An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses the periscope is a long tube containing prisms at both ends and intervening imaging and relaying lenses. Several anatomical...

In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the refractive index varies along the direction of light propagation,...

A type of wide-angle lens that has an angular field above 140° and that exhibits barrel distortion. The most commonly...

Also referred to as a funduscope, an ophthalmoscope is a specialized instrument used by ophthalmologists for observing and...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free...

An image-forming system having curved mirrors in place of transparent glass components. Mirror lenses are commonly used for...

Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring substances. These...

Sapphire crystal refers to a transparent, single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) known as corundum. It is one of the...

Any optical device that utilizes diffraction in an image-forming capability. Familiar diffractive lenses are zone plates,...

A Fresnel lens is a type of optical lens that consists of a series of concentric grooves or steps carved into a flat, thin...

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor...

1. In optics, the housing, usually cylindrical, that contains the lenses and iris diaphragm of a camera. 2. In fiber optics,...

A compound lens consisting of two negative lenses of flint glass. A double-convex lens of crown glass is cemented between...

A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical...

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter...

An ocular having two planoconvex lenses that are formed from similar glass and that are separated by a space equal to half...

Sets of lenses (positive, negative and cylindrical) usually mounted in circular rims suitable for slipping into trial...

The branch of optics that deals with the study of the refraction of light, particularly by the transmitting medium of the...

In optics, the process of combining two lenses having equal and opposite powers to produce a result having no power.

A single-particle scattering technique in which an incident laser beam is tightly focused by means of lenses to yield a...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...

In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such...

Derived from "self-focusing,'' Nippon Sheet Glass Co. (NSG) of Japan's trade name for graded-index fiber rods with parabolic...

A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or...

Two simple meniscus lenses arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture stop, providing reduced coma, lateral color...

Microscopy is a scientific technique that involves the use of microscopes to observe and study objects that are too small to...

A metal tool used to grind lenses with loose abrasive (see diamond cutting tool). The functional surface of the lap is...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...

A type of laser used when a great amount of power is required. Avoiding the bulk of large numbers of optical lenses, this...

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...

A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which...

Focal, nodal or principal points of a lens. If the respective distances of the object and image are measured from the...

1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit....

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...

A relatively hard crystal, highly resistant to excessive energy radiation, that is frequently used for optical windows,...

The point spread function (PSF) is a fundamental concept in imaging that describes the response of an imaging system to a...

A matrix of miniature lenses, molded or formed onto a common base.

The measure of departure from a flat surface, as applied to lenses; the reciprocal of radius. Applies to any surface,...

An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration....

A rotating plate containing two or more lenses to provide a rapid interchange.

A microlens array is a grid-like structure composed of numerous small lenses, typically arranged in a regular pattern. Each...

A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...

In spectacle lenses, the lateral measurement of a multifocal segment at its maximum width.

An eyepiece consisting of two planoconvex lenses of the same focal length, with facing convex surfaces.

A telescopic eyepiece comprising five or six simple lenses in the form of three doublets or two doublets and a singlet.

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...

A double meniscus system in which two achromatized meniscus lenses are arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture...

A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape...

A system of Japanese origin that utilizes Fresnel lenses and a fiber optic network to transmit sunlight to otherwise...

The term gradient-index profile refers to a specific type of refractive index distribution within an optical material. In...

A telescope that corrects dispersion and spherical aberration through the use of one or more lenses, usually smaller than...

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...

A lens system made up of two sets of similar lenses, each of which compensates for many of the aberrations produced by the...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based...

A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism...

A tank with a boiling solvent at the bottom and a ring of cold piping higher up that condenses the liquid and returns it to...

A system of modular mechanical components for building precision optical systems. The basic equipment includes a variety of...

A spheric lens, also known as a spherical lens, is a type of optical lens with at least one surface that is part of a...

A metalens, short for "metasurface lens," is a type of optical lens that uses nanostructured materials to manipulate light...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain...

The ratio between the focal length of a lens having a longer focal length than that of the standard lens used with a camera,...

A color-television viewing system with three kinescopes, three lenses and three deflection yokes used to form the red, green...

A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...

A tough, durable, heat- and cold-resistant optical quality plastic used in injection-molded items such as streetlight...

The photographic recording of images produced by the electrons from an electron microscope. The electron beam carries the...

A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance...

The formation of transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors and other electronic elements directly on a flake of silicon by...

A variable focal length lens system that retains the object in focus as one or more lenses move as a unit along its optical...

Photographic recording that uses infrared radiation as the light source to form an image of a microscopic object and a...

A telescope lens is a primary optical component of a telescope system that gathers and focuses light to form an image. It is...

A support for optical parts comprising a solid bed that permits precise longitudinal movement of one component relative to...

Linear receive optics typically refers to the optical components and systems used in the reception (detection) of linearly...

A lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...

A photon sieve is an optical device used in the field of optics and imaging. It's designed to focus and shape light,...

An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and...

Photochromic refers to a property exhibited by certain materials, typically organic compounds or dyes, which undergo...

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for...

A process by which a plastic cell is molded around a glass lens or lenses to create a mount, eliminating the metal barrel...

An optical lens manufactured to control the transmission of light over a specified wavelength range. Low absorption lenses...

A lens that has a mount, usually bayonet or screw type in design, that can be used on a camera in place of lenses with the...

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using...

There are three types of telecentric lenses: -Image-space telecentric lenses are those in which the aperture stop is...

Concave is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves inward or has a hollow or recessed appearance. In...

A plastic used in molded optical components. Styrene elements can be combined with acrylic elements to produce achromatic...

A diverging lens is a type of lens that causes parallel rays of light to spread out or diverge. It is thinner in the center...

The range of materials that, unlike glass, may be used in the infrared. Water-soluble salts, such as cesium iodide, and...

An image-forming system that uses mirrors rather than lenses. Such objectives are frequently used for astronomical...

Two or more lenses arranged to act in conjunction with one another.

The term light field refers to the spatial distribution of light rays traveling in all directions through a given space. It...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such...

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...

In a camera, the movement of one or more lenses behind the front lens, rather than of the front lens itself, to bring the...

One of the two principal types of optical glass, the other being flint glass. Crown glass is harder than flint glass, and...

The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal...

The difference in base up or down prism power at corresponding points located on the two lenses of a pair of spectacles.

Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system...

An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to...

A term describing lenses with both surfaces finished but not yet cut to any form.

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to...

An intermolecular substance that serves to hold materials together. Two types are used in the optical industry: one, which...

The process whereby pitch is broken and the lenses or blanks are removed from the block.

In an optical system with a series of lenses, images formed prior to the final focal plane.

A method used to produce precision spherical and aspheric molded glass lenses without grinding or polishing.

An exaggerated depth appearance in stereo photographs caused by the lenses in the camera being farther apart than the eyes...

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

Controlled beam technology that introduces beams of sunlight through holes in a roof that are relayed throughout the...

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric...

Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication,...

Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...

Lenses that have identical flange focal distances and can be interchanged.

Conceptual formulas that characterize both the transmittance functions of lenses and propagation in the Fresnel zone.

Brightfield refers to a type of microscopy and imaging technique in which the specimen is illuminated with a white light...

Ink used for writing on glass, and also for blackening the edges of lenses to prevent reflection. In the latter case, the...

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and...

In printing, a translucent screen used with lenses to provide an even distribution of diffused light.

A rotating disc that holds several lenses of differing focal length about a diameter. Used to switch lenses in a system...

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs...

A hologram formed without lenses and with the object and reference points sharing the same plane. In the initial recording,...

Term synonymous with refractive index liquid, but related more to tank or chamber immersion of crystals, fibers, lenses,...

A microscope to which a beamsplitter and illuminated reticle have been added that is used to measure contact lenses.

Equipment dependent on the effects of a vacuum. The principal applications in optics are in the coating of lenses and...

A metal device of convex or concave curvature to which lens castings or semifinished lenses are cemented with only their...

An inspection device in which the profile of a mechanical part is projected onto a ground-glass screen at a precisely known...

Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau...

A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light...

A component used to modify light rays by diffraction; the HOE is produced by recording the interference pattern of two laser...

An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter...

A lens having an extremely high aperture and used in the recording of x-ray fluorescent screen images. It often is specially...

A system mounted a few inches above a moving plane that consists of a light source, lenses and one or more phototubes. In...

An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...

A lens made from transparent plastic material. Lenses over 31/2 in. in diameter are usually machined, ground and polished....

A common aberration in lenses covering large fields of view; it results in images of objects near the edge of the field...

Commonly known as CR39, this thermosetting plastic is used in the casting of eyeglass lenses because of its toughness and...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to...

An afocal optical device made up of lenses or mirrors, usually with a magnification greater than unity, that renders distant...

An optical system having two sets of components separated by an air space, while successive lenses in each set are cemented...

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms,...

An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...

Two lenses, separated by a distance equal to the sum of their focal lengths, and retroreflecting mirror assemblies, one of...

Oleophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or resist oils. The word oleophobic comes from the...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single...

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...

An array of refractive microlenses that are round, square and hexagonal and as small as 15 µm. They are used for...

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...

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

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and...

A hydrogel is a three-dimensional network of polymer chains that are hydrophilic, meaning they have a strong affinity for...

Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser...

A lens that is symmetrical and designed to work between 1:1 and about 4:1. It covers a field of about ±20° at f/8...

A device (e.g., prisms, lenses, tubes) used to align a beam in a system.

The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial...

A family of lenses commonly used in scan systems for reading or printing documents. The lens must be designed such that the...

A camera with two taking lenses and synchronized shutters. Two images are recorded simultaneously on separate frames,...

An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics...

Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...

A system that uses both reflection and refraction to achieve its focal power. While the relative powers of the lenses and...

The area of optics in which the propagation of light is described by geometrical lines (or rays) governed by Fermat's...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications...

A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and...

Optical elements that use diffraction to control wavefronts. Diffractive optical elements include diffraction gratings,...

A device having a pair of decentered lenses, one for each eye, that focuses on a single object as a magnifier. It is often...

Technique that provides two stereographic views of an object that are larger than the object itself, by means of mutually...

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...

Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or...

A small instrument containing a picture support and a pair of magnifying lenses so arranged that the left eye sees only the...

A group of lenses, or any combination of lenses, mirrors and prisms, so constructed as to refract or reflect light to...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and...

A lens having one or more toric surfaces. A toric surface is one having a maximum power in one meridian and a minimum power...

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at...

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...

Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine that focuses on the anatomy, physiology, and diseases of the eyes and visual system....

A nonoptical surface, within lenses and lens mounts, that contributes largely to flare by reflecting light into the image...

Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical...

A terahertz spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to measure and analyze the properties of materials in the terahertz...

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...

A very fine powdered ferric oxide used in polishing lenses.

A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or...

A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated...

A camera that uses a rotating mirror to project sequential images onto lenses that are arranged in an arc. The reflected...

Thin-film coatings are layers of material applied to the surface of an object or substrate, typically to modify its optical,...

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two...

The area of optics that deals with the propagation of Gaussian laser beams in free space, or any general medium - i.e....

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...

An arranged series of coils, magnets or electromagnets disposed in such a way that the resulting magnetic fields generate a...

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a...

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...

A permanent, transparent, and highly transmissive adhesive capable of withstanding extreme temperatures that is applied to...

A YAG crystal refers to a solid-state crystal made of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), which is a synthetic crystalline...

An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution,...

In optics, degreasers or ultrasonic arrangements used for removing pitch, cement or polishing material from lenses during...

MTF analysis/measurement equipment refers to instruments and tools used to measure and analyze the modulation transfer...

In the context of optical materials, the term "impurity level" refers to the presence of foreign atoms or molecules within...

An optical material used in place of crown glass to produce lenses with extraordinary correction of chromatic aberrations....

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...

Fused quartz and silica are closely related materials, both composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2), but they are...

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....

A single positive lens or group of lenses used in a projection system to collect light from a source and cause it to...

The control of free electron movement through the use of electrical or magnetic fields, and use of this electron movement in...

An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...

1. The sorting of lenses by their color. 2. In an optical system, an irradiance or brightness gradient in the image that is...

In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the index varies in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis....

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly...

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) refers to a specific range of electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum....