Chapter 28. Optical Measurements
A.W.S. Tarrant
28.1. Introduction
A beam of light can be characterized by its spectral composition, its intensity, its position and direction in space, its phase, and its state of polarization. If something happens to it to alter any of those quantities and the alterations can be quantified, a good deal can usually be found out about the “something” that caused the alteration. Consequently, optical techniques can be used in a huge variety of ways, but it would be quite impossible to describe them all here.
This chapter describes a selection of widely used instruments and techniques. Optical instruments can be conveniently thought of in two categories: those basically involving image formation (for example, microscopes ...
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