Optics in the Netherlands
A. C. S. Van Heel
Applied optical research is of course carried out in the
Netherlands as in any country where physical research
is performed. In recent times this has been proved
clearly by Zernike in Groningen. The number of his
disciples, however, has not been large and the main trend
of research in Groningen lies in another direction.
We may mention M. Bottema who worked on scat-
tering by imperfect gratings, both in the U.S.A. and
in the Netherlands. Together with J. W. Kuiper, the
same author will soon publish an article on the optics of
a so-called superposition eye, like that of insects and
some locusts, which can adapt itself to low levels of
brightness.
A research group under the direction of R. Brinkman
is occupied with the study of linear and toroidic pinch-
discharges, in which conventional optical apparatus, like
vacuum spectrometers, is being used.
A special feature of the Zeeman laboratory in Am-
sterdam (director, J. C. Kluyver) is the way in which the
distance of spectral lines on a photographic plate is
measured. The spectral line is scanned by means of an
octagonal mirror and a photomultiplier, and the result
is displayed on an oscilloscope screen. The synchronous
current, feeding the motor, is also used to establish the
time-base, thereby ascertaining very accurately the
maximum of the line. It is hoped to measure the posi-
tion of the plate interferometrically with an automatic
fringe-counting device, and to transmit the data di-
rectly to a computer; this hope has not yet been realized
however.
Another subject that is being studied in this labora-
tory is the measurement of absorption in the ultraviolet
in an atomic beam by means of a Fabry-Perot inter-
ferometer mounted in a vacuum. Changes in the posi-
tion of the rings are artificially produced by admitting
small amounts of gas. The position of the rings, as well
as the pressures, are plotted against time.
The author is at the Technological University, Delft, The
Netherlands.
Received 1 November 1961.
The structure of spark discharges of about 100 btsec
duration is studied by throwing an image of the spark on
the slit of a monochromator by means of a rotating mir-
ror. The same mirror actuates a photoelectric cell con-
nected to the grid of a tyratron, which in turn triggers
the spark discharge.
A spectrometer of the Jacquinot type will be set up
and a 6-meter vacuum spectrometer for the study of the
spectra of rare earths and actinides is under construc-
tion.
Knowledge of reflection coefficients in the ultraviolet
is important for all work in this region. Research is go-
ing on to determine this property and also the thickness
of evaporated layers during evaporation.
The absorption of Ba light by Ba+ ions in an atomic
beam and the double resonance effect is also being
studied.
Optical work in the Koninklijke/Shell-Laboratorium,
Amsterdam comprises among other projects the develop-
ment of a method for observing reflection spectra in the
infrared by means of the attenuation of total reflection at
the interface between a strongly refracting dielectric and
an absorbing sample. In the case of a nonabsorb-
ing sample, total reflection will occur when the angle of
incidence is somewhat larger than the critical angle. In
the wavelength regions where there is absorption, how-
ever, there is less reflection. In this way it appears feas-
ible to obtain a reflection spectrum of high contrast and
intensity, strongly resembling a transmission spectrum.
These spectra may be used not only for analytical
purposes, but also to provide the wavelength depend-
ence of the optical constants n and K. It should be
added that the dielectric (AgCl) may be given such a
form that more than one reflection occurs, thereby en-
hancing the intensity of the peaks in the absorption
curve.
Another project is the construction of an apparatus
for measuring the scattering of light in colloidal solu-
tions and its angular dependence. A photometer meas-
ures the flux of light emitted by a well-defined volume of
liquid within a well-defined angle. The intensity of the
scattered light is compared to part of the primary beam
May 1962 / Vol. 1, No. 3 / APPLIED OPTICS 217
in a compensator with a sensitive null-amplifier. (The
Rayleigh factor R has been determined with a precision
of 2.5%.) The value of Avogadro's number, calculated
from the results with some pure liquids with the aid of
the Einstein formula, shows the reliability and accuracy
of the instrument for absolute light-scattering measure-
ments. In this connection it might be mentioned that
the dependence of the refractive index of liquids on pres-
sure is also being studied in the Shell Laboratories, in
the range of 0 to 1 atm by means of a Rayleigh inter-
ferometer. It need not be stressed that the application
of many standard optical methods in this laboratory is
extensive.
In different departments of the Physical Laboratory
at Philips, Eindhoven, optical work is being carried out
on various problems, mostly in connection with the
modern electronic and lighting industry and lying there-
fore in the border regions of optics. There is, however,
a specialized optical group doing much work on the ap-
plication and adaptation of known optical methods to
the new problems they encounter. As it is not feasible
to enumerate the many fields in which research is being
done, we can only cite a few examples:
A television set may be described as an electronic tele-
scope, but much optics of the usual type is also neces-
sary. Small wonder that the group is busy with the
measurement of the response function of television
camera lenses and of the influence of beam splitters on
the image quality of color television cameras! Another
activity concerns television projection, including
Schmidt systems and eidophors, and the precision
measurement of displacements by means of optical grat-
ings. This latter is done in such a way that signals pro-
duced are directly usable for automatic control of an
electronically guided mechanical tool.
It is obvious that light sources are studied here.
Examples are: sodium lamps with infrared-reflecting
and light-transmitting mantles; selective temperature
radiators; electroluminescence in GaP and SiC. Also
investigations of the fluorescence of solids and the be-
havior of gas discharges are being carried out and the
results are applied in the fields of electronics and optics.
Contacts between electronics and optics are manifold.
Electronmicroscopy is not the only link; the formation
of images in cathode-ray tubes is also being studied, es-
pecially in image tubes for color television. Opto-
electronics is a new field, where light plays a part as an
element in electric circuits, and where photoresistors,
light amplifiers, and masers are important subjects of
research.
Radio waves of 2 mm form a special subject of study,
the mathematical treatment of diffraction and propaga-
tion of radio waves in the atmosphere having interesting
features in common with optics.
In studying semiconductors, many optical methods
are used, e.g., the detection of the regions of magnetiza-
218 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 1, No. 3 / May 1962
tion by means of magneto-rotation and the study of the
surface of solids by means of total reflection. Of course
measurements of absorption and reflection in the ultra-
violet and infrared, and specialized spectroscopic analy-
ses, are extensively carried out.
A fine piece of research on anomalous x-ray transmis-
sion of perfect single crystals of germanium and silicon
might also be mentioned to show how far and how vague
is the border of optics in the research program of this
laboratory.
Another feature deserves attention: the tremendous
expansion of the use of optical instruments in workshop
and factory. For a mechanic in a transistor factory, a
binocular microscope is an indispensible tool, though it
must be added that it usually is built as a laboratory
instrument.
The many problems in illumination are closely related
to the science of vision. Neither street lighting nor the
lighting of airports or tunnels or workshops can be
studied without a deep knowledge of physiological op-
tics. There is a close connection in this field between
the Philips Laboratory and the Institute of Perception
Research in Eindhoven, a new foundation under the di-
rection of J. F. Schouten, and closely related to the re-
cently founded Technological University of Eindho-
ven.
Another Institute in the Netherlands, where physio-
logical optics is being studied, is the Institute for
Physiology of the Senses at Soesterberg, working under
the National Defense Council of the Netherlands. Its
director, M. A. Bouman, is a well-known-worker in this
field, some of whose many publications have appeared
in J. Opt. Soc. Am.
The spectroscopic work of Ornstein and his school in
Utrecht is being continued by a new group of workers
under the direction of J. A. Smit, whose principal aims
are the study of light emission of gases at high tempera-
tures, including the study of high-temperature furnaces
and of electrical gas discharges. On the one hand, the
production of high temperatures is a subject in itself;
on the other hand, the understanding of the mechanism
of light emission in furnaces and in gas discharges is of
great importance, not in the least for the improvement
of light sources for spectrochemical analysis. The
measurement of transition probabilities and of excita-
tion functions is also taken up. One of the main sub-
jects has been, and still is, the investigation of the flame
as a standard of temperature. Comparison with a tung-
sten band lamp by means of the observation of the re-
versal of emission lines, e.g., the sodium lines, proved
the possibility of using flames as temperature standards.
Fundamental research into the fluorescence yield and of
the collision probabilities was necessary to allow numeri-
cal conclusions to be drawn.
Spectrochemical analysis by the flame method led to
the construction of a flame photometer with a photo-
electric detector, and a mass spectrometer has been
adapted to analyze flame gases.
Arc discharges were studied to determine transition
probabilities, while the properties of the continuous
spectrum of a carbon arc were also explored. The exci-
tation functions of atoms in a low-pressure arc have been
studied by means of modern experimental aids, such
as were not available to L. S. Ornstein before
the Forties. Improvements in photoelectric methods
have been largely due to J. M. W. Milatz, and the flame-
photometry work has been activated by C. T. J. Alke-
made. Recently, the study of the mechanism of gas
discharges has led to concrete results concerning the
production of band spectra.
In the research and development sections of the
optical firm "De Oude Delft" an important subject is the
mirror system with concentric corrector, originally de-
vised by its president, A. Bouwers. Two important
new features are the conical lens and the plate for color
correction. With the first a considerable part of the
residual aberrations of a system consisting of a spherical
mirror plus one or more concentric meniscus lenses
is removed. This lens is mounted at the center of
curvature of the system, and it has the form of a nearly
plane-parallel plate of which one surface has the form of
an almost flat cone. The production of this lens is con-
siderably simpler than that of the original corrector
plate of Schmidt.
The color correcting plate is often combined with the
conical lens. It consists of a plane plate composed of a
plano-convex and a plano-concave part cemented to-
gether. The materials of the two components have
practically the same refractive index but different dis-
persions. Thus the chromatic aberration introduced
by the concentric meniscus is corrected, while the sys-
tem still satisfies the sine condition.
The development of concentric systems for photo-
graphing fluorescent screens and similar objects has led
to nine types of x-ray cameras with focal lengths ranging
from 150 to 210 mm, fields from 63 X 63 to 90 X 90
mm2 , magnifications from 1/6.3 to 1/4 and numerical
apertures from 0.69 to 0.74.
Telecameras with reduced length have been con-
structed, e.g., a camera with a focal length of 5 meters
and an overall length of only 1.3 meters.
A range of high-altitude aerial cameras has been de-
veloped in which the combination of high resolution and
high luminosity of the catadioptric optical system as de-
scribed above is realized. This permits the use of fine-
grain high-resolution film resulting in a high information
content of the image, even with comparatively short fo-
cal lengths of the optical system. We can cite as an ex-
ample a camera with a focal length of 30 cm, resolving
on medium fine grain emulsion 45 line pairs/mm over
the whole field of 57 X 57 mm2 , when the object has a
log contrast of only 0.2.
Aerial cameras for extremely low altitudes, using re-
fractive optical systems of high apertures (1:1.1 to
1: 1.6), have been designed and built, in which the blur
due to the image motion is eliminated. For this purpose
a special shutter has been constructed permitting ex-
posure times down to 1/15000 sec.
The infrared is another important field of activity of
"De Oude Delft."
Replacement of the concentric meniscus by a pseudo-
concentric system entails a favorable reduction of the
d mensions of the spherical mirror, while the sine rule is
still satisfied. A slight reduction of aperture is then
necessary, however.
A good application of anamorphotic systems is the
rectification of the horizon in scenes projected in cinema
theaters on a curved screen. This can be done by the
use of a mirror system in which the light rays are inci-
dent under a certain angle. By adding a pair of small
prisms, or by combining the cylindrical concave and
convex reflecting surfaces on a single piece of glass, an
additional degree o freedom is gained. A somewhat
similar procedure may be applied to camera objective
lenses, when a curved horizon has to be straightened.
The study of concentric lens systems led to the con-
struction of a horizon camera with a field of 355 X
150.
The field of mirror systems also comprises microscope
objectives. Apochromatic systems with a flat field,
e.g. 40 X, n.a. 0.65 and 100 X, n.a. 1.3 and also a sys-
tem for the ultraviolet 300 X, n.a. 0.85, have been suc-
cessfully developed by filling the space between the two
mirrors with glass or quartz.
A light amplifier has been constructed by this com-
pany, producing easily observable images of objects with
very low brightness down to below 10-6 ft-L. It allows
the taking of scenes with a movie camera when the ob-
ject is illuminated only by the moon. A special feature
is that it is possible, by changing the tension on the elec-
trodes, to influence the magnification, which is of spe-
cial importance when the apparatus is used for amplify-
ing the brightness of x-ray screens. Amplification of
lumens is 100; thus at a magnification of 1/5.2 the
brightness is increased about 3000 times.
We shall conclude our report of the activities of this
optical firm with one more novelty: An observer, while
looking through the two eyepieces of a scanning stereo-
scope, gets the impression of flying over the whole field
of an aerial photograph, just by turning two knobs,
which at the same time give the x and y coordinates.
Special designs of aerial cameras have been made for
photography from high altitudes, with the same de-
sired quality of the images, by correcting the effects of
changes of temperature and pressure. In connection
with these high exigencies, specialized apparatus has
been constructed to measure currently the frequency
response of the systems. Automatic focusing of a cam-
May 1962 / Vol. 1, No. 3 / APPLIED OPTICS 219
era has been made possible by the use of a "noise" plate,
rotating in the image plane. If the image is sharp in
the plane of this plate, the noise on a photocell behind
it will be maximal.
In the Technical Physics Laboratory of the Tech-
nological University at Delft much of the optical work
is concentrated in the Optics Section, though other sec-
tions too have optical interests. That section under the
direction of J. B. Westerdijk has, among other work,
constructed a grating spectrometer for the far infrared
between 50 and 1000 ,. The gratings have grating con-
stants ranging from 0.15 to 3 mm, the aperture is 1: 1,
and the focal length of the parabolic mirror is 30 cm.
Work is going on to improve the different detector sys-
tems, and to produce dipole radiation in this region.
Studies are also in progress on the measurement of trans-
mission and reflection of materials for the use in the
spectrometer, the construction of waveguides to im-
prove illumination of the entrance slit (now illuminated
by an elliptical mirror), and the making of gratings of
such a construction that the disturbing radiation of
smaller wavelength is eliminated.
In the X-Ray Section, under the direction of P. M.
de Wolff, the diffraction patterns produced by regular se-
ries of holes in a metal template illuminated by a parallel
pencil of monochromatic light are being studied in order
to obtain the optical analogs of diffraction patterns pro-
duced by molecules, or rather regular sets of molecules,
in the x-ray region. The length of the usual setup with
lenses is diminished by using mirrors instead of lenses.
J. B. Le Poole has resumed his researches in the
field of electron optics, after some years of work in an-
other area.
In B. S. Blaisse's group, the work on low-temperature
physics has an optical experiment under way, viz., the
measurement of expansion coefficients at temperatures
around 40 K, and for this purpose an interferometer of
special design is being built: A cell is formed by two
plane-parallel plates spaced by the sample. Light re-
flected from the front plate and from the back plate is
brought to interfere, and changes in the length of the
spacing with temperature changes are made observable.
In order to enhance the sensitivity, a quarter-wave
plate is mounted between the two plates while the inci-
dent light is plane-polarized, observation by means of a
photocell taking place with an analyzer. The position
of the fringes is measured by influencing the phase dif-
ference between the two components by an ADP crystal
before the first plate. A sinusoidal shifting of the lines
is produced by a sine signal on the ADP crystal, while,
at the same time, a pressure scanning in the cell has to
be applied. This last, however, is not feasible at he-
lium temperatures and therefore a second similar cell is
placed in the room, the light passing through both cells.
Moreover, the presence of the second cell has the ad-
vantage that the light path is compensated, and white
220 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 1, No. 3 / May 1962
light may be used. Sensitivity is of the order of
X/100000.
In the Optics Section, directed by the author, much
time has been given to optical design and more es-
pecially to the methods of T. Smith. Optical systems
have been conceived, executed, and tested, e.g., the op-
tical part of a wide-angle camera with a field of 2600,
and a horizon camera giving, in a single exposure, a
picture of 90% of the horizon and a vertical field of 20°.
An apochromatic collimator is under construction, using
modern glasses. Its aberrations are below X/4 for the
whole visible spectrum with an aperture 1:12.5 and a
focal length of 1 meter. Systems are designed, chiefly
for educational purposes, that show several of the aber-
rations in a pure form: e.g., coma, distortion, lateral
chromatic aberration without axial chromatic aberra-
tion, etc.
Of the experimental work the development of align-
ment methods should be mentioned. For precision
work it proved of importance to obviate the use of lenses
as far as possible. Spheres and concave and plane mir-
rors have given better results. Moreover, they are
easier to handle in practical applications. Spherical
aberration and diffraction, when well drilled, prove to be
helpful instead of a hindrance. A precision of 0.2 see of
arc may be readily attained at distances from under 1
meter to well over 40 meters. Progress is being made
in the testing of the flatness of surfaces with the same
precision and for the same range of distances. A sphere
with a cap of the same very homogeneous glass is pro-
vided on the outside of the aluminized cap with a scratch
long enough to give light in a, say, horizontal plane over
a range of 900. Spherical aberration and diffraction
produce a pattern consisting of a series of horizontal
lines. By means of some auxiliary pieces, the flatness
of the surface thus defined can be ensured to lie within
the said limit. Brightness is so intense that it is easy
to find the pattern even in daylight. As the pattern
stretches over a wide horizontal range, it is easy to lo-
cate. By adding transverse scratches, even the
straightness of lines is thus easier to test.
Determining the optical thickness of coatings is an-
other line of research. By adapting Frangon's idea of
using Savart plates and by making use of photometric
settings instead of observation of the interference frin-
ges, it proved possible with a specially designed appara-
tus to attain a precision of X/1000. Work on adapting
this method to observation inside the evaporating dome
is in progress.
In the same Laboratory for Technical Physics at Delft
is housed the Optical Department of the T.P.D., a re-
search organization based on the cooperation of the
Technological University at Delft and the Organization
of Applied Scientific Research (T.N.O.). Of the many
problems considered there, we mention the following:
Technical applications of the results of the research
on alignment were used in the determination of the amp-
litude of swaying church towers, especially during re-
pair, mostly by the now old but simple method with
zone plates. Amplitudes of 1 mm at heights of 50
meters were observed with a precision of a few tenths
of a millimeter, a limit set by atmospheric disturbances;
the usual geodetic instruments failed on account of the
trepidations in the surrounding soft soil. The sagging
under load of experimental runways at the Schiphol
airport was determined, and the desired precision of
0.02 mm at 40 meters on nine tracks simultaneously was
reached throughout the whole range of experiments over
a period of some months. This was very helpful in
checking the calculations on stiffness of the cement
layers. Tasks such as mounting sixty axes of a large
machine parallel to one another were fulfilled in a satis-
factory way without undue loss of time.
Of the several optical instruments being developed
for special purposes we shall mention a novel form of
polarimeter cell of double conical shape (in order to
minimize sample liquid) and an absorption cell for the
determination of feeble absorptions of limited quantities
of liquid. In the last case we might speak of optical
amplification:a light beam is sent many times through
Participants in the Spectral Line Shape and Molecular Interactions Symposium held in Israel in August 1961; see report on page 377.
the sample and each time only a small fraction of the
beam is tapped off. The sum of all these fractions is af-
fected by absorption about ten times more than by a
single passage through the sample. The tapping off of
the light fluxes is achieved by means of frustrated total
reflection.
Recently a prototype of a device was finished for
viewing the inner wall of straight pipes and tubes with
an internal diameter of a few centimeters and a length
of up to several tens of meters. The whole of one sec-
tion of about 1 cm length (calculated along the direction
of the tube axis) can be observed in one glance, while
the sections are made visible one after another by run-
ning along the axis of the tube one of the two rotating
prisms that enable the observer to see the image.
The special cameras mentioned above under the head-
ing of the Technological University have been developed
and built here. A computer of their construction was
adapted for ray tracing. In recent times more and
more designing and ray tracing is being done on modern
electronic computers. Programming of optical calcula-
tions on these computers is entrusted to part of the
T.P.D. staff.
photoBEN-ZVI
May 1962/ Vol. 1, No. 3 / APPLIED OPTICS 221