OPTIC AXIS Definition & Meaning

optic axis

noun

Crystallography.

(in a crystal exhibiting double refraction) the direction or directions, uniaxial or biaxial, respectively, along which this phenomenon does not occur.

optic axis

noun

the direction in a uniaxial crystal or one of the two directions in a biaxial crystal along which a ray of unpolarized light may pass without undergoing double refraction

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of optic axis¹

First recorded in 1655–65

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

A surface expressing the optical relations of such crystals is thus an ellipsoid of revolution about the optic axis.

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The source of light—the filament of a Nernst lamp—was moved about in a plane 120 cm. distant from the eye and perpendicular to the optic axis.

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In the oceanic Decapoda the cornea does not completely close, but leaves a central aperture traversed by the optic axis.

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But this, I am convinced, was a mere delusion, for all rays of light falling in the direction of the optic axis must have been intercepted and reflected by the opaque capsule.

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This direction of no double refraction is called the optic axis of the crystal.

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