Optical constants

Refractive index of CH4 (Methane)

Martonchik and Orton 1994: Liquid at 111 K; n,k 0.002–71.4 µm

Data
tabulated nk
Range
0.002–71.43 µm
Points
43
Temperature
111 K
State
liquid
Licence
CC0-1.0

Plot

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Range 0.002–71.43 µm
Refractive index n
1.273
Extinction coefficient k
1.14076e-09
Permittivity ε1
1.62053
Permittivity ε2
2.90437e-09
Absorption coefficient α
0.000243961 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk)
8.19802e+10 nm
Abbe number Vd
—
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ
0 µm⁻¹
Group index ng
1.273
Group velocity dispersion
— fs²/mm
Dispersion parameter D
— ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy
2.11001 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, ng = 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

# CH4 (Methane): Martonchik and Orton 1994: Liquid at 111 K; n,k 0.002–71.4 µm
ch4 = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("organic", "methane", "Martonchik-liquid-111K", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(ch4.range_nm)  # (2, 71430) nm
eps = ch4.eps([633])  # complex permittivity

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

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.

Comments and conditions

Phase I solid methane at 111 K (-162.15 °C, melting point)
CAUTION: don't rely on interpolated values: Most data points represent values at local maxima or minima

Conditions

temperature
111 K

References

J. V. Martonchik and G. S. Orton. Optical constants of liquid and solid methane. Appl. Opt. 33, 8306-8317 (1994)

Cite

John V. Martonchik and Glenn S. Orton. Optical constants of liquid and solid methane. Applied Optics, 33, 8306 (1994), doi:10.1364/ao.33.008306; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

43 rows as published
CH4 (Methane), Martonchik and Orton 1994: Liquid at 111 K; n,k 0.002–71.4 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)nk
0.0021.00.0
0.05450.8640.2004
0.091.1960.6096
0.11.420.4551
0.10121.4170.4472
0.10871.4760.3527
0.11621.4420.3024
0.121.4550.3128
0.13371.6590.1702
0.41.280.0
0.58311.2731.16e-09
0.59831.2731.095e-09
0.62151.2721.83e-07
0.66961.2724.476e-09
0.68561.2712.51e-09
0.70571.2717.862e-09
0.71741.2711.085e-07
0.72991.2719.294e-08
0.78491.273.748e-08
0.79941.275.725e-08
0.84181.274.689e-08
0.86731.273.106e-07
0.88851.271.782e-06
0.97421.2694.651e-07
0.98721.2695.892e-07
1.01.2697.799e-07
1.0141.2699.438e-07
1.2351.2681.573e-07
1.2411.2687.903e-08
1.9321.2671.476e-06
1.9531.2678.393e-07
3.291.2270.03
3.331.260.07
3.371.2910.035
3.431.2810.02
3.571.2840.01
7.591.1820.07249
7.691.2580.16
7.81.3420.07499
8.131.3050.02002
8.261.310.01001
41.671.2720.0006234
71.431.2730.001353

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence
Method
Transmittance T
—
Reflectance R
—

Fresnel reflection calculator

Direction
Rp
—
Rs
—
R = (Rp+Rs)/2
—
Phase φp
—
Phase φs
—
Brewster angle θB
—
Critical angle θC
—