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Manipulating light waves: introduction
Randy A Bartels1, Brian G Hoover, Zeev Zalevsky
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1320, USA. bartels@engr.colostate.edu
Applied Optics
|February 2, 2008
Summary
This special issue honors Emmett Leith, a pioneering scientist whose work in holography, microscopy, and biomedical imaging simplified complex optical phenomena. His unique perspective revolutionized multiple fields of optics.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Biomedical Imaging
- Microscopy
Background:
- This special issue of Applied Optics is dedicated to Emmett Leith, a distinguished scientist and educator.
- Leith made significant contributions to holography, microscopy, and biomedical imaging.
Discussion:
- His unique and simplified approach to complex optical phenomena revolutionized several scientific fields.
- The issue features contributions from various authors, celebrating his extensive and impactful career.
Key Insights:
- Emmett Leith's work simplified complex optical principles.
- His innovations advanced fields like holography, microscopy, and biomedical imaging.
Outlook:
- The collected papers serve as a testament to Leith's lasting legacy in optics.
- Future research in optics will continue to benefit from his foundational contributions.
Related Concept Videos
02:12The Wave Nature of Light
The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.
02:18Interference and Diffraction
Interference is a characteristic phenomenon exhibited by waves. When two electromagnetic waves interact with their peaks and troughs coinciding, a resulting wave with enhanced amplitude is produced. This is known as constructive interference. In this case, the two waves interacting are in phase with each other.
01:07Propagation of Waves
When a wave propagates from one medium to another, part of it may get reflected in the first medium, and part of it may get transmitted to the second medium. In such a case, the interface of the two mediums can be considered as a boundary that is neither fixed nor free.
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...
01:17Standing Waves
Sometimes waves do not seem to move; rather, they just vibrate in place. Unmoving waves can be seen on the surface of a glass of milk kept in a refrigerator, which is one example of standing waves. Vibrations from the refrigerator motor create waves on the milk that oscillate up and down but do not seem to move across the surface. These waves are formed or created by the superposition of two or more identical moving waves in opposite directions. The waves move through each other, with their...
01:35Light as Energy
The energy required to carry out photosynthesis is light— typically electromagnetic radiation from the sun. The range of all possible wavelengths is known as the electromagnetic spectrum.
Photons
A photon is a discrete electromagnetic particle or bundle of energy. Photons are characterized by their frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, similar to the properties of a wave. Waves with higher frequencies transmit more energy and have shorter wavelengths than longer wavelengths that transmit less...
Photons
A photon is a discrete electromagnetic particle or bundle of energy. Photons are characterized by their frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, similar to the properties of a wave. Waves with higher frequencies transmit more energy and have shorter wavelengths than longer wavelengths that transmit less...
02:32The de Broglie Wavelength
In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...