Photonics Dictionary: B

The rule stating that positive uniaxial crystals have greater absorption with respect to the extraordinary component of light, whereas negative crystals have greater absorption for the ordinary...

A ball lens is a small, spherical optical component typically made of glass or other transparent materials. It is characterized by its spherical shape, with both its front and back surfaces forming...

A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or light beam. The goal is to transform the incoming beam into a desired shape...

A band of light that appears along the outer edge of a transparent material under microscopic investigation and that moves toward higher refractive indices as the microscope's focus is raised, and...

1. That action occurring when light passes through an optical interface at other than normal incidence, i.e., refraction. 2. The curving of a path of light that passes close by a massive object, due...

A birefringent crystal having two axes along which there is an absence of double refraction. Mica, sulphur and turquoise are biaxial crystals.

Optical elements, often created by micromachining, lithography or vacuum deposition, that rely on diffraction of the collected energy as opposed to the more common refracting or reflecting optics....

Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light of different polarizations. In other words, when light passes through a...

A photorefractive material used in image processing, holography and optical switching.

A parallel plate of glass in such a position that the refracted and reflected rays of incident parallel light are mutually perpendicular. In this situation the reflected light is plane polarized, and...

For light incident on a plane boundary between two regions having different refractive indices, the angle of incidence at which the reflectance is zero for light that has its electrical field vector...

Brightfield refers to a type of microscopy and imaging technique in which the specimen is illuminated with a white light source, and the image is observed or captured against a bright background. In...

Broadband dielectric mirrors, also known as broadband mirrors, are optical coatings designed to efficiently reflect or transmit light over a broad range of wavelengths. These mirrors are constructed...

A piece of glass with a high refractive index that is fused to the major blank.