Photonics Dictionary

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate and exposed through a suitable mask. After development of the plastic...

A device used in the sputtering of thin films, in which a magnet system on the back of the cathode deflects the electrons, lengthening the ionization path. The accelerated ions transfer their...

Also called proximity focus image intensifier. A compact image intensifier that utilizes a microchannel plate intensification stage. This is an in-line device that does not invert the image.

Electron lens consisting of an homogeneous axial electric field.

The creation of a diode laser structure by liquid-phase epitaxy over a grooved substrate.

The measured planar or solid angle of related aspects of an optical system with respect to an optical axis.

1. A defect inherent in a multiple-axis positioning system whereby an adjustment of one axis causes an undesired change in another; its severity depends upon the degree to which the positioning axes...

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 retroreflector that can focus a beam of light, with one planar reflective surface, one spherical and a third that is either planar or convex cylindrical.

A laser system consisting of a planar PN junction within a single crystal of gallium arsenide. The pair of parallel, semireflective end faces produces a Fabry-Perot resonant cavity, whereas the other...

Plasma-enriched deposition or planar magnetic sputtering that offers increased deposition rates in optical thin-film production. This technology surpasses conventional and RF sputtering.

A theoretical analysis of radiation loss from planar optical waveguides due to scattering by surface irregularities/surface roughness of the walls of the waveguide.

Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication, and utilization of artificial structures called metasurfaces to control and...

A metalens, short for "metasurface lens," is a type of optical lens that uses nanostructured materials to manipulate light at a subwavelength scale. Unlike traditional lenses made of glass or other...

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or meta-elements, arranged in a specific pattern to manipulate the propagation of...

An imaging system designed to highlight small deviations in a planar reflective object such as a mirror. The system can be used to detect minute flaws or to image faint marks that are made in the...

A planar photocathode and a planar phosphor screen mounted in a close-spaced parallel configuration in an evacuated enclosure so that the ensemble of photoelectrons emitted from each photocathode...

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) is a phenomenon observed in certain organic molecules containing electron-donor and electron-acceptor groups that are linked together within the same...