Photonics Dictionary

An instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to sort out the relative masses of atoms and molecules.The same way an optical spectroscope uses a prism to separate light into its various wavelengths,...

A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals between multiple fiber optic channels. These switches utilize miniature...

An accurate metal prism or plane parallel plate that is cemented to an optical element and remains with it during a series of grinding or polishing processes. The metal element contains threaded...

A system composed of a prism spectroscope and compound microscope to provide the visual comparison of two spectra simultaneously -- that of the sample focused by the microscope and that of the...

The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a minimum if the incident and exiting rays form equal angles with the prism...

A monochromator is an optical instrument used to isolate and select a narrow range of wavelengths from a broader spectrum of light. The term monochromator is derived from "monochromatic," meaning...

A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68° between one vertical side and the end surface. The prism is cut diagonally...

The movement of an object seen through a refracting prism toward the apex of a prism.

1. A prism used in some instruments to bend light 90° before it enters the objective. 2. A dispersing prism located in front of an astronomical telescope objective to produce spectra of all...

The prism used in a rangefinder to bend the lines of sight through the instruments into the eyepieces.

A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a specific function within an optical system. These components may include lenses,...

Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical systems. These materials are designed to provide secure and durable bonds...

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms, to modify their reflective and transmissive properties. These coatings are...

An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines multiple optical signals or images into a single output. The purpose of an...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and components to meet specific performance requirements and application needs....

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to simulate, model, analyze, and optimize the performance of optical systems and...

An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems, such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, and filters. Optical glass is...

In compact disc and CD-ROM technology, the portion of the drive that projects the laser light onto the surface of the media and picks up the resulting reflections read as data. The head includes the...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

1. The angular displacement of the plane of polarization of light passing through a medium. 2. The azimuthal displacement of the field of view achieved with a rotating prism.

1.) Generally, the electromagnetic spectrum within the wavelength region extending from the vacuum ultraviolet at 40 nm to the far-infrared at 1 mm. 2.) The wavelength or color distribution...

A group of lenses, or any combination of lenses, mirrors and prisms, so constructed as to refract or reflect light to perform some definite optical function.

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and its manifestation as both particle and wave phenomena. It encompasses the...

A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is mounted to rotate about a vertical axis. A slit opening in the film plane and the...

A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in convergent, divergent and parallel light. May be rotated to compensate for...

A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30° dispersing prism attached to each of its square faces. The spectrum formed by the...

A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to the entering and emerging beams. The deviation angle of 90° is...

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses the periscope is a long tube containing prisms at both ends and...

A prism used in a photometer for the adjacent comparison of separate luminance.

A type of copying camera in which the object is placed on a horizontal easel and photographed by a horizontal camera above the easel through a 90° reversing prism. The image is recorded on a...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to traditional optical components made from glass or other materials. Plastic...

A photometer having a pair of Nicol prisms introduced into the beam from the brighter of two sources to be compared. Turning one of these polarizers reduces the beam to equality with the beam of the...

A coating made up of particular birefringent materials having polarizing properties. It may be used, in some cases, to replace Polaroid or polarizing prisms.

A filter that polarizes light passing through it. It is possible to fabricate sheets of plastic or gelatin that contain birefringent crystals so oriented as to pass only polarized light. Such sheets...

A device that is used to produce or analyze plane-polarized light. It may be a Nicol prism or some other form of calcite prism or a polarizing filter.

A 45-90-45° reflecting prism whose surfaces form the 90° angle reflecting the light beam through a total angle of 180°. The corners of the prism are rounded to minimize breakage and simplify...

The arrangement of two Porro prisms so that the inverted image formed by certain types of optical instruments is the same as the object. The first prism, which is set at 90° to the second, inverts...

A method of determining prism power at any point on a lens. Prism power equals the product of the dioptric power and the distance, in centimeters, from the optical center.

The thin edge of a refracting prism; the line of intersection of two refracting surfaces of a prism.

The thick edge of a refracting prism.

A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance of the observer. This separation is adjustable with a convenient millimeter...

The chromatic resolving power of a prism is invariably stated for the case in which parallel rays of light are incident on the prism, in which the prism is oriented at the angle of minimum deviation...

An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine the thickness and refractive index of thin films in integrated optical...

The ghost image formed by a prism.

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter away.