Photonics Dictionary

A spectroscopic technique used to display the intensity of an optical pulse as functions of time and frequency simultaneously.

Scattering caused by the interaction between ingoing and outgoing particles of the same type, with no loss of kinetic energy.

A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.

The use of a krypton laser system for the measurement of small molecules aligned by an electric field, by analyzing the absorption of linearly polarized light.

A lamp that uses the transmission of an electric current through a gas or vapor to produce illumination. Neon, mercury and argon lamps are examples of electric-discharge lamps.

The spectroscopic analysis of interference patterns using an electronic imaging tube with a Fabry-Perot interferometer to record the fringes.

A device consisting of an airtight quartz tube that holds the material to be analyzed. When a high-frequency electrostatic field, generated by microwaves, is applied to the tube, it emits energy of a...

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from electron-hole recombination in a PN junction is one example. This is the...

The utilization of the light produced when electrical energy is directly converted into light within devices used for visual readout displays or as complex logic-circuit elements. With EL lighting,...

A panel of photoconductive and electroluminescent layers used as either a positive or negative image intensifier, depending on amplitude and phase of its two power supply voltages. The...

A type of modulation spectroscopy that measures spectral reflectance or transmittance changes induced by applying a perturbing electric field. It can be performed in contactless modes with no special...

A device utilizing an electron beam for the observation and recording of submicroscopic samples with the aid of photographic emulsions or other short-wavelength sensors. With the electron microscope,...

The deflection of a beam of electrons, at regular intervals, across a cathode-ray tube screen, according to a definite pattern.

The theory and interpretation of spectra produced by the electron emissions of substances after their irradiation by x-rays.

An instrument that serves to produce an enlarged electron image on a fluorescent screen by focusing an infrared image of a distant object upon a photosensitive cathode.

The method by which photographic film is scanned by an electron beam. One technique uses the uniform light of a television screen, focused by a lens onto the processed film, as a means of creating a...

A method that uses electronic means to move the scanning spot along the scanning line.

A type of electromodulation that measures changes in spectral reflectance.

A type of electron microscope in which the specimen also serves as the cathode source.

A study of the energies and wavelengths of radiation emitted by atoms and molecules when particular physical conditions are applied to them.

An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or confined spaces within the body. It consists of a flexible or rigid tube equipped...

The photographing of objects within generally inaccessible areas using endoscopes with camera attachments.

A device for projecting either opaque matter or transparent slides onto a screen.

Fluorescence imaging technique in which the excitation light from the objective is directed into the sample producing emission at all angles. Light emitted into the objective is measured allowing the...

A telescope that is mounted on an equatorial mount.

A high-frequency approach to the propagation of light in graded-index fibers in which the modal field is represented in terms of an inhomogeneous (evanescent) plane wave with a complex phase, so that...

The spectroscopic analysis of interference patterns using a monochannel spectrometer, spectrograph or multichannel spectrometer with a Fabry-Perot interferometer to record the fringes.

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in orientation or rotation. It operates based on the principle of the Sagnac effect,...

A scanner in which a fiber optic assembly replaces a lens system.

A device used for coding messages and having a fiber bundle that is aligned at both ends and scrambled in the middle, potted and cut. The resulting halves of the bundles serve as encoders or decoders...

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic communications to transmit and receive data over optical fibers. It integrates both a...

A microscope in which laser light is delivered through single-mode fibers that replace the pinhole usually used in confocal microscopy. When the Gaussian mode is imaged from the fiber output onto the...

An optical instrument consisting of an objective lens, a coherent (usually flexible) fiber bundle and an eyepiece to examine the output of the fiber bundle.

An image-forming instrument in which a strong electrostatic field causes cold emission of electrons from a sharply rounded point or from an object that is located on that point. The electrons are...

An extremely powerful microscope that renders individual ionized atoms visible by using an electric field to propel the ions to a fluorescent screen where they are magnified.

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video transmission.

A low-power telescope with a wide field of view, typically attached to a higher power telescope with a narrower field of view. This enables an observer to locate a celestial object with the...

The process of grinding the concave surface of a single-vision spherical lens.

A technique in photometry that uses an oxyhydrogen or oxyacetylene flame to optically excite a solution containing the sample to be analyzed.

The study of flames by means of a laser emitting blue light and a spectrometer to measure the green fluorescence created by the flame chemistry.

The study and interpretation of the spectra of substances after they have absorbed the radiant energy emitted by a brief, intense light source.

An imaging device analogous to a drum scanner, but operating at greater speeds; it uses a row of sensors to traverse an image affixed to a flat surface.

A technique developed to measure the molecular weight of macromolecules by analyzing the spontaneous fluctuations that occur in the inherent thermodynamic concentration of solute molecules in a...

Fluorescein is a synthetic organic compound extensively used as a fluorescent tracer in various applications, particularly in medicine and biology. It belongs to the xanthene dye family and is known...