
1.03079	1.000274
1.03653	1.000274
1.04231	1.000274
1.04812	1.000274
1.05396	1.000274
1.05984	1.000274
1.06575	1.000274
1.07169	1.000274
1.07766	1.000274
1.08367	1.000274
1.08971	1.000274
1.09578	1.000274
1.10189	1.000274
1.10803	1.000274
1.11421	1.000274
1.12042	1.000274
1.12667	1.000274
1.13295	1.000274
1.13926	1.000274
1.14562	1.000274
1.152	1.000274
1.15842	1.000274
1.16488	1.000274
1.17137	1.000274
1.1779	1.000274
1.18447	1.000274
1.19107	1.000274
1.19771	1.000274
1.20439	1.000274
1.2111	1.000274
1.21785	1.000274
1.22464	1.000274
1.23147	1.000274
1.23833	1.000274
1.24524	1.000274
1.25218	1.000274
1.25916	1.000274
1.26618	1.000274
1.27324	1.000274
1.28033	1.000274
1.28747	1.000274
1.29465	1.000274
1.30186	1.000274
1.30912	1.000274
1.31642	1.000273
1.32376	1.000273
1.33114	1.000273
1.33856	1.000273
1.34602	1.000273
1.35352	1.000273
1.36107	1.000273
1.36866	1.000273
1.37628	1.000273
1.38396	1.000273
1.39167	1.000273
1.39943	1.000273
1.40723	1.000273
1.41507	1.000273
1.42296	1.000273
1.4309	1.000273
1.43887	1.000273
1.44689	1.000273
1.45496	1.000273
1.46307	1.000273
1.47122	1.000273
1.47943	1.000273
1.48767	1.000273
1.49597	1.000273
1.5043	1.000273
1.51269	1.000273
1.52112	1.000273
1.5296	1.000273
1.53813	1.000273
1.5467	1.000273
1.55533	1.000273
1.564	1.000273
1.57271	1.000273
1.58148	1.000273
1.5903	1.000273
1.59916	1.000273
1.60808	1.000273
1.61704	1.000273
1.62605	1.000273
1.63512	1.000273
1.64423	1.000273
1.6534	1.000273
1.66262	1.000273
1.67188	1.000273
1.6812	1.000273
1.69058	1.000273
1.7	1.000273

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence

Transmittance T: —
Reflectance R: —

Fresnel reflection calculator

R_p: —
R_s: —
R = (R_p+R_s)/2: —
Phase φ_p: —
Phase φ_s: —
Brewster angle θ_B: —
Critical angle θ_C: —

Air: all datasets

About Air

Air is a mixture of gases that constitutes the Earth's atmosphere and is vital for most forms of life on our planet. It primarily consists of nitrogen (approximately 78%) and oxygen (about 21%), with small amounts of other gases such as argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, and methane. The exact composition can vary depending on location and environmental conditions. Air is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. From a physical perspective, air plays a crucial role in many processes such as weather patterns, the water cycle, and is also an important medium for sound transmission. In terms of its optical properties, air has a refractive index very close to 1 (approximately 1.0003 at sea level under standard conditions), which varies slightly with temperature, humidity, and pressure. This refractive index is crucial in various applications ranging from astronomical observations to the design of optical systems where light travels through the atmosphere. Understanding the properties of air, including its refractive index, is essential for disciplines such as meteorology, environmental science, aviation, and optical engineering.

More about Air →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/other/mixed gases/air/nk/Peck.yml
ID: ds_87ac3dc5d674
API: /v1/datasets/ds_87ac3dc5d674

Plot