extraordinary ray


noun Optics, Crystallography.

the part of a doubly refracted ray that has changed speed and vibrations in the principal plane of the crystal.

Origin of extraordinary ray

First recorded in 1870–75

British Dictionary definitions for extraordinary ray

extraordinary ray

noun

optics the plane-polarized ray of light that does not obey the laws of refraction in a doubly refracting crystal Compare double refraction, ordinary ray