Abstract
THE diffraction patterns near the focus in a plane perpendicular to the axis of a spherical wave front which passes through a circular aperture have been investigated by various authors1–7. The most complete treatment of this problem appears to be due to Lommel7, who derived expressions for the wavedisturbance in receiving planes other than the geometrical focal plane, and thus extended Airy's classical results1.
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Airy, G. B., Camb. Phil. Trans., 5, 283 (1835).
Buxton, A., Mon. Not. Roy. Astro. Soc., 81, 547 (1921).
Conrady, A. E., Mon. Not. Roy. Astro. Soc., 79, 575 (1919).
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Lommel, W., Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wissensch., 15, 229 and 529 (1886). A more accessible, though condensed, account of Lomniel's treatment is given in: Gray, A., Mathews, G. B., and MacRobert, T.M., "A Treatise on Bessel Functions" (second edit., Macmillan, London, 1931).
Rayleigh, Phil. Mag., 11, 214 (1881). Also "Collected Papers", 1, 513; 3, 91.
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WOLF, E. Diffraction Associated with Defocusing. Nature 164, 924 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164924a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164924a0
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