Optical constants

Refractive index of Basal Medium Eagle (BME, DMEM)

Barroso et al. 2019: DMEM with 10% FBS; n 0.5–1.1 µm

Data: formula 3
Range: 0.5–1.1 µm
Temperature: 295 K
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 1.33489
Extinction coefficient k: 0

Permittivity ε₁: 1.78193
Permittivity ε₂: 0

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

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.0238227 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 1.34889
Group velocity dispersion: 48.6745 fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: -265.545 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

# Basal Medium Eagle (BME, DMEM): Barroso et al. 2019: DMEM with 10% FBS; n 0.5–1.1 µm
bme = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("other", "BME", "Barroso-FBS", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(bme.range_nm)  # (500, 1100) nm
eps = bme.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_149e687a86f1/lightsmith"
bme = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(bme.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (bme/barroso-2019-fbs).

# ... load bme as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=bme)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=500, 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

Polynomial (formula 3), λ in µm

n^{2} = 1.7826 - 0.0008 λ^{- 2.0} + 0.0009 λ^{- 4.0} - 0.0171 λ^{2.0}

Valid from 0.5 to 1.1 µm.

Coefficients as stored

C_i	Value
C1	1.7826
C2	-0.0008
C3	-2.0
C4	0.0009
C5	-4.0
C6	-0.0171
C7	2.0

Comments and conditions

DMEM (Sigma-Aldrich) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 2 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. 22 °C.

Conditions

temperature: 295 K

References

Á. Barroso, R. Radhakrishnan, S. Ketelhut, J. Schnekenburger, B. Kemper. Refractive index determination of buffer solutions from visible to near-infrared spectral range for multispectral quantitative phase imaging using a calibrated Abbe refractometer. Proc. SPIE 10887, 1088729 (2019)

doi:10.1117/12.2509221 Refractive index determination of buffer solutions from visible to near-infrared spectral range for multispectral quantitative phase imaging using a calibrated Abbe refractometer, Quantitative Phase Imaging V (2019)

Cite

Álvaro Barroso Peña, Rohan Radhakrishnan, Steffi Ketelhut, Jürgen Schnekenburger and Björn Kemper. Refractive index determination of buffer solutions from visible to near-infrared spectral range for multispectral quantitative phase imaging using a calibrated Abbe refractometer. Quantitative Phase Imaging V, 80 (2019), doi:10.1117/12.2509221; 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

Basal Medium Eagle (BME, DMEM), Barroso et al. 2019: DMEM with 10% FBS; n 0.5–1.1 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n
0.5	1.337731
0.500989	1.337687
0.50198	1.337644
0.502973	1.3376
0.503968	1.337557
0.504965	1.337514
0.505964	1.337472
0.506964	1.337429
0.507967	1.337387
0.508972	1.337346
0.509979	1.337304
0.510987	1.337263
0.511998	1.337222
0.513011	1.337181
0.514026	1.337141
0.515042	1.337101
0.516061	1.337061
0.517082	1.337021
0.518105	1.336982
0.51913	1.336942
0.520157	1.336903
0.521185	1.336865
0.522216	1.336826
0.523249	1.336788
0.524284	1.33675
0.525321	1.336712
0.52636	1.336675
0.527402	1.336638
0.528445	1.336601
0.52949	1.336564
0.530537	1.336527
0.531587	1.336491
0.532638	1.336455
0.533692	1.336419
0.534748	1.336383
0.535805	1.336347
0.536865	1.336312
0.537927	1.336277
0.538991	1.336242
0.540057	1.336207
0.541126	1.336173
0.542196	1.336138
0.543268	1.336104
0.544343	1.33607
0.54542	1.336037
0.546499	1.336003
0.54758	1.33597
0.548663	1.335937
0.549748	1.335904
0.550835	1.335871
0.551925	1.335838
0.553017	1.335806
0.554111	1.335774
0.555207	1.335741
0.556305	1.33571
0.557405	1.335678
0.558508	1.335646
0.559613	1.335615
0.56072	1.335584
0.561829	1.335553
0.56294	1.335522
0.564054	1.335491
0.565169	1.33546
0.566287	1.33543
0.567407	1.3354
0.56853	1.33537
0.569654	1.33534
0.570781	1.33531
0.57191	1.33528
0.573041	1.335251
0.574175	1.335222
0.575311	1.335192
0.576449	1.335163
0.577589	1.335134
0.578731	1.335106
0.579876	1.335077
0.581023	1.335049
0.582172	1.33502
0.583324	1.334992
0.584478	1.334964
0.585634	1.334936
0.586792	1.334908
0.587953	1.33488
0.589116	1.334853
0.590281	1.334825
0.591449	1.334798
0.592619	1.334771
0.593791	1.334744
0.594966	1.334717
0.596142	1.33469
0.597322	1.334663
0.598503	1.334637
0.599687	1.33461
0.600873	1.334584
0.602062	1.334558
0.603253	1.334532
0.604446	1.334506
0.605641	1.33448
0.606839	1.334454
0.60804	1.334428
0.609243	1.334403
0.610448	1.334377
0.611655	1.334352
0.612865	1.334326
0.614077	1.334301
0.615292	1.334276
0.616509	1.334251
0.617729	1.334226
0.61895	1.334201
0.620175	1.334177
0.621401	1.334152
0.622631	1.334127
0.623862	1.334103
0.625096	1.334079
0.626333	1.334054
0.627572	1.33403
0.628813	1.334006
0.630057	1.333982
0.631303	1.333958
0.632552	1.333934
0.633803	1.33391
0.635057	1.333887
0.636313	1.333863
0.637571	1.333839
0.638833	1.333816
0.640096	1.333792
0.641362	1.333769
0.642631	1.333746
0.643902	1.333723
0.645176	1.3337
0.646452	1.333677
0.647731	1.333654
0.649012	1.333631
0.650296	1.333608
0.651582	1.333585
0.652871	1.333562
0.654162	1.33354
0.655456	1.333517
0.656753	1.333494
0.658052	1.333472
0.659353	1.333449
0.660658	1.333427
0.661965	1.333405
0.663274	1.333382
0.664586	1.33336
0.6659	1.333338
0.667218	1.333316
0.668537	1.333294
0.66986	1.333272
0.671185	1.33325
0.672512	1.333228
0.673843	1.333206
0.675176	1.333184
0.676511	1.333163
0.677849	1.333141
0.67919	1.333119
0.680534	1.333098
0.68188	1.333076
0.683228	1.333054
0.68458	1.333033
0.685934	1.333011
0.687291	1.33299
0.68865	1.332969
0.690013	1.332947
0.691377	1.332926
0.692745	1.332905
0.694115	1.332883
0.695488	1.332862
0.696864	1.332841
0.698242	1.33282
0.699623	1.332799
0.701007	1.332777
0.702394	1.332756
0.703783	1.332735
0.705175	1.332714
0.70657	1.332693
0.707968	1.332672
0.709368	1.332651
0.710771	1.33263
0.712177	1.33261
0.713586	1.332589
0.714998	1.332568
0.716412	1.332547
0.717829	1.332526
0.719249	1.332505
0.720672	1.332485
0.722097	1.332464
0.723525	1.332443
0.724957	1.332422
0.726391	1.332402
0.727827	1.332381
0.729267	1.33236
0.73071	1.332339
0.732155	1.332319
0.733603	1.332298
0.735054	1.332277
0.736508	1.332257
0.737965	1.332236
0.739425	1.332215
0.740887	1.332195
0.742353	1.332174
0.743821	1.332154
0.745293	1.332133
0.746767	1.332112
0.748244	1.332092
0.749724	1.332071
0.751207	1.332051
0.752693	1.33203
0.754182	1.332009
0.755674	1.331989
0.757168	1.331968
0.758666	1.331948
0.760167	1.331927
0.76167	1.331906
0.763177	1.331886
0.764687	1.331865
0.766199	1.331845
0.767715	1.331824
0.769233	1.331803
0.770755	1.331783
0.772279	1.331762
0.773807	1.331741
0.775338	1.331721
0.776871	1.3317
0.778408	1.331679
0.779948	1.331659
0.781491	1.331638
0.783036	1.331617
0.784585	1.331596
0.786137	1.331576
0.787692	1.331555
0.78925	1.331534
0.790811	1.331513
0.792376	1.331493
0.793943	1.331472
0.795513	1.331451
0.797087	1.33143
0.798664	1.331409
0.800243	1.331388
0.801826	1.331367
0.803412	1.331346
0.805002	1.331325
0.806594	1.331304
0.808189	1.331283
0.809788	1.331262
0.81139	1.331241
0.812995	1.33122
0.814603	1.331199
0.816214	1.331178
0.817829	1.331157
0.819446	1.331136
0.821067	1.331114
0.822691	1.331093
0.824319	1.331072
0.825949	1.331051
0.827583	1.331029
0.82922	1.331008
0.83086	1.330987
0.832504	1.330965
0.83415	1.330944
0.8358	1.330922
0.837454	1.330901
0.83911	1.330879
0.84077	1.330857
0.842433	1.330836
0.844099	1.330814
0.845769	1.330792
0.847442	1.330771
0.849118	1.330749
0.850798	1.330727
0.852481	1.330705
0.854167	1.330683
0.855857	1.330661
0.85755	1.330639
0.859246	1.330617
0.860945	1.330595
0.862648	1.330573
0.864355	1.330551
0.866064	1.330529
0.867778	1.330507
0.869494	1.330484
0.871214	1.330462
0.872937	1.33044
0.874664	1.330417
0.876394	1.330395
0.878128	1.330372
0.879865	1.33035
0.881605	1.330327
0.883349	1.330304
0.885096	1.330282
0.886847	1.330259
0.888601	1.330236
0.890359	1.330213
0.89212	1.33019
0.893885	1.330167
0.895653	1.330144
0.897424	1.330121
0.8992	1.330098
0.900978	1.330075
0.90276	1.330052
0.904546	1.330028
0.906335	1.330005
0.908128	1.329982
0.909924	1.329958
0.911724	1.329935
0.913528	1.329911
0.915335	1.329887
0.917145	1.329864
0.918959	1.32984
0.920777	1.329816
0.922598	1.329792
0.924423	1.329768
0.926252	1.329744
0.928084	1.32972
0.92992	1.329696
0.931759	1.329672
0.933602	1.329647
0.935449	1.329623
0.937299	1.329599
0.939153	1.329574
0.941011	1.32955
0.942872	1.329525
0.944737	1.3295
0.946606	1.329476
0.948479	1.329451
0.950355	1.329426
0.952235	1.329401
0.954118	1.329376
0.956005	1.329351
0.957896	1.329326
0.959791	1.3293
0.96169	1.329275
0.963592	1.32925
0.965498	1.329224
0.967408	1.329199
0.969321	1.329173
0.971239	1.329147
0.97316	1.329122
0.975085	1.329096
0.977013	1.32907
0.978946	1.329044
0.980882	1.329018
0.982823	1.328992
0.984767	1.328965
0.986715	1.328939
0.988666	1.328913
0.990622	1.328886
0.992581	1.32886
0.994545	1.328833
0.996512	1.328806
0.998483	1.328779
1.00046	1.328753
1.00244	1.328726
1.00442	1.328699
1.00641	1.328671
1.0084	1.328644
1.01039	1.328617
1.01239	1.328589
1.01439	1.328562
1.0164	1.328534
1.01841	1.328507
1.02042	1.328479
1.02244	1.328451
1.02447	1.328423
1.02649	1.328395
1.02852	1.328367
1.03056	1.328339
1.0326	1.32831
1.03464	1.328282
1.03668	1.328253
1.03874	1.328225
1.04079	1.328196
1.04285	1.328167
1.04491	1.328138
1.04698	1.328109
1.04905	1.32808
1.05112	1.328051
1.0532	1.328022
1.05529	1.327993
1.05737	1.327963
1.05947	1.327934
1.06156	1.327904
1.06366	1.327874
1.06576	1.327844
1.06787	1.327814
1.06999	1.327784
1.0721	1.327754
1.07422	1.327724
1.07635	1.327693
1.07848	1.327663
1.08061	1.327632
1.08275	1.327601
1.08489	1.327571
1.08703	1.32754
1.08919	1.327509
1.09134	1.327477
1.0935	1.327446
1.09566	1.327415
1.09783	1.327383
1.1	1.327352

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: —

Basal Medium Eagle (BME, DMEM): all datasets

About Basal Medium Eagle (BME, DMEM)

Basal Medium Eagle (BME) is a widely used cell culture medium designed to support the growth of various mammalian cells in vitro. Developed by Harry Eagle, it provides essential nutrients, including amino acids, vitamins, salts, and glucose, necessary for cell maintenance and proliferation. BME serves as the foundation for more complex media, such as Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM), which contains higher glucose concentrations and additional supplements to support more demanding cell lines. The refractive index of BME and DMEM solutions, typically around 1.335–1.340 at 20°C, is crucial for optical applications such as phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy. These media play a fundamental role in biomedical research, including tissue engineering, drug development, and molecular biology studies.

Eagle's minimal essential medium - Wikipedia

More about Basal Medium Eagle (BME, DMEM) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/other/buffer solutions/BME/nk/Barroso-FBS.yml
ID: ds_149e687a86f1
API: /v1/datasets/ds_149e687a86f1

Plot