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glossary
- Diffraction: divergent nature of a wave due to its limited size
- Wavelength ( of a light wave ): distance between two consecutive identical states of the electric ( or magnetic ) field
- Angle of incidence: angle of a light ray incident on a surface with the normal to the surface
- Grating: optical device made of periodically spaced out diffractive elements
- Pitch ( grating ): distance between adjacent diffractive elements of a grating corresponding to the period of the diffracting pattern
- Diffraction order: for a diffraction grating or an acousto optic crystal and a given monochromatic plane light wave, defines the difference between the optical paths expressed in wavelength unit and traveled by light rays diffracted by two consecutive diffractive elements ; also defines the directions along which the diffracted wave may propagate
- Aperture : diaphragm limiting the number of light rays that are able to propagate
- Effective focal length: algebraic distance from the primary/secondary principal plane of an optical system to its front/back focal plane
- Lens: optical component with two refractive surfaces axially symmetrical for redirecting the light in a controlled manner
- Back focal plane: plane conjugate by an optical system of an object plane perpendicular to the optical axis and located at infinity
- Resolvance (grating): ratio between the considered wavelength and the smallest resolvable wavelength variation ; two wavelengths are considered resolved if the distance between their diffraction peaks is at least equal to half the width of a diffraction peak