Photonics Dictionary: Z

In a single-mode optical fiber, the wavelength that causes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion to cancel each other. In a multimode fiber, loose term for the wavelength at which there is a...

A polyethylene grating that transmits the long wavelengths and diffracts shorter wavelengths in controlled directions.

The intensity regulation of a cathode-ray tube by alteration of the grid-cathode voltage.

A technique for determining the nonlinear optical properties of a sample material by moving the sample through a focused laser beam and measuring changes in the beam's characteristics, such as...

A telescope that is fixed or has a limited degree of movement in a vertical plane; primarily used to determine the position of stars near the zenith.

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-21. (z).

The introduction of a filter into an imaging system to implement a phase contrast for an intensity mapping of a pure phase image.

A quarter- or half-wave retarder made from two plates of quartz, mica or polymer with their fast axes crossed; the difference in thickness between the two plates determines the retardance. Zero-order...

Zerodur is a type of glass ceramic material known for its exceptional thermal and mechanical properties, particularly its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) close to zero. It was developed by...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1021. (Z).

A polycrystalline material that transmits in the infrared; it is used as a phosphor in x-ray and television screens.

A two-fiber optical cable containing two single-fiber cables that are connected by a strip of jacket and that can easily be separated from one another for the installation of optical connectors.

Spherical or chromatic aberration in a lens having a wide aperture. It is present because the refracting power varies for different zones concentric at the axis. This is the residual when the lens...

Also known as zonal axis. The axis positioned through the center of a crystal that is parallel to a zone edge.

To control, by magnifying or reducing, the size of a televised image, either electronically or optically.

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving some of the components of the system along the lens axis, other components...