Photonics Dictionary

A piece of glass, quartz or other transparent material formed roughly by molding or cutting into the approximate shape and size of the finished part.

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

A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be made to go through a definite cycle over a period of days, or even weeks, if...

A process by which a plastic cell is molded around a glass lens or lenses to create a mount, eliminating the metal barrel and the need for glass-to-metal seals.

A machining process that uses a laser to cut three-dimensional molds or models.

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...

A blank whose basic surface curves are attained by heating and forming a given weight of raw glass; a rough glass blank resembling the finished lens in size and shape. After molding, a precision lens...

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...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a high-resolution, high-throughput process that involves the mechanical...

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...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to traditional optical components made from glass or other materials. Plastic...

A mold for glass or plastics often made of stainless steel to prevent pitting or oxidation in service. It is polished to the opposite curve of the surface that will be molded, and may be spherical or...

A blank having basic surface curves attained by forming heat-softened glass that is pressed in a mold.

In optics, the mechanical tension, compression or shear in optical glass due to internal stress caused by improper cooling or annealing during manufacture of the glass or the subsequent working of...