quarter-wave plates

A form of quarter-wave plate — A sheet of birefringent material whose thickness is such that the light associated with the larger refractive index is retarded in phase by 90° with respect of that associated with the smaller refractive index; used to convert linearly polarized light into circularly polarized light.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noun
  1. pluralplural of quarter-wave plate
Cite this entry
APA

quarter-wave plates. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter-wave%20plates

MLA

“quarter-wave plates.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter-wave%20plates. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quarter-wave plates,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter-wave%20plates.

Source: quarter-wave plates on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.