ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Rigorous coupled-wave analysis

Rigorous coupled-wave analysis is like playing with building blocks, except the building blocks are light waves that are being bent and shifted. Imagine you have a bunch of blocks with different shapes and colors, and you want to build a cool structure with them. So you start stacking them on top of each other, but you find that some of them don't fit together very well.

In rigorously coupled-wave analysis, instead of building with blocks, we're working with light waves. We are trying to figure out how two different light waves will interact when they meet, like how they will bend or shift. To do this, we need to measure and calculate the properties of the waves very carefully. Just like when you play with building blocks, we need to make sure that everything is put together correctly so our structure doesn't fall apart.

Using special calculations and equations, we can figure out how the light waves will interact based on their properties. This can help us understand how light behaves when it passes through or reflects off different materials, which can be very useful in designing things like lenses or computer displays.

Rigorous coupled-wave analysis can be a bit complicated, but it's basically like building with light waves instead of blocks, and figuring out how they will interact with each other.