half-wave plate

[ haf-weyv, hahf- ]

noun

, Optics.

1. a crystal thin enough to cause a phase difference of 180° between the ordinary and extraordinary rays of polarized light, thereby changing the direction of the plane of polarization.

Word History and Origins

Origin of half-wave plate¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

It is as far as possible from being true that a body emitting homogeneous light would disappear on merely covering half the aperture of vision with a half-wave plate.

From Project Gutenberg