Photonics Dictionary

The transfer of energy from an incident electromagnetic energy field with wavelength or frequency to an atomic or molecular medium.

A group of frequencies or wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum which exhibits resonance or energy contributions near and in relation to a peak resonance wavelength.

An absorption peak refers to a sharp increase or spike in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a particular wavelength or energy level. It is a distinctive feature in the absorption...

Electromagnetic energy that is capable of producing photochemical activity.

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical elements in a sample by measuring the absorption of light at...

An atomic clock is a highly precise timekeeping device that uses the vibrations or oscillations of atoms as a reference for measuring time. The most common type of atomic clock uses the vibrations of...

Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it propagates through a medium or travels over a distance. This concept is prevalent...

Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of attoseconds (1 attosecond = 10-18 seconds). These ultrafast light pulses are in...

Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, based on the notion that electrons with opposite momentum and spin are paired as a result of forces arising from lattice vibrations. The theory...

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically between 400 and 500 nanometers. Diode lasers are compact,...

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with acoustic phonons (quantized lattice vibrations) in a material, resulting in the...

A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material or a detector. The camera generally contains a lens of variable aperture...

Continuous wave (CW) refers to a type of signal or transmission where the signal is constant and does not vary with time. In various contexts, the term is used to describe continuous, uninterrupted...

Directed energy refers to a type of energy that is emitted and transferred in a controlled direction. The term is often associated with military and technological applications where energy, typically...

The study of the generation of electromagnetic power by radiation from high-energy beams.

The theory of propagation of energy by combined electric and magnetic fields included in Maxwell's equations.

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and research laboratories to pattern extremely fine features with sub-micrometer...

An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find applications in various fields, including cathode ray tubes (CRTs), electron...

An emission spectrum is a graphical representation or a characteristic pattern of the wavelengths or frequencies of light emitted by a source, such as an atom, molecule, or celestial object. It shows...

End-fire coupling refers to a method of coupling energy into or out of a waveguide, transmission line, or antenna, where the electromagnetic waves are directed primarily along the axis or direction...

A flowmeter is a device used to measure the flow rate or quantity of a fluid passing through a particular point in a system. It works by sensing the velocity of the fluid passing through it and...

A fluorescent screen refers to a phosphorescent or fluorescent-coated surface that emits visible light when exposed to other forms of electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays or ultraviolet light....

A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a beam of accelerated electrons as the lasing medium. Unlike traditional...

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is composed of layers of gallium, aluminum, and arsenic, hence...

The spontaneous emittance of electromagnetic radiation by the nucleus of certain radioactive elements during their quantum transition between two energy levels. The radiation emitted has a wavelength...

High harmonic generation (HHG) refers to a nonlinear optical process in which intense laser light interacts with a gaseous medium, typically an atom or a molecule, to produce harmonics of the...

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the III-V group of semiconductors, where elements from groups III and V of the...

Inductance is a fundamental property of an electrical circuit or component that describes its ability to store energy in a magnetic field when an electric current flows through it. It is typically...

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the infrared radiation emitted by objects, revealing temperature variations across...

The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as an electron) to an oscillating electric field. It is particularly employed...

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at dimensions smaller than the wavelength of light. It involves the study and...

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...

Nonlinear polarization refers to the phenomenon where the polarization of a material responds nonlinearly to an applied electric field. In linear systems, the polarization of a material is directly...

A nonradiative transition refers to a process in which an electron or an atom undergoes a change in its energy state without emitting a photon. In contrast to radiative transitions, where a photon is...

An optical clock is a highly precise and advanced timekeeping device that relies on the oscillations of electromagnetic radiation in the optical or ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum....

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline lattice. In simpler terms, phonons are quanta of lattice vibrations in a solid...

A quantum of electromagnetic energy of a single mode; i.e., a single wavelength, direction and polarization. As a unit of energy, each photon equals hn, h being Planck's constant and n, the frequency...

A fundamental law of quantum theory which states that the discrete quanta of energy transfers associated with electromagnetic radiation are proportional to the frequency of the radiation.

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically,...

A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics. It is a versatile and powerful device used for emitting coherent light in...

Rabi oscillations are a fundamental phenomenon in quantum mechanics that describe the periodic and reversible exchange of energy between two quantum states when subjected to an oscillating external...

The energy passed on as electromagnetic radiation; e.g., radio, heat or light waves.

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or stimulus is applied at a specific frequency, causing the system to oscillate...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the surfaces of solid specimens. SEM achieves this by...

Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves measuring and analyzing how different materials absorb, emit, or scatter light,...