Photonics Dictionary: D

A method of coding image data by storing in memory only differences in brightness of each pixel from that of its nearest horizontal neighbors: that is, it is the change in brightness rather than the...

Interferometric measurement of the interference pattern recorded when a complex object is illuminated by two laser pulses that interfere and form the pattern to be evaluated.

Holographic recording whereby the object is illuminated by two pulses, separated by a time interval, from a Q-switched laser source. Each pulse is divided into reference and object beams, and...

A method of storing digital data using techniques that consume less memory space than basic methods do. See differential pulse code modulation; run end coding; run length coding.

In optical communication systems, operations in which the amplitude of the pulses, as opposed to their width, determines the distance between repeaters.

An instrument that can preselect intervals, often in increments of 1, 10 or 100 ns, for the generation of electronic pulses by means of front-panel switches. Also called a time-delay generator.

In a fiber optic transmission system, the conversion of received optical pulses directly to an electrical signal.

Also called DLIP, a high-speed, high-resolution processing technique that uses high-power, pulsed laser systems to directly ablate micro- and nanoperiodic structures with different features on large...

A circuit incorporated into counter systems that records only pulses that have amplitudes between two preselected limits.

A type of glass optical fiber that provides low pulse dispersion over a broad portion of the light spectrum and as a result can operate at 1300-nm and 1550-nm wavelengths simultaneously.

Operation in which the dispersion of a pulse limits the distance between repeaters in optical systems. Waveguide and material dispersion can make recognition of a pulse impossible.

Also duty factor, duty ratio. The product of the pulse duration and the pulse repetition frequency of a wave composed of pulses that occur at regular intervals.

A laser using a dye solution as its active medium. Its output is a short pulse of broad spectral content and its achievable gain is high. Dye lasers function at room temperature. Synchronous pumping...

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