Figure 1.

Schematic of rainbow glare.

Notes: The centers of slits created by laser spots on the cornea during flap creation are separated by a distance, A, and diffract light of wavelength, λ, at an emergence angle, θ_m, for a given mode of diffraction (m=0,1, 2, …). The distance between the centers of consecutive slits is related to the diffraction angle by the following diffraction grating equation: A = mλ/sinθm. The fundamental mode of diffraction (m1) represents the brightest set of bands and is therefore the most clinically significant.