Everything about Total internal reflection
Complete reflection of a wave
In physics, total internal reflection (TIR) is the phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface (boundary) from one medium to another are not refracted into the second ("external") medium, but completely reflected back into the first ("internal") medium. It occurs when the second medium has a higher wave speed than the first, and the waves are incident at a sufficiently oblique angle on the interface. For example, the water-to-air surface in a typical fish tank, when viewed obliquely from below, reflects the underwater scene like a mirror with no loss of brightness (Fig. 1). A scenario opposite to TIR, referred to as total external reflection, occurs in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray regimes. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Total internal reflectionA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Time Refraction and Time Reflection above Critical Angle for Total Internal ReflectionInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Polnoe otrazhenie sveta v prostykh opytakhThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Total Internal Reflection FluorescenceCited 607 times
- Go sideways: Fresnel rhombA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Fresnel equationsA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A phenomenon where light, instead of passing into a medium of a lower refractive index and refracting away from the normal, is completely reflected by the boundary between the two media because it approaches at an angle greater than or equal to the critical angle.
Noun An instance of this phenomenon.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence
Total internal reflection fluorescent microscopy
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) Microscopy
Superresolution in total internal reflection tomography
Total internal reflection Raman spectroscopy
Total internal reflection STED microscopy
Digital holography of total internal reflection
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) Microscopy
🆕 Influential since 2022
Time Refraction and Time Reflection above Critical Angle for Total Internal Reflection
Super-resolved total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy using random illuminations
Robust Optical Physical Unclonable Function Based on Total Internal Reflection for Portable Authentication
Total Internal Reflection of Two Lasers in a Single Planar Optical Waveguide
Total Internal Reflection Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Tau Fibrils
📚 Books worth reading
- 📕Polnoe otrazhenie sveta v prostykh opytakhValeriĭ Vilʹgelʹmovich Maĭer · 1986
- 📕Bestimmung der dispersiven Korrektur f'(E) zum Atomformfaktor aus der Totalreflexion von RöntgenstrahlenFrank Stanglmeier · 1990
Kumuli͡a︡tivnyĭ ėffekt v prostykh opytakhValeriĭ Vilʹgelʹmovich Maĭer · 1989
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
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