Photonics Dictionary

An optical device capable of transforming unpolarized or natural light into polarized light, usually by selective transmission of polarized rays.

A light beam whose electric vectors can be broken into two perpendicular elements that have equal amplitudes and that differ in phase by l/4 wavelength.

A device that obliterates the polarization of a polarized beam by reflecting the beam in all directions at right angles to its axis.

A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is almost completely plane polarized with an intensity that is half that of the...

A light beam whose electric vectors are broken into two elements of unlike amplitudes that are perpendicular to each other and that differ in phase by values other than 1, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, etc.,...

A light beam whose electric vectors all vibrate in a single fixed plane.

A wave that is polarized elliptically or circularly polarized and in which the electric field vector — observed while looking in the direction of propagation — rotates in a right-hand or...

A sheet of plastic material containing microscopic crystals of herapathite or some other similar substance that transmits light polarized in one direction, but absorbs light polarized in a...

Behaving as though characterized by a series of waves having planes of vibration oriented at all possible azimuths.

Left- and right-hand circularly polarized beams that are produced at different velocities by passing plane-polarized light through an optical substance. When recombined, they exhibit different phases...

An optical device, such as a Nicol prism, capable of producing plane-polarized light, and used for detecting the effect of the object on plane-polarized light produced by the polarizer.

1. In astronomy, the angle measured clockwise (eastward) in a horizontal plane, usually from north (true north, Y-north, grid north or magnetic north). 2. With relation to the plane-polarized light...

A small convergent lens, located between the objective and eyepiece of a microscope, that focuses an image of the upper focal plane of the objective in the focal plane of the eyepiece. It is commonly...

A parallel plate of glass in such a position that the refracted and reflected rays of incident parallel light are mutually perpendicular. In this situation the reflected light is plane polarized, and...

A device that functions throughout the continuous radiation of a linearly polarized plane wave, and whose nonreciprocity arises from the Faraday rotation of linearly polarized radiation.

A microscope that allows examination of a small crystal and conveniently provides linearly polarized object and reference beams so that, by suitable orientation of an anisotropic crystal, the optical...

The optical phenomenon in which right circularly polarized light transmitted by an active medium travels at a different velocity than that of left circularly polarized light.

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric) molecules, particularly biomolecules like proteins, nucleic acids, and certain...

An optical element that measures the phase difference between two components of elliptically polarized light to correct for mechanical or optical displacement.

Able to rotate the plane of polarization of a transmitted, plane-polarized light beam clockwise as seen by a viewer looking in the same direction as the traveling light. Also called dextrorotary; the...

Dichroism refers to the property of certain materials to exhibit different colors or absorbance of light depending on the direction of light propagation or polarization. The term is commonly used in...

An eyepiece used in a polariscope or polarizing microscope to give a comparison view of the same object under illumination by the two complementary rays of polarized light.

A shallow, fine-pitch diffraction grating having a precise dielectric overcoating that experimentally has absorbed wavelength-specific incident light that is polarized in the P-plane.

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the contrast of transparent...

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...

The use of a krypton laser system for the measurement of small molecules aligned by an electric field, by analyzing the absorption of linearly polarized light.

A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized light, mostly in the study of thin, evaporated films.

Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the measurement of changes in the polarization state of light reflected or...

A molecule that is the mirror image of another molecule. The two mirror-image molecules have the same chemical properties; their behavior differs only in reactions with other enantiomers or with...

1. The near total absorption of plane-polarized light by a polarizer that has an axis perpendicular to the plane of polarization. 2. The decrease in the intensity of a diffracted beam resulting from...

The ratio of the power of a plane-polarized beam that is transmitted through a polarizer placed in its path with its polarizing axis parallel to the beam's plane, as compared with the transmitted...

The effect discovered by Faraday in 1845 whereby nonoptically active materials or substances become capable of rotating the polarization plane of polarized radiation (light) passed through them when...

A crystal capable of being polarized in the reverse direction when an electric field is applied.

A piece of uniform birefringent material placed at a 45° angle to the plane of polarization in a polarizing microscope to indicate changes in color caused by interference when a birefringent...

A technique used to create an achromatic phase shift based on the principle of geometric phase. The phase shift is experienced by a light beam as a result of a cyclic change in its state of...

A device for forming at least two adjacent areas of polarized light. The angle between the directions of vibration of the light waves in the two areas is generally small.

A semicircular, half-wave quartz plate between the polarizer and analyzer. It often is used in forming precision settings with a polariscope.

That voltage required across a Pockels, Kerr or other electro-optic light modulator to retard one polarization electrical vector by one-half a wavelength relative to the other. It corresponds to a...

Also called calcite. A natural hexagonal crystal of calcium carbonate. It cleaves readily into rhomboids useful in the study of polarized light.

In a microscope, a space reserved to accommodate an optical filter or polarizer.

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies beyond the visible spectrum. These components are crucial for various...

A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since the two polarized elements of an incident light beam travel at different...

A visual, single-unit spectrophotometer with a biprism and a Wollaston prism. The Wollaston prism polarizes coincident images of the two halves of the entrance aperture.

Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser light. Laser optics play a crucial role in shaping the characteristics of...

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by several key properties that distinguish lasers from other light sources. These...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by optically active substances. Optical rotation, also known as optical activity, is a...

See plane-polarized light; polarization.

Linear receive optics typically refers to the optical components and systems used in the reception (detection) of linearly polarized light signals in various applications, such as optical...