Photonics Dictionary: Z

A telescope that is fixed or has a limited degree of movement in a vertical plane; primarily used to determine the position of stars near the zenith.

In a single-mode optical fiber, the wavelength that causes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion to cancel each other. In a multimode fiber, loose term for the wavelength at which there is a...

Broadening of a spectrum that results from the influence of a magnetic field.

The splitting of energy levels of an atom, ion or molecule because of a magnetic field.

A grating that specularly reflects the specified long radiation wavelengths and diffracts the shorter wavelengths off in known directions, eliminating the interference of randomly scattered radiation.

A quarter- or half-wave retarder made from two plates of quartz, mica or polymer with their fast axes crossed; the difference in thickness between the two plates determines the retardance. Zero-order...

A polyethylene grating that transmits the long wavelengths and diffracts shorter wavelengths in controlled directions.

The difference in electrokinetic potential between the stationary liquid connected to a solid phase surface and the mobile portion of the liquid's diffuse layer.

A polycrystalline material that transmits in the infrared; it is used as a phosphor in x-ray and television screens.

A small bulb containing a conducting gas, an arc being formed between a metal ring and a tiny zirconium electrode near the center of the ring. The heated zirconium emits light, and constitutes a...

Also known as zonal axis. The axis positioned through the center of a crystal that is parallel to a zone edge.

A plate of glass, usually a photograph, on which there is a central spot surrounded by concentric annular zones, alternately opaque and transparent, the radii of the boundaries between the zones...

1. In a polished surface, concentric waves that appear as zones in Newton's rings when a test glass is applied. 2. An arrangement of crystal faces that come together in a series of edges, all of...

To control, by magnifying or reducing, the size of a televised image, either electronically or optically.