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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.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the use of the Pantograph-punch for the observation of diffraction patterns of holes punched in thin card to represent atomic arrangements, and the instrument that is used to observe these patterns and also the pantographpunch used to prepare the cards.
Abstract: The methods described involve the observation of the diffraction patterns of holes punched in thin card to represent atomic arrangements. Details are given of the instrument that is used to observe these patterns and also of the pantograph-punch that is used to prepare the cards. Several examples of diffraction patterns are given; some illustrate the performance of the instrument with lenses of various optical qualities and others illustrate the use of the instrument in the teaching of physical optics.

25 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new regime map based on the comparison of the geometric optics (GO) ray tracing approximation method and finite-difference time-domain solutions is presented. But the latter does not consider the wave interference and polarization effects, which are important when the wavelength is on the same order or larger than the geometrical length scale.
Abstract: The electromagnetic wave scattering from random roughness surfaces is a technologically important but challenging problem. There is a significant amount of interest in understanding the radiative properties of the rough surfaces for diverse applications. On one end, the rigorous models require the solutions of complex formulations of the Maxwell's equations or rely on various numerical schemes, which typically are computationally intensive. On the other hand, it has been found that the geometric optics (GO) ray tracing approximation method produces reasonably accurate radiative property predictions in some cases and with little computational effort. However, the latter ignores the wave interference and polarization effects, which are important when the wavelength is on the same order or larger than the geometrical length scale. It is therefore important to quantify the accuracy of the GO approximation. This study reports a new regime map based on the comparisons of the GO and finite-difference time-domain solutions.

25 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the wave propagation phenomena of a disturbance with a definite speed (velocity of light, velocity of sound) and the specific properties of these waves are reflection, diffraction and interference, well known phenomena in physical optics.
Abstract: The phenomenon of wave propagation is encountered frequently in a variety of engineering disciplines. For the design of antennas the interaction with electromagnetic waves has to be known. For earthquake analysis the elastodynamic wave propagation is essential. Knowledge of surface waves of liquids is necessary for the design of harbours and dams, and for the design of pressure vessels and piping networks in several branches of industry pressure transient analyses are required. What these wave propagation phenomena have in common is that they describe the motion of a disturbance with a definite speed (velocity of light, velocity of sound). The specific properties of these waves are reflection,diffraction and interference,-well known phenomena in physical optics.

24 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The asymptotic extinction efficiency factor may not necessarily converge to 2, but it depends on the specific physical processes of the interference between diffracted and transmitted light and of the edge effect.
Abstract: The extinction efficiency factor associated with the scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave impinging on a basal face of a dielectric disk or a cylindrical particle is investigated by employing the physical-geometric optics hybrid (PGOH) method and the discrete-dipole approximation (DDA) method. It is found that the derived extinction efficiency factor from the PGOH is a function of the thickness of the disk, or the length of the cylinder, and the refractive index, but is independent of the diameter and shape of the cross section of the basal face of the particle. Furthermore, the oscillations of the extinction efficiency factor versus the thickness or length of the particle do not diminish if the particle is not absorptive. The values of the extinction efficiency factor simulated from the DDA method are quite different from those computed from the PGOH, although the size parameter of the particle is in the commonly recognized geometric optics regime. To explain the difference, the concept of the edge effect associated with the tunneling rays in the semiclassical scattering theory is generalized from the case of spherical particles to that of nonspherical particles based on the localization principle. Accordingly, the edge-effect contribution can be distinguished and removed from the extinction cross section calculation by the DDA method. The remaining part of the extinction cross section, associated with the interference between the transmitted rays and incident rays, agrees well with the results computed from the PGOH, and the agreement illustrates the presence of the edge effect in the case of nonspherical particles with surfaces that have no curvature along the incident direction. It is found that the asymptotic extinction efficiency factor may not necessarily converge to 2, but it depends on the specific physical processes of the interference between diffracted and transmitted light and of the edge effect.

24 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202357
2022157
202196
2020140
2019141
2018162