A Fresnel zone plate lens can be constructed using a dye-doped liquid crystal filled cell and photo-induced alignment techniques. Light passing through a Fresnel zone patterned photo-mask causes the dye-doped liquid crystal to align in such a way to produce odd and even zones on the lens. Diffraction of incident light through the odd and even zones of the lens allows the light to constructively...

In this experiment you will become familiar with diffraction patterns created when a beam of light scatters from objects placed in its path. Such experiments were important historically as they were crucial in establishing the wave nature of light in face of competing theories that described light in terms of geometrical rays of discrete objects. Only a wave theory can give a quantitative expla...

Diffraction is a cornerstone of optical physics and has implications for the design of all optical systems. The paper discusses the so-called ‘non-diffracting’ light field, commonly known as the Bessel beam. Approximations to such beams can be experimentally realized using a range of different means. The theoretical foundation of these beams is described and then various experiments that make u...