Compression of a bundle of light rays.
The performance of ray compression devices is discussed on the basis of a phase space treatment using Liouville's theorem. It is concluded that the area in phase space of the input bundle of rays is determined solely by the required compression ratio and possible limitations on the maximum ray angle at the output of the device. The efficiency of tapers and lenses as ray compressors is approximately equal. For linear tapers and lenses the input angle of the useful rays must not exceed the compression ratio. The performance of linear tapers and lenses is compared to a particular ray compressor using a graded refractive index distribution.
Marcuse
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