Jimma University: College of Natural Sciences Department of Physics

JIMMA
UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF NATURAL
SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
May 04, 2017
Jimma, Ethiopia
CHAPTER 7
FOURIER OPTICS
1. Introduction To Fourier Optics
• Fourier optics is the study of classical optics using Fourier

transforms (FTs), in which the wave is regarded as a
superposition of plane waves that are not related to any
identifiable sources; instead they are the natural modes of the
propagation medium itself.
• Fourier optics can be seen as the dual of the Huygens–Fresnel
principle, in which the wave is regarded as a superposition of
expanding spherical waves which radiate outward from actual
(physically identifiable) current sources via a Green's function
relationship (see Double-slit experiment)
Two-slit diffraction pattern by a plane wave
1
□ Fourier optics is used in the field of optical information
processing, the staple of which is the classical 4F
processor.
□ The Fourier transform properties of a lens provide
numerous applications in optical signal processing such as
spatial filtering, optical correlation and computer generated
holograms.
□ Fourier optical theory is used in interferometry, optical
tweezers, atom traps, and quantum computing.
□ Concepts of Fourier optics are used to reconstruct the phase
of light intensity in the spatial frequency plane.
□ Fourier transform spectroscopy is a technique that
uses interference of light rather than dispersion to
measure the spectrum of a substance.
□ The basis of this technique is the Fourier-pair
relationship between the interferogram (interference
function) of a substance and its spectrum.
□ This relationship and other important physical and
mathematical principles of Fourier transform
spectroscopy are reviewed, and the important role of
mini-computers in the development and application of
this technique is discussed.
One motivation for the Fourier transform comes from the study of Fourier
series.
In the study of Fourier series, complicated but periodic functions are
written as the sum of simple waves mathematically represented
by sines and cosines.
The Fourier transform is an extension of the Fourier series that results
when the period of the represented function is lengthened and allowed to
approach infinity.
Due to the properties of sine and cosine, it is possible to recover the
amplitude of each wave in a Fourier series using an integral.
In many cases it is desirable to use Euler's formula, which states that e2πiθ =
cos(2πθ) + i sin(2πθ), to write Fourier series in terms of the basic
waves e2πiθ.
This has the advantage of simplifying many of the formulas involved, and
provides a formulation for Fourier series that more closely resembles the
definition followed in this article.
In the first frames of the animation, a function f is resolved into Fourier series: a
linear combination of sines and cosines (in blue). The component frequencies of
these sines and cosines spread across the frequency spectrum, are represented as
peaks in the frequency domain (actually Dirac delta functions, shown in the last
frames of the animation). The frequency domain representation of the function, f̂,
is the collection of these peaks at the frequencies that appear in this resolution of
the function.
2
3
Fourier transform spectroscopy
□ Fourier-transform spectroscopy is a measurement technique
whereby spectra are collected based on measurements of the
coherence of a radiative source, using time-domain or space-
domain measurements of the electromagnetic radiation or
other type of radiation.
□ It can be applied to a variety of types of spectroscopy
including optical spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR,
FT-NIRS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic
resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI),[1] mass
spectrometry and electron spin resonance spectroscopy.
4
□ There are several methods for measuring the temporal coherence of
the light (see: field-autocorrelation), including the continuous wave
Michelson or Fourier-transform spectrometer and the pulsed Fourier-
transform spectrograph (which is more sensitive and has a much
shorter sampling time than conventional spectroscopic techniques,
but is only applicable in a laboratory environment).
□ The term Fourier-transform spectroscopy reflects the fact that in all
these techniques, a Fourier transform is required to turn the raw data
into the actual spectrum, and in many of the cases in optics involving
interferometers, is based on the Wiener–Khinchin theorem.
□ The Fourier transform is also used in nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) and in other kinds of spectroscopy, e.g. infrared (FTIR).
□ In NMR an exponentially shaped free induction decay (FID) signal
is acquired in the time domain and Fourier-transformed to a
Lorentzian line-shape in the frequency domain.
□ The Fourier transform is also used in magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and mass spectrometry. 7
The Fourier-transform spectrometer is just a Michelson interferometer, but one of
the two fully reflecting mirrors is movable, allowing a variable delay (in the travel
time of the light) to be included in one of the beams.
□ Fourier transform spectroscopy is a technique that
uses interference of light rather than dispersion to
measure the spectrum of a substance.
□ The basis of this technique is the Fourier-pair
relationship between the interferogram (interference
function) of a substance and its spectrum.
□ This relationship and other important physical and
mathematical principles of Fourier transform
spectroscopy are reviewed, and the important role of
mini-computers in the development and application of
this technique is discussed.

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• Fourier optics is the study of classical optics using Fourier

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