Photonics Dictionary: L

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single, compact chip. Also known as microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems are...

A dark band that may appear in the field of crossed Nicol prisms with a powerful source such as the sun because the light is not strictly parallel and is not extinguished immediately.

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single package. These modules are designed to provide a convenient and efficient...

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by several key properties that distinguish lasers from other light sources. These...

A method of measuring microbending losses in optical fiber by sandwiching a length of fiber between two parallel plates, with 150-grit sandpaper on the bottom plate. Different weights are placed on...

A lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses are commonly used in optical systems, such as cameras, telescopes,...

An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens, and mark the optical center of the lens by an ink dot. When the lens to be...

An array or mosaic of optical surfaces. May be a number of lenses closely packed to form multiple images or many parallel cylinders used as a projection screen.

A method of image dissection whereby a lens transfers images onto a lenticular plate that in turn illustrates the images as structures of narrow parallel lines.

In optics, a pattern, such as the Buchmann-Meyer pattern, that may be viewed when the record surface is illuminated by a light beam having parallel rays.

Pockels cell or dynamic optical retarder in which the electrical field is applied in a direction parallel to that of light passing through it.

A high-resolution spectroscopic device commonly used in the early 20th century as a component of double-beam interferometers. Light introduced at one end of the plane-parallel glass plate will be...

A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is focused on the lens surface at a point diametrically opposite the...