Photonics Dictionary: Z

In a single-mode optical fiber, the wavelength that causes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion to cancel each other. In a multimode fiber, loose term for the wavelength at which there is a...

A grating that specularly reflects the specified long radiation wavelengths and diffracts the shorter wavelengths off in known directions, eliminating the interference of randomly scattered radiation.

A quarter- or half-wave retarder made from two plates of quartz, mica or polymer with their fast axes crossed; the difference in thickness between the two plates determines the retardance. Zero-order...

A polyethylene grating that transmits the long wavelengths and diffracts shorter wavelengths in controlled directions.

Zerodur is a type of glass ceramic material known for its exceptional thermal and mechanical properties, particularly its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) close to zero. It was developed by...

Spherical or chromatic aberration in a lens having a wide aperture. It is present because the refracting power varies for different zones concentric at the axis. This is the residual when the lens...

A plate of glass, usually a photograph, on which there is a central spot surrounded by concentric annular zones, alternately opaque and transparent, the radii of the boundaries between the zones...

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving some of the components of the system along the lens axis, other components...