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, ...

This page contains hints, solutions, and advanced challenges for our diffraction grating challenge. If you would like a grating (or a set for your class if you are a teacher), please contact us at ...

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 diffraction grating of a spectrometer partially determines the optical resolution that can be achieved by the spectrometer and also determines the wavelength range. Selecting the correct grating ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...