Photonics Dictionary

That term pertaining to the spectral region that can be perceived by the eye.

An instrument that uses an erbium:glass laser to determine cloud height from the ground.

The processes in which luminous energy incident on the eye is perceived and evaluated.

The numerical definition of the ability of an observer to perceive fine detail. The average value may be taken as one minute, or 6.7 cycles/mm, at 250 mm (normal viewing distance).

The angle subtended by an object at the point of observation.

An imaginary line between the object, through the nodal point of the eye, and the fovea, or point of finest retinal acuity.

A pair of stars (double star) that can be seen separately with a telescope, generally by setting a filar micrometer for the separation and position angle. Observation of visual binaries improves with...

A device that enables visual tracing of a fiber optic cable to check for breaks and defects by coupling visible light into the cable. Also called fiber tracer.

The angular field of view that is seen by the eyes when fixed on a point straight ahead. The normal binocular visual field is approximately 130° in diameter.

A photometer that permits visual comparison of the luminance of two surfaces.

The value of the expanse of b-particles in an absorber, evaluated by visual examination of breaks in the absorption curve.

An electron tube that stores and visually displays information by means of a cathode-ray-beam-scanning and charge-storage mechanism.

A series of high contrast block letters or similar objects arranged to permit the evaluation of eyesight in humans.

A visual system including a tiny television tube and imaging optics, all contained in a helmet to be worn by pilots in flight simulator training.

Having the characteristics of glass.

The transparent fluid that fills the portion of the eye between the eye lens and the retina (the posterior chamber).

A blank area (caused by insufficient inking of the paper) that falls within the range of an intended character stroke in an optical character-recognition system.

The induced birefringence in isotropic gases that results when the gases are placed in strong fields.

A nondestructive testing method for very large scale integration circuits, using a scanning electron microscope to monitor changes in the electronic state of the chip as it is fed test voltages while...

A device that converts alternating voltage to direct voltage, while at the same time increasing its amplitude.

An electric cell having two electrodes of unlike metals immersed in a solution that chemically affects one or both of them, thus producing an electromotive force.

Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) are specialized optical elements that consist of periodic variations in refractive index throughout the volume of a transparent material, typically a photosensitive glass...

A three-dimensional hologram.

Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of space. Unlike traditional two-dimensional (2D) imaging, which provides...

A vortex phase plate is an optical device designed to impart a phase singularity, commonly referred to as a vortex or phase vortex, onto a light beam. This singularity results in a phase profile...

An element within a three-dimensional data set image.