Optical instrument

An instrument measuring a radiometric quantity as a function of wavelength under a stated collection geometry and calibration. Measurement at the relevant viewpoint helps connect scene or display output to observer input.

An optical element that adds a controlled wave phase to one path. On two path states, an ideal lossless phase shifter has the displayed unitary matrix. It changes their relative phase while leaving individual path probabilities unchanged; subsequent interference can turn that phase into an output-intensity change.

A device uses an applied electric field to change an optical medium's refractive index and hence the phase, amplitude or polarization of light. A phase change followed by suitable polarization analysis can provide an intensity transmission gate for active mode locking.

An electro-optic element whose birefringent retardance changes approximately linearly with applied voltage. Combined with a polarizer, it converts voltage-controlled polarization changes into variable optical loss for active Q-switching.

A pentaprism redirects a beam through a right angle using two reflecting faces whose planes meet at $45^{\circ }$. In the meridional section their combined action is a $90^{\circ }$ rotation, preserving the relevant image-top direction as the beam turns. It does not by itself perform the additional lateral reversal of a roof pentaprism; the latter has an extra reflecting face.

An optical cavity supports optical fields whose phases and spatial profiles reproduce themselves after a round trip through its reflecting or guiding elements. Its resonance conditions include propagation and reflection phases. A cavity bounded by two plane mirrors is a simple example; Fabry–Pérot resonance spacing describes the frequency intervals of an ideal two-mirror arrangement.

Two identical concave mirrors of curvature radius R separated by L have half-round-trip ray matrix $A=\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& L\\ -2/R& 1-2L/R\end{array}\right)$. Its determinant is one and its trace is $2(1-L/R)$. The eigenvalues are a conjugate unit-modulus pair for the displayed interval. At the confocal point $L=R$, $A^2=-I$, so it is bounded despite the full-round-trip trace reaching minus two. Matching a Gaussian beam's mirror wavefront gives $z_R^2=(L/2)(R-L/2)$ and $\pi w_0^2=\lambda z_R$. The endpoints are degenerate limiting geometries, not finite confined Gaussian modes.

A normal mode whose longitudinal phase satisfies the resonator's round-trip condition. Holding the transverse mode fixed, an empty nondispersive two-mirror cavity of length L has adjacent optical frequencies separated by $c/(2L)$. An offset from mirror or transverse phases changes the position of the mode sequence without changing this ideal spacing. A dispersive cavity instead uses its round-trip group delay.

A symmetric confocal optical resonator has two concave mirrors of equal curvature $R$, separated by $R$. Its symmetric fundamental Gaussian beam has a central beam waist and Rayleigh range $R/2$. Its ideal transverse spectrum has degeneracies, so transmission at one resonance need not certify exclusive excitation of the fundamental normal mode.

For two equal mirrors of radius $L$ separated by $L$, a Gaussian waist at the centre is reflected to another waist at the same plane. Putting $a=L/2$, the mirror maps $q=a+i{z}_R$ to $-a+i{a}^2/z_R$, so the reflected Rayleigh range is $a^2/z_R$. Both beams have equal spots on the mirrors although their waist radii differ. Equal waist sizes select $z_R=L/2$.

Optical mode matching makes the spatial field of an incident beam equal to a desired optical cavity normal mode. For fundamental circular Gaussian beams, matching the complex beam parameter fixes the beam waist size and location; the optical axis, polarization and frequency must also match. A single converging optical lens connects waist Rayleigh ranges $z_A,z_B$ only when $f^2\ge z_A{z}_B$. With $s=\sqrt{f^2/(z_A{z}_B)-1}$, waist-to-lens distances obey $u=f\pm z_{A}s$, $v=f\pm z_{B}s$ with correlated signs, followed by physical distance constraints.

The photon lifetime is the exponential decay time of stored energy in an unpumped optical cavity. If a round trip of duration $T$ retains an energy fraction $\rho$, then ${\tau }_c=-T/\log \rho$ and the quality factor is $Q=\omega {\tau }_c$. Field-amplitude decay takes twice this time. Output coupling contributes to the loss as well as absorption and scattering.

A Lorentz transformation of a resonant optical cavity transforms both the electromagnetic field and the mirror worldlines. Boundary conditions and event-by-event phase matching remain satisfied. For a longitudinal boost, a cavity of rest length $L$ has length $L/\gamma$ and unequal forward/backward frequencies $\gamma {\omega }_0(1\mp \beta )$. The coordinate round-trip time is $2\gamma L/c$, while the phase rate on a moving mirror is ${\omega }_0/\gamma$, so the round-trip phase is still $2{\omega }_{0}L/c$. A stationary-mirror resonance formula with only length contraction inserted describes the wrong boundary-value problem.

A mirror redirects light according to the law of reflection. Its orientation determines the reflected beam direction in an interferometer.

A parabolic reflector has a paraboloidal reflecting surface. The law of reflection makes all incident light rays parallel to its optical axis pass through one focus in ideal geometrical optics. This removes on-axis spherical aberration and explains its use as a receiving antenna for distant sources.

A concave spherical mirror reflects at the inside of a spherical surface of radius of curvature $R$. For incident light rays near its optical axis, the law of reflection gives paraxial focal length $f=R/2$. Rays farther from the optical axis have different axial crossing positions, causing spherical aberration; one must specify a criterion to define the best full-aperture focus.

A plane mirror has a flat reflecting surface. The law of reflection sends incident unit direction $\mathbf{d}$ to $\mathbf{d}-2(\mathbf{d}\cdot \mathbf{n})\mathbf{n}$, where $\mathbf{n}$ is its unit normal. It forms a virtual image of an object the same perpendicular distance behind the reflecting plane as the object is in front. Two successive plane mirrors whose planes meet at angle $\gamma$ rotate the ray geometry through $2\gamma$ about their intersection.

An optical component combining an optical prism and a diffraction grating.

A camera lucida superposes the apparent image of an object on a drawing surface, allowing microscope positions to be marked by hand.

An optical filter selectively transmits light according to properties such as wavelength or polarization of waves.

An optical filter that uses interference to select a band of wavelengths.

An instrument for measuring angles.

The focal ratio, or f-number, of a converging optical instrument focused at infinity is the dimensionless quantitywhere $f>0$ is effective focal length and $D$ is the on-axis entrance pupil diameter. The notation f/4 means $N=4$, not $f=4$ in a particular unit. A $100\mathrm{mm}$ focal length with $D=25\mathrm{mm}$ gives f/4. Closing the aperture stop until $D=12.5\mathrm{mm}$ gives f/8 while retaining the same focal length. The mechanical opening need not equal $D$. ^[ref].

For a thin lens in air with a circular aperture stop at the thin lens, the converging bundle from a distant on-axis point has half-angle $\alpha$ satisfyingThe last step uses the small-angle approximation. For a compound optical lens, the cone is set by the image-side optical pupil and its distance from the receiving plane; the simple triangle is not an exact high-angle rule. At finite object distance a thin lens instead gives $v=f(1+|m|)$, by its imaging equation and transverse magnification, so its working cone corresponds to $v/D=N(1+|m|)$. Nominal focal ratio therefore does not alone specify close-range image irradiance. ^[ref].

Two useful scalings follow under stated conditions. For a fixed uniform incident beam and unchanged transmission, collected radiant flux scales as $D^2$. For an extended source with fixed radiance, the central image irradiance scales approximately as $N^{-2}$ in the paraxial approximation: the solid angle of the cone scales as $(D/f{)}^2$. For an ideal uniformly illuminated unobscured circular entrance pupil, the first dark ring of the point spread function has angular radius and focal plane radiusHere $\lambda$ is wavelength. These are first-zero radii, not diameters or a universal rule for resolving arbitrary objects. A proof outline evaluates the circular aperture's Fraunhofer diffraction using its Fourier transform, then uses the first zero of the resulting Bessel function. ^[ref].

At $\lambda =0.55\mu \mathrm{m}$, the example's f/4 and f/8 first-ring radii are $2.684$ and $5.368\mu \mathrm{m}$. Closing the aperture stop halves $D$, quarters collected radiant flux and doubles this diffraction radius. It can also reduce optical aberrations by excluding outer light rays; actual sharpness reflects both effects. This explains why a smaller aperture need not produce a sharper image. ^[ref].

A proposed optical bench check puts a fixed collimator before a converging thin lens and a photodetector large enough to collect the entire image behind it. Compare two centred aperture stops of known diameters while fixing source output, detector gain and integration time. The integrated signal tests the $D^2$ collection law; a spatially resolved optical camera at the focal plane can separately measure the point spread function. Repeat a dark reading and the first aperture stop, and check that neither the incoming beam nor detector clips either bundle. A resolved pinhole source, imperfect collimation, optical aberrations and detector pixel size can dominate the apparent spot width; a single peak reading does not measure total collected radiant flux.

An optical camera images incident beams on a photodetector; a spectrograph optical camera maps a diffracted direction into a position in its focal plane.

An optical slit selects a narrow region of a focal plane. In a slit-limited spectrograph, the width of its image divided by the linear spectral dispersion sets the spectral width.

A focal plane is a plane in which an optical system forms images of distant directions. Aberrations can make the best-focus surface curved; a flat detector may then require a field-flattening optical element.

The plane one focal length beyond a lens. In a paraxial imaging system, incident parallel rays of a given direction focus at one point in this plane; it is therefore an angular or diffraction plane distinct from a finite-distance object's image plane.

High-contrast imaging seeks faint objects near a bright source. Residual point spread functions and speckle patterns can dominate photon shot noise; angular differential imaging and simultaneous spectral differential imaging use source motion or spectral diversity to distinguish them.

A companion or extended source contributes to the stellar reference used in differential imaging. Subtracting that reference removes part of the desired signal and distorts its shape, photometry or astrometry. Artificial-source injection and forward modelling can estimate the throughput loss.

Simultaneous spectral differential imaging compares images in nearby bands, rescaled so stellar speckle patterns approximately coincide. A companion has a different positional or spectral response. Simultaneity reduces temporal variation but does not remove chromatic and non-common-path errors.

Angular differential imaging keeps the instrument pupil fixed while the sky rotates. A stellar reference point spread function is subtracted, then the residuals are derotated and combined. Insufficient rotation and imperfect reference selection cause differential-imaging self-subtraction.

A Fabry–Pérot interferometer uses repeated specular reflections between two nearly parallel, partially transmitting surfaces. Its transmitted light is the sum of contributions that have made zero, one, two, or more additional round trips. Their complex amplitudes reinforce only near particular wave phases, producing narrow transmission peaks that select wavelength intervals. Scanning the spacing or angle of incidence can build an imaging spectral cube: an image at each selected wavelength.

The surprising feature is that highly reflecting mirrors can together transmit all the incident power at resonance in the ideal symmetric, lossless model. Each individual contribution is weak, but many contributions arrive in phase. Between resonances the same contributions cancel strongly. Increasing mirror reflectivity sharpens the peaks instead of simply suppressing every transmitted signal; finesse quantifies that selectivity. An optical spectrum with nearby spectral lines can therefore produce distinguishable peaks, provided their separation is large enough relative to the instrument's peak width and their orders are identified.

Charles Fabry and Alfred Perot developed the instrument together; Optica dates its development from 1896 to 1898.^[ref]

For identical mirrors with power reflectivity $\mathcal{R}$, transmission $\mathcal{T}$ and absorption $1-\mathcal{R}-\mathcal{T}$, summing round trips at normal incidence givesHere $\delta$ includes propagation and both internal reflection phases. Optical absorption reduces the resonant peak below unity, while a nonzero reflection phase shifts the resonance condition $\delta =2\pi m$. Frequency-dependent mirror phase and refractive index can also change the free spectral range.

Spectral resolution and order identification are separate design constraints. An instrumental width narrower than a line separation does not prevent a different interference order from placing another wavelength at the same angle. Choose optical thickness so the source range fits a known order interval, sufficient finesse to resolve neighbouring lines, and an angular window or order-sorting filter to exclude unwanted orders. Material dispersion and the internal/external angle conversion must be calibrated.

For an air gap of thickness $d$, an extra internal round trip has length $2d/\cos \theta$, but consecutive transmitted rays emerge at different positions. Comparing them at the same outgoing wavefront subtracts $2d\tan \theta \sin \theta$, leaving optical path difference $2d\cos \theta$. Reflection-coating wave phases are separate from this geometric path calculation.

Consider two identical, lossless parallel mirrors with intensity reflectivity $0\le R<1$, separation $d$, and a uniform transparent medium of refractive index $n$. Fix one polarization of an electromagnetic wave and an internal angle of incidence $\theta$ measured from the mirror normal vector. Illuminate with a monochromatic wave having planar wavefronts; the emerging contributions must overlap coherently in the detected direction. Define $T=I_{\mathrm{transmitted}}/I_{\mathrm{incident}}$ using the same incident and exit media. Each mirror transmits a fraction $1-R$ of incident power. Its reflected wave amplitude has magnitude $\sqrt{R}$, so two internal specular reflections multiply the circulating complex amplitude by magnitude $R$, not $R^2$.

Let $\lambda$ be the vacuum wavelength and choose the reflection wave phase convention in which the product of the two internal amplitude reflection coefficients is real and positive. The phase difference between successive transmitted contributions, evaluated on a common outgoing wavefront, isWith other mirror coatings or phase conventions, use the total $\delta =4\pi nd\cos \theta /\lambda +{\varphi }_{\mathrm{rt}}$, where ${\varphi }_{\mathrm{rt}}$ is the sum of the two internal reflection wave phases. The stated resonance positions presume ${\varphi }_{\mathrm{rt}}=0$ modulo $2\pi$; a constant nonzero ${\varphi }_{\mathrm{rt}}$ shifts them, while a frequency-dependent one can also change their spacing.

Why does the cosine appear rather than its reciprocal? Inside the gap, the extra two legs have optical path length $2nd/\cos \theta$. But the later emerging contribution starts $2d\tan \theta$ farther along the mirror. Comparing both on one outgoing wavefront subtracts $2nd\tan \theta \sin \theta$ from that path difference, leaving $2nd\cos \theta$. Equivalently, a plane wave's mirror-normal wavevector component is $k_z=(2\pi n/\lambda )\cos \theta$, so the round-trip wave phase is $2k_{z}d$. The diagram uses the same medium outside and inside to show the common-wavefront subtraction directly; at a refracting exit interface, tangential wavevector matching in Snell's law supplies the same result.

Absorb the common first-pass wave phase into the incident complex amplitude $E_{\mathrm{in}}$. Successive transmitted contributions are $(1-R)E_{\mathrm{in}}$, $(1-R)E_{\mathrm{in}}R{e}^{i\delta }$, and so on. The superposition principle and the convergent geometric series giveThe last step expands the squared complex modulus as $1+R^2-2R\cos \delta$. This transmission profile is often called the Airy transmission function; it is distinct from the Airy disk, a diffraction image of a circular aperture. The University of Washington's lab handout gives the same transmission profile and distinguishes mirror reflectivity from other sources of peak broadening.^[ref]

For an original example, set $R=3/4$. At $\delta =0$, the amplitudes add to $(1/4)/(1-3/4)=1$, so $T=1$. At $\delta =\pi$, they alternate in sign and add to $(1/4)/(1+3/4)=1/7$, so $T=1/49$. At $\delta =\pi /2$, the amplitude is $4/25+3i/25$ and $T=1/25$. Adding the individual intensities instead would give $(1-R{)}^2{\sum }_j{R}^{2j}=(1-R)/(1+R)=1/7$, independent of wave phase; that discards the wave interference responsible for the peaks.

In general the maximum is $T_{\max }=1$ at $\delta =2\pi m$, with integer $m$, and the minimum is $T_{\min }=[(1-R)/(1+R){]}^2$ halfway between peaks. Perfect resonant transmission requires identical lossless mirrors, coherent illumination, and sufficient time to establish the steady field. Absorption, unequal mirror transmission, finite beams that fail to overlap, and fluctuations of $d$ can reduce it. The exactly reflecting case $R=1$ is excluded: no incident power enters through a perfectly reflecting mirror, and the resonant limit $R\to 1^{-}$ is singular.

At normal incidence, with no optical dispersion and zero round-trip reflection wave phase modulo $2\pi$, the resonance condition in Fabry–Pérot transmission from multiple reflections isHere $\nu$ is frequency and $c$ is the speed of light in vacuum. A change of $\nu$ by one free spectral range advances the round-trip wave phase by $2\pi$. At fixed internal angle of incidence $\theta$, the same nondispersive model gives $c/(2nd\cos \theta )$. Holding the external angle of incidence fixed in a dispersive medium need not hold the internal $\theta$ fixed, because of Snell's law.

For stipulated $n=1$ and $d=10\mathrm{mm}$, the free spectral range is $14.9896229\mathrm{GHz}$ using $c=299792458\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. A frequency difference of $0.10\Delta {\nu }_{\mathrm{FSR}}$ is therefore $1.49896229\mathrm{GHz}$. Transmission repeats every free spectral range: one isolated scan cannot distinguish that separation from $1.10\Delta {\nu }_{\mathrm{FSR}}$. Independent knowledge of the optical spectrum, an additional filter, or a changed mirror separation is needed to assign orders.

Equal spacing in frequency does not imply equal spacing in wavelength. At normal incidence the exact adjacent resonance wavelengths obeyFor example, choosing $2nd=10{\lambda }_{10}$ makes the exact gap to order 11 equal to ${\lambda }_{10}/11$, while the high-order estimate gives ${\lambda }_{10}/10$. The approximation is already ten percent larger at order 10. With optical dispersion or frequency-dependent reflection wave phase, obtain local spacings from the total phase difference instead: $\Delta \nu \simeq 2\pi /(d\delta /d\nu )$ when its derivative varies little over one order.

The finesse of a Fabry–Pérot interferometer is its free spectral range divided by a transmission peak's full width at half maximum. Large finesse means a narrow accepted frequency interval compared with the spacing between repeated orders. Here half maximum means $T=1/2$ of the ideal unit peak, with zero detector background subtracted; it does not mean halfway between the transmission minimum and maximum.

Write $A=4R/(1-R{)}^2$ for the coefficient multiplying ${\sin }^2(\delta /2)$ in Fabry–Pérot transmission from multiple reflections. This coefficient is sometimes called the coefficient of finesse; it is not the finesse $\mathcal{F}$. About a resonance $\delta =2\pi m$, put $ϵ=\delta -2\pi m$. Solving $T=1/2$ givesand, since one free spectral range advances the wave phase by $2\pi$,These are exact for the ideal nondispersive model with constant $R$ and linear frequency dependence of $\delta$. The inverse sine requires $(1-R)/(2\sqrt{R})\le 1$, or $R\ge 3-2\sqrt{2}\simeq 0.171573$. At equality, neighbouring peaks merely touch half maximum at their shared minima: the nominal width is one full free spectral range and $\mathcal{F}=1$. Isolated half-maximum peaks require the strict inequality. Below this threshold the transmission never falls to $1/2$, so this peak-width definition supplies no finesse; at $R=0$ the transmission is flat.

For large reflectivity, the small-angle approximation $\arcsin x\simeq x$ givesThis is a high-reflectivity approximation, not an identity for every $R$. The original dimensionless examples below have exact full width at half maximum values obtained from the inverse sine formula.

The beauty of the narrowing is visible directly in the geometric series: large $R$ preserves contributions from many round trips, so a small phase difference accumulates across many terms and spoils their addition. For the stipulated $10\mathrm{mm}$ vacuum gap, $R=0.95$ gives an ideal full width at half maximum of about $244.792\mathrm{MHz}$. This instrumental width is not a measured spectral line width. A real scan also depends on the source profile, accepted angles, mirror shape, alignment, and scan stability. The University of Washington handout separately discusses mirror-reflectivity, mirror-flatness, and detector-pinhole contributions; increasing $R$ alone cannot remove the others.^[ref]

For an ideal air-gap Fabry–Pérot etalon at normal incidence, the free spectral range is ${\nu }_{\mathrm{FSR}}=c/(2d)$ and the peak full width at half maximum is $\delta \nu ={\nu }_{\mathrm{FSR}}/\mathcal{F}$. To separate a pair of lines spaced by $\Delta \nu$ by at least $M$ peak widths, require $d\mathcal{F}\ge Mc/(2\Delta \nu )$. Putting both lines inside one unambiguous free spectral range additionally requires $d<c/(2\Delta \nu )$, so $\mathcal{F}>M$. In terms of their vacuum wavelengths, $c/\Delta \nu ={\lambda }_1{\lambda }_2/|{\lambda }_2-{\lambda }_1|$.

The strict order condition needs a margin if tails from adjacent periodic peaks are to be negligible. If every neighbouring peak in a scanned two-line periodic spectrum must be separated by $M$ widths, the stronger condition is $\min (\Delta \nu ,{\nu }_{\mathrm{FSR}}-\Delta \nu )\ge M{\nu }_{\mathrm{FSR}}/\mathcal{F}$. Ordinary resolving power alone does not prevent ambiguous repeated orders. A fixed etalon's transmission as a function of wavelength is a periodic-in-frequency filter; it is not automatically a plot of the incident source's spectral lines.

A Fabry–Pérot etalon fixes mirror separation in a Fabry–Pérot interferometer, selecting wavelengths through its transmission resonances.^[ref]

An actual teaching experiment in LM-0300 Fabry Perot Spectrum Analyser by Walter Luhs, §§3.1.1–3.1.2, prepares a green laser beam by aligning it near and far along a rail, then centring back-reflected light from adjustable curved mirrors. An actuator using piezoelectricity moves one mirror. A screen first displays interference fringes; a focusing optical lens and photodiode then replace the viewing arrangement. The oscilloscope records the photodiode signal and the piezo drive reference on separate channels, using the latter as its trigger. Alignment and mirror separation are adjusted to suppress extra transverse normal modes; source temperature and drive electric current are controlled. Repeated peaks calibrate the scan using the appropriate free spectral range, and their spacing divided by their full width at half maximum estimates finesse.^[ref]

This experiment uses a confocal curved-mirror cavity, whose repeated peak families can have spacing $c/(4d)$ in air; it must not be calibrated blindly with the parallel-mirror $c/(2d)$. Extra transverse normal modes can mimic source features. A finite measured peak width bounds source sharpness only after instrumental broadening is considered; it does not determine the source's intrinsic width by itself.^[ref]

For an independent ideal scan calculation, hold a narrow laser wavelength fixed and vary the parallel-mirror gap $d$ at normal incidence. Advancing one resonance order requires $\Delta d=\lambda /(2n)$. If $d$ changes uniformly over the measured interval, the time between repeated peaks divided by their full width at half maximum in time equals finesse. The cancellation of scan rate follows from $d(t)=d_0+vt$: both peak spacing and peak width are divided by the same $|v|$. It fails if the scan rate changes appreciably over that interval. A practical control in the University of Washington's motor-driven flat-mirror experiment is to check that successive peaks are equally spaced before using the time axis this way; its handout also warns that table strain and aggressive low-pass filtering alter the trace.^[ref]

A lenslet array is a set of small lenses that divides a field or a pupil into many optical samples. In an integral field spectrograph each field sample generates a microspectrum or feeds an optical fiber.

A beam splitter is an optical instrument that routes an incident beam of light into transmitted and reflected beams. It also combines incident complex amplitudes: two inputs can contribute to the same output. A common geometry has four optical ports, with two chosen as inputs and two as outputs. A beam splitter changes the field; a photodetector supplies a measurement.^[ref]

For one illuminated input of a passive beam splitter, at specified wavelength, angle of incidence and electromagnetic polarization, define power transmittance $T=P_{\mathrm{transmitted}}/P_{\mathrm{in}}$, reflectance $R=P_{\mathrm{reflected}}/P_{\mathrm{in}}$ and radiometric absorptance $A=P_{\mathrm{absorbed}}/P_{\mathrm{in}}$. In steady operation, with no gain or other source, no net stored energy change, and all escaping light included in the transmitted or reflected collection,This is conservation of energy divided by incident power. If $T$ and $R$ count only the intended output beams, include a separate scattered or otherwise uncollected fraction $L$: then $T+R+A+L=1$. Missing output power need not be wave absorption. For an original specified example, $P_{\mathrm{in}}=10\mathrm{mW}$, $T=0.45$, $R=0.50$ and $A=0.05$ give $4.5\mathrm{mW}$ transmitted, $5.0\mathrm{mW}$ reflected and $0.5\mathrm{mW}$ absorbed; these are assumed values, not measurements.

A 50:50 beam splitter specifies equal output powers for one input, not equal complex amplitudes without a relative wave phase. Recombination needs the beam splitter scattering matrix, including its wave phases. A nonpolarizing beam splitter approximately divides both orthogonal linear polarizations in the same power ratio over its specified operating range; a polarizing beam splitter deliberately routes the two differently.

The useful surprise is that the same component divides power with one input and steers power by wave interference with two inputs. In a Michelson interferometer or Mach-Zehnder interferometer, mirror motion changes relative wave phase, turning a small change in optical path length into a measurable change in output power.

A lossless beam splitter that gives equal output probabilities for a photon incident in one input port. Balance constrains the magnitudes of the probability amplitudes; the beam splitter scattering matrix also specifies their relative wave phases.

An optical port specifies where and in which direction a beam enters or leaves an optical instrument. To attach one complex amplitude to it, also specify the beam's transverse field profile, electromagnetic polarization, frequency and reference plane for wave phase. Reversing propagation changes the input/output assignment. Four geometrical connections do not imply four independent input complex amplitudes in the chosen two-input configuration.

For a linear, fixed-frequency beam splitter, choose power-normalized complex amplitudes $a_1,a_2$ at its input optical ports and $b_1,b_2$ at its output optical ports: $|a_j{|}^2$ and $|b_j{|}^2$ are powers. The scalar description treats one specified electromagnetic polarization and matching transverse profiles; other fields require additional components. With the geometrical ordering in the diagram,Here $t,t^{\prime }$ are transmission complex amplitudes per unit input and $r,r^{\prime }$ are reflection complex amplitudes per unit input. In this power normalization, a single input gives $T=|t{|}^2$ and $R=|r{|}^2$. Raw electric field amplitudes in different media generally need additional power-normalization factors.

If these two output optical ports account for all outgoing power and the device has no loss or gain, $S$ is a unitary matrix:The dagger is the Hermitian transpose and a star is complex conjugation. To prove the condition, substitute $\mathbf{b}=S\mathbf{a}$ into conservation of total power for every input vector: ${\mathbf{a}}^{†}(S^{†}S-I)\mathbf{a}=0$. Inputs $(1,0)$ and $(0,1)$ fix the diagonal entries; $(1,1)$ and $(1,i)$ fix the real and imaginary parts of the off-diagonal entry. A lossy two-output description instead has $S^{†}S\le I$ for a passive device.^[ref]

One consistent ideal symmetric 50:50 choice isEach reflection carries $+\pi /2$ relative wave phase in this convention. The columns have unit vector norm and zero inner product, directly verifying that $S$ is a unitary matrix. Choosing a different phase convention for complex amplitudes at the optical ports replaces $S$ by $D_{\mathrm{out}}S{D}_{\mathrm{in}}^{-1}$, where the $D$ are diagonal matrices whose entries have modulus one; the input complex amplitudes must be transformed consistently. Observable powers are unchanged. The displayed $i$ is a convention for this ideal model, not a universal reflection rule for every coating or incidence geometry.

Since $HZH=X$, unitary conjugation gives $H{e}^{-i\beta Z/2}H=e^{-i\beta X/2}$. Multiplying by the two outer $R_z(\alpha )$ rotations givesThe case $\alpha =\beta =\pi /2$ equals $-iH$. Equal output probabilities for one input do not by themselves identify an optical component with the Hadamard gate; relative wave phases also matter.

For two identical bosonic input populations of $N$ in a balanced two-mode mixer, only even occupancies occur at either output. Expanding $[(b_1^{†}{)}^2-(b_2^{†}{)}^2{]}^N$ and retaining normalized number-state factorials gives the displayed law. Its sum is one by the generating function $(1-4z{)}^{-1/2}(1-4z{)}^{-1/2}=(1-4z{)}^{-1}$.

Suppose the two input beams share frequency, electromagnetic polarization and overlapping transverse profiles at each output, with stable relative wave phase during the photodetector's averaging interval. For the ideal beam splitter scattering matrix above, expanding the squared complex amplitudes givesThe imaginary part terms describe wave interference. Applying the single-input power split to each input separately and adding the results would discard these terms. Their opposite signs ensure $P_1+P_2=|a_1{|}^2+|a_2{|}^2$: conservation of energy survives even when one output is dark.

For an original example, let $a_1=\sqrt{P}$, $a_2=\sqrt{P}{e}^{i\delta }$ and $P=1\mathrm{mW}$. Then $P_1=P(1-\sin \delta )$ and $P_2=P(1+\sin \delta )$:

At $+\pi /2$, $a_2=i\sqrt{P}$ makes $b_1=(\sqrt{P}-\sqrt{P})/\sqrt{2}=0$ and $b_2=i\sqrt{2P}$; at $-\pi /2$ the dark output swaps. Thus the two inputs can feed all their combined power into one output without gain. At zero relative input wave phase, the splitter's own relative wave phase leaves the contributions in quadrature, so neither output is dark.

For fluctuating fields, average the cross term as $\mathrm{Im}⟨a_1^{\ast }{a}_2⟩$. It vanishes for mutually uncorrelated inputs, making the independent power-splitting rule valid for the averaged output. Partial first-order optical coherence reduces it. Orthogonal linear polarizations eliminate the cross term in a polarization-insensitive power readout, and spatial mismatch reduces the overlap. Detector averaging can also erase rapid relative wave phase changes. A fixed relation between two inputs can be prepared by splitting one laser beam and recombining the two arms.

An actual teaching protocol in Michelson Interferometer & Precision Wavelength Measurement — Week 1, University of Colorado Boulder, §§4–6, starts with an ideal-model prediction, then builds a Michelson interferometer using a helium-neon laser, a nonpolarizing beam splitter, adjustable mirrors, a micrometer translation stage and a photodetector. Steering mirrors align beam overlap at near and far planes; far-plane interference fringes refine alignment. Moving the arm mirror changes the returning relative wave phase; detector voltage is watched with a live acquisition display or oscilloscope. The guide compares measured arm powers with 50:50 splitting and asks for a revised field model. It tests electromagnetic polarization dependence, optionally changing one arm with a quarter-wave plate, and estimates noise from repeated readings at fixed mirror position. These controls test whether fringe changes reflect coherent recombination rather than splitter imbalance or misalignment. The guide supplies a protocol, not a numerical dataset. Its detector noise, imperfect overlap and electromagnetic polarization mismatch limit displacement inference.^[ref]

Additional background subtraction controls follow from the field model: block both arms to record the detector offset and ambient light, then unblock each arm separately to establish its detected power at fixed gain. With both open, scan the mirror and compare extrema after subtracting that background. Keep the detector below saturation and repeat the scan to check drift. A changing signal alone cannot distinguish source optical coherence from motion or changing overlap. For a vacuum round trip, a mirror displacement $x$ changes relative wave phase by $4\pi x/\lambda$; the useful signal is its modulation after detection, not an optical-frequency oscillation that the detector must resolve.

A nonpolarizing beam splitter is designed for approximately equal power splitting ratios for the two orthogonal linear polarizations, at specified wavelengths and angle of incidence. It need not be 50:50, lossless, or have equal transmission and reflection wave phases for both linear polarizations. A scalar beam splitter scattering matrix therefore still requires a specified electromagnetic polarization and operating range. Polarizing beam splitters instead aim to separate those linear polarizations into different paths.

A polarizing beam splitter sends two orthogonal linear polarizations to different output paths. Acting coherently on $\alpha |H⟩+\beta |V⟩$, it correlates path with photon polarization instead of measuring photon polarization unless a path is actually detected or discarded.

For an ideal polarizing beam splitter with one input, choose orthogonal unit electromagnetic polarization vectors ${\mathbf{e}}_H,{\mathbf{e}}_V$ and an incident power-normalized field $a_H{\mathbf{e}}_H+a_V{\mathbf{e}}_V$. If $H$ is transmitted and $V$ reflected, the output powers are $P_{\mathrm{transmitted}}=|a_H{|}^2$ and $P_{\mathrm{reflected}}=|a_V{|}^2$. The associated complex amplitudes can acquire different wave phases; the routing is not an equal-power split for every incident electromagnetic polarization. For linear polarization at angle $\theta$ to $H$, input power $P$ gives $P{\cos }^2\theta$ and $P{\sin }^2\theta$, respectively. At $\theta =30^{\circ }$, a stipulated $4\mathrm{mW}$ input gives $3\mathrm{mW}$ transmitted and $1\mathrm{mW}$ reflected. A $45^{\circ }$ input gives equal powers even though an $H$ input goes entirely into the transmitted output.^[ref]

Real polarizing beam splitters have leakage into the unwanted output and losses. Each linear polarization has its own field transformation and power coefficients. To make an ordinary power wave interference term between the two output contributions, first bring them into the same path with overlapping transverse profiles and a common electromagnetic polarization, for example using a polarizer. Merely placing two orthogonal linear polarizations on a polarization-insensitive photodetector adds their powers. Coherent routing can be reversed by suitable optics before detection; discarding a path loses access to that part of the field but supplies no recorded measurement outcome by itself.

// Target: optics.bigb

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer splits an incident wave into two arms and recombines them at a second beam splitter. A relative quantum phase changes the interference at its output ports. With symmetric lossless 50:50 splitters, the ports can be calibrated to have detection probabilities ${\cos }^2(\theta /2)$ and ${\sin }^2(\theta /2)$.

// Target: optics.bigb

An output port whose ideal probability amplitude vanishes by destructive interference for a specified coherent input and calibration. Changing a relative wave phase, losing quantum coherence or changing the input can brighten it.

For two identical mixers $U=R_x(\beta )$ with a lower-arm phase shifter $P(\varphi )=\mathrm{diag}(1,e^{i\varphi })$, the upper-input state evolves asThe upper-output interferometric visibility is ${\sin }^2\beta /(1+{\cos }^2\beta )$ and reaches one exactly at $\beta =\pi /2(\mathrm{mod}\pi )$. Replacing the second mixer by its inverse changes the port convention and phase dependence; it is a different specified network.

The field of view is the region of object directions sampled by an optical instrument in one pointing. State whether it is horizontal, vertical or diagonal, and whether it is a full angle or a half-angle. An object-plane width in millimetres also describes a field of view, but requires a specified object distance. Neither that width nor the angular field of view is the aperture diameter or the diffraction-limited resolution.

For a centred flat rectangular photodetector of width $w$ in the focal plane, with positive effective focal length $f$, infinity focus and ideal rectilinear imaging without optical distortion, the full horizontal field of view isThe model maps an object direction $\theta$ to image height of magnitude $|y|=f|\tan \theta |$; set $|y|=w/2$ and use the inverse tangent. This retains exact right triangle geometry within the stipulated imaging model; a paraxial focal length alone does not guarantee that a real wide-field optical lens obeys it. With detector height $h$, replace $w$ by $h$ for the vertical field of view, and by $\sqrt{w^2+h^2}$ for the diagonal field of view. The small-angle approximation gives ${\Theta }_x\simeq w/f$ in radians. ^[ref].

For an original worked example, a $36\mathrm{mm}$ detector width gives ${\Theta }_x\approx 39.60^{\circ }$ at $f=50\mathrm{mm}$, and $20.41^{\circ }$ at $f=100\mathrm{mm}$. Keeping $D=25\mathrm{mm}$ makes these f/2 and f/4 respectively: the field of view changes because $f$ changes. By contrast, closing $D$ from $25$ to $12.5\mathrm{mm}$ at $f=100\mathrm{mm}$ changes f/4 to f/8 while retaining $20.41^{\circ }$ in this model. The clean separation is useful: entrance pupil area controls collection, focal ratio controls the paraxial cone, and $w/f$ controls angular image coverage. Edge clipping, optical distortion, field curvature and optical aberrations can restrict the practically usable field of view.

A proposed angular readout on an optical bench illuminates a small asymmetric target at the optical focus of a collimator, providing a bundle with a known direction. Rotate the optical camera about the centre of its entrance pupil, reading a graduated rotation stage, and record the target image position on its fixed photodetector. Centre the target to establish zero; turn left and right until its centre reaches each detector edge. The difference between stage readings measures the full horizontal field of view. Repeat with a smaller aperture stop: unchanged edge directions but reduced signal support the distinction between collection and angular coverage. Keep the same active detector width, infinity focus, illumination, integration time and gain; approach each reading from the same direction to check mechanical backlash. A finite target blurs the edge criterion, detector thresholds can imitate lost coverage, and a wide bundle must illuminate the whole entrance pupil at every tested angle. These checks distinguish a geometrical boundary from insufficient signal. The analytical diagram is the prediction for this protocol, not a record of its execution.

An altazimuth mount points an optical telescope using altitude and azimuth rotations. A mount restricted to elevations no greater than the zenith must change its azimuth by approximately half a turn when a target crosses the zenith.

A zenith blind spot is a region in which an altazimuth mount cannot follow a target because the required axis motion exceeds a drive constraint. A finite slew across an exact zenith crossing gives a lost-track interval; a full forbidden footprint additionally depends on the target trajectory, acceleration and the control strategy. It need not be circular.

The Giant Magellan Telescope design combines seven 8.4-metre primary mirrors, including off-axis segments. It was a planned extremely large telescope in the 2018 examination context.

The Thirty Meter Telescope design uses a thirty-metre primary with 492 hexagonal segments. It was among the planned extremely large telescopes in the 2018 examination context.

The two Keck telescopes each use a ten-metre primary made from 36 hexagonal segments.

The Large Binocular Telescope has two 8.4-metre primary mirrors with lightweight honeycomb structures.

A segmented mirror assembles smaller mirrors into a large aperture. Sensors and actuators maintain position and figure; coherent imaging additionally requires mirror segment phasing.

Phasing adjusts relative piston and tilt so adjacent segments form a continuous optical wavefront. Near normal reflection a surface piston changes optical path length by twice that displacement.

A lightweight mirror uses a thin optical face backed by ribs or a honeycomb structure. The deep backing provides rigidity with less mass than a solid disk and facilitates thermal equilibration.

Active optics uses controlled support forces and alignment to correct slow changes in telescope figure, particularly gravity and thermal deformation. It permits thin large primary mirrors. Adaptive optics instead corrects rapid atmospheric turbulence.

A Schmidt camera combines a spherical primary mirror with a thin aspheric corrector at the mirror’s centre of curvature. The corrector compensates spherical aberration; the symmetric stop location gives a wide useful field. The native focal surface is curved and lies inside the instrument.

A reflecting telescope forms an image using curved mirrors. Its primary and secondary shapes, spacing and aperture stop determine its optical aberrations, access to the focus, and obstruction.

A Gregorian telescope has a concave parabolic primary and a concave ellipsoidal secondary beyond the primary focus. Light crosses the intermediate focus, reaches the secondary, and returns through the primary to the final focus. The ellipsoid’s two foci are the intermediate and final focus.

A Cassegrain arrangement places a secondary before the primary focus and returns light through a hole in the primary to a focus behind it. In the classical design the primary is parabolic and the secondary convex hyperbolic. The compact arrangement has a long effective focal length; its classical implementation retains off-axis coma.

A Ritchey–Chrétien telescope has hyperbolic primary and secondary mirrors chosen to cancel third-order spherical aberration and coma. It retains astigmatism and field curvature; wide-field instruments may require additional correction.

A classical Cassegrain reflector uses a concave parabolic primary and a convex hyperbolic secondary before the prime focus. The secondary returns the converging beam through a hole in the primary. It corrects on-axis spherical aberration but retains off-axis coma.

A Newtonian telescope uses a concave parabolic primary and a flat diagonal secondary to send the converging beam to a side focus. The primary avoids on-axis spherical aberration, but has off-axis coma.