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Lambda Research Optics, Inc. - Custom Optics

31 terms

Photonics Dictionary

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aplanatic points

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or coma, are minimized or eliminated. In an optical system, aberrations are...

aspheric lens system

An optical system having one or more lens or mirror components that have nonspherical surfaces. These surfaces, whether reflecting or refracting, serve to advance or retard the incident wavefront,...

aspheric mirror

An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical surface profile. Unlike traditional spherical mirrors, which have a curved...

astronomical mirror

An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It serves as the primary optical element responsible for gathering and...

Cassegrain lens system

A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola. The image formed is free of spherical aberration and color and is located...

concave and convex spherical mirror

Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These mirrors are commonly used in optics for various applications, including...

confocal spherical interferometer

An interferometer formed by two similar concave spherical mirrors arranged with the center of one sphere on the other mirror. In this instrument the field is more concentrated by the axis of the...

Czerny-Turner design

A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable diffraction grating.

Dall-Kirkham telescope

A telescope similar to the customary Cassegrain telescope, but having a primary mirror that is ellipsoidal and a secondary that is spherical.

freeform mirrors

Freeform mirrors refer to reflective optical components that deviate from traditional symmetric or rotationally symmetric shapes, such as spheres or paraboloids. Unlike conventional mirrors, which...

Hartmann test

A test for spherical aberration, coma or astigmatism in which incident rays from a point source are isolated by small holes in a metal disc located close to the lens or mirror under test....

hemispherical cavity

Laser cavity bounded by a plane mirror and a concave spherical mirror with the plane mirror located at the center of curvature of the concave mirror.

Hindle sphere

A null optic in the form of a concave spherical mirror; used for the test and evaluation of a hyperboloidal aspheric surface.

magnetorheological finishing

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...

Maksutov corrector

A thick meniscus lens arranged concentric with the center of curvature of a spherical mirror to produce an image free of spherical aberration.

Maksutov objective

A catadioptric lens assembly consisting of a Maksutov corrector and a spherical primary mirror.

Mangin mirror

A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens and second rear surface is a spherical mirror. This combination utilizes...

Murty interferometer

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path difference to create interference between split optical wavefronts. The...

normal congruence

Condition in which a perpendicular surface can be discovered for every ray in a group. This condition is commonly observed when rays emerge from a point source or object that is placed at the center...

off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirror

Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly in applications requiring precise focusing, collimation, or imaging of...

off-axis paraboloidal mirror -> paraboloidal mirror

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...

parabolic mirror -> paraboloidal mirror

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...

paraboloidal mirror

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...

paraboloidal reflector -> paraboloidal mirror

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...

positive spherical aberration -> spherical aberration

Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface do not converge or diverge to a single focal point. Instead of focusing to a...

Schmidt camera

A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the mirror. The purpose of the plate is to correct the spherical aberration of the...

Seidel aberrations

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and physicist Ludwig von Seidel. These aberrations describe deviations from...

spherical aberration

spherometer

An instrument for measuring the radius of curvature of a spherical lens or mirror surface. It may consist of a ring resting on the surface, with a micrometer plunger in the middle of the ring to...

Wadsworth mounting

A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to reduce astigmatism and spherical aberration. The mounting yields a...

Wynne-Rosin telescope

A Cassegrain telescope having a parabolic primary mirror, a spherical secondary mirror and a zero-power doublet in the converging bundle for aberration correction.

Photonics Dictionary

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