- Email: [email protected]
Fibre optics and its applications
Books Fibre optics and its applications R. Tiedeken Focal Press, 1972, pp 238, ~0.25 This book is a notable addition to existing literature on the subject . It contains information useful to all classes of people interested in fibre optics. One feel that Dr Tiedeken is to be congratulated for compressing so much data and description into so compact a volume. Equally, one is grateful for Grace Lockie’s translation which reads almost as if English, rather than German, were the original language. The author seems to have spared no pains in mentioning almost every publicized application of tibre optics, ranging from simple ‘light wires’ to solid face plates built into image tubes. There is enough information given for the reader to grasp the principle of each device described, and adequate references are given. The referencing is, indeed, extremely thorough: pages 157 to 229 are taken up with sources. These start with a paper by Quincke (1866) and contain almost all relevant articles published in European languages since then. Dr Tiedeken includes patents in his source list, but one suspects that he would not claim that these were comprehensively covered. Excluding the reference section, there are ten chapters in the body of the book. These cover the science and technology in a succinct fashion, and include discussions on photometry, image transfer, optical and mechanical properties, defects, performance limitations, and performance assessment. If one has to make a criticism, it would be that Dr Tiedeken confines his descriptions of manufacturing methods to those for optical Bbres: there may be lessons to be learnt from the much older milleBore and mosaic products (some of which date back some thousands of years). One further point must be made: the information density in this book is necessarily high, so that even in spite of its high literary quality, a superficial reader may find it rather heavy going. C.D. Reid
Optical transforms Edited by H. Lipson Academic Press, 1972, pp xi + 325, 27.25 This book is basically concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of producing Fourier transforms by optical techniques, and with their application in a number of different areas: primarily, but not exclusively, as an aid to the structural analysis of matter. It consists of 11 chapters contributed by the same number of authors, either individually or in groups.
OPTICS AND LASER TECHNOLOGY.
FEBRUARY
1974
The first chapter, on the basic principles, is by Professor H. Lipson himself. As well as dealing with the basic theory of optical transforms and describing a practical diffractometer, he gives a brief historical introduction to the subject in which he introduces one of the primary themes of the book: the application of optical transforms to the study of matter by x-ray diffraction. Three other chapters deal in more detail with various aspects of this. B. Chaudhuri writes about the determination of crystal structure from x-ray diffraction data; tentative models of the atomic structure can be studied by comparing the optical diffraction pattern produced by a mask simulating the structure with the actual x-ray diffraction data. Optical diffraction can be applied in a similar way to the study of tibres and polymers by x-ray diffraction, and this is dealt with in a chapter by C. A. Taylor. Very complex masks are required in these studies and much of the chapter deals with the various techniques for producing them. Optical transform techniques can also be used for Fourier synthesis, so that an image of the molecular structure of a crystal can be reconstructed directly from a mask representing the x-ray diffraction data. In a chapter entitled ‘Optical Fourier synthesis’, G. Haburn describes various techniques for doing this, and in particular, methods of producing masks with correct amplitude and phase data. The use of optical transforms in biological studies is described by J. A. Lake. The main application in this case is to the processing of electron micrographs. Transform techniques are useful for emphasizing and studying specific periodic structures which are not always apparent in the micrographs and have been used with x-ray diffraction data for solving the structure of complex biological molecules. Optical diffraction has also been utilized in low energy electron diffraction - in a manner analogous to its use in x-ray diffraction; this particular topic is dealt with by W. P. Ellis. B. J. Thomson contributes two chapters to the book, one on coherence requirements and the other on optical data processing. The former is a very valuable introduction to the theory of partial coherence. The latter describes the theory, experimental techniques, and some of the applications of optical data processing (spatial frequency filtering). Examples of the applications dealt with are raster and halftone removal, contrast enhancement, aberration balancing, and spectrum analysis. The book also contains chapters on holography, and on optical transforms in teaching (one that those less familiar with Fourier transforms could do well to read first). The final chapter of the book is entitled ‘Miscellaneous’ and deals with more tentative applications such as the sizing of water droplets in a spray, the study of woven textiles, and the microstructure of metallurgical specimens. With the advent of the laser, the practical application of optical transform techniques is now eminently feasible. The present volume describes many of the applications of this technique from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view, and should prove useful and stimulat-
41
Optical transforms Edited by H. Lipson Academic Press, 1972, pp xi + 325, 27.25 This book is basically concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of producing Fourier transforms by optical techniques, and with their application in a number of different areas: primarily, but not exclusively, as an aid to the structural analysis of matter. It consists of 11 chapters contributed by the same number of authors, either individually or in groups.
OPTICS AND LASER TECHNOLOGY.
FEBRUARY
1974
The first chapter, on the basic principles, is by Professor H. Lipson himself. As well as dealing with the basic theory of optical transforms and describing a practical diffractometer, he gives a brief historical introduction to the subject in which he introduces one of the primary themes of the book: the application of optical transforms to the study of matter by x-ray diffraction. Three other chapters deal in more detail with various aspects of this. B. Chaudhuri writes about the determination of crystal structure from x-ray diffraction data; tentative models of the atomic structure can be studied by comparing the optical diffraction pattern produced by a mask simulating the structure with the actual x-ray diffraction data. Optical diffraction can be applied in a similar way to the study of tibres and polymers by x-ray diffraction, and this is dealt with in a chapter by C. A. Taylor. Very complex masks are required in these studies and much of the chapter deals with the various techniques for producing them. Optical transform techniques can also be used for Fourier synthesis, so that an image of the molecular structure of a crystal can be reconstructed directly from a mask representing the x-ray diffraction data. In a chapter entitled ‘Optical Fourier synthesis’, G. Haburn describes various techniques for doing this, and in particular, methods of producing masks with correct amplitude and phase data. The use of optical transforms in biological studies is described by J. A. Lake. The main application in this case is to the processing of electron micrographs. Transform techniques are useful for emphasizing and studying specific periodic structures which are not always apparent in the micrographs and have been used with x-ray diffraction data for solving the structure of complex biological molecules. Optical diffraction has also been utilized in low energy electron diffraction - in a manner analogous to its use in x-ray diffraction; this particular topic is dealt with by W. P. Ellis. B. J. Thomson contributes two chapters to the book, one on coherence requirements and the other on optical data processing. The former is a very valuable introduction to the theory of partial coherence. The latter describes the theory, experimental techniques, and some of the applications of optical data processing (spatial frequency filtering). Examples of the applications dealt with are raster and halftone removal, contrast enhancement, aberration balancing, and spectrum analysis. The book also contains chapters on holography, and on optical transforms in teaching (one that those less familiar with Fourier transforms could do well to read first). The final chapter of the book is entitled ‘Miscellaneous’ and deals with more tentative applications such as the sizing of water droplets in a spray, the study of woven textiles, and the microstructure of metallurgical specimens. With the advent of the laser, the practical application of optical transform techniques is now eminently feasible. The present volume describes many of the applications of this technique from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view, and should prove useful and stimulat-
41