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prism Dictionary Terms

edge
The flat or angled surface, usually fine-ground, that limits the aperture of a lens or prism surface.
prism coupler
An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine...
light dispersion
The process whereby white light is separated into its component wavelengths. Light beams of different wavelengths are...
equivalent air path
When a block of glass (prism, window, filter, etc.) is placed into a converging light bundle, it increases the physical...
polarizing coating
A coating made up of particular birefringent materials having polarizing properties. It may be used, in some cases, to...
corner-cube prism
 sharp height
The distance between the base and the vertex before the edging of a prism.
direct-vision pocket spectroscope
A small handheld instrument consisting of a slit and collimator that feeds light into a small direct-vision dispersing...
reflecting prism
A prism having several plane polished surfaces, some to transmit light, some to reflect light, and some to serve both...
erecting eyepiece
An eyepiece combined with an erecting prism or lens system.
objective prism
1. A prism used in some instruments to bend light 90° before it enters the objective. 2. A dispersing prism located in...
crossed prisms
The positioning of two Nicol prisms so that their axes are at right angles to each other. With this arrangement, light...
beam positioner
A device (e.g., prisms, lenses, tubes) used to align a beam in a system.
image transducer
Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of...
binocular
Designating any instrument in which both eyes can be used to view the image to achieve a stereoscopic effect, or merely to...
biprism
A piece of glass polished flat on one side, with a pair of polished faces that form an angle close to 180° on the other...
Brace-Lemon spectrophotometer
A spectrophotometer having a pair of identical collimators with two Glan polarizing prisms, one fixed in azimuth and the...
prism power
The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter...
Nicol prism
A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68°...
diffraction grating spectrograph
A spectrograph that uses a diffraction grating as its dispersive element in place of a prism, and yields greater resolving...
Babinet-Jamin compensator
A Babinet compensator that contains the controlled motion of one prism with respect to the other. This idea was introduced...
Prentice's rule
A method of determining prism power at any point on a lens. Prism power equals the product of the dioptric power and the...
bevel
A chamfer ground on the edge of a lens or prism. Bevels are used to prevent chipping or to achieve a mechanical fit.
photostatic camera
A type of copying camera in which the object is placed on a horizontal easel and photographed by a horizontal camera above...
retroreflection
Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly...
Cornu-Jellet prism
A prism formed by dividing a Nicol prism in a plane parallel to the path of vibration of the transmitted light and taking...
barium fluoride
A relatively hard crystal, highly resistant to excessive energy radiation, that is frequently used for optical windows,...
polarizing filter
A filter that polarizes light passing through it. It is possible to fabricate sheets of plastic or gelatin that contain...
biprism interference
Light interference fringes that can be viewed on a screen near a biprism.
Abbe prism
A form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may...
polarization photometer
A photometer having a pair of Nicol prisms introduced into the beam from the brighter of two sources to be compared. Turning...
leman prism
An erecting prism that inverts and reverses the image. It displaces the optical axis but does not deviate it.
erecting system
Lenses or prisms that serve to erect the image; i.e., to bring the image upright after it has been inverted by the objective.
elbow telescope
A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.
vertical imbalance
The difference in base up or down prism power at corresponding points located on the two lenses of a pair of spectacles.
delta prism
A compact, folded version of a Dove prism, made of high-index glass with a silvered base and used for image rotation.
Senarmont prism
A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary...
fiber optic spectrometer
A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to...
residual blue
The optical phenomenon in which white light dispersed by small particles in suspension appears blue when viewed through a...
rotating wedge
A circular optical wedge (prism of small refracting angle) mounted to be rotated in the path of light rays to divert the...
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...
MEMS fiber optic switch
A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals...
test cube
A device used to detect elevation, pyramid and resolution errors in prisms and other components by bringing them into...
ocular prism
The prism used in a rangefinder to bend the lines of sight through the instruments into the eyepieces.
optical design software
Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...
Amici prism
Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long...
jellet prism
A prism produced by severing a Nicol prism and reconstructing the polarization angles of the two halves so that they are...
slab-off
The process of making an abrupt break in a spherical surface on a spectacle lens so that a new center of curvature is set...
rhomboid prism
A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces;...
Delaborne prism
 goniometer
A spectrometer or autocollimator used to measure prism angles.
electro-optic deflection
The effect whereby a light beam is deflected by a birefringent prism when its polarization is changed by voltage applied to...
monochromator
A monochromator is an optical instrument used to isolate and select a narrow range of wavelengths from a broader spectrum of...
entrance slit
The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...
spectral flow cytometry
Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry...
laser optics
Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser...
grinding and polishing machinery
Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...
reversion prism
A prism made of two elements cemented together that, depending on its orientation, inverts or reverts an image. It may be...
eyepiece
Also known as ocular. The lens system used between the final real image in a visual optical system and eye. It acts as an...
linear optics
Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...
fused quartz and silica
Fused quartz and silica are closely related materials, both composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2), but they are...
photometric cube
A prism used in a photometer for the adjacent comparison of separate luminance.
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter...
optical spectrum
1.) Generally, the electromagnetic spectrum within the wavelength region extending from the vacuum ultraviolet at 40 nm to...
ellipsometer
A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized...
polarizing prism
A device that is used to produce or analyze plane-polarized light. It may be a Nicol prism or some other form of calcite...
terrestrial telescope
A telescope that produces an erect image. Erection is achieved either by a lens (for a long instrument) or a prism (for a...
spectrograph
An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...
beamsplitter
A beamsplitter is an optical device for dividing a beam into two or more separate beams. A simple beamsplitter may be a very...
optical cements and adhesive
Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical...
beam shaper
A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...
Risley prism
A Risley prism, also known as a Risley prism pair or Risley rotating prism, is an optical device used for controlling the...
optical element
An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.
optical coatings
Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms,...
crystal
A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess...
Fabry-Perot method
A means of determining a prism's index of refraction by placing the prism so that its emergent face is perpendicular to the...
Abbe-Porro prism
A reflecting prism that inverts the image. The image is reflected four times internally and emitted laterally. The prism is...
prismatic
Describing a prism, or the effects produced by prisms.
panoramic camera
A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is...
Cornu double prism
A compound prism formed by cementing together two 30° prisms, one of right-handed and one of left-handed quartz. It has...
infrared optic
Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...
Williams refractometer
A refractometer that has a greater resolving power than a standard refractometer, and that uses a pentagonal prism to split...
right-angle prism
A type of 45-90-45° prism used to bend a beam of light through a right angle with the surfaces forming the 90° angle...
prismograph
A graphical device used to measure prism power.
infrared spectrophotometer
A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It...
landolt band
A dark band that may appear in the field of crossed Nicol prisms with a powerful source such as the sun because the light is...
Porro prism erecting system
The arrangement of two Porro prisms so that the inverted image formed by certain types of optical instruments is the same as...
roof or roof-angle prism
 minimum angle of deviation
The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...
Schmidt prism
A prism that inverts and reverts an image while deviating the line of sight by a 45° angle.
refracting prism
A prism that often is used as a dispersing element in spectrographs and monochromators.
fery prism
A prism with curved faces that collimates, reflects and refracts incident light. Often used in the production of...
mass spectroscope
An instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to sort out the relative masses of atoms and molecules.The same way an...
Pellin-Broca prism
A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30°...
magnetorheological finishing
Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...
ion laser
A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...
optical head
In compact disc and CD-ROM technology, the portion of the drive that projects the laser light onto the surface of the media...
prism chromatic resolving power
The chromatic resolving power of a prism is invariably stated for the case in which parallel rays of light are incident on...
periscope
An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses...
penta prism
A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to...
achromatic prism
Cemented prisms of differing refractive indices which refract incident light and, due to differing refractive indices, will...
calcite
A doubly refracting mineral used to produce polarizing prisms. It is uniaxial negative and in the trigonal division of the...
prism
A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It usually has two parallel bases,...
optical combiner
An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines...
inversion prism
optical glass
Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...
double-image prism
A prism block that, when used with a lens, is capable of forming two images of one object.
diamond cutting tool
A tool made by imbedding small particles of diamond in the working edge. In the optical field, the most commonly used...
Koenig-Martens spectrophotometer
A visual, single-unit spectrophotometer with a biprism and a Wollaston prism. The Wollaston prism polarizes coincident...
image splitting eyepiece
An eyepiece having a special prism arrangement linked to a micrometer screw to allow reading of the angular relations...
Porro prism
A 45-90-45° reflecting prism whose surfaces form the 90° angle reflecting the light beam through a total angle of 180°. The...
Littrow prism
A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.
corner cube
A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light...
Littrow spectrograph
A spectrograph using a prism that has an internally reflecting surface and that serves as a constant deviation prism.
direct-vision prism
An assembly of multiple prisms that disperses incident light into its spectral components without deviating light at the...
optical rotation
1. The angular displacement of the plane of polarization of light passing through a medium. 2. The azimuthal displacement of...
prism base
The thick edge of a refracting prism.
analyzer
An optical device, such as a Nicol prism, capable of producing plane-polarized light, and used for detecting the effect of...
Rochon prism
A polarizing prism assembly made up of two cemented calcite halves. The prism transmits the ordinary ray without deviation,...
grating prism
A specific, right-angle prism having a transmission grating replicated on its hypotenuse face and used in applications...
Kerr cell
A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...
diamond turning
Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...
Harting Dove prism
A direct-vision prism made in one piece that can be used only in parallel light.
Brace prism
A compound prism composed of two 30° prisms, one of which is partially coated with a suitable opaque metal of high...
prism ghost
The ghost image formed by a prism.
rolled edge
Also known as a turned-down edge. A rapid change of curvature near the edge in a lens or prism surface.
block
A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical...
infrared modulated ellipsometry
A direct method of measuring refractive index that works best with flat-surfaced samples (i.e., those that are not dependent...
angle of deviation
The angle through which a ray of light is deviated by a refracting or reflecting surface, or a prism; the angle between an...
custom optic
A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or...
adhesive
An intermolecular substance that serves to hold materials together. Two types are used in the optical industry: one, which...
Dove prism
A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to...
coincidence prism
A compound prism consisting of an assembly of small prisms cemented together that is used in a coincidence rangefinder to...
constant deviation
That property of certain optical devices, e.g., a penta prism, that maintains the angular relationship between the entering...
prism binoculars
A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance...
Foucault prism
A polarizing prism formed from calcite that is like the Nicol prism but has the two parts divided by a thin air-film and cut...
colliding pulse modelocked ring laser
A ring dye laser that uses prisms and a saturable absorber within the laser cavity to shape and shorten the pulses...
Lippich prism
A small half-shade analyzer placed in the eyepiece of a polarimeter to determine the character of the polarized light...
Pechan prism
A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in...
Glan-Thompson prism
A prism resembling a Nicol prism but having faces normal to the axis and the two parts divided by a glycerine film. Also...
optical manufacturing tools and machinery
Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...
rotating prism camera
A camera, with a rotating prism, that is capable of forming multiple exposures on a constantly moving strip of film.
Lummer-Brodhun cube
A photometric instrument having two prisms clamped in optical contact to produce a photometric field with an acute dividing...
optical assembly
An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...
holographic optical element
A component used to modify light rays by diffraction; the HOE is produced by recording the interference pattern of two laser...
body
In the optical field, a piece of glass to which a lens or prism is cemented. The unit is ground and polished as a whole to...
microspectroscope
A system composed of a prism spectroscope and compound microscope to provide the visual comparison of two spectra...
Glan-Foucault prism
A type of birefringent polarizing prism that transmits the extraordinary ray and removes the ordinary ray through total...
prism apex
The thin edge of a refracting prism; the line of intersection of two refracting surfaces of a prism.
metal component
An accurate metal prism or plane parallel plate that is cemented to an optical element and remains with it during a series...
diffuser
An optical diffuser is an optical component or material designed to scatter or diffuse light that passes through it. It is...
thollon prism system
Two 30° prisms that are used to produce constant deviation when rotated by equal and opposite angles.
diopter
A unit of optical measurement that expresses the refractive power of a lens or prism. In a lens or lens system, it is the...
chirped-pulse amplification
Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies...
prism spectrograph
Greenough microscope
A form of a stereoscopic microscope having paired objectives, prisms and eyepieces, and invented by H. Greenough.
prismatic spectrum
The spectrum formed by a dispersing prism or a dispersing prism system.
optical design and engineering services
Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and...
differential interference contrast microscopy
Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical...
divided circle spectrometer
A spectroscope having a divided circle and a means for the rapid reversal of prisms for the measurement of refractive index...
dispersion
Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...
Wollaston prism
A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are...
Savart polariscope
1. A polariscope consisting of a Savart plate and a tourmaline plate analyzer, and used to produce parallel color fringes by...
dispersing prism
A prism or series of prisms used to disperse a beam of radiant energy of mixed wavelengths into its spectral components.
object displacement
The movement of an object seen through a refracting prism toward the apex of a prism.
plastic optics
The integration of plastic materials into optical applications. When the materials are refined into lenses, prisms and...
hyperspectral imaging camera
A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide...
optical system
A group of lenses, or any combination of lenses, mirrors and prisms, so constructed as to refract or reflect light to...
cube-corner prism
offset prism
A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.
rear operating aperture
The restricting opening at the rear of a lens or prism that is commonly defined as the maximum diameter of the emergent cone...
germanium crystal
Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor...
Rayleigh prism
A prism system designed to produce a very high dispersion of light.
atomic emission spectrometry
Spectrometric analysis of the distinct and characteristic spectra of atoms of elements. The atoms are energized to emit...
retroreflector
A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their...

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