Optics
54 terms · page 1 of 3
Acceptance Angle
The maximum angle relative to the fiber axis at which incident light can enter the fiber core and undergo total internal reflection.
OpticsAccommodation of the Eye
The automatic adjustment process by which ciliary muscles alter crystalline lens focal length to focus objects at varying distances onto…
OpticsAngle of Deviation
The angle between the direction of an incident light ray entering an optical element (like a prism) and its emerging direction.
OpticsAstigmatism
A visual defect caused by non-spherical, asymmetric curvature of the cornea or lens, preventing rays in different planes from focusing at a…
OpticsAstronomical Telescope
A refracting optical instrument consisting of a long-focal-length objective lens and short-focal-length eyepiece used to observe distant…
OpticsAttenuation
The loss of optical power or signal strength as light propagates through a medium or optical fiber.
OpticsBrewster's Law
The law stating that reflected light is 100% linearly polarized when the angle of incidence equals the polarizing angle, where reflected…
OpticsCartesian Sign Convention
A standardized coordinate rule used in geometric optics to assign consistent algebraic signs to distances, heights, and focal lengths.
OpticsCassegrain Telescope
A compact reflecting telescope design combining a concave parabolic primary mirror and a convex hyperbolic secondary mirror.
OpticsChromatic Aberration
An optical distortion in lenses caused by material dispersion, where different wavelengths of light focus at different spatial positions.
OpticsCompound Microscope
A two-stage optical instrument utilizing a short-focal-length objective lens and a longer-focal-length eyepiece to achieve high…
OpticsCritical Angle
The specific angle of incidence in an optically denser medium for which the angle of refraction in the rarer medium is exactly 90 degrees.
OpticsDiffraction
The bending, spreading, and interference of light waves around the edges of an obstacle or through a narrow aperture.
OpticsDiffraction Grating
An optical element with a periodic structure of thousands of closely spaced parallel rulings or lines that disperses light into its…
OpticsDispersive Power
A dimensionless material property measuring a prism or lens material's ability to separate different spectral wavelengths.
OpticsFermat's Principle
The fundamental principle stating that light traveling between two points follows the path that requires the stationary (usually minimum)…
OpticsFraunhofer Diffraction
Far-field wave diffraction where both incident and observed wavefronts are planar, achieved using lenses or large distances.
OpticsFraunhofer Lines
A set of dark absorption lines in the solar spectrum caused by chemical element absorption in the Sun's outer atmosphere.
OpticsFresnel Diffraction
Near-field wave diffraction where source or observation screen is close to the diffracting aperture, requiring spherical wavefront…
OpticsGraded-index Fiber
An optical fiber whose core refractive index decreases continuously from the central axis outward toward the cladding.
OpticsHolography
A technique for recording and reconstructing 3D wavefields by recording phase and amplitude interference patterns between object and…
OpticsLaser
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation—a device producing coherent, monochromatic, highly directional, high-intensity…
OpticsLens Maker's Formula
An equation relating a thin lens's focal length to its material refractive index and the radii of curvature of its two spherical surfaces.
OpticsLuminous Flux
A photometric quantity measuring total perceived power of light emitted by a source, weighted by human eye spectral sensitivity.