Physical optics

About: Physical optics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5342 publications have been published within this topic receiving 101388 citations. The topic is also known as: wave optics.

Optical response of a single spherical particle in a tightly focused light beam: application to the spatial modulation spectroscopy technique.

Abstract: We develop a new and numerically efficient formalism to describe the general problem of the scattering and absorption of light by a spherical metal or dielectric particle illuminated by a tightly focused beam. The theory is based on (i) the generalized Mie theory equations, (ii) the plane-wave decomposition of the converging light beam, and (iii) the expansion of a plane wave in terms of vector spherical harmonics. The predictions of the model are illustrated in the case of silver nanoparticles. The results are compared with the Mie theory in the local approximation. Finally, some effects related to the convergence of the beam are analyzed in the context of experiments based on the spatial modulation spectroscopy technique.

Full wave analysis for rough surface diffuse, incoherent radar cross sections with height-slope correlations included

Abstract: The bistatic scattering cross sections are derived for rough one-dimensional perfectly conducting surfaces using the full wave approach. The surfaces are characterized by four-dimensional Gaussian joint probability density functions for heights and slopes. Thus, correlations between the rough surface heights and slopes are accounted for in the analysis. Convergence of the formal series solution is considered. Self-shadowing effects are included. The full-wave solutions are compared with the small perturbation solutions, which are polarization dependent, and the specular point (physical optics) solutions, which are independent of polarization. Both the physical optics and the small perturbation solutions can be obtained from the full-wave solution. >

Resonant Optical Tunneling Effect: Recent Progress in Modeling and Applications

Abstract: A resonant optical tunneling effect (ROTE) is a special phenomenon that bridges the wave optics and the quantum physics, and has attracted continuous research efforts for many years. This paper aims to summarize the latest progress of the ROTE in theoretical modeling and application studies. As the background, the analogies of photon tunneling and electron tunneling are first discussed using different optical structures and their corresponding quantum configurations. Then, two theoretical models are presented based on the optics interpretation and the quantum interpretation, respectively. Next, the applications of the ROTE are explored for optical switches and refractive index sensors. Finally, brief discussions are presented to distinguish the ROTE from some other similar phenomena.

Theoretical Optics: An Introduction

Abstract: Preface to the German edition.Preface to the English edition.1. A short survey of the history of optics.2. The electrodynamics of continuous media.2.1 Maxwell's equations.2.2 Molecular vs. macroscopic fields.2.3 A simple model for the electric current.2.4 Dispersion relations and the passivity condition.2.5 Electric displacement density and magnetic field strength.2.6 Index of refraction and coefficient of absorption.2.7 The electromagnetic material quantities.2.8 The oscillator model for the electric susceptibility.2.9 Material equations in moving media.3. Linear waves in homogeneous media.3.1 Elastic waves in solids.3.2 Isotropic elastic media.3.3 Wave surfaces and ray surfaces.4. Crystal optics.4.1 The normal ellipsoid.4.2 Plane waves in crystals.4.3 Optically uniaxial crystals.4.4 Optically biaxial crystals.4.5 Reflection and refraction at interfaces.4.6 Fresnel's equations.4.7 The Fabry-Perot interferometer.5. Electro-, magneto- and elastooptical phenomena.5.1 Polarization effects up to first order - optical activity.5.2 Polarization effects of higher order.6. Foundations of nonlinear optics.6.1 Nonlinear polarization - combination frequencies.6.2 Nonlinear waves in a medium.6.3 Survey of phenomena in nonlinear optics.6.4 Parametric amplification and frequency doubling.6.5 Phase matching.6.6 Self-focussing, optical bistability, phase self-modulation.6.7 Phase conjugation.6.8 Fiber optics and optical solitons.7. Short-wave asymptotics.7.1 Introductory remarks.7.2 Short-wave expansion of Maxwell's equations.7.3 The scalar wave equation.7.4 Phase surfaces and rays.7.5 Fermat's principle.7.6 Analogy between mechanics and geometrical optics.8. Geometrical optics.8.1 Fermat's principle and focal points.8.2 Perfect optical instruments.8.3 Maxwell's fish-eye.8.4 Canonical transformations and eikonal functions.8.5 Imaging points close to the optic axis by wide spread ray bundles.8.6 Linear geometrical optics and symplectic transformations.8.7 Gaussian optics and image matrices.8.8 Lens defects and Seidel's theory of aberrations.9. Geometric theory of caustics.9.1 Short-wave asymptotics for linear partial differential equations.9.2 Solution of the characteristic equation.9.3 Solution of the transport equation.9.4 Focal points and caustics.9.5 Behavior of phases in the vicinity of caustics.9.6 Caustics, Lagrangian submanifolds and Maslov index.9.7 Supplementary remarks on geometrical short-wave asymptotics.10. Diffraction theory.10.1 Survey.10.2 The principles of Huygens and Fresnel.10.3 The method of stationary phases.10.4 Kirchhoff's representation of the wave amplitude.10.5 Kirchhoff's theory of diffraction.10.6 Diffraction at an edge.10.7 Examples of Fraunhofer diffraction.10.8 Optical image processing in Fourier space.10.9 Morse families.10.10 Oscillatory functions and Fourier integral operators.11. Holography.11.1 The principle of holography.11.2 Modifications and applications.11.3 Volume holograms.12. Coherence theory.12.1 Coherent and incoherent light.12.2 Real and analytical signals.12.3 The light wave field as a stochastic process.12.4 Gaussian stochastic processes.12.5 The quasi-monochromatic approximation.12.6 Coherence and correlation functions.12.7 The propagation of the correlation function.12.8 Amplitude and intensity interferometry.12.9 Dynamical light scattering.12.10 Granulation.12.11 Image processing by filtering.12.12 Polarization of partially coherent light.13. Quantum states of the electromagnetic field.13.1 Quantization of the electromagnetic field and harmonic oscillators.13.2 Coherent and squeezed states.13.3 Operators, ordering procedures and star products.13.4 The Q, P, and Wigner functions of a density operator.14. Detection of radiation fields.14.1 Beam splitters and homodyne detection.14.2 Correlation functions and quantum coherence.14.3 Measurement of correlation functions.14.4 Anti-bunching and sub-Poissonian light.15. Interaction of radiation and matter.15.1 The electric dipole interaction.15.2 Simple laser theory.15.3 Three-level systems and atomic interference.15.4 The Jaynes-Cummings model.15.5 The micromaser.15.6 Quantum state engineering.15.7 The Paul trap.15.8 Motion of a two-level atom in a quantized light field .16. Quantum optics and fundamental quantum theory.16.1 Quantum entanglement.16.2 Bell's inequalities.16.3 Quantum erasers and measurement without interaction.16.4 No cloning and quantum teleportation.16.5 Quantum cryptography.16.6 Quantum computation.Selected references.Index.

Cross-polarized wave generation by effective cubic nonlinear optical interaction

Abstract: A new cubic nonlinear optical effect in which a linearly polarized wave propagating in a single quadratic medium is converted into a wave that is cross polarized to the input wave is observed in BBO crystal. The effect is explained by cascading of two different second-order processes: second-harmonic generation and difference frequency mixing.