Photonics Dictionary

A precision positioning device used to produce rotary motion.

A camera system used for microphotography that has a structure, such as a cylinder or surveyor belt, to rotate the documents to be recorded. The image is fixed relative to film motion and exposure is...

A structured light device using a rapidly rotating laser to project a beam of light that appears to the human eye as a continuous circle; used as a reference marker on walls or landscape for...

Characterizes a substance whose plane of polarization is rotated counterclockwise as the observer looks through the material toward the light source. The rotation is negative.

Mechanical device intended for the translation (rotational and linear) using high precision control from electronically operated circuits. See linear actuator; rotary actuator.

A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and positioning equipment, air bearings are of two types, linear or rotary,...

A double block formed by placing two adjoining, equally thick sections of quartz, one being dextrorotary, the other levorotary, over the analyzer of a polariscope. In this way, polarization tints may...

The naturally occurring crystalline form of silicon dioxide. It is slightly birefringent and exhibits rotary dispersion of light rays transmitted along the crystal axis, both right-hand and left-hand...

Able to rotate the plane of polarization of a transmitted, plane-polarized light beam clockwise as seen by a viewer looking in the same direction as the traveling light. Also called dextrorotary; the...

An infrared light-emitting diode (IR LED) is a semiconductor device that emits infrared light when an electric current passes through it. Similar to standard LEDs that emit visible light, IR LEDs are...

A device designed to measure linear or rotary motion by detection of the movement of markings on a transparent medium past a fixed point of light. The encoder has a moving code plate, a glass disc...

A type of motor that acts as the control element in a servomechanism. It is powered by an amplifier circuit and drives the load with linear or rotary motion.

A positioning drive that rotates a fraction of a 360° turn when the motor coils are activated, resulting in linear or rotary motion. They are generally one of two types, either variable...