Photonics Dictionary: E

The flat or angled surface, usually fine-ground, that limits the aperture of a lens or prism surface.

A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.

The effect whereby a light beam is deflected by a birefringent prism when its polarization is changed by voltage applied to an electro-optical crystal through which the beam passes. The deflection of...

A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized light, mostly in the study of thin, evaporated films.

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and monochromators. It is a narrow opening or aperture through which light...

When a block of glass (prism, window, filter, etc.) is placed into a converging light bundle, it increases the physical distance to the point of focus. The equivalent air path for that block of glass...

An eyepiece combined with an erecting prism or lens system.

Lenses or prisms that serve to erect the image; i.e., to bring the image upright after it has been inverted by the objective.

Also known as ocular. The lens system used between the final real image in a visual optical system and eye. It acts as an image magnifier. Many types of eyepieces are known; e.g., the Huygens used in...