Abstract

Prof. Anderson is currently working on photonically producing true time delays for phased radar array antennas. She is also investigating optical cross-connects, optical code division multiple access, quality of signal monitoring in optical networks, and other optical devices.

Introduction

The White cell. Most of my work is based on the White cell, a simple system of three mirrors in which a single light beam makes multiple passes, and is refocused.

What is way cool about this is the spot pattern that develops. Here, on the left, is the spot pattern formed on Mirror A for two different beams. Notice how the spots for these two beams never overlap. You can extend this idea to a bunch of spots (right). The secret to the spot pattern is where the centers of curvature of the objective mirrors (B and C) are. A beam forming a spot at some particular spot on Mirror A form its next spot an equal and opposite distance from the center

Here is a photo of a spot pattern for a single beam.