Photonics Dictionary

A device that converts an analog signal, that is, a signal in the form of a continuously variable voltage or current, to a digital signal in the form of bits.

A device used to alter the shape of or energy distribution within a beam of radiation.

A unit that converts images to the standard NTSC format for use with video recorders, projectors and discs.

In image processing, a device that transforms the digital data into an analog video image that can be viewed on a monitor or printed.

An electron tube that employs electromagnetic radiation to produce a visual replica of an image produced on its cathode. Electrons ejected from the cathode by the incident radiation are accelerated...

A camera that uses an image converter tube in such a way that voltage waveforms applied to internal electrodes cause the original image to be switched on and off very rapidly, thus offering time...

A device designed to convert linear change in the light state at input to log data at output.

A device that converts data transmitted in the parallel mode to a sequence of bits at a single frequency for output in the serial mode.

An arrangement of optical fibers in a bundle whereby the geometric configuration of the input end differs from that of the output end without changing the total area; for example, a circular bundle...

An instrument that transforms heat energy into electrical energy.

A time-to-amplitude converter (TAC) is an electronic circuit that converts a time interval between two events into an amplitude or voltage signal. TACs are commonly used in various scientific and...

A device that changes the number of lines per frame of a video image to adapt to a lower resolution format, either by deleting lines, compressing lines or by imaging only a part of the original...

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and record images. CCD cameras are widely used in various applications,...

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images into electronic signals. It is a key component in digital cameras, camcorders,...

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 fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as erbium, ytterbium, or neodymium. Fiber lasers generate coherent light through...

A camera system in which the image formed on the fluorescent screen of an image converter tube in the system is recorded by photography or direct contact printing from the face of the tube.

An image converter that produces a visible image based on the infrared emittance of the object. The infrared energy is focused on a photocathode that emits electrons. These are accelerated and...

Photographic recording that uses infrared radiation as the light source to form an image of a microscopic object and a system of lenses and objectives that are transparent to the radiation. The image...

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters which ultimately alter the way light propagates through and is...

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of seventeen chemical elements found in the Earth's crust, characterized by their unique properties and scarcity relative to other elements. Despite their name,...

Second-order nonlinear optical properties refer to a class of phenomena exhibited by certain materials in response to intense light, typically in the realm of optics and photonics. Nonlinear optical...

A solar cell that uses a thermoelectric converter, consisting of two sheets of metal with a semiconductor sandwiched between them, to generate electricity.

A device that consists of two types of mode converters, one of which must be magnetic. It is nonreciprocal because the coupling constants of the two mode converters have a different phase relation...