Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Optical activity Photosensitivity A basic distinction is between isotropic materials, which exhibit the same properties regardless of the direction of the light, and anisotropic ones, which exhibit different properties when light passes through them in different directions.
The unique optical properties of the atmosphere cause a wide range of spectacular optical phenomena. The blue colour of the sky is a direct result of Rayleigh scattering which redirects higher frequency (blue) sunlight back into the field of view of the observer.
Some plastics also have more advantageous optical properties than glass, such as better transmission of visible light and greater absorption of ultraviolet light. [6] Some plastics have a greater index of refraction than most types of glass; this is useful in the making of corrective lenses shaped to correct various vision abnormalities such as ...
An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide that transmits light along its axis by the process of total internal reflection. The fiber consists of a core surrounded by a cladding layer. To confine the optical signal in the core, the refractive index of the core must be greater than that of
Optical glass refers to a quality of glass suitable for the manufacture of optical systems such as optical lenses, prisms or mirrors.Unlike window glass or crystal, whose formula is adapted to the desired aesthetic effect, optical glass contains additives designed to modify certain optical or mechanical properties of the glass: refractive index, dispersion, transmittance, thermal expansion and ...
Electro-optical devices [ edit ] The electro-optic effect is a change in the optical properties of an optically active material in response to changes in an electric field.
Optical phenomena are any observable events that result from the interaction of light and matter. All optical phenomena coincide with quantum phenomena. [ 1 ] Common optical phenomena are often due to the interaction of light from the Sun or Moon with the atmosphere, clouds, water, dust, and other particulates.
Physical optics is used to explain effects such as diffraction. In physics, physical optics, or wave optics, is the branch of optics that studies interference, diffraction, polarization, and other phenomena for which the ray approximation of geometric optics is not valid.