[The contributions of French-Canadian group to Optics].

For a number of years, optics, mainly in the area of diffraction, has been pursued with increasing vigor at Laval University. The present article summarizes the contributions of this French-Canadian group. After a brief historical outline, the following topics are surveyed: circular gratings, axially symmetrical diffraction patterns with both phase and amplitude variation, the factor of encircled energy and apodization, millimeter-wave optics, optical convolution, iterated diffraction in connection with beam waveguides and resonators, structure of focal region for wide angle systems, and holography.