What is "waveplate"

n. (context physics English) A thin layer of a birefringent material that is used to introduce a controlled phase shift between the two polarization components of a ligh wave, thereby altering its polarization

A waveplate or retarder is an optical device that alters the polarization state of a light wave travelling through it. Two common types of waveplates are the half-wave plate, which shifts the polarization direction of linearly polarized light, and the quarter-wave plate, which converts linearly polarized light into circularly polarized light and vice versa. A quarter wave plate can be used to produce elliptical polarization as well.

Waveplates are constructed out of a birefringent material (such as quartz or mica), for which the index of refraction is different for different orientations of light passing through it. The behavior of a waveplate (that is, whether it is a half-wave plate, a quarter-wave plate, etc.) depends on the thickness of the crystal, the wavelength of light, and the variation of the index of refraction. By appropriate choice of the relationship between these parameters, it is possible to introduce a controlled phase shift between the two polarization components of a light wave, thereby altering its polarization.

A common use of wave plates - particularly the sensitive tint (full wave) and quarter wave plates - is in optical mineralogy. Addition of plates between the polarisers of a petrographic microscope makes easier the optical identification of minerals in thin sections of rocks, in particular by allowing deduction of the shape and orientation of the optical indicatrices within the visible crystal sections. This alignment can allow discrimination between minerals which otherwise appear very similar in plane polarised and cross polarized light.