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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Can I couple 1064 nm and its harmonic 532 nm in a single polarization maintaining fiber?
I have an experiment where I need to get a largish (40 mW) amount of 532 nm light and small amount (<50 µW) of 1064 nm light into a device under test. I need something with stable polarization so ...
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While flying over Rome we noticed that during sunset, there was a green color between the red and blue of the sunset sky. What causes it?
The picture has only been trimmed and not edited. The green is visible when the red or orange tapers off into the blue. Is this different from what causes the green flash? We were flying from Rome.
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Is there a material that allows light to pass perpendicular to the surface, but reflects at an angle?
This is inspired by Michael Steven's new video about optics.
He shows off Selenite, which has the property that light entering on one side travels perpendicularly down the crystal until it exits the ...
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How does "coherence" contribute to inverting a two-level system?
In laser physics I am told that inverting a two-level system is not possible, since it will become transparent once the inversion reaches 50% and no longer be able to absorb more photons. This makes ...
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The Purcell effect, it's influence on the lifetime and quantum yield (of fluorophores)
So I've been looking into the Purcell effect and how it interacts with fluorophores (fluorescent molecules). The Purcell arises when you have a dipole in a cavity or even just near a dielectric or ...
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Different Color Intenensities from simple ON/OFF RGB subpixels
I recently got interested in electronic paper.
One design that I liked was the one from Mirasol:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometric_modulator_display
However, what I don't understand, is ...
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Location of lens having effective focal length
We know a/c to Gullstrand's equation that the effective focal length of two lenses separated by a distance $d$ is given as $$\frac{1}{f_{eq}}=\frac{1}{f_1}+\frac{1}{f_2}-\frac{d}{f_1f_2},$$ but the ...
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Why aren't all insulators transparent, since they have a large band gap?
According to Floris' answer in this link, diamonds are transparent as they have large band gaps while graphite is black as it is a conductor.
As electrical insulators generally have a large band gap, ...
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Quantify shade-off and halo effect in phase contrast microscopy
Shade-off and halo effect introduce distortion to phase contrast images. I am trying to utilize these features to write a program which could identify spherical cells from (positive) phase contrast ...
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Why does Light change color through Glass slab?
I shone a green laser light(~532 nm) through a glass slab and what I saw inside was that the light beam was now red.
Imagine a regular refraction diagram but color the beam outside green and that on ...
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Recommended books that describe emission and absorption of light and light/matter interactions
Hello I am a Chemical Engineer that has ventured into the field of optics and I was wondering if there is any recommended book/books to understand the maths and also some answered exercises or ...
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Optical Bloch oscillation
I have a doubt about how the optical Bloch oscillations happen in a 1D photonic crystal. I try to explain: in a photonic crystal with discrete translational symmetry in one direction I superimpose a ...
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Mathematical approaches to atmospheric refraction
Understanding atmospheric refraction, particularly of ultraviolet, and into the blue part of the visible spectrum is of great interest to me. Although, I have a strong background in trigonometry and ...
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Maximum-Entropy Method deconvolution implementation?
I am looking for an implementation of the Maximum Entropy Method for image deconvolution, ideally in MATLAB or Mathematica.
I'm trying to reconstruct an image from fringe visibilities, as is often ...
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Is it possible to calculate the work function of a metal with basic lab equipment?
I have been given a problem in physics, its to prove if a lump of metal we have been given is real gold or not. One way to to do it would be to work out its density, which is fairly easy, mass/volume. ...
