Fundamentals of Optics

The theories of photo- and opto-related areas can be classified into three categories the fundamentals of optics, the molecular field theory, and the radiation field theory. As we defined molecular photonics by Equation (0.1) which relates the interaction of the radiation field with the molecular field, it may seem sufficient to restrict our discussion to the molecular field theory and the radiation field theory. However we believe that the fundamentals of optics are also very important to understand and appreciate all the photo and opto concepts described in this book. To support this view, consider the following. 

Typically, books on optics explain the principles of the various optical experiments and instrumentation.1 41 The first section of this book, while dedicated to optics will be limited to a description of the general formula of wave and the phenomena of refraction, reflection, interference, diffraction, and polarization. An overview of the fundamentals of optics presented in this section is shown in Table 1.1. Most books on optics begin the explanation of the wave by stating Maxwell s equations, and this is most appropriate, no doubt. Here we tried to follow a different approach in order to set the stage for the description of the radiation theory in the next section. However in explaining optical phenomena, it is impossible to avoid the concept of wave. So, in this section, although reluctant to do so, we introduce the equation of the three-dimensional plane wave. 

After a wavefront of the light with a velosity, V i, arrives at the interface PP , the wavefront arrives at QQ with a time lag, t 

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Jenkins F A and White H E 1957 Fundamentals of Optics (New York MoGraw-Hill)... 

Jenkins, F. A. and White, FI. E. (1957) Fundamentals of Optics, McGraw-FIill, New York. Longhurst, R. S. (1957) Geometrical and Physical Optics, Longman, London. 

Jenkins, F.A., White, H.E., Fundamentals of Optics, McGraw-Hill, 4th ed., 1976... 

Jenkins, F. and White, H., 1976, Fundamentals of Optics, 4th Edn, McGraw Hill... 

FUNDAMENTALS OF OPTICAL SENSORS BASED ON SPECTROSCOPY OF GUIDED WAVES... 

Okamota K., Fundamentals of optical waveguides, Academic Press, 2000. 

In the summer of 2004, the NATO A.S.I. on the subject Optical Chemical Sensors was organised in Erice, Sicily. This NATO A.S.I. was the 40th Course of the International School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture and was directed by Dr. J. Homola of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronic (IREE) of the Academy of Sciences in Prague and by Dr. F.Baldini of the Nello Carrara Institute of Applied Physics (IFAC-CNR). It is also the fourth course in the framework of the ASCOS (Advanced Study Course on Optical Chemical Sensors) series, founded in 1999 by Prof. Otto Wolfbeis. This book presents the Proceedings of this advanced course providing a deep overview of both the fundamentals of optical chemical sensing and the applications of chemical sensors. 

Okamoto, K., Fundamentals of Optical Waveguides, Academic, San Diego, CA, 2000... 

The book starts with a short introduction to the fundamentals of optical spectroscopy, (Chapter 1) describing the basic standard equipment needed to measure optical spectra and the main optical magnitudes (the absorption coefficient, transmittance, reflectance, and luminescence efficiency) that can be measured with this equipment. The next two chapters (Chapters 2 and 3) are devoted to the main characteristics and the basic working principles of the general instrumentation used in optical spectroscopy. These include the light sources (lamp and lasers) used to excite the crystals, as well as the instrumentation used to detect and analyze the reflected, transmitted, scattered, or emitted light. 

F.A. Jenkins and H.E. White (1957) Fundamentals of Optics third edition McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc, New York... 

The fundamentals of optics have been developed from phenomena observed by the human senses. This is certainly not the case for the theories of the molecular field and the radiation field. We should reach a stage in our understanding of the phenomena, where we can imagine intuitively the interaction of the radiation field with the molecular field from a basic knowledge of optics. 

Since the emergence of the laser, the fundamentals of optics are applied in areas far beyond the traditional applied physics laboratory. It is particularly important for researchers with a chemical background to gain an intuitive understanding of the laws of optics. 

In the previous sections, we have presented the three basic fields related to modem studies of light phenomena the fundamentals of optics, the theory of the molecular field, and the theory of the radiation field. In the Introduction we stressed that the radiation and the molecular fields cannot be studied separately. Thus, the interaction between the radiation field and the molecular field constitutes the comer stone of the three basic fields in the study of light.1314 This interplay is best presented through the interaction term of the Hamiltonian, Hx, which is discussed in the next section. 

In this section, the outlines of the interactions between the radiation field and various molecular systems have been discussed, based on the fundamentals of optics and of the characteristics of the molecular and radiation fields. The interactions of the radiation field with molecular systems are a fundamental aspect of the processes of light absorption and emission. This concept is indispensable when dealing with scattering phenomena. On the other hand, most of the discussion in photophysics and photochemistry is focused primarily on the photophysical and photochemical processes that occur after a molecule has absorbed light. So, in these cases, discussions are often limited to the electronic states of the molecular system. In cases, such as excitation energy transfer, a keen understanding of the interactions between light and materials is needed. 

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