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quarter-wave plate
[ kwawr-ter-weyv ]
noun
, Optics.
- a crystal thin enough to cause a phase difference of 90° between the ordinary and extraordinary rays of polarized light, thereby converting circularly polarized light into plane polarized light.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of quarter-wave plate1
First recorded in 1880–85
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[ak-suh-lot-l ]
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