Linear behaviour in the aperture pupil of single photoreceptors: Consequences related to the degree of inhomogeneity

An exact treatment of the initial field falling on the entrance face of a photoreceptor, so that the scattered field far from the latter vanishes, is presented. Its physical interest and some consequences are discussed. By establishing certain similarities between the behaviour of the photoreceptor as light penetrates into and propagates along, and an optical linear system, it is possible to define a spatial transverse impulse response containing information on the diffraction capability of each individual receptor. The distribution of this function across a transverse plane depends upon the particular form of the refractive index in the photoreceptor. Thus, certain differences are seen to occur between the case of an homogeneous receptor and an inhomogeneous one, for particular values in the degree of inhomogeneity. This fact allows to interpret the presence of inhomogeneities in the photoreceptor structure.