One of the coolest things about physics is that the same basic concept can pop up in several seemingly unrelated things: say, a CD, the seed shrimp’s antennae, certain fossils in the Burgess shale, ...

The spectrum of laser technologies available to hackers has gradually widened from basic gas lasers through CO2 tubes, diode lasers, and now fiber lasers. One of the newer entries is the MOPA laser, ...

Here’s a great picture from [Jelly & Marshmallows] that shows off the wild effects of melted chocolate poured onto a diffraction grating. A diffraction grating is a kind of optical component whose ...

As stated in the article titled ‘An Introduction to a Spectrometer: The Slit’, a spectrometer is an imaging system that maps a plurality of monochromatic images of the entrance slit onto the detector ...

A material that is capable of the “reverse diffraction” of light and that is inspired by butterfly wings has been made by researchers in the US. The structure combines features of the butterfly’s ...

Scientists have observed “bending” atoms using a crystal grating—an experiment once believed impossible at the high energies required. The authors of a new, non-peer reviewed study detail how the a ...

A laser pointer shining on a diffraction grating or CD creates a series of diffraction spots depending on the spacing of the lines or pits in the grating or CD and the wavelength emitted by the laser.

Spectrographs are important tools for studying many biological and chemical processes and substances, from pigments to plant growth and nucleic acids to pharmaceuticals, providing information about ...

Ultrashort laser pulses—that are shorter than a millionth of a millionth of a second—have transformed fundamental science, ...

Sunlight reaches the earth as white light, which is made up of all the rainbow colors. Rainbow colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. It is easy to remember them by using the ...