The diffraction limit restricts the spatial resolution of optical microscopes, making it challenging to observe structures smaller than approximately half the wavelength of the illuminating light.

When a laser beam is incident on many small objects such as lycopodium powder, the resulting diffraction pattern is similar to the diffraction pattern of a small circular aperture (Airy's disk pattern ...

When a laser beam is incident on a narrow opaque object such as a fine wire or a strand of hair, the resulting diffraction pattern is similar to the diffraction pattern of a slit of the same width as ...

We have recently succeeded in detecting the diffraction pattern of radio waves scattered from the electron trail as a meteor passes at right angles through the aerial beam. These observations lead ...

Geometric optics is a confusing subject for many physics students, who often first encounter the subject in introductory college physics classes. Traditional instruction in geometric optics is not as ...