Photonics Dictionary

The process in the manufacture of an optical system that gives it the required geometric shape.

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...

A tool of cast iron or another suitable medium used with a slurry of silicon carbide, aluminum oxide or emery for grinding optical surfaces.

Computer numerically controlled (CNC) grinding is a manufacturing process that utilizes computerized controls and precision machining tools to remove material from a workpiece. In CNC grinding, a...

A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical parts on the supporting member; e.g., a block of lenses or block of prisms.

The process whereby blanks are attached to a block in a position for grinding or polishing.

Pitch, wax, resin or other cement suitable for holding optical parts to a spindle during grinding and polishing processes.

The removal of sharp edges by grinding.

Denoting a finished circular edge. A decentered lens is adjusted on a centering chuck so that its image runs true, and the lens is then edged. A circular edge is one that has been cleared out....

Also called shining. Grinding and polishing one surface of a blank to permit a more thorough examination for quality.

A bevel produced by grinding with a cup-shaped tool.

1. The grinding or edging of a lens so that the geometrical center and optical center do not coincide. 2. The shifting of an optical element from the system's optical axis, sometimes done on purpose...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce high-quality optical surfaces and components with extremely tight tolerances. It...

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and mirrors, from materials such as metals, plastics, and crystalline materials...

The finishing of the edge of an optical element by grinding.

A natural abrasive, produced from corundum in grades ranging from rough to fine, used in the grinding and lapping of glass.

A grinding process that employs fine emery.

A method used to produce precision spherical and aspheric molded glass lenses without grinding or polishing.

The process of grinding the concave surface of a single-vision spherical lens.

The process of grinding the toric surface of a single vision sphero-cylindrical lens.

The process whereby a rotating wheel carries grains of an abrasive, suspended in a vehicle, across the surface of the optical glass to be ground. The workpieces are forced downward by pneumatic...

The curved mark formed when, in the process of generating, a loose or coarse diamond particle from the generating tool scores the work so deeply that subsequent fine grinding or polishing cannot...

1. A measure of absorbed dose, equal to the energy imparted by ionizing radiation to a mass of matter corresponding to 1 J per kilogram. 2. A term used to denote an incompletely polished surface that...

A plate of glass in which a face has been frosted by grinding or etching. It diffuses light by scattering in directions close to the incoming beam, but the light falls off rapidly at larger angles...

A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which lenses are eventually fabricated. Lens blanks are made from various...

The production of rough glass lens blanks that are pressed while red-hot to the approximate size and shape of the finished lens, ready for fine grinding and polishing. Large companies often do their...

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 mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such as glass or plastic, into the desired lens shape. This process involves...

A bubble at a polished surface that has been opened by grinding or polishing.

A casting consisting of an optical material molded into the desired geometry for grinding, polishing or, in the case of optical waveguides, drawing to the final optical-mechanical specifications.

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....

The grinding and polishing of rock samples, to a thickness of less than 0.05 mm, for study with petrographic microscopes. When mounted on a slide and protected with a cover, these samples, examined...

The optical process, following grinding, that puts a highly finished, smooth and apparently amorphous surface on a lens or a mirror.

Any of the numerous powders used for grinding and polishing glass, crystal or metal, the chief material being emery and carborundum for grinding, and rouge or the oxides of tin, cerium or other...

The removal of a sharp edge on an optical element by grinding, to prevent accidental chipping of that edge during subsequent handling.

A term used to describe a very coarse grinding process.

A crude area on the polished surface, produced during coarse grinding, that subsequent fine grinding does not remove, owing, to some extent, to coarse grains of grinding sand that mixed with finer...

A defect on a polished optical surface whose length is many times its width. Block reek is a chainlike scratch formed in polishing. A runner cut is a curved scratch caused by grinding. A sleek is a...

The process of grinding the convex surface of a convexo-concave meniscus.

The process of grinding the concave surface of a sphero-cylindrical lens.

The name of the mixture of liquid and grinding or polishing compounds used in processing optical materials.

A metal tool used to hold a number of lens blanks during grinding and polishing.

1. In optics, one of the exterior faces of an optical element. 2. The process of grinding or generating the face of an optical element.

The length of the oscillation of a grinding or polishing lap.