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spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface do not converge or diverge to a single focal point. Instead of focusing to a...
spherical gradient
In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the refractive index varies symmetrically about a point.
spherical microintegrated lens
A tiny lens (as small as 100 µm in diameter) used to focus light on charge-coupled devices, formed by heating a photosensitive material exposed through a mask, leaving a pattern of raised...
positive spherical aberration
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spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface do not converge or diverge to a single focal point. Instead of focusing to a...
abaxial spherical aberration
Abaxial spherical aberration, also called oblique spherical aberration, refers to a specific type of optical aberration that occurs in lens systems. It is a form of spherical aberration that affects...
concave and convex spherical mirror
Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These mirrors are commonly used in optics for various applications, including...
confocal spherical interferometer
An interferometer formed by two similar concave spherical mirrors arranged with the center of one sphere on the other mirror. In this instrument the field is more concentrated by the axis of the...
hemispherical cavity
Laser cavity bounded by a plane mirror and a concave spherical mirror with the plane mirror located at the center of curvature of the concave mirror.
mean spherical intensity
The average intensity of a light source measured over all directions.
mean spherical luminous intensity
The average luminous intensity of a point light source measured over all directions.
aspheric lens
An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical lenses, which have a constant curvature across their surfaces, aspheric lenses...
aspheric mirror
An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical surface profile. Unlike traditional spherical mirrors, which have a curved...
spheric lens
A spheric lens, also known as a spherical lens, is a type of optical lens with at least one surface that is part of a sphere. This means that the lens surface is curved in a symmetrical manner,...
aberration sensor (wavefront sensor)
An aberration sensor typically refers to a component or feature in optical systems, especially in telescopes or cameras, that detects and quantifies aberrations. Aberrations are imperfections or...
achromat
An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon where different colors of light...
aplanat
Also known as aplanatic lens. A lens corrected for spherical aberration and coma.
aplanatic lens system
A system that satisfies the Abbe sine condition, and is free from spherical aberration and coma.
aplanatic points
Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or coma, are minimized or eliminated. In an optical system, aberrations are...
aplanatic surface
An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and coma. Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays...
aspheric
Not spherical; an optical element having one or more surfaces that are not spherical. The spherical surface of a lens may be slightly altered so as to reduce spherical aberration. Aspheric surfaces...
aspheric lens system
An optical system having one or more lens or mirror components that have nonspherical surfaces. These surfaces, whether reflecting or refracting, serve to advance or retard the incident wavefront,...
aspherizing
The modification of the spherical surfaces in an optical system to correct for spherical aberration.
astronomical mirror
An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It serves as the primary optical element responsible for gathering and...
autostigmatic microscope
A microscope to which a beamsplitter and illuminated reticle have been added to measure the radius of curvature of a spherical surface by locating both surface and center and calculating the distance...
axial gradient
In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the refractive index varies along the direction of light propagation, or optical axis. Axial gradient lenses can be used to correct spherical...
ball lens
A ball lens is a small, spherical optical component typically made of glass or other transparent materials. It is characterized by its spherical shape, with both its front and back surfaces forming...
blackbody simulator
A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical, made of an opaque material and insulated from thermal effects, with a small...
carbon fullerenes
Carbon fullerenes are a class of carbon-based molecules composed entirely of carbon atoms arranged in a hollow, closed, cage-like structure. The most well-known fullerenes are spherical and are often...
Cassegrain lens system
A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola. The image formed is free of spherical aberration and color and is located...
concave grating
A reflecting grating ruled on a concave spherical surface that not only disperses the light but focuses the spectrum. The great advantage of this grating lies in the fact that no separate collimating...
concave holographic grating
The generation of a grating on a concave spherical blank by the holographic process. In this way, ghost images and intense stray light are avoided.
convexo-concave lens
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meniscus lens
A meniscus lens is an optical lens that has one side that is concave (curved inward) and the other side that is convex (curved outward). It can be categorized into two types based on its optical...
core-coupled lens
A semispherical or conical lens created directly on the core of an optical fiber to focus light from a laser into the fiber core.
corrector plate
An optical element designed to correct each zone of a reflector or refractor for spherical aberration.
cylindrical lens
A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape resembling a cylinder. Unlike spherical lenses, which have the same...
Czerny-Turner design
A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable diffraction grating.
Dall-Kirkham telescope
A telescope similar to the customary Cassegrain telescope, but having a primary mirror that is ellipsoidal and a secondary that is spherical.
dialytic telescope
A telescope that corrects dispersion and spherical aberration through the use of one or more lenses, usually smaller than the objective lens, that are positioned at a distance from the objective lens.
diffraction
Diffraction is a fundamental wave phenomenon that occurs when a wave encounters an obstacle or aperture, causing the wave to bend around the edges and spread out. This effect is most commonly...
dome
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optical instrument dome
A dome-shaped structure used for some optical instruments in place of a flat window. The transparent material should be of good quality and the hemispherical surfaces should be concentric.
double refraction
The separation of unpolarized light into two plane-polarized elements by a doubly refracting crystal. When a crystal, such as calcite, is placed between the eye and a pinhole in a card, two bright...
double-Gauss lens
A fast, wide-angle lens used in television and photographic cameras, with excellent overall correction, but subject to residual oblique spherical aberration.
finished lens molding
A method used to produce precision spherical and aspheric molded glass lenses without grinding or polishing.
first-side meniscus
The process of grinding the concave surface of a single-vision spherical lens.
focusing corner cube
A retroreflector that can focus a beam of light, with one planar reflective surface, one spherical and a third that is either planar or convex cylindrical.
freeform mirrors
Freeform mirrors refer to reflective optical components that deviate from traditional symmetric or rotationally symmetric shapes, such as spheres or paraboloids. Unlike conventional mirrors, which...
gradient-index profile
The term gradient-index profile refers to a specific type of refractive index distribution within an optical material. In optics, the refractive index of a material describes how much the speed of...
grating substrate
The substrate upon which a diffraction grating will be ruled. It must be dimensionally stable, and the surface must be polished to an accurate flat or spherical form as required by the grating. The...
GRIN lens
A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather than having a uniform refractive index like conventional lenses. This...
grinding and polishing machinery
Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry a cup-shaped or flat tool (lap) into close contact with the part. An...
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