Gas Mixture Lens Measurements

Different gases have different refractive indexes. If two different gases are introduced into different parts of a st raight hollow tube and allowed to continue in laminar flow, they diffuse into each other slowly but remain sufficiently separated so that a refractive index gradient is maintained for some distance. It has been suggested by A. R. Hutson, G. E. Conklin, and the author that various optical components such as prisms and lenses can be ohtained by using such gaseous structures. These components have very low losses and reflections, with no solid surfaces to cause matching or cleaning problems. For these reasons they may have important applications in optical conununications systems.1,2,3