Introduction

Introduction

Author(s): Anand Vijayakumar, Shanti Bhattacharya

Published: 2017

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2261461.ch1

Abstract

This chapter introduces the fundamentals of diffractive optics, the similarities and differences between diffractive and refractive optics, the advantages of diffractive optics, and current challenges in this field. A quick review of the theoretical formulation of diffraction is presented, along with different theoretical approximations and their validity regimes.