Optics & Photonics News - Putting Polarization to Work

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Light Touch </h5> <h1 class="mb-1">Putting Polarization to Work</h1> <p class="author">Stephen R. Wilk</p> <p class="lead"><p>Leveraging polarization direction has enabled wide-ranging applications, from glare reduction to 3D movies.</p> </p> <div class="clearfix"><div class="caption caption_fullpage"> <p><img alt="Vintage picture of man with polarizers" src="https://opnmedia.blob.core.windows.net/$web/opn/media/images/articles/2024/0624/departments/202406-p24-light-img01.jpg"></p> <p>Polaroid cofounder George W. Wheelwright III demonstrates Polaroid polarizing lenses, circa 1930s. [Polaroid Corporation Records. Baker Library, Harvard Business School]</p> </div><p>The first polarized glasses appear to have been made in 1849 by Alexander Bryson of Edinburgh, Scotland. The prisms he used, invented just 20 years before, would have been a bit bulky but provided a relatively large aperture and worked for all visible wavelengths. Bryson constructed his glasses with the transmission direction vertical, so that they would eliminate glare from most of the sunlight reflected from horizontal surfaces. He particularly wanted to allow the user to see through the surface of water. Since then, scientists and inventors have taken advantage of polarization direction for a variety of applications.</p>…</div> <div class="alert alert-warning clearfix"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-1"> <span class="fas fa-lock fa-3x"></span> </div> <div class="col"> <h4><a href="/account/login?returnUrl=%2Fhome%2Farticles%2Fvolume_35%2Fjune_2024%2Fdepartments%2Fputting_polarization_to_work%2F%3Fsrc%3D">Log in</a> or <a href="https://account.optica.org/eweb/dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=member&mbr_src_code=OPNWEB" target="_blank">become a member</a> to view the full text of this article.</h4> <br/> <p> This article may be available for purchase via the <a href="https://opg.optica.org/search.cfm?q=&meta=1&j=opn,optics-news&i=6&cj=1&cc=0&sy=2024&ey=2024" target="_blank">search at Optica Publishing Group</a>. <br/> Optica Members get the full text of <em>Optics & Photonics News</em>, plus a variety of other <a href="https://www.optica.org/en-us/membership_education/benefits_and_services/?utm_source=OPN&utm_medium=Magazine&utm_content=ArticleBenefitsLink&utm_campaign=Article%20Access%20Benefits%20Link" target="_blank">member benefits</a>. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h3> <a id="comments">Add a Comment</a> </h3> <div id="disqus_thread"></div> <script> /** * RECOMMENDED CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT AND UNCOMMENT THE SECTION BELOW TO INSERT DYNAMIC VALUES FROM YOUR PLATFORM OR CMS. * LEARN WHY DEFINING THESE VARIABLES IS IMPORTANT: https://disqus.com/admin/universalcode/#configuration-variables */ var disqus_config = function () { this.page.url = "https://www.optica-opn.org" + "/home/articles/volume_35/june_2024/departments/putting_polarization_to_work/"; // Replace PAGE_URL with your page's canonical URL variable this.page.identifier = "Putting Polarization to Work"; // Replace PAGE_IDENTIFIER with your page's unique identifier variable }; (function() { // DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE var d = document, s = d.createElement('script'); s.src = 'https://opticsphotonicsnews.disqus.com/embed.js'; s.setAttribute('data-timestamp', +new Date()); (d.head || d.body).appendChild(s); })(); </script> <noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href="https://disqus.com/?ref_noscript">comments powered by Disqus.</a></noscript> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.osa-opn.org" }, "headline": "Putting Polarization to Work", "datePublished": "2024-06-01T0:05:00-04:00", "dateModified": "0001-01-01T0:00:00-05:00", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen R. 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Optics & Photonics News - Putting Polarization to Work