Limitstoimaging,redux
Theictureoflightalsoexplaiseeinfinitesimallysmallobjegamicroscope,justasAbberealized。Verytinythings—downtoabouthalfofonemiillionthofametre,orabouthalfawavelengthofvisiblelight)beseenusinganhtmiuchmoresophisticatedmethodsarerequiredtoseeevehihatthewaveputsalowerlimitonthesizeofaspotoflight。
Ihatwhentwolightbeamsmeet,theyiioude—darkfriahesefriuallydetermiwhisiheangleisverylarge,thefringespagissmall;iftheangleissmall,thefringespagislarger。Thesmallestpossibleseparationesisoh,oraboutonemiforvisiblelight。
Now,ifthisfriernisrecordedasahologram,theisilluminatedagainwiththereferewobeamswillemergeiiobeamsthatwereusedtorecordtheieroseesugepatternwithamicroscopethelensmustcapturebothofthesebeamstees。Ifthisdidn’thappehelensly,thentherewouldbenointerfereheimage。
ThisisthephysicalbasisofAbbe’sthatIintroduChapter2:themaximumaturedbythelensofanimagihemihatberesolved。It’sstraightforwardtoseetheaemdoistoseeobjectsizesofaboutthewavelengthoftheillumination。Thusallightmicrosseeverytis,aboutfiftytimessmallerthanahumanhair,butnotmuchsmallerthanthis。Theybeusedtolookatbiologicalcells,butnottheuclei,forinstance。
&ionimaging
Optitistsandengineershavefoundanumberofverycleverwaystogetarousizelimitsposedbyicroscopes,sothattheysidecells,orviewobjectsthataremorethanoimessmallerthahoflight。Theseismakeuseoferialsandprocesses,suchastheabilitytoattaetre-scaleparticlestotheobjectsyouwishtosee,ortoihatemitlightiheseemitlight(theyfluoresce)atalohwhentheyareilluminatedbyabeamoflightatshths。Siheyaremuchsmallerthaionofthemicross,theresultingimageisaspotthesizeofwhitirelylimitedbythemicroscopeoptics,agtoAbbe’sformula。Buttheexatreofthisimagebelocatedverypreciselybyusiakealonglookatthefluoresceoftheattaopartiddetermiionofthemaximumiyofthespot。Thisapproachiscalledphoto-activatedloicros,andwasiedbyEricBetzigihasrevolutionizedlivecellimaging,allowingfasteraahresolutionoverawidefieldofview。
Ahodfsmallstrulargerfluorestobjectsistoshineaseularbeamocausestheobjectsillumihisbeamtohavetheirfluoresguished,sothattheremainingfluoresbelocatedpreciselybythesameapproachasdescribedpreviously。Thismethodiscalledstimulatedemissioionmicroscopy,orSTED,andwasiefanHellinGermany。Iwilldescribetheproulatedemissioailihesenovelwaysofmakiioeracellularstruagedhavehadenormousimpabiologyandmedideedthesighisimpactwasreizedwhenthe2014NobelPrizeirywasawardedtoBetzigandHell。
TheprotifiedbyAbbeworksioo。liedtotheilluminationofasamplebymeansofamicross,itsaysthatalightbeamotbefouchsmallerihah。Agaihefodseofahelensproduthesidethatfacestowardstheobject:thebreofraydires,thetighterthefocusofthelight。
&ioherangeofaerferihesizeestructuresturnsouttobeaveryfualpropertyofwaves。ThisideawasquantifiedbyJosephFourier,aFreoftheearly19thtury,whoprovidedadetailedmathematialysisoflightagatioheoremsaysihatthesmalleryoufocuslight,thebreofwavediresyouoachievethisspot。
Diffra
Thisexplaiureoflightbeams—theygraduallydivergeastheypropagate。Thisisbecauseabeamoflight,whichbydefinitionhasalimitedspatialextent,mustbemadeupofagateihaheideabetestedusier。Thebeamemittedbythelaseritselfisabout10μm(tenmillionthsofametre)orsoier。Whehes,itisabout1mm(athousandthofametre)ier。Andifitweresentfurtheraway,saytotheMoon(approximately400,000km),thenitwouldbeabout24kmihisphenomenoniscalleddiffra。
Diffraeiingapplideterminingtheshapeaructures。Forinstanyoushineabeamoflightohsmallholesinit,ofdiameterparabletothewavelengthofthelight,thelightdiffractsthroughtheapertures,spreadingiiontothesizeoftheaperture。Thesediffractedbeamsinterferesomedistanceawayfromthesdtheresultinginterfereheso-calleddiffrapatterhingaboutthesizeaivelooftheapertures。Foriheyareinaregulararray,theionpatternwillalsularities。Theadvantageofusingsustomeasurethistypeofobjectisthatyoudoohaveveryexpensiveorplissystemsordetectorsclosetotheobjeplylookatthepatterhasnaturallyexpaodiffra。
Now,imagihesisreplacedbyatrasolidmaterial,sayacrystallizedproteinstructure。The‘holes’arereplacedbytheatomsieinmolecule,whichareverysmallindeedaedtooherbybondsiareaboutohofabillionthofametre(0。1h。Iflightwithawavelengthofaboutthissizeilluminatessuchastructure,thewillbediffracted。Theactualstruoleculeitselfbedetermihediffrapattern。ThisisthebasisofX-raydiffra。AsnotediwasfamouslyusediofiureofDNAandisnowaveryontooliry,usedregularlyfoutthestruoleculesthatmightbeusefulindevelsforexample。ItrequiresabrightX-raylightsource,aswellasameaalsoutofthemolecules。Figure20showsadiffrapatternfromacrystalofbovierovirus。
20。AnX-raydifrapatternofaproteincrystaltakenusingamodernsynX-raysource。
It’sclearthatifyouwanttotransmitlightdistahendiffracouldbeaproblem。Itwillcausetheehelightbeamtospreadout,sothatyouwouldneedabiggeraicalsystemaocaptureallofit。Thisisimportantforteleunis,sinearlyalloftheinformationtransmitted-distanunislinksiseolightbeams。
Guided>
&omaionsothatlong-distanuniispossibleistousewaveguides,suchasopticalfibres。Awaveguideisastructurethathasacarefullydesignedprofilefortherefradex。Forexample,theiionaopticalfibreisarrathe‘core’,withadiameterofafewmillionthsofametre,hasahigherihesurrounding‘g’。Thelightisedtothishigherindexovesalongthefibrewith,remainingthesamesizedistances—acrosstheAtlantiviaunderseaple。Thismeanslightisthebasisofatiationinfrastruunistosensors。
Polarization
Thefinalimportahewavemodelisthecharacteristicofpolarizatiointraheundulationsoadireatrightahedireationoftheortawosuchdiresfortheseundulations。
siderwaves,forinstanoveoneendofaropeupanddoidly,youseetheundulatioherope。Asimilarthinghappensifyoumovetheeandrightequallyrapidly。Bothvertidhorizontalossareatrightahemotionofthewavedowhewavesaresaidtobe‘transverse’。
Lightwavesbehavesimilarly。Forexample,horizontallyphthasaricfieldthatoscillatesinahorizoiveto,say,anoptich)。Similarly,thefieldofaverticallyphtbeamoscillatesiie。(Therearemoreplisofpolarizationtoo,butthesewillsuffiow。)Thephenomenenbeexplaiingthatacrystalisastrusinveryspedhighlyrepeatableucells’,gofafewatoms,maythemselvesbeasymmetridihelightispolarizedalongthelongaxisortheshortaxisoftheuwillexperienceadiffereiveihuswillbedeviatedbydifferentamountsasitpropagatesthroughabloaterial。
&heaysinwhichpolarizationoflightisexploitedisinsunglasses。Someoftheseuseleicmaterial(forexample,asheetofPolaroidplastic)thatactsasapolarizer—thatis,awhismitslightofaparticularpolarizatioidabsorbsthatonalpolarization(horizontal)。Polaroidismadefrby-ballshapedmoleculesthatarealignedaheplastier。Thesemoleculespreferentiallyabshtthatispolarizedalongtheaxisofalighemoleerallysunlightscatteredfromobjectshasarandompolarizatihly50pertofeachpolarizatiohelightofonepolarizatioivelyreducesthebrighthesebyhalf。Further,plassesreduceglare:thatis,lightrefleshinyflatsurfaces,suchasthehoodandwindsofcars。Thesesurfadtoreflectahigherproportionoflightpolarizediiohesurfaeffectdisthe19thturybySirDavidBrewsterandnownamedforhim)。Suchreflesareblockedbyspectaclesthatarestruthemaedhere,makingforclearervisionoftheroad。
Trabirefrierialsalsogethepolarizationoflightwiththelight。Thisisbecausethespeedoflightdepeionofpolarizatioothe‘orientatioerial。Somematerials,suchaslass,havenospetation:yourotatethematerialwithheeffealightbeam。Asnotedabove,atentmaterialsarearrangedinsuchawaythatthereisapreferehesymmetryaxis—alongoolight。Thatis,lightpolarizedaloryaxiswillgoslower(say)thanlightpolarizedperpendiculartotheaxis。Now,imagihelightispolarizedat45degreestothesymmetryaxis。Wesiderthathalfofthislightisthehesymmetrydiredhalfpolarizedatrightahisdire。Ifthelatterissloweddownbyasuffitamouhelightemergiherfaaterialbepolarizedat-45degrees。Thusthedireofpolarizatioed’by90degrees。
Sentmaterialsbeusedtotrolthestateofpolarization,byactivelyadjustiionofthealigaxisofthemolecules,say,usingaageaaterialitself。Ahisisaaterialscalledliquidcrystals(LCs),whisistofelongatedmolecules。TheorientationofthemoleanLbetrolledbyapplyingavoltagea。Othermaterialsbeebirefriwheressesareapplied,becausetheforcecausesthemoleculestorotateortheatomstogealighisphehestruofforthestateofpolarizationoflightattheoutputoftheoptisor。
Plagapieceewopolarizersalsoallowstrolofthelightiybymearie。Applyingavoltagereorientsthemolecules,thusgtherefradexseenbyaphtbeam。IfapolarizerisplacedaftertheLdependingontheappliedvoltageagreaterorlesseramountoflightwillbetrahroughthefinalpolarizer。Anarrayofsuch‘cells’,eabyaseparateelectrial,beusedtoformadisplaywhereeachcellisasihisisthebasisofaliquidcrystaldisplay(Ldisoftenusedforputerdisplaysdtelevisios。
Infact,suchdisplaysbeusedtoshow3Dmovies。Theillusiohesemoviesderivesfromthestereographyofhumanvision。Eachofoureyesseesasaslightlydifferentlo,siheyareafewtimetresapartinourskulls。Thetwoimagesarebinediniveusaperofdepth。
Thisillusionisreprodug3Dglassesbymeansofpolarization。Trojetothedisplayors。Eachoftheseisgeedusinglightofaspecificpolarization,andeaaslightlydifferehe3Dglassesarepolarizerssetatdiffereionsthatallowtransmissioothelefteyeaheright,eapletelyblogthealterhasthe‘wrong’polarization。Thuswehaveaseheseisaswewouldperceiveitiuralworld—thatis,theillusionofathree-dimensiemesandpeople。
Thesuccessesofthewavemodeloflighthavebeenstunning,allowingustouaantcharacteristicsoflightahisuandingtobuildeologies。AndthesuccessesoftheraypictureoflighthavebeenequallyamaziislypuzzlingthattarentlyverydifferentviewsofwhatlightisshouldbeistothisthatInowturn。