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Retardation Plate Theory

From Special Optics, Inc. - A Navitar Company

A retardation plate is an optically transparent material
which resolves a beam of polarized light into two orthogonal
components; retards the phase of one component relative
to the other; then recombines the components into a single
beam with new polarization characteristics.

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Optical Lenses
Optical lenses are transparent components made from optical-quality materials and curved to converge or diverge transmitted rays from an object. These rays then form a real or virtual image of the object.  This area includes micro lenses.
Optical Polarizers
Optical polarizers are optical devices that can transform unpolarized or natural light into polarized light, usually by the selective transmission of polarized rays.
Linear Polarizers
Linear polarizers transmit light waves along one axis and absorb them along the other. The transmitting and absorbing axes of linear polarization are oriented at 90 degrees to each other.
Waveplates and Retardation Plates
Waveplates and retardation plates are optical elements with two principal axes, one slow and one fast, which resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually perpendicular polarized beams. The emerging beam recombines to form
Achromats
Achromats consist of two or more elements, usually of crown and flint glass, that have been corrected for chromatic aberration with respect to two selected wavelengths.  They are also known as achromatic lenses.  This area includes micro achromats as well.
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