wave plate
Typically, a birefringent material that has been cut with a flat surface such that the optic axis is parallel with it. The result is that a fixed amount of retardation is introduced between the ordinary and extraordinary rays while maintaining the same direction of propagation.
Synonyms: retardation plate
See also: compensator, retardation, polarized light, polarized light microscopy, quarter-wave plate, half-wave plate, full-wave plate
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