An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a specific function within an optical system. These components may include lenses, mirrors, prisms, filters, fibers, detectors, and...

Production of a repeated image of a transmitted beam through a diffractive optical element such as a holographic card or...

An adhesive used to affix optical elements to an approximately shaped body -- usually of cast iron.

A Dammann grating is a type of diffractive optical element (DOE) used to create an array of equally spaced,...

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...

The removal of optical elements from a block.

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms,...

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...

An optical element designed to correct each zone of a reflector or refractor for spherical aberration.

An accurate metal prism or plane parallel plate that is cemented to an optical element and remains with it during a series...

The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...

An optical element having plane-inclined surfaces. Usually the faces are inclined toward one another at very small angles....

An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or...

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and...

The removal of a sharp edge on an optical element by grinding, to prevent accidental chipping of that edge during subsequent...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...

An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and...

An instrument that employs the interference of lightwaves to measure the accuracy of optical surfaces; it can measure a...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....

A pulsed interferometer that permits the continuous quantitative mapping of the surface deformation of an adaptive optical...

Diffraction efficiency is a measure of how effectively a diffractive optical element (DOE) or diffraction grating directs...

A combination of a polarizer and an analyzer that is used to detect birefringence or rotation of the plane of polarization...

An optical element that measures the phase difference between two components of elliptically polarized light to correct for...

A process used to control thickness and parallelism precisely during the production of plane-parallel plates. Elements are...

An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It...

The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a...

A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...

Optical elements that have been coated with one or more layers of dielectric, or metallic material. These coatings serve to...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single...

Broadband radiation emitted by a laser that does not transmit through the optical element. It can be removed by filtering.

A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...

1. The grinding or edging of a lens so that the geometrical center and optical center do not coincide. 2. The shifting of an...

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....

Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems...

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...

The production of a block by attaching the optical elements to a plate by means of individual buttons of pitch or other...

The optical element that receives light from the object and forms the first or primary image in telescopes and microscopes....

Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...

The formation of a block by attaching optical elements to a plate with a ring of pitch or other thermoplastic material.

In the tolerancing of optical elements, the displacement of the optical axis from the mechanical axis.

Optical elements, often created by micromachining, lithography or vacuum deposition, that rely on diffraction of the...

Freeform optics refers to the design and fabrication of optical surfaces that do not follow traditional symmetric shapes,...

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...

A cosmetic defect on the surface of an optical element. A dig is nearly equal in terms of its length and width. The size is...

Discipline within optical physics that addresses sound vibration, phonon effects and their influencing behavior within...

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...

A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals...

An adhesive used for bonding optical elements or for holding devices.

A permanent, transparent, and highly transmissive adhesive capable of withstanding extreme temperatures that is applied to...

Reflection losses incurred at input and output of optical elements because of the difference in refractive index between...

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It...

With respect to display systems, a device that uses an independent light source and a control-layer medium, the active...

Etaloning is an optical phenomenon that occurs in imaging systems, particularly in devices such as spectrometers,...

1. A constituent part. It may consist of two or more parts cemented together, or with near and approximately matching...

A defect on or in an optical element that does not appreciably impair the function of the surface.

An adhesive used to hold optical elements to blocking tools. It is usually a thermoplastic substance such as resin, beeswax,...

One or more optical elements – typically cemented together - in an optical system that are treated as a single group;...

The process whereby optical elements are removed from a block.

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a...

Optical elements arranged with no spaces between, so that the light travels only through glass, not air.

An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...

Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and...

An optical element located at an image plane, containing a pattern that assists in pointing an instrument or measuring...

A shift in the apparent position of an object when an optical element is added or removed.

In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such...

A component used to modify light rays by diffraction; the HOE is produced by recording the interference pattern of two laser...

A disc composed of a series of holographic optical elements that diffract light at various angles. When spinning, a raster...

A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It usually has two parallel bases,...

The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...

The active control of various aspects (optical element position, airspace thickness, etc.) of an optical system that...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...

A flexible fiber cable with a small diameter that transports light from the excitation laser to the target. Used in Raman...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

Modulation transfer function of an optical element when used for transporting images from a lambertian source such as...

A dispersion relation defined in order to value the reciprocal amount of dispersion. It is defined as the refractivity over...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...

In microscopy, the clear distance between the specimen being viewed and the first optical element of the objective lens.

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...

An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics...

1.) Generally, the electromagnetic spectrum within the wavelength region extending from the vacuum ultraviolet at 40 nm to...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or...

One optical element of a multielement lens. See optical element.

Also called color blocking. The formation of a block by making optical contact between a number of optical elements and a...

The linear relationship between input and output optical fields for a given optical system or application that allows the...

The finishing of the edge of an optical element by grinding.

Not spherical; an optical element having one or more surfaces that are not spherical. The spherical surface of a lens may be...

1. In optics, one of the exterior faces of an optical element. 2. The process of grinding or generating the face of an...

The ability of an optical system to make an object appear larger. An optical element or optical system causing an object to...

Optical elements that use diffraction to control wavefronts. Diffractive optical elements include diffraction gratings,...

A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane...

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it....

A system of modular mechanical components for building precision optical systems. The basic equipment includes a variety of...

An optical element having two principal axes, slow and fast, that resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually...