Photonics Dictionary

A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or phosphoric oxides. Common window or bottle glass is a mixture of soda,...

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 type of glass containing barium oxide, which is added to increase the refractive index while maintaining a relatively low dispersion.

A capacitor that uses glass as its dielectric material.

A device that detects and measures the quantity of exposure to nuclear radiation. It uses a special glass rod that fluoresces when placed under ultraviolet radiation after its exposure to nuclear...

An early form of photographic media consisting of glass plates coated with an emulsion.

An optically pumped solid-state laser in which the active medium is a neodymium ion in a glass rod host. Abbreviated Nd:glass.

Ink used for writing on glass, and also for blackening the edges of lenses to prevent reflection. In the latter case, the refractive index of the ink must closely match that of the glass.

A spectrograph having glass as its refracting component and used in cases where speed and high dispersion are not required. The glass material has a range of about 3700 to 8000 Å.

A type of glass used in telescope mirrors, formed by adding a nucleating agent to standard glass and then heating it until it crystallizes.

A furnace used to heat glass materials. It may be a small laboratory-type furnace for small-scale experiments or large enough to hold gas-fired tanks for the commercial mass production of glass....

Glass designed to absorb most infrared and ultraviolet radiation while transmitting most of the visible region.

A strong, heat-resistant glass that contains a minimum of 5 percent boric oxide.

A convex lens that brings an incident bundle of rays to a focus to produce intense heat at the focus.

Glass that has been treated by the case-hardening process.

In fiber optics, the glass that is found around the glass core of the fiber, and that has a lower refractive index than the fiber.

Glass that transmits near-ultraviolet radiation but is opaque in the visible region. Also known as woods glass.

Also known as clear glass or clear filter. The clear glass plate is used to simulate a filter, in converging or diverging light, to maintain focus.

One of the two principal types of optical glass, the other being flint glass. Crown glass is harder than flint glass, and has a lower index of refraction and lower dispersion. Both types are used in...

Glass of special composition that is melted, formed into desired shapes, and subjected to a high-temperature treatment in which the glass undergoes a stage of nucleic formation, and a second stage,...

Glass tinted with mixed oxides of neodymium and praseodymium that, unlike most solid materials, have absorption bands that are very narrow and that have very sharp areas.

A handheld binocular telescope that is commonly of the Galilean type.

One of the two major types of optical glass, the other being crown glass. Flint glass is softer than crown glass, has a higher dispersion and usually a higher refractive index.

Optical glass that possesses a refractive index equal to or less than 1.5, and an Abbe number that ranges from 62 to about 85.

Optical glass containing zirconium fluoride that results in special characteristics such as improved transmission.

A special laser glass made primarily of fluoride compounds that exhibits extremely low refractive index and allows greater levels of energy to be generated as the laser beam passes through the...

A type of glass used in near-infrared optical components, in which germanium is used as a cation instead of silicon.

A plate of glass in which a face has been frosted by grinding or etching. It diffuses light by scattering in directions close to the incoming beam, but the light falls off rapidly at larger angles...

Glass that has been specially treated so that it will not shatter when exposed to high temperatures followed by immediate and rapid cooling.

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters which ultimately alter the way light propagates through and is...

Glass containing small quantities of neodymium oxide that is used as a filter plate in color television or as a lasing medium (Nd:glass) in solid-state lasers.

A material consisting of very small colorless particles imbedded in a clear glass matrix. It is available in two forms: flashed opal and pot opal. The flashed variety consists of a rather thin layer...

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems, such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, and filters. Optical glass is...

A type of glass that includes phosphorus pentoxide and that, unlike silica-based glass, is resistant to hydrofluoric acid.

Optical glasses containing the oxides of rare earths such as lanthanum to impart a very high refractive index combined with a low dispersive power.

A term that describes any state of glass before its manufacture as an element.

A low-power magnifier that usually has a large diameter.

A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing process to precisely cut and slice materials such as crystals, glass, and quartz...

A glass that is heated, then chilled (usually by an air blast) to set up internal stresses so that the surfaces are under compression. This strengthens the glass, since glass breaks only in tension,...

A transparent block shaped accurately to reverse curvatures of the components it is used to test. By contacting an accurately finished negative lens shape with a newly made positive, the conformity...

A type of glass contrived by Schott that is highly transparent to ultraviolet radiation.

A solution containing colloidal silica particles.

Also known as all-glass fiber. A fiber with both a silica core and a silica cladding, regardless of the presence of a polymer overcoat or buffer.

A glass-ceramic material developed in Russia. Astrosital resembles Zerodur in terms of its ultralow thermal expansion. Other spellings include Astro-Sital and Astro-Sitall.

Device which measures the index of refraction of glass as well as the dispersion over visible range.

Optic surface cleaning liquid that may be applied to glass, crystal, dielectric and metal surfaces; however, may not be applied to plastic and polymer materials.