Fourier Optics Aperture Function Explained

/ edmundsj
If you want to see more of these videos, or would like to say thanks for this one, the best way you can do that is by becoming a patron - see the link above :). And a huge thank you to all my existing patrons - you make these videos possible.
In this video, I go over in more detail the aperture function - how you write it down, and what its capabilities are. I also talk about the philosophy of diffraction (it has nothing to do with slits!) and give a glimpse of what you can do with the aperture function in the context of modeling optical systems.
This is part of my graduate series on optoelectronics / photonics, and is based primarily on Coldren's book on Lasers as well as graduate-level coursework I have taken in the EECS department at UC Berkeley.
Hope you found this video helpful, please post in the comments below anything I can do to improve future videos, or suggestions you have for future videos.

[@sushilpokharel5568]

Hi Jordan, I really like your videos. Thank you so much, very nicely explained. Would it be possible for you to make a video on the 4f system?

[@mirelaevgenieva6248]

hey there! thanks a lot, awesome videos, the content is very well chosen and, the way you guide us through it is just incredibly instructive! Maybe one slight comment on the order you have chosen to show us the concepts: For me, the topic would have been even easier to follow if the "philosophical view of diffraction" and all of the angular spectrum content would have been shown in the first videos, instead of Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction.
thanks again!

[@huonghuongnuquy7272]

hello, thank you very much for your videos, they are very helpful ! your video on fourier optics aperture fucntion really opens my mind and now I got the new way to thing about the diffraction phenomeno, see the link between the diffraction and propagation. It's a beautiful idea and interesting topic !

[@jacobvandijk6525]

Good stuff. I like the diffraction-story.

[@mahithmadhu3267]

So I guess that if you take the Fourier transform of the aperture function, that will give you a bunch of sine waves with different frequencies. If we plot them with power/energy along Y axis and frequencies along X axis, we will get a pattern that is identical to the diffraction pattern we observe on the screen. Am I right? Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong in my interpretation.

[@sabkascience]

which book should i read to know more about this

[@taoliu6334]

Hi Jordan, thank you very much for the informative video! I like particularly the end in abstraction of concrete slits. Do you have recommended books to learn more detailed math? Thank you so much!

[@JordanEdmundsEECS]

Unfortunately the books by Goodman on Fourier Optics is pretty much the only one. There is a really good MATLAB tutorial book on Fourier Optics that I followed to program a Fourier Optics simulator - that was very helpful.

[@Love_and_wisdom]

Nice and clear
got some clarifications!
so if we simulate Fourier transform for any g(x), we can get the diffraction pattern??( In matlab or anything other tools)

[@JordanEdmundsEECS]

Yup, I actually just did it the other day. I used python and numpy’s 2d FFT.

[@haya4895]

thanks alot, this is helpful.
what is the fourier transform of double slit function?

[@JordanEdmundsEECS]

You can use the properties of the Fourier Transform (linearity and time/space shifting) to add two single slit functions separated from each other to get the double slit aperture function.

[@haya4895]

@@JordanEdmundsEECS thanks alot doctor