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MIR Dictionary Terms

double-pass transmittance hologram
A hologram having an object wave that has been transmitted through the transparent object media to a mirror, reflected again and recorded on a medium.
laser damage threshold
The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing...
laser Q-spoiler
A fast-action shutter inserted between one end of a laser rod and the end mirror; when inserted to prevent emission and then...
dichroic mirror
A dichroic mirror, also known as a dichroic beamsplitter or interference filter beamsplitter, is an optical device that...
color conversion filter
A filter that serves to alter the color temperature and the mired value of the radiation emitted by a source.
output coupler
The partially reflective mirror at the end of the laser cavity that is the source of the beam. It controls the coupling...
ring-laser gyroscope
A solid block of glass-ceramic material with holes drilled the length of all four sides, and mirrors attached to the corners...
microphonic noise
Output noise in a laser beam resulting from acoustic disturbances of mirror separation or orientation. Such disturbances may...
Hartmann test
A test for spherical aberration, coma or astigmatism in which incident rays from a point source are isolated by small holes...
Fourier transform spectrometer
An instrument using a Michelson interferometer, a beamsplitter, two plane mirrors and a detector to give Fourier analysis of...
chirality
Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...
resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...
film thickness gauge
An interferometer spectrometer designed to measure thicknesses of thin films or layers by recording the interferogram and by...
face-pumped laser
A device in which slab geometry internally compensates for thermal-optic distortion; the solid host material -- glass or...
microRNA
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules, typically consisting of about 19 to 24 nucleotides,...
infrared
Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but...
hyperspectral imaging camera
A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide...
Fabry-Perot interferometer
A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set...
laser head
Contains elements which produce lasing., e.g. gain medium, oscillator mirrors as well as housing.
meso form
A form of an element that cannot demonstrate optical activity as a result of dextrogyrate and levogyrate effects that are...
optical activity
The capacity of a chiral substance such as a crystal or molecule to rotate the plane of polarized light that is transmitted...
cavity
In a laser, the optical resonator formed by two coaxial mirrors, one totally and one partially reflective, positioned so...
ion laser
A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...
spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...
multiple lens camera
A camera that uses a rotating mirror to project sequential images onto lenses that are arranged in an arc. The reflected...
spatial light modulator
A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...
Wiener experiment
After putting a thick photographic emulsion on a front-faced mirror, and exposing the emulsion to monochromatic incident...
gallium arsenide injection laser
A laser system consisting of a planar PN junction within a single crystal of gallium arsenide. The pair of parallel,...
heliostat
A device having a plane mirror so mounted that it can be set to reflect sunlight into a piece of laboratory equipment. It is...
image transducer
Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of...
retroreflector
A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their...
wavelength selective mirror
A beamsplitting mirror that reflects as a function of wavelength.
Michelson-Morley experiment
An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by...
mirror substrate
 motion controller
In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such...
mirek (also mired)
 laser optics
Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser...
galvanometer mirror
A small mirror, sometimes plane and sometimes concave, attached to the rotating coil of a galvanometer to cause a spot of...
convex
Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly...
Mach-Zehnder interferometer
A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of...
stable resonator
A laser resonator in which a mode oscillating between the mirrors will converge upon the laser's longitudinal axis.
sun-tracking concentrator
Controlled beam technology that introduces beams of sunlight through holes in a roof that are relayed throughout the...
magnetorheological finishing
Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...
ophthalmoscope
Also referred to as a funduscope, an ophthalmoscope is a specialized instrument used by ophthalmologists for observing and...
reflective heat mirror
Fizeau fringes
Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau...
Dall-Kirkham telescope
A telescope similar to the customary Cassegrain telescope, but having a primary mirror that is ellipsoidal and a secondary...
optical caliper
A device for measuring linear dimensions. The optical caliper generally consists of two circularly mounted mirrors whose...
curvature
The measure of departure from a flat surface, as applied to lenses; the reciprocal of radius. Applies to any surface,...
short wavelength infrared
Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) refers to the portion of the infrared spectrum that encompasses wavelengths roughly between...
electron mirror
An electron instrument used to reflect an electron beam totally.
vertical leveling mirror
A two-sided mirror suspended by a pendulum mechanism. An autocollimator set normal to such a mirror surface will, by...
normal congruence
Condition in which a perpendicular surface can be discovered for every ray in a group. This condition is commonly observed...
diamond-turned optic
Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...
panoramic distortion
The image distortion produced by a panoramic camera with a swinging lens or a swinging mirror in front of a fixed lens. The...
off-axis paraboloidal mirror
 plastic optics
The integration of plastic materials into optical applications. When the materials are refined into lenses, prisms and...
high-speed movie camera
A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism...
astronomical telescope
An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...
Gires-Tournois interferometer
An interferometer similar in construction to a Fabry-Perot interferometer but having a rear mirror with high reflectivity,...
conjugate ratio
The ratio between the object distance and the image distance measured along the principal axis of a lens or mirror. An...
facet
1. One of the plane-reflecting surfaces on a multisurfaced polygon. 2. The cleaved end mirror of a laser diode's active...
overhead projector
A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...
fluorographic camera
A camera with a very high aperture lens or mirror system for photographing x-ray fluorescent screen images, mainly to save...
mirror blank
A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly...
evaporagraph
A sensor generally used for infrared imaging. It consists of two chambers separated by a thin, blackened membrane. An...
plane grating
A transmission or reflecting grating with a flat or plane surface requiring a lens or concave mirror to focus the spectrum.
diode-pumped solid-state laser
A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into...
ring dye laser
A laser using a dye solution as the active medium whose resonator is formed into a ring (or a triangle or another shape) by...
high-resolution visible sensor
A satellite-borne remote sensing device capable of transmitting images at 10 and 20 m resolution from an altitude of 830 km,...
mosaic mirror
A large telescope mirror fabricated from several smaller sections.
dichroic coating
A dichroic coating, also known as a dichroic filter or dichroic mirror, is an optical coating designed to selectively...
center of curvature
The center of the sphere of which the surface of a lens or mirror forms a portion. Each curved surface of a lens has a...
fiber laser
A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as...
Sturm interval
The distance between two focal lines in an astigmatic image produced by a lens or mirror.
concave and convex spherical mirror
Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These...
beam shuttle
A set of mirrors mounted on solenoids to move them into and out of the path of a laser beam, making it possible for multiple...
Q-switched pulse
A laser output that occurs when the cavity resonator Q is first kept very low, using rotating mirrors or saturable...
mirage
The distortion of an object's true image as the result of abnormal atmospheric disturbances along the path traveled by the...
reflecting spectrograph
A solar spectrograph that uses long focus concave mirrors as its collimator and camera element.
optical glass
Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...
Wolter telescope
A grazing incidence mirror telescope with concentric conic surfaces having a single common point: a paraboloid-hyperboloid...
optical design and engineering services
Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and...
focal plane
A plane (through the focal point) at right angles to the principal axis of a lens or mirror; that surface on which the best...
infrared optic
Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...
solid-state laser
A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent...
extreme ultraviolet
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) refers to a specific range of electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum....
electron cyclotron maser
A maser that relies on the fact that electrons in orbital motion in high-magnetic fields will emit energy at the cyclotron...
aplanatic points
Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...
dark mirror
A multilayer coating that manifests both a low radiant reflectance and radiant absorption.
first-surface mirror
rotating mirror scanner
Developed for use in military reconnaissance systems, it consists of a polygonal mirror, drive motor, interface between...
cold mirror
A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.
Schmidt camera
A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the...
Mangin mirror
A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens...
catadioptric imaging system
A system that uses both reflection and refraction to achieve its focal power. While the relative powers of the lenses and...
catoptric system
An optical system in which the only image-forming elements are curved-surface mirrors; e.g., a Cassegrain lens system.
sextant
A handheld navigational instrument used to measure the elevation angle of celestial bodies such as the sun. An image of the...
oscillograph
An instrument used to record rapidly varying currents or voltages. An oscillograph may consist of a cathode-ray tube...
computer-generated hologram
A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than...
MEMS fiber optic switch
A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals...
Maksutov objective
A catadioptric lens assembly consisting of a Maksutov corrector and a spherical primary mirror.
back-surface mirror
optical cements and adhesive
Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical...
Ross lens
A corrective lens system that is placed near the focal plane of a Newtonian telescope to increase its effective field of...
galvo-directing mirrors
A system of mirrors that can be used to direct light from a single laser source into any one of a number of separate optical...
Lloyd's mirror
A mirror employed with a very high incidence angle to form a pair of coherent light sources by reflection, and therefore...
surface-emitting laser diode
A semiconductor laser diode that emits light perpendicular to the active region. The output radiation is taken through the...
laser
A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and...
laser cavity
A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined...
reflecting prism
A prism having several plane polished surfaces, some to transmit light, some to reflect light, and some to serve both...
FTIR spectrometer
FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of...
direct illumination
Light produced by visible radiation that moves from the light source to the object without reflection. With respect to...
deformable mirror device
A spatial light modulator consisting of a metallized polymer film stretched over an array of metal-oxide semiconductor...
optical materials
Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...
entrance slit
The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...
penta prism
A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to...
aspheric lens system
An optical system having one or more lens or mirror components that have nonspherical surfaces. These surfaces, whether...
optical element
An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.
off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirror
Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly...
mirror coating
One or more thin-film layers of optical material deposited on a mirror blank/substrate in order to enhance the way that...
glass-ceramic
A type of glass used in telescope mirrors, formed by adding a nucleating agent to standard glass and then heating it until...
optical coatings
Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms,...
spectrograph
An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...
autocollimator
An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on...
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...
graded reflectivity mirror
A mirror whose percent reflectance varies as a function of position on the mirror surface.
retroreflecting multipass cell
Two lenses, separated by a distance equal to the sum of their focal lengths, and retroreflecting mirror assemblies, one of...
solar laser
A laser pumped by solar radiation focused by mirrors.
point-focusing collector
A device used in solar systems to direct mirror-reflected sunlight to a heat absorber and heat-driven engine, which turns a...
high-index-contrast subwavelength grating
A superthin, highly reflective mirror.
plano surface
A lens or mirror surface that is perfectly flat.
astronomical mirror
An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It...
optical lever
A device used to detect and measure small amounts of rotation. The rotating object contains a reflecting surface from which...
glass
A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or...
Golay cell
A thermal radiation detector consisting of a small cell with a blackened plastic front face that bulges slightly when heat...
inspection mirror
A small round mirror on the end of a handle used for viewing inside an inaccessible cavity.
linear optics
Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...
holographic camera
A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...
coincidence rangefinder
An optical instrument used to determine the distance to a target being viewed. Two similar optical systems view the target...
Newtonian telescope
A telescope with a concave paraboloidal objective mirror and a small plane (diagonal) mirror that reflects rays from the...
Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor
The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....
enantiomer
A molecule that is the mirror image of another molecule. The two mirror-image molecules have the same chemical properties;...
digital twin
A digital twin refers to a virtual representation or digital counterpart of a physical object, system, or process. This...
infrared lens
An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...
galvanometric scanner
A galvanometric scanner, also known as a galvanometer scanner or galvo scanner, is a type of optical scanning device used to...
mirror lens
An image-forming system having curved mirrors in place of transparent glass components. Mirror lenses are commonly used for...
reflecting objective
An image-forming system that uses mirrors rather than lenses. Such objectives are frequently used for astronomical...
telescope
An afocal optical device made up of lenses or mirrors, usually with a magnification greater than unity, that renders distant...
electrocapillarity modulator
A type of optical modulator with potential application in optical switching and displays, in which applied voltage causes a...
Ronchi grating
A transparent plate ruled with black lines and equal, clear spaces. It is used as a multiple knife-edge for testing a...
Czerny-Turner design
A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable...
optical coherence tomography imaging system
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain...
concave
Concave is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves inward or has a hollow or recessed appearance. In...
microfilm camera
A camera used to reduce originals onto film for easy storage. There are two basic types: one in which the film is fixed...
camera lucida
A portable instrument that uses a four-sided reflecting prism or set of mirrors to create a duplicate image of an object on...
spherometer
An instrument for measuring the radius of curvature of a spherical lens or mirror surface. It may consist of a ring resting...
optical gate
An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through...
autocollimation
Technique of projecting an illuminated target at infinity and receiving the target image after reflection from a flat mirror...
optical system
A group of lenses, or any combination of lenses, mirrors and prisms, so constructed as to refract or reflect light to...
narrow-angle dark-field illumination
An imaging system designed to highlight small deviations in a planar reflective object such as a mirror. The system can be...
central obstruction
In a reflecting telescope, the obstruction of the primary mirror by a secondary mirror which blocks a small amount of the...
inferior mirage
A mirage that consists of an image of an object appearing below its true position as the result of abnormal refraction by...
thin film
A thin layer of a substance deposited on an insulating base in a vacuum by a microelectronic process. Thin films are most...
diathermic mirror
A mirror coated to reflect cold (white) light while transmitting hot (infrared) energy.
custom optic
A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or...
optical assembly
An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...
coelostat
A plane mirror mounted on a polar axis that lies parallel to the plane of the mirror. When the mirror is rotated once in 48...
chiral
Description of a particle that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.
Fabry-Perot mirror
A highly reflective mirror that is usually flat on one surface and curved on the other, and that has silver, gold or...
optical switching
Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using...
antireflection coating
An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to...
combiner
A semitransparent mirror in an optical system that combines two or more output beams into a single coaxial beam.
silicon monoxide
A material used as a protective layer on an aluminized or silvered mirror. It is evaporated on the mirror as a thin layer,...
mirror
A smooth, highly polished surface, for reflecting light, that may be plane or curved if wanting to focus and or magnify the...
optical transform image modulation
A technique for detecting and measuring atmospheric pollution, in which an oscillating mirror directs half the incoming...
mirror mount
A mirror mount is a mechanical device used to secure and precisely position mirrors in optical systems. Mirrors are...
Geometrical optics
The area of optics in which the propagation of light is described by geometrical lines (or rays) governed by Fermat's...
optical bistability
The phenomenon that can render an optical resonator the equivalent of a semiconductor flip-flop. A bistable device will...
vertical-cavity laser diode
A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is...
Casimir force
The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged...
polygon mirror
A rotating component with a series of flat reflective surfaces around the perimeter that is used in scanning systems to...
meta-optics
Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication,...
photometric equipment
Photocells of various kinds used to measure photometric quantities; i.e., intensity, luminance and illuminance. Meter...
aspheric mirror
An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...
recording camera
A type of camera that incorporates a tiny mirror that oscillates in accordance with incoming signals. An illuminated slit is...
pyrex
Trade name for a type of borosilicate glass manufactured by Corning Glass Works, noted for its low coefficient of thermal...
pellicle mirror
A thin, stretched plastic membrane cemented to a rigid supporting ring. It may be coated to act as a beamsplitter, for...
Nichols radiometer
An instrument devised by Nichols and Hull for use in the measurement of radiation pressure. The device has two small...
Baker corrector
A two-mirror corrector for a parabolic primary mirror that provides anastigmatic performance for large astronomical...
reflective
The term reflective is an adjective that describes the ability of a surface or material to reflect light or other forms of...
telephotometer
An instrument used to measure the luminance (brightness) of a distant object. The object is viewed through a small...
beam bender
A mirror used to manipulate the beam in a laser system.
anamorphoscope
A cylindrical convex viewing mirror used for viewing distorted pictures formed by photographing the reflections of the...
optical phase distortion
Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...
optical table
An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics...
micro-optics
Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....
optical combiner
An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines...
microreciprocal degree
An approximated measure of the smallest change in color temperature detectable by the human eye, defined as the reciprocal...
collimator
An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e....
paraboloidal mirror
A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a...
sign conventions
A convention that defines specific dimensions of an optical system, such as the image distance or radius of curvature of a...
hemispherical cavity
Laser cavity bounded by a plane mirror and a concave spherical mirror with the plane mirror located at the center of...
hot mirror
A mirror with a coating that reflects infrared radiation and transmits visible light.
endoscope
An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...
Maksutov corrector
A thick meniscus lens arranged concentric with the center of curvature of a spherical mirror to produce an image free of...
Wynne-Rosin telescope
A Cassegrain telescope having a parabolic primary mirror, a spherical secondary mirror and a zero-power doublet in the...
Gregorian telescope
A telescope with an ellipsoidal secondary concave mirror that reflects rays from a parabolic primary mirror through an...
Fresnel mirrors
Two plane mirrors that are not wholly located in the same plane. When light from a point source or slit reflects from the...
plasmon ion-assisted deposition
Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production...
reflecting galvanometer
A galvanometer having a small mirror that is mounted on a moving element and that reflects a light beam onto a scale.
specular reflection
Pertaining to the manner in which light is reflected, as by a mirror or speculum.
polishing
The optical process, following grinding, that puts a highly finished, smooth and apparently amorphous surface on a lens or a...
interferometric modulator display
Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) is a type of display technology used in electronic devices, known for its energy...
optical manufacturing tools and machinery
Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...
coudé
A set of mirrors along a telescope's polar axis designed to redirect light to a fixed position without being affected by the...
digital camera
A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...
optical design software
Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...
conjugate points
The two points on the principal axis of a mirror or lens so positioned that light emitted from either point will be focused...
centering
1. Mounting a lens or mirror so that its optical axis is coincident with the optical or mechanical axes of other portions of...
pointing interferometer
A device attached to the end of an alignment telescope that detects and calculates a plane mirror's rotation axis that is...
Nd:YAG laser
Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain...
stroboscopic interferometry
A pulsed interferometer that permits the continuous quantitative mapping of the surface deformation of an adaptive optical...
superior mirage
An image of an object that appears above the object's true position as the result of abnormal refraction of the image rays...
phase shifting
A technique used to generate a phase shift between reference and sample light beams. The phase shift can be performed...
looming
A form of mirage where objects near or just below the horizon appear in enlarged or distorted form because of atmospheric...
diamond turning
Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...
broadband dielectric mirrors
Broadband dielectric mirrors, also known as broadband mirrors, are optical coatings designed to efficiently reflect or...
liquid mirror
A mirror composed of liquid, taking advantage of the parabolic shape of a spinning liquid and the fact that the mirror's...
freeform mirrors
Freeform mirrors refer to reflective optical components that deviate from traditional symmetric or rotationally symmetric...
Murty interferometer
A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...
Seidel aberrations
Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and...
helium-neon laser
A helium-neon (HeNe) laser is a type of gas laser that emits visible red light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. It operates...
diode laser
A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light....
Foucault rotating mirror
A rotating mirror coupled with a distant mirror and used in a system by Foucault to compute the velocity of light. Light...
geodimeter
Trade name referring to an instrument that determines surface distances by measuring the length of time it takes for a...
triple mirror
Also known as corner-cube reflector or retrodirective reflector. Three reflecting surfaces, perpendicular to each other,...
radiation pyrometer
Also known as radiation thermometer. A pyrometer in which the radiant intensity from the source to be measured is used to...
stressed mirror polishing
A method of polishing an aspheric surface by mechanically distorting the optic while polishing the surface to a perfect...
mirror testing
The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The...
optical axis
The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...
laser pattern generation
Production of a repeated image of a transmitted beam through a diffractive optical element such as a holographic card or...
laser output
The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by...
low-coherence interference microscope
An interference microscope that uses a light beam originating from a low-coherence light source. The sample is placed in one...
fata morgana
A type of mirage that creates a distorted vertical image of relatively flat objects so that they appear as mountains,...
parabolic mirror
 front-surface mirror
An optical reflector with the reflective coating applied to the front surface of the substrate. This eliminates the ghost...
confocal resonator
A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator...
pyramid error
Pyramid error in optics refers to an aberration in the shape of an optical surface, particularly in the context of mirrors....
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter...
ringdown testing
A test method for determining high-reflectivity levels by monitoring cavity decay within a resonant cavity formed by two...
Cassegrain lens system
A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola....
Ronchi test
More efficient than the Foucault knife-edge test, this test examines curved mirrors by using a transmission grating with 40...
optical autocorrelator
An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter...
plane of symmetry
An imaginary plane dividing a body into two parts so that each part is the precise mirror image of the other in the plane of...
dual laser
A gas laser equipped with Brewster windows and concave mirrors (having unlike reflective properties) at each end of the tube...
zero phase shift mirror
A mirror that supplies equal reflectance for both the S-polarization and the P-polarization of a laser for a defined angle...
back-coated mirror
A glass substrate that has its rear surface coated with a reflective coating. Also known as a back-surface mirror.
circular dichroism
Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric)...
borescope
A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or...
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...
liquid crystal on silicon
Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based...
vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser
A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser...
confocal spherical interferometer
An interferometer formed by two similar concave spherical mirrors arranged with the center of one sphere on the other...
Fizeau toothed wheel
A device used to measure the speed of light by adjusting the rotation of a toothed wheel so that light passing through one...
Hindle sphere
A null optic in the form of a concave spherical mirror; used for the test and evaluation of a hyperboloidal aspheric surface.
Fabry-Perot laser
A laser oscillator in which two mirrors are separated by an amplifying medium with an inverted population, making a...

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