by Alexander POLESHCHUK, Dr. Sc. (Eng.), Head of the Laboratory of Diffractive Optics, Institute of Automation and Electrometry, RAS Siberian Branch (Novosibirsk) Optics in its classical representation is based on lenses, prisms and mirrors, i.e. elements, which have achieved the height of perfection long ago. The further advance in this field of science and technology is connected with a wide application of diffractive optical elements (DOE) in the form of thin glass plates, one side of which has surface microrelief features and a depth of a part of micron size, to be more precise, up to a half of light wavelength (0.4-0.7 micron). They can replace customary lens systems, transform laser radiation and form images of virtual objects, designed by computer, while their application opens up a prospect of creating cheap, light, compact but, at the same time, complex optical devices. The range of their use is very wide, from artificial human crystalline lenses to optics of space telescopes. DIFFRACTION AND REFRACTION The diffraction* phenomenon was first revealed and described by Italian physicist and astronomer Francesco Grimaldi and British naturalist Robert Hooke in the * Diffraction is any deviation of wave propagation near obstacles, therefore due to which waves can get to a geometric shadow area, round obstacles, penetrate through small holes in screens, etc.-Ed. second half of the 17th century, but it was used to manufacture optical devices long after. Modern diffraction optics is an outcome of the age of information technologies, and it could not appear earlier due to lack of such tools as laser and computer. The manufacturing methods of DOE were first developed at the Institute of Automation and Electrometry in стр. 4 The simplest transformations of light beams by traditional (A) and diffractive (B) elements. the 1970s under the guidance of Voldemar Koronkevich, Dr. Sc. (Eng.). The main effor ... Читать далее