Photonics Dictionary

A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It usually has two parallel bases, often in the shape of polygons, and the other surfaces are typically...

The thin edge of a refracting prism; the line of intersection of two refracting surfaces of a prism.

The thick edge of a refracting prism.

A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance of the observer. This separation is adjustable with a convenient millimeter...

The chromatic resolving power of a prism is invariably stated for the case in which parallel rays of light are incident on the prism, in which the prism is oriented at the angle of minimum deviation...

An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine the thickness and refractive index of thin films in integrated optical...

The ghost image formed by a prism.

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter away.

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 form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may be placed within the optical path of a system and invert the image without...

A reflecting prism that inverts the image. The image is reflected four times internally and emitted laterally. The prism is cut normal to the optical axis while the image is internally reflected from...

Cemented prisms of differing refractive indices which refract incident light and, due to differing refractive indices, will not spatially separate individual wavelengths.

Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long reflecting face of a right-angle prism. Used as an erecting system in elbow and...

A piece of glass polished flat on one side, with a pair of polished faces that form an angle close to 180° on the other side, the dividing edge running down the middle of the plate. It is used...

Light interference fringes that can be viewed on a screen near a biprism.

A compound prism composed of two 30° prisms, one of which is partially coated with a suitable opaque metal of high reflecting power. The prisms are cemented with Canada balsam so that the coated...

A compound prism consisting of an assembly of small prisms cemented together that is used in a coincidence rangefinder to transmit the images from the two objectives to a single eyepiece for viewing.

A compound prism formed by cementing together two 30° prisms, one of right-handed and one of left-handed quartz. It has good ultraviolet-transmitting qualities and no double refraction.

A prism formed by dividing a Nicol prism in a plane parallel to the path of vibration of the transmitted light and taking out the wedge-shaped piece. After the pieces are rejoined, the planes of...

The positioning of two Nicol prisms so that their axes are at right angles to each other. With this arrangement, light transmitted by one prism will not be transmitted by the other.

A compact, folded version of a Dove prism, made of high-index glass with a silvered base and used for image rotation.

An assembly of multiple prisms that disperses incident light into its spectral components without deviating light at the central wavelength.

A prism or series of prisms used to disperse a beam of radiant energy of mixed wavelengths into its spectral components.

A prism block that, when used with a lens, is capable of forming two images of one object.

A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to the hypotenuse face is reflected internally at that face and emerges...

A prism with curved faces that collimates, reflects and refracts incident light. Often used in the production of spectrographs.

A polarizing prism formed from calcite that is like the Nicol prism but has the two parts divided by a thin air-film and cut to such angles that the extraordinary beam will be transmitted and the...

A type of birefringent polarizing prism that transmits the extraordinary ray and removes the ordinary ray through total internal reflection. It consists of two calcite prisms with an air gap...

A prism resembling a Nicol prism but having faces normal to the axis and the two parts divided by a glycerine film. Also known as Glan prism.

A specific, right-angle prism having a transmission grating replicated on its hypotenuse face and used in applications requiring a system that can produce in-line viewing for one wavelength.

A direct-vision prism made in one piece that can be used only in parallel light.

A prism produced by severing a Nicol prism and reconstructing the polarization angles of the two halves so that they are slightly wedged toward each other.

An erecting prism that inverts and reverses the image. It displaces the optical axis but does not deviate it.

A small half-shade analyzer placed in the eyepiece of a polarimeter to determine the character of the polarized light emitted by the instrument. It consists of a Nicol prism situated so that it...

A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.

A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68° between one vertical side and the end surface. The prism is cut diagonally...

1. A prism used in some instruments to bend light 90° before it enters the objective. 2. A dispersing prism located in front of an astronomical telescope objective to produce spectra of all...

The prism used in a rangefinder to bend the lines of sight through the instruments into the eyepieces.

A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.

A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in convergent, divergent and parallel light. May be rotated to compensate for...

A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30° dispersing prism attached to each of its square faces. The spectrum formed by the...

A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to the entering and emerging beams. The deviation angle of 90° is...

A device that is used to produce or analyze plane-polarized light. It may be a Nicol prism or some other form of calcite prism or a polarizing filter.