Photonics Dictionary

A self-healing, index-matching, nonporous coating for optical components that can eliminate production difficulties and deficiencies associated with solid-film contamination and postdeposition...

Multimode straight fiber capable of transporting linearly polarized light with any incident polarization angle, and in which no form of internal stress can develop that could lead to birefringence.

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid crystals. In a liquid crystal, the molecules are ordered like those in a...

An alphanumeric display formed by a layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched between two sheets of glass; a transparent conductive coating on the glass is etched to form the character segments. An...

A wireless stereo imaging device used in conjunction with a monitor to produce a virtual interactive environment. Liquid crystal shutters in the eyewear are synchronized with the monitor at 120...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the intensity, phase, or polarization of light passing through it using liquid...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based semiconductor technology to create high-resolution, high-quality images. LCoS...

A solution or combination of solutions that serves as a filter.

An immersion liquid used to treat polarizing filters to eliminate the effects of surface variations and to minimize the optical path difference between that part of the spectrum that passes through...

A laser that uses a substance in the liquid state, such as an organic dye, as the active lasing medium.

An optical fiber with a hollow core filled with a liquid material that has a higher refractive index than the solid surrounding it.

Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a fine layer of hydrophobic powder, such as silica nanoparticles or Teflon....

A mirror composed of liquid, taking advantage of the parabolic shape of a spinning liquid and the fact that the mirror's focal length can be adjusted by altering the velocity at which the liquid's...

The acoustical holographic process in which the hologram consists of slight elevations in a liquid surface, in the areas of the antinodes of the interference pattern. Light diffracted from this...

When applied to LCD grids, the active matrix is a means of supplying power to pixels by use of a transistor and capacitor. The transistor functions with leads in operation with its respective row and...

An acid used to etch the surfaces of particular materials. For glass, hydrofluoric acid is used either as a liquid or a vapor. Metals are etched by means of suitable acids or other liquids, often to...

Term synonymous with refractive index liquid, but related more to tank or chamber immersion of crystals, fibers, lenses, photoelastic models, etc.

An LCD that has pixels with no internal drive transistors.

A closely spaced series of well-known chemicals having a refractive index lying between 1.33 for water and 1.95 for a solution of phosphorus in carbon disulfide. They are used to identify powdered...

Optic surface cleaning liquid that may be applied to glass, crystal, dielectric and metal surfaces; however, may not be applied to plastic and polymer materials.

A type of liquid-crystal display in which each display element contains an active component, such as a thin-film transistor, to maintain its state between refresh scans.

A two-phase system consisting of dispersed liquid or solid particles in a gas; examples include dust, smoke and clouds.

A type of fiber optic sensor that detects alteration in position, distance, pressure, liquid level or temperature by transmitting light across a gap to a reflector; a change in the light returned to...

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry to obtain IR spectra of samples. It is particularly useful for analyzing solid and liquid samples without...

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with acoustic phonons (quantized lattice vibrations) in a material, resulting in the...

A large tank filled with liquid hydrogen, with a flat window at one end and complex optical devices for observing and photographing the rows of fine bubbles formed when a high-energy particle...

The photographic recording of gas bubbles produced when particles traverse liquid hydrogen in a bubble chamber.

The creation of a diode laser structure by liquid-phase epitaxy over a grooved substrate.

The state of a liquid crystal in which the molecules are arranged in layers with their long axes in the plane of each layer. The alignment in each layer is parallel and the alignment in adjacent...

The monochromatic transparency effect produced by the immersion of a finely powdered substance (e.g., glass or quartz) into a liquid with a similar refractive index.

A transparent powdered solid immersed in a liquid or plastic of similar refractive index but widely different dispersion; used to isolate narrow spectral regions.

A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than traditional optical techniques. CGHs are generated entirely in digital form...

A liquid, usually of a specific refractive index and dispersion, serving as an interface between two solids to form a complete light transmission system.

The radiation spectrum of matter found in condensed states, liquid or solid, that is continuous and not a line spectrum. The details of this spectrum are almost independent of the matter emitting the...

The ability of particular pure liquids to doubly refract when influenced by a magnetic field with a direction that is transverse to the light beam.

Intense scattering in the region of the liquid-gas critical point. At this point the gas will strongly scatter all light to create a vivid opalescent appearance.

A vacuum pump in which pressure is reduced by condensing gases on surfaces cryogenically cooled to about 20 K (liquid hydrogen) or 4 K (liquid helium).

Custom lapping and polishing services involve specialized processes used to improve the surface finish and dimensional accuracy of components to meet specific requirements or standards. These...

The selective absorption of electromagnetic waves by a liquid made up of molecules with permanent dipole movement.

A device used in ultrasonic imaging to measure the velocity and attenuation of compressional waves in a transparent liquid by virtue of acoustic waves set up in the liquid. The wavefronts serve as a...

Any of the constants that relate the tendency of the director to remain parallel to restoring torques throughout the media. The three constants of importance in liquid crystal displays are: splay --...

A tank with a boiling solvent at the bottom and a ring of cold piping higher up that condenses the liquid and returns it to the bottom. Objects such as lenses or small metal parts to be cleaned are...

Description of a material, such as a water-soluble salt, that will continue absorbing moisture from the surrounding atmosphere until it dissolves into a liquid.

An evacuated, double-walled container for storing liquids at low temperatures. Often made of glass, the vessel resembles a Thermos bottle.

Dewetting is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where a thin film or coating spontaneously undergoes a process of breaking up and forming isolated droplets on a substrate. This occurs due...