Abstract
Some of the light intensity distributions calculated in the first paper of this series have been observed experimentally with the aid of a macroscopic set-up. Because of a peculiarity of the human eye, a degree of contrast which is far from optimum will be satisfactory for practical purposes.
The theoretical investigation begun in the first paper is continued. A measure of contrast is defined by analogy to Michelson’s measure of visibility of fringes. An expression for this is derived for the case of a very narrow phase annulus filled with light except for a narrow zone along each edge.
The possibility of measuring the phase shift introduced by an object, with the aid of phase contrast equipment, is discussed.
© 1950 Optical Society of America
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