Optics Optics A burning-glass is a large convex lens, which can focus the sun's rays on a small area and so ignite materials. Used in ...more on Wikipedia about "Burning-glass"
The term catadioptric refers to optical systems which involve both lenses and mirrors. Catadioptric systems are commonly used in telescopes and in surveillance systems to provide 360 degree views. They are also used to produce lightweight, long focus lenses for cameras. A 500mm catadioptric lens is far lighter than a normal 500mm lens, but typically has a smaller ("slower") fixed aperture. ...more on Wikipedia about "Catadioptric"
Cauchy's equation is an empirical relationship between the refractive index n and wavelength of light λ for a particular transparent material. It is named for the mathematician Augustin Louis Cauchy, who defined it in 1836. ...more on Wikipedia about "Cauchy's equation"
A caustic, in optics, is a bundle of light rays. For example a caustic effect may be seen when light refracts or reflects through some refractive or reflective material, to create a more focused, stronger light on the final location. Such amplification, especially of sunlight, can burn -- hence the name. A common situation when caustics are visible is when some light points on glass. There is a shadow behind the glass, but also there is a stronger light spot. Nowadays, almost every advanced rendering system supports caustics. Some of them even support volumetric caustics. This is accomplished by raytracing the possible paths of the light beam through the glass, accounting for the refraction, reflection, etc. ...more on Wikipedia about "Caustic (optics)"
The Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (or CREOL) is a research center within the Orlando, Florida-based College of Optics and Photonics, a graduate college for optical science and engineering at the University of Central Florida. ...more on Wikipedia about "Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers"
Chromatic aberration is caused by the dispersion of the lens material, the variation of its refractive index n with the wavelength of light. The term purple fringing is also commonly used. ...more on Wikipedia about "Chromatic aberration"
In physics, coherence length is the propagation distance from a coherent source to a point where an electromagnetic wave maintains a specified degree of coherence. The significance is that interference can exist within a coherence length of the source, but not beyond it. This concept is also commonly used in telecommunication engineering. ...more on Wikipedia about "Coherence length"
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For an electromagnetic wave, coherence time is the time over which a propagating wave (especially a laser or maser beam) may be considered coherent. ...more on Wikipedia about "Coherence time"
Collimated light is light whose rays are parallel and thus has a plane wavefront. Light can be collimated by a number of processes, the easiest being to shine it on a parabolic concave mirror with the source at the focus. Collimated light is sometimes said to be focused at infinity. A simple way to test a beam for proper collimation is the shearing interferometer. ...more on Wikipedia about "Collimated light"
In optics (especially telescopes), the coma in an optical system refers to monochromatic aberration inherent to certain optical designs or due to imperfection in the lens or other components which results in off-axis point sources such as stars appearing distorted. ...more on Wikipedia about "Coma (optics)"
In optics, the complex beam parameter is a complex number that specifies of properties of a Gaussian beam at a particular point in space by its wavelength λ, radius of curvature R and beam radius w (defined at 1/e2 intensity). It is usually denoted by q in the equation ...more on Wikipedia about "Complex beam parameter"
In optics and telecommunication, the term corner reflector has the following meanings: ...more on Wikipedia about "Corner reflector"
The CREIL (Coherent Raman Effect on Incoherent Light) is a radiation transfer of ordinary incoherent light. It is based on ISRS (Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering) ISRS has been demonstrated in laboratories by using ultra-short light pulses. When two frequencies of light are pulsed in the same low pressure chamber, the 'warmer' of the two pulses exchanges energy with the 'cooler', resulting in frequency shifts of both pulses. ...more on Wikipedia about "CREIL"
In geometric optics, at a refractive boundary, the critical angle is the angle of incidence above which total internal reflection occurs. ...more on Wikipedia about "Critical angle"
A crosshair is a small shape (typically a "+" plus sign, right angle, or circle) that aids in aiming firearms, and occasionally for alignment purposes. Optical instruments used for astronomy and surveying also use crosshairs to assist in precision aiming and measurements. ...more on Wikipedia about "Crosshair"
Crystal optics is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in anisotropic media, that is, media (such as crystals) in which light behaves differently depending on which direction the light is propagating. Crystals are often naturally anisotropic, and in some media (such as liquid crystals) it is possible to induce anisotropy by applying e.g. an external electric field. ...more on Wikipedia about "Crystal optics"
Dawes' limit is a formula to express the maximum resolving power of a microscope or telescope. It is so named for its discoverer, W. R. Dawes, although it is also credited to Lord Rayleigh. ...more on Wikipedia about "Dawes limit"
Decollimation is any mechanism or process which causes a beam with the minimum possible ray divergence to diverge or converge from parallelism. ...more on Wikipedia about "Decollimation"
In optics, correlation functions are used to characterize the statistical and coherence properties of an electromagnetic field. The degree of coherence is the normalized correlation of electric fields. In its simplest form, termed , it is useful for quantifying the coherence between two electric fields, as measured in an Michelson or other linear optical interferometer. The correlation between pairs of fields, , typically is used to find the statistical character of intensity fluctuations. It is also used to differentiate between states of light that require a quantum mechanical description (QED) and those for which classical fields are sufficient. ...more on Wikipedia about "Degree of coherence"
In optics, particularly film and photography, the depth of field (DOF) is the distance in front of and behind the subject which appears to be in focus. For any given lens setting, there is only one distance at which a subject is precisely in focus, but focus falls off gradually on either side of that distance, so there is a region in which the blurring is tolerable. This region is greater behind the point of focus than it is in front, as the angle of the light rays change more rapidly; they approach being parallel with increasing distance. ...more on Wikipedia about "Depth of field"
Depth of focus is a lens optics concept regarding the tolerance of placement of the plane of film in relation to the rear element of the lens. While the phrase is sometimes erroneously used to mean depth of field, it should be stressed that depth of focus and depth of field are not the same. Depth of field is a measurement of how much distance exists where the subject in the frame will appear to be sharp. Depth of focus, however, is a measurement of how much distance exists behind the lens wherein the film plane will remain sharply in focus. In some ways it can be viewed as the flip side of depth of field, occurring on the opposite side of the lens. Where depth of field often can be measured in easily seen quantities such as inches, feet, or meters, depth of focus is extremely precise in demands, usually in the thousandths of inches or hundredths of millimeters. Since the measurement indicates the tolerance of the film's displacement within the depth of focus, depth of focus is sometimes referred to as "lens-to-film tolerance." ...more on Wikipedia about "Depth of focus"
Diamond turning is a process of mechanical machining of precision elements using Computer Numerical Control ( CNC) lathes equipped with natural or synthetic diamond-tipped cutting elements. This process is also known as Single-Point Diamond Turning (SPDT). The process of diamond turning is widely used to manufacture high-quality aspheric optical elements from glass, crystals, metals, acrylic and other materials. Optical elements produced by the means of diamond turning are used in optical assemblies in telescopes, TV projectors, missile guidance systems, scientific research instruments, and numerous other systems and devices. ...more on Wikipedia about "Diamond turning"
Dichroism has two related but distinct meanings in optics. A dichroic material is either one which causes visible light to be split up into distinct beams of different wavelengths ( colours), or one in which light rays having different polarizations are absorbed by different amounts. ...more on Wikipedia about "Dichroism"
Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves when they meet an obstruction. It can occur with any type of wave, including sound waves, water waves, and electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves. Diffraction also occurs when any group of waves of a finite size is propagating; for example, a narrow beam of light waves from a laser must, because of diffraction of the beam, eventually diverge into a wider beam at a sufficient distance from the laser. As a simple example of diffraction, if you speak into one end of a cardboard tube, the sound waves emerging from the other end spread out in all directions, rather than propagating in a straight line like a stream of water from a garden hose. ...more on Wikipedia about "Diffraction"
Diffuse reflection is the reflection of light from an uneven or granular surface such that an incident ray is seemingly reflected at a number of angles. It is the complement to specular reflection. If a surface is completely nonspecular, the reflected light will be evenly spread over the hemisphere surrounding the surface (2× π steradians). ...more on Wikipedia about "Diffuse reflection" www.shortopedia.com , this is it!
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