Photonics Dictionary

One surface of a nonconducting plate that is coated with many minute particles of photoemissive material that are insulated from one another.

A group of photosensors arranged in a grid-like pattern covering the entire field of view, enabling them to record it all at once (as a camera records an image on film) rather than by scanning parts...

A large telescope mirror fabricated from several smaller sections.

In a crystal, its subdivision into polyhedral blocks of macroscopic sizes, with discontinuities contained in the lattice formation between them.

Spectroscopy characterized by the Mossbauer effect - recoilless emission and absorption of nuclear gamma radiation- which investigates miniscule changes in the energy levels of atomic nuclei in...

Compilation of the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories that contains values of the line parameters of the 1-0 bands of 12C16O. Because of the high accuracy of this record, calculated spectra...

The reduction in luminance of a light beam due to absorption and scattering as it passes through the atmosphere.

Localized variations in the purity and the index of refraction of the atmosphere.

The analysis of the properties of radiation, such as light, when acted upon by variations in the atmosphere. Blue and red skies, along with ice halos, glories, coronas and rainbows can all be...

Formulaic compensation to correct laser ranging data for the effects of horizontal refractivity gradients; it requires the horizontal pressure and temperature gradient at laser sites, which are...

Irregularities and disturbances in the atmosphere that are of particular interest because they induce random temporal and spatial phase and amplitude fluctuations that destroy the optical quality and...

A range of wavelengths within which radiation transmitted through the atmosphere suffers relatively little absorption by atmospheric gases.

Also known as mesosphere. A level of the atmosphere, extending from the stratosphere to the ionosphere, that is noted for its photochemical activity.

A layer between the corona and the photosphere of the sun; its emission is overwhelmed by light emitted by the underlying, denser photosphere.

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to capture digital images. CMOS cameras have become ubiquitous due to their low...

A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used to capture visual information and convert it into electrical signals for...

This type of miniaturized system, referred to as CMOS qPCR, combines microfluidic technology with an ultralow-light CMOS bio-optical sensor with LEDs as the optical excitation source to achieve...

A sensor module used in advanced pattern recognition systems, containing signal-processing integrated circuits stacked and connected by a busing circuit.

Also referred to as a funduscope, an ophthalmoscope is a specialized instrument used by ophthalmologists for observing and photographing the fundus (interior) of the eye which includes the retina,...

Also referred to as fundus photography, ophthalmoscopy is the dioptrical study of the various interior components of the eye such as the macula, fovea, and opticdisk, and is overall essential in...

A scientific CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) camera is a type of digital camera specifically designed for scientific imaging applications. It employs CMOS sensor technology, which...

An adhesive that permanently sets or hardens at a specified high temperature. Methacrylate is an example of a thermosetting cement.

A variation of tomography in which several photographs of a patient are taken at different angles, and back-projection of the resulting radiographs produces light distribution in a chosen...

Abbreviated TEA CO2 laser. A gas laser that provides shorter pulses and higher peak powers than conventional CO2 lasers. The electrical excitation pulse occurs transversely to the optical axis...

Also known as TEA laser. A coherent optical source with a wide wavelength range in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet that uses an electrical discharge transverse to (across) the optical axis to...

Commonly known as CR39, this thermosetting plastic is used in the casting of eyeglass lenses because of its toughness and clarity.

Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) refers to a technology used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, particularly semiconductor devices like microprocessors, memory chips, and image...

Scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) refers to a type of image sensor technology specifically designed for scientific and industrial imaging applications. Unlike traditional...

A 2D profile sensor is a type of sensor used in various industrial and technological applications to measure and capture detailed information about the shape, contour, or profile of an object in two...

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that builds three-dimensional objects layer by layer from a digital model. This technology allows the creation of...

A dispersion relation defined in order to value the reciprocal amount of dispersion. It is defined as the refractivity over the difference in index values of the shortest and longest visible...

The minimum energy required to induce atomic and molecular separation or displacement due to incident intense laser irradiation.