Photonics Dictionary

A detector and signal demodulator used in optical communications systems to receive a signal and often to translate it into an electronic signal.

A ruticon is an opto-electronic device in which light going through it can be modulated by an electric field. The intensity distribution of the resulting image can be precisely controlled....

Second-order nonlinear optical properties refer to a class of phenomena exhibited by certain materials in response to intense light, typically in the realm of optics and photonics. Nonlinear optical...

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a medium, causing a change in the phase of the light due to its interaction with...

An object that has a sinusoidal variation of luminance. Its image will have a sinusoidal variation of illuminance and the only effect of degeneration by the lens system will be to reduce the...

An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs are directly connected to electronic logic circuits, which also are a part...

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for testing and research purposes. Solar simulators are employed in various...

Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative phase imaging methods. It is designed to provide high-resolution,...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light in two dimensions, typically in the form of an array. SLMs are...

The ratio of Young's modulus to density of a material.

With respect to color photography, the measurement, at a given wavelength, of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical system containing the film.

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...

In fiber optic communications, a light source whose beam can be modulated and sent along an optical fiber, and the electronics that support it.

A Pockels cell in which electrical current is applied in a direction orthogonally to that of the light beam.

Characteristic of an acousto-optic modulator, defined by the overlap integral of the incident light and sound field profiles; similar to a convolution operator.

A device that uses a piezoelectric crystal to convert ultrasonic sound waves, transmitted through a subject, into a voltage that modulates the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube.

An instrument with a fluid that modulates a light beam traversing it because of the effect of ultrasonic waves passing through the fluid.

A light-interference device whose excitation is determined by the modulation of a light beam by an ultrasonic field.

A method of measuring negatively charged phase ions using a color-center or lead-salt diode laser.

Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) are specialized optical elements that consist of periodic variations in refractive index throughout the volume of a transparent material, typically a photosensitive glass...

The constant equal to the unit stress divided by unit deformation, relative to all values and a substance's proportional restrictions.

The intensity regulation of a cathode-ray tube by alteration of the grid-cathode voltage.