Questions tagged [optics]
Optics is the study of light, and its interaction with matter. It includes topics such as imaging systems, fiber optics, lasers, quantum optics, and more.
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How do I calculate the absorption of single layers of a multilayer stack using the electric field in each layer?
I'm trying to calculate the absorbance of individual layers using the transfer matrix method but I'm stuck on how to do it. The code I am using can give the total absorbance of the system, and the ...
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Permittivity real and imaginary parts with similar value possible?
Here's the context; I'm studying biological tissues that are supposed to behave like dielectrics. Using the modified cole-cole equation for theoretical predictions:
$$\tilde{\varepsilon}_r (\omega )= \...
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Are there any commercially made optical fibers which are made specifically to have very low microphonic properties for application in interferometry
Are there any commercially made optical fibers which are made specifically to have very low microphonic properties for applications in interferometry. While building a fiber optic interferometer I ...
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Scattering into an edge state
In the optical context, a photon can excite an electron from the valence band to the conduction band if the photon energy is higher than the gap. I would like to know is it possible to photoexcite an ...
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Principal plane of the lens [closed]
I want to set up an optical system as shown in the figure.
A laser beam passes through a diffraction grating, then a beam splitter, through a 35mm focal length lens to the object, and then is ...
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Double refraction - Direction of propagation of extraordinary wave inside the birefringent medium
I am reading Optics by Ajoy Ghatak, in which the author explains the phenomenon of double refraction in a calcite crystal using Huygens' principle. My query is in the analysis of the case of normal ...
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3x3 beam transfer matrix tilt angle transformation [closed]
I'm trying to use the formalism from 'Generalized beam matrices. III. Application to
diffraction analysis' and 'Generalized beam matrices: Gaussian beam propagation in misaligned complex optical ...
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Why laser output power fluctuates after passing through two 1x2 fiber optic couplers?
When laser source is launched into two 1x2 50/50 fiber optic couplers connected as below the output power constantly fluctuates in range of 70 uW.
The fluctuation happen roughly one to two times per ...
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Solarization Spectrum
I'm looking to better understand the relation between the spectrum of the light which induces solarization in glass and the spectrum of the induced absorption.
More specifically, I'm interested in ...
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Most generic form of refractive index tensors
The refractive index of a material is in general a $3x3$ tensor (as in the case of birefringent crystals). From literature, it seems that in the case of transparent crystals, this tensor is in general ...
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Radiation energy and momentum relation [duplicate]
Why is $\rho = 3p$ for radiation? What is the intuition behind this? If we had only 2 spatial dimentions, would it be $\rho = 2p$?
(I came across this relation while studying the state of the universe,...
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Why aren't all objects and their images same in size?
Suppose there is an object in front of a convex lens and we know that the light rays from each point on the surface of object will converge at a different point and form an image. So that means that ...
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Relating Brachistochrone problem to Fermat's principle of least time [closed]
When I came across the Brachistochrone problem, my teacher said we could relate it to Fermat's principle of least time.
So, we could make many glass slabs of high $\mathrm dx$, and every slab has a ...
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How to compute the diffraction efficiency of a thin phase grating with arbitrary groove shape?
From Magnusson and Gaylord (1978), the wave amplitudes, $S_i(z)$, of $p$-polarized light for a thin, arbitrary phase grating are given by the equation
$$
\frac{\partial S_i}{\partial z} + \gamma \sum_{...
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"Extraordinary polarization" in a birefringent optical medium
In Nonlinear Optics by R. W. Boyd, I came across the following sentences about light polarization in an uniaxial birefringent medium:
Light polarized perpendicular to the plane containing the ...
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Confusion regarding phase
As far as I know about phase if the phase difference between two waves is positive, the former is leading..and the latter is lagging. Then why has D J Grifith stated this?
If the phase of the magnetic ...
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Huygens' principle and the laws of reflection/refraction
As I understand the Huygens principle, all points on the wavefront are sources of secondary spherical wavelets and the tangent to these wavelets will form new wavefront. This is used to prove the ...
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Is there a good quantum explanation of refraction? [duplicate]
I'm aware of the classical explanation of refraction which deals with light being a wave that gets "slowed" down while passing from a medium to another. One problem that I have with this ...
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At which wavelengths do photons behave like X-ray?
Hard X-rays of wavelengths of about an angstrom are very different than regular lights in a way that they can’t be reflected or refracted, which means their refractive index is always close to 1 ...
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Directionality of laser light in vacuum [duplicate]
It is well-known that laser light is directional because of coherence from stimulated emission. This means that the light is emitted ONLY in the direction of propagation, and not in any type of ...
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Eye Floaters Optics
Eye floaters are these annoying objects floating in someones eye, usually seen by someone experiencing them as squiggly lines and dots buzzing around, either dark or partially transparent (I ...
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Michelson interferometer but with 1 arm (Part 2)
I designed a setup similar to Michelson Interferometer but with one mirror only. So, there is an angle between the 2 rays to the detector:
In order to understand the result on screen, I used (Zemax/...
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Absorption and emission spectrum terminology
Hi everyone recently i was looking for laser crystals and since I am an autodidact i was confused by the terminology and units of the optics domain. And specialy by the absorption and emission ...
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Can a collimated laser have curved wavefronts?
I know that a plane wave's collimation is affected by the curvature of its wavefronts. But since laser beam is composed of many plane waves, does it still apply ? Although there is always some ...
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How is light interference explained with photons?
In the classical model of light as an EM wave, interference is a trivial consequence of the linearity of the wave equation. Now, if we model light as collections of photons, how is light interference ...
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Can an optical medium be lossless and dispersive?
Occasionally, I come across the phrase "lossless dispersive linear optical medium". How can such a medium be possible mathematically? I mean the real and imaginary parts of the electric ...
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Modified two slit diffraction experiment
I thought up a slight modification to the classic two-slit experiment that would be fun to try, but I am certain that I am not the only person to consider it, and would like to know if it has already ...
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Why is vertically polarized light preferentially refracted at the surface and horizontally polarized light preferentially reflected?
I was reading OpenStax Physics on the topic of polarisation and Brewster's angle but there was no clear explanation as to why vertically polarised light generally refracts while horizontally polarised ...
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Would the use of LIPC's for Lasers avoid eye damage for bystanders?
Laser Induced Plasma Channels (LIPC) can create a tunnel of plasma in the air for a brief moment (milliseconds). But the formation of a LIPC is a process and not something instantaneous when it comes ...
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What does the optical Hamiltonian mean?
So I was trying to demonstrate Snell's law with Hamilton's equations, and when I got the Hamiltonian:
$$H = -\sqrt{n^2-p_{1}^2-p_{2}^2}.$$
I had a question about what this Hamiltonian indicates. I ...
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