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An optical instrument is a device that processes light waves (or photons), either to enhance an image for viewing or to analyze and determine their characteristic properties. Common examples include periscopes , microscopes , telescopes , and cameras .
Optical systems can be folded using plane mirrors; the system is still considered to be rotationally symmetric if it possesses rotational symmetry when unfolded. Any point on the optical axis (in any space) is an axial point. Rotational symmetry greatly simplifies the analysis of optical systems, which otherwise must be analyzed in three ...
Optical rotation, also known as polarization rotation or circular birefringence, is the rotation of the orientation of the plane of polarization about the optical axis of linearly polarized light as it travels through certain materials. Circular birefringence and circular dichroism are the manifestations of optical activity.
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.
Visulization of flux through differential area and solid angle. As always ^ is the unit normal to the incident surface A, = ^, and ^ is a unit vector in the direction of incident flux on the area element, θ is the angle between them.
Spectrometers may operate over a wide range of non-optical wavelengths, from gamma rays and X-rays into the far infrared. If the instrument is designed to measure the spectrum on an absolute scale rather than a relative one, then it is typically called a spectrophotometer. The majority of spectrophotometers are used in spectral regions near the ...
The optical properties of a material define how it interacts with light. The optical properties of matter are studied in optical physics (a subfield of optics ) and applied in materials science . The optical properties of matter include:
Optical sensors require selective interaction with analytes and two components are required: a probe material, and a chromo- or fluorophore. [3] [4] Cross-reactive optical and fluorescence arrays require strategic consideration of molecular interactions between probes and analytes. Much like electrical chemical sensor arrays, optical chemical ...