ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will discuss the principles of optical image generation. Because we know that light is basically electromagnetic radiation, we will recap the fundamentals of wave optics in Section 3.2. For many optical devices and displays it is essential to consider the wave properties of light, such as wavelength, amplitude, and phase. Holograms (discussed in Chapter 5) and CGH displays (discussed in Chapter 9), for instance, would not be imaginable without these considerations. We will see that light can not only interact with matter, but can also show certain effects with light itself. Light waves, for example, can interfere constructively or even destructively, depending on their phase relative to each other.
