Photonics Dictionary: R

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally introduced into the crystal lattice of a material to modify its properties....

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

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller than the wavelength of the light. It is named after the British scientist...

The technique for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by scanning the entrance face with the vertex of a high numerical aperture cone and measuring the change in power of refracted...

The inherent laser amplitude noise relative to the average optical power produced by the laser; the RIN decreases rapidly as current is increased.

A measure of an optical system's ability to produce an image which separates two points or parallel lines on the object. See Rayleigh criterion of resolving power.

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their source, regardless of the direction from which the light approaches. Unlike...

Ability of a laser to resist variations in output power caused when it is slowly rotated about its optical or symmetrical axis.