Photonics Dictionary

Pitch, wax, resin or other cement suitable for holding optical parts to a spindle during grinding and polishing processes.

In optics, degreasers or ultrasonic arrangements used for removing pitch, cement or polishing material from lenses during manufacture. It also may refer to manual cleaning devices used immediately...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce high-quality optical surfaces and components with extremely tight tolerances. It...

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and mirrors, from materials such as metals, plastics, and crystalline materials...

Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry a cup-shaped or flat tool (lap) into close contact with the part. An...

Lapping and polishing services involve specialized processes used to improve the surface finish and dimensional accuracy of components to meet specific requirements or standards. These services are...

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 lenses are eventually fabricated. Lens blanks are made from various...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...

A small optical polishing machine intended for polishing the surface of a metal specimen before etching for examination under a microscope. Although shaping and polishing machines for this purpose...

A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such as glass or plastic, into the desired lens shape. This process involves...

A casting consisting of an optical material molded into the desired geometry for grinding, polishing or, in the case of optical waveguides, drawing to the final optical-mechanical specifications.

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

Pitch for polishing mixed with other materials to give it the right viscosity so that it will follow the fine-ground lens surface and yet maintain contact at all times.

Any of the numerous powders used for grinding and polishing glass, crystal or metal, the chief material being emery and carborundum for grinding, and rouge or the oxides of tin, cerium or other...