Photonics Dictionary

Laser cavity bounded by a plane mirror and a concave spherical mirror with the plane mirror located at the center of curvature of the concave mirror.

A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism can be used. From 500 to 1000 fps, the film must be moved continuously, the...

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to capture 3D holographic images of objects or scenes. Unlike conventional...

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies beyond the visible spectrum. These components are crucial for various...

A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined region or space where light undergoes multiple reflections, leading to the...

The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing damage. It is a critical parameter in laser applications and is...

Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser light. Laser optics play a crucial role in shaping the characteristics of...

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by several key properties that distinguish lasers from other light sources. These...

A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and focused beams of light through the process of optical amplification based...

Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of optical elements is proportional to the amplitude of the incident light wave....

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 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...

An interference microscope that uses a light beam originating from a low-coherence light source. The sample is placed in one interferometer arm, and the other arm provides a reference beam. The...

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of light. It is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder, who...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...

Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication, and utilization of artificial structures called metasurfaces to control and...

An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by physicists to explain how light could travel in a wave motion through...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level. These components are miniaturized optical elements that manipulate light at a...

A camera used to reduce originals onto film for easy storage. There are two basic types: one in which the film is fixed during exposure, and one in which the film is exposed while moving past an...

A smooth, highly polished surface, for reflecting light, that may be plane or curved if wanting to focus and or magnify the image formed by the mirror. The actual reflecting surface is usually a thin...

A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...

An image-forming system having curved mirrors in place of transparent glass components. Mirror lenses are commonly used for astronomical purposes as well as cheap solutions for very long focal length...

A mirror mount is a mechanical device used to secure and precisely position mirrors in optical systems. Mirrors are essential components in optical setups for reflecting light or redirecting laser...

The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The process generally is done before coating so as not to damage the delicate coated...

In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, stages, or other elements within an optical setup. The...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path difference to create interference between split optical wavefronts. The...

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. This type of laser emits light at a wavelength of 1064 nm in the...

Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly in applications requiring precise focusing, collimation, or imaging of...

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a specific function within an optical system. These components may include lenses,...

An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter and two mirrors.

A device for measuring linear dimensions. The optical caliper generally consists of two circularly mounted mirrors whose angular positions are monitored by an autocollimator, and that are capable of...

Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical systems. These materials are designed to provide secure and durable bonds...

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms, to modify their reflective and transmissive properties. These coatings are...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. An OCT imaging...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and components to meet specific performance requirements and application needs....

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to simulate, model, analyze, and optimize the performance of optical systems and...

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems, such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, and filters. Optical glass is...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using various techniques to selectively switch or redirect optical paths. This...

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and its manifestation as both particle and wave phenomena. It encompasses the...

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...