Photonics Dictionary

Equipment used for chemical analysis by investigation of the spectra formed and observed in chemical activity. Of particular use are spectrographs for recording the emission spectra of substances...

A chart formed by a spectrograph; the record of the spectral range. See spectrograph.

Spectra can be conveniently recorded on photographic film or plates. The portions that are occupied by regions of the recorded developed images on the film or plate can be determined with some...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a prism or a diffraction grating. A concave grating requires no other means...

The hollow electrode used in emission spectroscopy to hold the material to be examined and, using an arc or spark source, to vaporize it in the flame.

The slits in a spectrograph that form images of spectral lines. Slits may be bilateral or unilateral, and generally close down to 0.01 mm and open up to almost a whole millimeter. The edges of the...

The production and analysis of spectra with the use of a spectrograph.

The image of the sun produced by a spectroheliograph.

An instrument in which an image of the sun is scanned by the entrance slit of a monochromator, the exit slit simultaneously scanning a photographic plate for analysis of the solar spectral lines. If...

An instrument similar to the spectroheliograph, but having a scanning method that is performed by a pair of rapidly oscillating slits or a rotating glass block located before a pair of fixed slits at...

A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution of radiation in a particular wavelength region.

A spectrophotometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the intensity of light at various wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically in the visible and ultraviolet regions. It is...

A sensitometer having a continuously controlled monochromator to measure spectral sensitivity and contrast of photographic materials.

A traveling microscope or an automatic microdensitometer used to measure the spectrum plate obtained in a spectrograph.

The photographic recording of visible and ultraviolet spectra on an ordinary photograph.

The superimposing of holographic pages in a thick, erasable storage material by changing the reference and object beams. This extends the capacity of holographic memories.

A memory system composed of a stack of holographic plates, a mode-locked laser and a rapid detector array. Ultrashort laser pulses are used to extract information from the stack. In this way, storage...

Extraction of three-dimensional measurements from a stereo pair of photographs.

1. A stereoscope that has adjustable scales to allow the determination of distances and dimensions from stereoscopic photographs. 2. A device used to view pictures of the same section of the night...

A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal practice of removing material, this process polymerizes a liquid to quickly...

Technique that provides two stereographic views of an object that are larger than the object itself, by means of mutually inclined lens axes or nominal separation of axes of parallel lenses.

The imaging of two photographs of a stereo pair, in complementary colors, for the preparation of contour maps.

An exaggerated depth appearance in stereo photographs caused by the lenses in the camera being farther apart than the eyes of the viewer.

The photographing of a scene from positions corresponding to the locations of both eyes. A viewing device is used to present one picture to each eye for fusion of the retinal images, giving a...

A motion-picture camera that can be advanced one frame at a time, either randomly or at set intervals. Used in animation and time-lapse photography.

A term referring to the pre-exposed hologram of the subject used in holographic interferometry.

The basic process of color photography whereby colors are subtracted from white light by means of filters, making all colors and intensities available.

An instrument consisting essentially of a photoelectric cell filtered to respond to a specified wavelength region, an amplifier of sufficient gain to provide power enough to control movement of a...

Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the near-infrared or even mid-infrared regions of the electromagnetic...

Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in ophthalmology, to visualize and analyze the internal structures of biological tissues,...

A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its emission wavelength over time. This continuous wavelength tuning is achieved...

A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that uses magnetic fields to steer charged particles, typically electrons or positrons, in a closed, circular or elliptical path. The name synchrotron...

An imaging technique in which an object moving through an interference field formed in space scatters light and is spatially recorded on a photographic film as a hologram. If the interference field...

Abbreviated SoC. A single chip containing all the electronic circuits required for a complete, working product. SoCs are similar to microcontroller technology but provide additional components. A SoC...

1. A method of photographing distant objects with a lens of long focal length. 2. The reproduction of photographs over a distance by means of electricity.

An instrument used to measure the luminance (brightness) of a distant object. The object is viewed through a small telescope, and a mirror in the focal plane reflects an internal illuminated surface...

A method of taking radiographs at a distance from the object being photographed to decrease distortion.

The graph of the oscillating variations composing the wave of a video signal.

A contraction for "texture element." A base unit used in computer graphics that defines the surface of three-dimensional objects. Texels are obtained from texture memory and represent color to be...

A technique for detecting free radicals by their electronic spectra. The material to be studied is placed in a temperature-controlled furnace through which radiation is propagated onto a...

A term referring to various processes for forming visible images outside of a camera to be photographed on ordinary film. Unlike regular infrared photography, thermal photography is an indirect...

Also known as analog thermogram. The resultant photograph, illustrating, in tones ranging from black to white, the spatial relationship of the infrared radiation temperatures of the different details...

The instrument used to collect thermal radiation information on an object by scanning. It consists basically of a detector, a photoconductive element that converts incident radiation to an electrical...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera, to detect and visualize the infrared radiation emitted by objects. This...

A type of holographic film widely used for industrial applications because it is inexpensive and erasable.