''Atomic Optics'': Nonimaging Optics on the Nanoscale

O' ; Gallagher, Roland Winston Joseph

The University of Chicago (United States)

关键词: Research Programs;    Physics;    Fiber Optics;    Transport;    Thermodynamics;   

DOI  :  10.2172/838024
RP-ID  :  DOE/ER/46065-1
RP-ID  :  FG02-03ER46065
RP-ID  :  838024

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This is the final report for a one year close out extension of our basic research program that was established at the University of Chicago more than sixteen years ago to explore and develop the optical sub-discipline that has come to be known as ''nonimaging optics''. This program has been extremely fruitful, having both broadened the range of formalism available for workers in this field and led to the discovery of many new families of optical devices. These devices and techniques have applications wherever the efficient transport and transformation of light distributions are important, in particular in illumination, fiber optics, collection and concentration of sunlight, and the detection of faint light signals in physics and astrophysics. Over the past thirty years, Nonimaging Optics (Welford and Winston, 1989) has brought a fresh approach to the analysis of many problems in classical macro-scale optics. Through the application of phase-space concepts, statistical methods, thermodynamic arguments, etc., many previously established performance limits were able to be broken and many technical surprises with exciting practical applications were discovered. The most recent three-year phase of our long-term continuing program ended in late 2002 and emphasized extending our work in geometrical optics and expanding it to include some interesting questions in physical optics as well as in the new field of statistical optics. This report presents a survey of the basic history and concepts of nonimaging optics and reviews highlights and significant accomplishments over the past fifteen years. This is followed by a more detailed summary of recent research directions and accomplishments during the last three years. This most recent phase was marked by the broadening in scope to include a separate project involving a collaboration with an industrial partner, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). This effort was proposed and approved in 1998 and was incorporated into this project (September, 1998) with the required additional funding provided through this already existing grant.