Photonics Dictionary: M

Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication, and utilization of artificial structures called metasurfaces to control and...

An anastigmatic lens with a thick meniscus construction that flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration.

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or meta-elements, arranged in a specific pattern to manipulate the propagation of...

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle detection, imaging, spectroscopy, and night vision technology. It consists of a...

A camera used to reduce originals onto film for easy storage. There are two basic types: one in which the film is fixed during exposure, and one in which the film is exposed while moving past an...

An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and flat-field projection eyepieces are quite efficient. Negative eyepieces are...

The lens located at the object end of a microscope tube. A wide range of objectives is available, including simple achromats, the color-corrected apochromats and the flat-field objectives. Objectives...

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...

The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The process generally is done before coating so as not to damage the delicate coated...