Photonics Dictionary: L

Technology that relies on a highly efficient photodetector that can detect incoming light signals at one frequency and transmit outgoing signals at another, thus permitting the sending and receiving...

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to capture images one line or row of pixels at a time, rather than a full...

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals. Unlike area image sensors (such as CCD or CMOS sensors), which capture an...

A linear positioning stage, also known as a linear stage or translation stage, is a precision mechanical device used to accurately move and position objects along a linear axis. These stages are...

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...

The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes synthesized by a series of sine and cosine terms.

Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the surface of substrates, typically silicon wafers. It involves the transfer of...

A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.

A mirror employed with a very high incidence angle to form a pair of coherent light sources by reflection, and therefore forming interference bands.

A lock-in amplifier is a specialized electronic instrument used to extract and measure small signals embedded in noise or interference. It is particularly useful in fields such as spectroscopy,...

A long-pass filter is an optical filter that allows longer wavelengths of light to pass through while blocking or attenuating shorter wavelengths. These filters are designed to transmit light with a...

In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some extent. The interstices usually are filled with an insulating material. See...

A type of photometer calibrated in luminance units (candles per square unit, or lamberts). In photography an exposure meter contains a luminance meter to record the average luminance of a scene.

Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in temperature. In other words, it is the production and emission of light by a...

A collector for photovoltaic power generation that consists of a thin plate that strongly absorbs sunlight striking its faces and luminesces efficiently. A large fraction of the luminescence is...

A measure of the time-integrated amount of flux. It has units of lumen-seconds and might be used to describe such things as the radiant energy that the eye would receive from a photographic flash.

A photometric instrument having two prisms clamped in optical contact to produce a photometric field with an acute dividing line.

A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is focused on the lens surface at a point diametrically opposite the...