A new method to derive algebraic formulae for tracing skew rays in radial gradient-index media is described. We obtained power series for the ray position and direction, optical path length and coordinates of the intersection point of the curved ray with the spherical end surface of the GRIN lens. All these formulae include the effects of terms up to the eighth power of the radius in the refrac...

A new class of hierarchically structured polymer optical materials possessing an internal refractive index gradient that mimics biological optical materials is described. The new materials permit the fabrication of gradient refractive index (GRIN) lenses with an unprecedented variety of index gradients. Gradients with different functional forms in both the radial and axial directions have been ...

Abstract Transformation optics has formulated a versatile framework to mold the flow of light and tailor its spatial characteristics at will. Despite huge success in bringing scientific fiction (such as invisibility cloaking) into reality, coordinate transformation often yields extreme material parameters unfeasible even with metamaterials. Here, we demonstrate new paradigm based upon invarianc...

A major structure/function relationship in the eye lens is that between the constituent proteins, the crystallins and the optical property of refractive index. Structural breakdown that leads to cataract has been investigated in a number of studies; the concomitant changes in the optics, namely increases in light attenuation have also been well documented. Specific changes in the refractive ind...

We introduce a new method to make gradient index (GRIN) lenses and GRIN lens arrays by exposing diffusion-driven photopolymers using a low-power CW laser. By changing the size and power of the laser beam and the exposure time the index profile of the GRIN lens can be controlled. Combined with the self-developing nature of the photopolymer, this enables rapid "on-demand" printing of arbitrary mi...

A ray-theoretic account of the passage of light through a radially inhomogeneous transparent sphere has been used to establish the existence of multiple primary rainbows for some refractive index profiles. The existence of such additional bows is a consequence of a sufficiently attractive potential in the interior of the drop, i.e., the refractive index gradient should be sufficiently negative ...

A ray-theoretic account of the passage of light through a radially inhomogeneous transparent sphere has been used to establish the existence of multiple primary rainbows for some refractive index profiles. The existence of such additional bows is a consequence of a sufficiently attractive potential in the interior of the drop, i.e. the refractive index gradient should be sufficiently negative t...