My biggest objection to the picket-fence model for polarization is that
it is backwards. The textbooks I have seen that use the picket fence
model describe the fence as blocking the electric field if the plane of
polarization is perpendicular to the pickets. In reality, the
transmission is blocked when the electric field polarization is parallel
to the pickets.
A few texts recognize this and talk about the "transmission axis" of the
polarizer. I think most texts that use the "transmission axis" wording
don't use the picket fence wording because they would have to explain
that the transmission axis is perpendicular to the pickets, and this
won't make any sense to students unless further explanation is given.
Therefore, if the picket fence model is being taught (or assumed by the
students) as a blockage of E&M waves when the electric field can't fit
through the open spaces in the pickets, then the picket fence model is
basically a totally wrong picture.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu