Plastic optical fiber (POF) is a type of optical fiber made from transparent plastic, typically polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) or polycarbonate. Unlike traditional glass optical fibers, which are made from silica glass, POF utilizes plastics that...

Fiber in which both core and cladding are made of plastic.

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

An interference filter in which a very thin metal foil with a periodic array of square holes (inductive mesh) or a thin...

A hologram imprinted on plastic or another medium; e.g., those commonly found on credit cards.

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel...

Photoelastic equipment and supplies refer to instruments and materials used in photoelasticity, a technique used to analyze...

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that builds three-dimensional objects...

A reproduction made of an original grating -- usually by casting thermosetting plastics onto the original -- to avoid the...

A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...

The formation of a block by attaching optical elements to a plate with a ring of pitch or other thermoplastic material.

In optics, the double refraction that is produced when stress is applied to a transparent material. Plastics, which are...

Usually a dielectric coating on glass or plastic optics; a coating that is comparable in hardness to glass itself.

A display device having a thermoplastic film as the control layer medium. The film, moving from a playoff reel, is scanned...

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

A method of producing large volumes of plastic optical components in which powdered or sheet plastic is pressed between...

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

A solar cell that is lightweight and flexible because of its construction by vacuum deposition of a semiconductor material...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light...

A thermal radiation detector consisting of a small cell with a blackened plastic front face that bulges slightly when heat...

Process that occurs when a polymerized soft plastic rod with higher refractive index is placed in a bath of a lower...

A rigid or flexible, concentrated assembly of glass or plastic fibers used to transmit optical images or light. See aligned...

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical...

An optical diffuser is an optical component or material designed to scatter or diffuse light that passes through it. It is...

A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various...

A laser having a rare-earth chelate within a plastic host as the lasing material. The chelate laser is easily pumped and has...

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

The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against...

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

A thermoplastic or thermosetting material used to hold an object fixed and keep it from deterioration. In microcircuitry,...

A projection screen having vertical ribs or flutes set into a plastic surface.

Plastic in which the polymer chains become irreversibly joined during molding. The cross-linking can be achieved by heating,...

A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the...

A material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables.

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

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

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

A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and...

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

Laser-powered telephone device for analog communications that employs a vibrating plastic membrane as a transmitter to...

A thin, stretched plastic membrane cemented to a rigid supporting ring. It may be coated to act as a beamsplitter, for...

Fine lines, wires or threads used in the focal plane of many optical instruments to point out and locate particular objects...

A plastic disc coated with ferric oxide or other films on which data can be stored by selectively magnetizing areas of the...

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

A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides...

The use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one...

A shield of rubber, plastic or metal used to protect the eyes of the observer from stray light and wind, and to maintain the...

Polishing with a plastic pad.

A technique developed by British Telecom in which the viscous drag of air is used to install optical fibers in narrow...

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

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

A surface imperfection caused by a polisher running dry too long. It occurs with felt or plastic polishers, and may appear...

A thermoplastic, self-extinguishing polymer with excellent high-temperature, low-creep and arc resistance properties.

A transparent powdered solid immersed in a liquid or plastic of similar refractive index but widely different dispersion;...

Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a...

An optical waveguide having a silica core and a plastic cladding.

A thermoplastic or optically transmitting hard plastic produced by applying polymerization initiator and heat to a monomer.

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

A process that employs heat to remove polyimide plastic coatings from silica optical fibers and capillary tubing.

A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable,...

The production of a block by attaching the optical elements to a plate by means of individual buttons of pitch or other...

Optic surface cleaning liquid that may be applied to glass, crystal, dielectric and metal surfaces; however, may not be...

Laser marking is a process in which a laser beam is used to mark or engrave a surface by altering its properties or...

A highly flame-retardant material used to jacket fiber optic cables, especially on shipboard applications.

An adhesive whose viscosity decreases as the temperature is increased to a limit. Canada balsam, resin and pitch are...

A method of producing high-quality plastic optics in large volumes by injecting the heated, liquified plastic at high...

A filter that polarizes light passing through it. It is possible to fabricate sheets of plastic or gelatin that contain...

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

A camera that records its images electrostatically on plastic tape; used in situations where radiation would have an adverse...

Ultrasonic refers to sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing, typically above...

A sheet of plastic material containing microscopic crystals of herapathite or some other similar substance that transmits...

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

An adhesive used to hold optical elements to blocking tools. It is usually a thermoplastic substance such as resin, beeswax,...

A type of holographic film widely used for industrial applications because it is inexpensive and erasable.

A term for thermoplastic optical materials; that is, those in which the polymer chains remain linear after heating and...

A mold for glass or plastics often made of stainless steel to prevent pitting or oxidation in service. It is polished to the...

Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded...

A waveguide made up of a dielectric material, such as plastic or mica, in a cylindrical form, through which the waves travel.

The direct cladding used for fused silica cores to create large numerical aperture fibers and used as overcoats to...

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional...

A screen composed of a sheet of diffusing plastic material that reveals excellent image detail for close viewing. It is...

A material's ability to undergo plastic deformation, specifically elongation, without fracturing.

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

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate...

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...

An adhesive used to hold optical components in their mounts. It may be a thermoplastic or chemical-hardening substance.

A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is...

A holographic plate coated by photopolymeric mixtures that are composed of one or more monomers and a photoredox catalyst...

Thin layers intended to prevent damage to plastic optics.