Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the measurement of changes in the polarization state of light reflected or transmitted from a sample. In ellipsometry, polarized...

Azimuthal polarization refers to a specific polarization state of light where the electric field vector of the...

A transparent crystalline substance that displays the same optical properties (i.e. refractive index) in all directions such...

Able to rotate the plane of polarization of a transmitted, plane-polarized light beam clockwise as seen by a viewer looking...

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

The region of a ferroelectric crystal where spontaneous polarization is uniformly directed.

Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its...

Scalar diffraction theory is a simplified approach used to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves, particularly...

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by...

Technique in which the polarization rotation of light, and its relationship to the magnetic field strength can be analyzed...

A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or...

An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...

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

A combination of a polarizer and an analyzer that is used to detect birefringence or rotation of the plane of polarization...

A quantum of electromagnetic energy of a single mode; i.e., a single wavelength, direction and polarization. As a unit of...

Electric polarization characterized by homogeneous polar dielectrics and ascribed to the position of the permanent molecular...

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or...

A polarizing prism assembly made up of two cemented calcite halves. The prism transmits the ordinary ray without deviation,...

Exhibiting the characteristic of materials that are electrical insulators or in which an electric field can be sustained...

Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic...

One of a class of crystalline substances belonging to triclinic, monoclinic and orthorhombic systems that have two optic...

Characterizes a substance whose plane of polarization is rotated counterclockwise as the observer looks through the material...

In the context of electronics and optics, an isolator refers to a device that allows the transmission of signals in one...

A piece of uniform birefringent material placed at a 45° angle to the plane of polarization in a polarizing microscope...

The law stating that when light strikes a surface at such an angle that the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular...

A technique used to store wavefront information on thin polarization information-recordable materials by controlling the...

A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...

A nonlinear crystal used to modulate a polarized beam of light by means of the Pockels effect. A Pockels cell is used as a...

Film in which electric polarization is reversible when influenced by an electric field.

Fresnel reflection refers to the reflection of light at the interface between two different media with different refractive...

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller...

A type of high-speed photographic shutter that uses Faraday rotation to produce exposure times as fast as 1 microsecond. It...

Also referred to as differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy; Nomarski microscopy is a unique form of microscopy...

In polarization-preserving optical fibers, the element used to induce birefringence. The SAP is highly doped to provide a...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or...

The effect discovered by Faraday in 1845 whereby nonoptically active materials or substances become capable of rotating the...

1. The near total absorption of plane-polarized light by a polarizer that has an axis perpendicular to the plane of...

Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light...

A technique used to create an achromatic phase shift based on the principle of geometric phase. The phase shift is...

The amplitude, polarization and phase contained in the field distribution over the aperture.

A reference sphere used to represent all possible states of polarization. All linear polarizations will lie on the equator...

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...

The linear relationship between input and output optical fields for a given optical system or application that allows the...

A polariscope with a half-shade device and an angular scale generally attached to the analyzer. It is used to measure the...

A plate of electro-optical material that serves to rotate the plane of polarization of a light beam.

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

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization...

A subsurface imaging technique based upon the polarization of light reflected off an object. The polarization of reflected...

A device that obliterates the polarization of a polarized beam by reflecting the beam in all directions at right angles to...

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

A characteristic of optical fiber used to calculate the fiber's ability to maintain polarization. The beat length describes...

Capability requirement for optical switches for transmission lines to process arbitrarily polarized light because of the...

With respect to the effect of crystals on lightwaves, the family of curves having constant direction of polarization.

Simulation of radiative transfer in which each photon is generated by a source and its path through the medium is...

The effect whereby a light beam is deflected by a birefringent prism when its polarization is changed by voltage applied to...

That voltage required across a Pockels, Kerr or other electro-optic light modulator to retard one polarization electrical...

Multimode straight fiber capable of transporting linearly polarized light with any incident polarization angle, and in which...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the...

1. The angular displacement of the plane of polarization of light passing through a medium. 2. The azimuthal displacement of...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by...

In optics, the Pockels effect refers to the phenomenon where the refractive index of a material changes in response to an...

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

Ferroelectric materials are a type of dielectric materials that exhibit spontaneous electric polarization, meaning they...

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the...

The measurement of the rotation of the plane of polarization of radiant energy, usually through the use of a polarimeter.

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...

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

A theoretical instrument conceived of as a box that receives a beam of radiation of any arbitrary polarization angle and...

A specific type of storage in which the material to be written on is heated above its transition temperature and switched in...

Dichroism refers to the property of certain materials to exhibit different colors or absorbance of light depending on the...

A law that uses the square of the cosine between the plane of polarization of a beam of plane-polarized light and the plane...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and...

A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane...

A photometer used to measure sky brightness and polarization associated with zodiacal light, background starlight, F-region...

A transparent crystalline substance in which the refractive index of the optic axis (extraordinary axis) is different from...

The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged...

A complex filter that uses polarization and interference to transmit light that is nearly monochromatic.

Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other...

The phenomenon that makes nonlinear the mathematical expression for the electrical polarization of a medium through which...

See plane-polarized light; polarization.

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent...

A molecular motor refers to a nano-sized device composed of organic molecules or other small-scale components that can...

A double block formed by placing two adjoining, equally thick sections of quartz, one being dextrorotary, the other...

The ray that has an isotropic speed and maintains a uniform polarization in all propagation directions when traveling in a...

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

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

A prism produced by severing a Nicol prism and reconstructing the polarization angles of the two halves so that they are...

A method used to detect internal or residual microstresses in a material by using a laser beam to locate changes in...

A mirror that supplies equal reflectance for both the S-polarization and the P-polarization of a laser for a defined angle...

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become correlated to such an extent...

With respect to waveguides, the continuous change in the direction of the axis of the wavelength, during which the axis is...

The study of the transmission of radiant energy through crystals, especially anisotropic crystals, and their effects on...

Anisotropy refers to the property of exhibiting different values or characteristics when measured in different directions....

A photometer having a pair of Nicol prisms introduced into the beam from the brighter of two sources to be compared. Turning...

The phenomenon whereby certain crystals exhibit spontaneous electric polarization. It is analogous with ferromagnetism.

An electromagnon is a quasiparticle excitation that combines aspects of both magnetism and electric polarization in a...

In a waveguide, a change in direction of the axis without deviating from the plane of polarization.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method of secure communication that utilizes principles from quantum mechanics to...

A material that can rotate the polarization of light that passes through it. An optically active material exhibits different...

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric)...