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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Principal plane of the lens
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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