Photonics Dictionary: I

The measurement of the ability of matter to absorb, transmit or reflect infrared radiation and the relating of the resultant data to chemical structure.

Used to detect radiation from the infrared region. The functional process includes absorption of infrared radiation, which causes a temperature change, consequently altering the physical properties...

1. A thin parallel plate of material that transmits in the infrared region. See infrared optical material. 2. A spectral region (of the infrared) in which the atmosphere transmits.

Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of microwaves. The infrared spectrum spans wavelengths...

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a combination of indium (In), gallium (Ga), and arsenic (As). The term InGaAs...

A method of producing high-quality plastic optics in large volumes by injecting the heated, liquified plastic at high pressure into a tooled mold with polished chromium stainless steel inserts to...

A process by which a plastic cell is molded around a glass lens or lenses to create a mount, eliminating the metal barrel and the need for glass-to-metal seals.

In a camera, the movement of one or more lenses behind the front lens, rather than of the front lens itself, to bring the subject into focus. Because internal focusing does not require the front lens...

I/O stands for input/output. In computing, it refers to the communication between a computer system or program and its external environment, including peripherals, storage devices, networks, and...

A reflection hologram using multiple color lasers that integrates various graphical techniques to allow the display of three-dimensional images of live objects in motion, as well as outdoor scenes,...

Multiple, interconnected circuit elements, contained on or in a common substrate, that function as a unit and not separately.

An infrared detector mounted directly on the cold finger of the Dewar cooler rather than at the interface of Dewar and cooler, resulting in decreased size and power consumption and greater...

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between optoelectronic devices and providing signal processing functions.

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The...

A set of international standards by which a single telecommunications channel is used to transmit voice and data simultaneously.

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a sensor collects and accumulates incoming light or signal. It is a crucial...

An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an image intensifier and a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor to achieve...

A CCD image sensor that uses a proximity-focused image intensifier to provide greater sensitivity at low light levels.

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector outputs. With an intensity interferometer, the primary collectors need not be...

The process in which the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube varies in intensity in accordance with the magnitude of the signals it receives.

A filter that controls the spectral composition of transmitted energy partially by the effects of interference. Frequently, these filters are made up of thin layers of metals and dielectrics,...

A device, consisting of a diode activated by an interference pulse, that is designed to minimize the white spots on a television screen that are intensified by interference.

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in completely transparent objects and specimen. The object is placed in one beam...

A photographic or electronic recording of an optical interference pattern.

An instrument that employs the interference of lightwaves to measure the accuracy of optical surfaces; it can measure a length in terms of the length of a wave of light by using interference...

Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) is a type of display technology used in electronic devices, known for its energy efficiency and ability to produce high-quality reflective color displays....

Describing the standard television method of raster scanning in which the image is the product of two fields, each of which is a series of successively scanned lines separated by the equivalent of...

The effect in which photons are absorbed and excite the electrons; the electrons move from the valence band to the conduction band (intrinsic photoeffect), from the valence band to impurity levels or...

A nonoptical surface, within lenses and lens mounts, that contributes largely to flare by reflecting light into the image space. As a result, such surfaces, so located, are finished with a dull...

A unit of measurement of luminous intensity based on a physical standard, a set of calibrated carbon filament lamps. The old candle unit was superseded by the new candle or candela.

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects embedded with sensors, actuators, software, and network connectivity....

Measures the refractive indices axially from the fiber profile. Microscopy technique provides an interferogram with high contrast with demonstrated improvements in relation to the Pluta two-beam...

That distortion resulting from dispersion of the group velocity of a propagating mode. It is the only distortion occurring in single-mode waveguides.

Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in real-time. Unlike traditional microscopy, which involves the examination of...

A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added impurities and does not have to be cooled to the level of extrinsic material....

The absorption of a photon raising an electron across the forbidden gap from valence to conduction band of the semiconductor where conductivity is increased and incident radiation may be measured.

Collisional absorption of energy that occurs in inertial confinement fusion systems when hydrodynamic expansion of the plasma causes an electron passing through the field of an ion to absorb...

The interaction between a photon and an energetic electron, caused by collision, that transfers energy from the electron to the photon, thus raising the energy of the photon.

Any problem that requires retrieval of the distribution of some internal properties, such as temperature concentration, etc., from remotely sensed data.

A development aimed at extending the life of a tungsten filament. The iodine vapor in the lamp envelope combines with the tungsten vapor emitted by the hot filament, but the compound is decomposed by...

An atom that has gained or lost one or more electrons and, as a result, carries a negative or positive charge.

A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized gas. The gases are electrically excited in a container called a plasma tube,...

Two oppositely charged particles.