Photonics Dictionary

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

The range of materials that, unlike glass, may be used in the infrared. Water-soluble salts, such as cesium iodide, and other substances such as arsenic sulfide, selenium, thallium bromide-iodide and...

Nonlinear optical materials are substances that exhibit optical properties that are not linearly proportional to the intensity of incident light. In other words, these materials produce optical...

1. A thin parallel plate of material that transmits in the infrared region. See infrared optical material. 2. A spectral region (of the infrared) in which the atmosphere transmits.

The change in refractive index that occurs as acoustic vibrations are transmitted through an optical material.The index changes are periodic in relation to the frequency, spatial orientation, and...

An optical material used in place of crown glass to produce lenses with extraordinary correction of chromatic aberrations. Its high coefficient of thermal expansion and its tendency to absorb...

Reciprocal of the dispersive power of an optical material. See Abbe constant.

A threadlike inclusion within a blank of optical glass. Rarely found in quality optical materials.

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...

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...

A plate of electro-optical material that serves to rotate the plane of polarization of a light beam.

In the context of optical materials, the term "impurity level" refers to the presence of foreign atoms or molecules within the material that deviate from its regular or intrinsic composition. These...

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...

A term for thermoplastic optical materials; that is, those in which the polymer chains remain linear after heating and molding and which thus can be remolded again and again, unlike thermoset...

A photonic crystal that comprises magneto-optical material such that the optical response of the device depends on the magnetization of the magneto-optical material. The magneto-optical effect can be...

Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic radiation). This field of physics explores how the properties of light, such...

A microcomb, short for microresonator frequency comb, is a novel photonic device that generates a precise series of evenly spaced optical frequencies, akin to the teeth of a comb, across a broad...

The science that deals with the measurement of optical absorbance (i.e. optical densities) over microscopic areas of a given specimen or optical material.

One or more thin-film layers of optical material deposited on a mirror blank/substrate in order to enhance the way that substrate reflects light. For example of optical materials/optical coatings...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path difference to create interference between split optical wavefronts. The...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a material and induces nonlinear responses. In contrast to linear optics, where...

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 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...

Transparent glassy and or crystalline structured materials engineered from inorganic, non-metallic materials via various methods that include heat or specific chemical reactions. Optical ceramics...

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

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through a medium. This distortion can result from variations in the refractive...

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...

That process by which radiation spontaneously emitted by a volume of optical materials is resonantly reabsorbed within the same volume before it escapes. This effect is manifested in a reduction in...

A measure of the relative difference in refractive index between two optical materials. Most commonly used in fiber optics where the refractive index contrast, D, is given as follows: where n1 equals...

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

A telescope lens is a primary optical component of a telescope system that gathers and focuses light to form an image. It is typically a curved, transparent piece of glass or other optical material...