Photonics Dictionary

Describing a prism, or the effects produced by prisms.

The spectrum formed by a dispersing prism or a dispersing prism system.

A graphical device used to measure prism power.

A prism system designed to produce a very high dispersion of light.

The restricting opening at the rear of a lens or prism that is commonly defined as the maximum diameter of the emergent cone for the specified field of view, at infinity focus.

A prism having several plane polished surfaces, some to transmit light, some to reflect light, and some to serve both functions in succession. It acts generally as a group of plane mirrors held in a...

A prism that often is used as a dispersing element in spectrographs and monochromators.

The optical phenomenon in which white light dispersed by small particles in suspension appears blue when viewed through a suitable Nicol prism.

Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly parallel to the direction from which it originated. This occurs due to the...

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their source, regardless of the direction from which the light approaches. Unlike...

A prism made of two elements cemented together that, depending on its orientation, inverts or reverts an image. It may be used in converging or diverging light. Sometimes referred to as a K prism.

A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces; the latter are oblique to the former (usually but not necessarily at...

A type of 45-90-45° prism used to bend a beam of light through a right angle with the surfaces forming the 90° angle acting as transmitting faces.

A polarizing prism assembly made up of two cemented calcite halves. The prism transmits the ordinary ray without deviation, while the extraordinary ray is deviated to accomplish the polarization.

Also known as a turned-down edge. A rapid change of curvature near the edge in a lens or prism surface.

A camera, with a rotating prism, that is capable of forming multiple exposures on a constantly moving strip of film.

A circular optical wedge (prism of small refracting angle) mounted to be rotated in the path of light rays to divert the line of sight to a restricted degree.

1. A polariscope consisting of a Savart plate and a tourmaline plate analyzer, and used to produce parallel color fringes by transmitting polarized light. 2. A polariscope composed of an analyzing...

A prism that inverts and reverts an image while deviating the line of sight by a 45° angle.

A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary ray without deviation and deviates the ordinary ray due to the orientation...

The distance between the base and the vertex before the edging of a prism.

The process of making an abrupt break in a spherical surface on a spectacle lens so that a new center of curvature is set for a portion of the lens. This has the effect of adding a prism to that...

Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry by utilizing spectral information from fluorochromes to enhance...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a prism or a diffraction grating. A concave grating requires no other means...

A telescope that produces an erect image. Erection is achieved either by a lens (for a long instrument) or a prism (for a compact instrument). Very small terrestrial telescopes of low power may be of...

A device used to detect elevation, pyramid and resolution errors in prisms and other components by bringing them into contact with the three highly polished, flat, perpendicular surfaces that form...

Two 30° prisms that are used to produce constant deviation when rotated by equal and opposite angles.

The difference in base up or down prism power at corresponding points located on the two lenses of a pair of spectacles.

A refractometer that has a greater resolving power than a standard refractometer, and that uses a pentagonal prism to split the light from a single slit into two beams.

A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are mutually perpendicularly polarized) by nearly equal amounts in opposite...

A YAG crystal refers to a solid-state crystal made of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), which is a synthetic crystalline material. YAG crystals are known for their exceptional optical properties,...