refractive optical elements (original) (raw)

Author: the photonics expert (RP)

Definition: optical elements which utilize refraction of light

Category: general optics

• optical elements
  • achromatic optics
  • adaptive optics
  • aspheric optics
  • custom optics
  • diffractive optics
  • fiber optics
  • flat optics
  • large diameter optics
  • laser optics
  • nonlinear optics
  • optical elements for imaging
  • polarization optics
  • refractive optical elements
    * lenses
    * prisms
  • reflective optical elements
  • beam splitters
  • beam collimators
  • beam expanders
  • beam homogenizers
  • diffusers
  • group velocity delay compensation plates
  • optical apertures
  • optical attenuators
  • optical filters
  • optical modulators
  • optical windows
  • phase corrector plates
  • (more topics)

Related: optical elementsrefractionlensesprisms

DOI: 10.61835/n4e Cite the article: BibTex BibLaTex plain textHTML Link to this page! LinkedIn

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What are Refractive Optical Elements?

Many optical elements utilize refraction of light at surfaces, often between air and some optical material, or sometimes at an interfaces between materials — in any case, an interface where the refractive index changes.

The most important types are:

• Lenses focus or defocus light. There are classical large glass lenses with spherically curved or flat end faces and homogeneous optical material, but also cylindrical lenses, aspheric lenses, gradient-index lenses, Fresnel lenses, microlenses, fiber lenses and other specialty elements. Lenses may also be labeled by their use, e.g. objective lenses, ocular lenses, field lenses and condensers.
• Prisms can involve both refraction and total internal reflection. They can steer light, and provide angular dispersion, e.g. for use in spectrometers. Note that some types of prisms, e.g. corner cube prisms, should be considered as reflective optical elements.

Chromatic Dispersion

Due to chromatic dispersion, caused by the wavelength dependence of the refractive index, refractive elements often exhibit some wavelength dependence. This is often unwanted, e.g. concerning the wavelength-dependent focal length of an imaging lens. There are various techniques for realizing approximately achromatic optics.

In some cases, chromatic dispersion is the actual purpose of a refractive element — for example, of a prism in a spectrometer.

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