Photonics Dictionary: O

Distance between the front vertex of a lens and the object.

The degree to which the surface of a lens causes an incident ray of light to bend, or the amount of convergence or divergence that the surface contributes to a wavefront passing through it.

An opaque projector is a device used for enlarging and projecting images from opaque objects such as printed pages, photographs, or three-dimensional objects onto a screen or surface. Unlike a...

An interface in an optical network that permits an optical signal to pass without changing the optical signal to an electrical signal and therefore does not limit the signal to a specific protocol.

An optical channel monitor (OCM) is a device used in optical communication systems to monitor and analyze the performance of individual channels within a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)...

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into machine-readable text. OCR software and systems are designed to recognize and extract...

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....

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. An OCT imaging...

Optical fiber optic switches are devices used in optical fiber communication systems to selectively route optical signals from one input fiber to one or more output fibers. They play a crucial role...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light signals over long distances with minimal loss of signal quality. It serves as a...

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using various techniques to selectively switch or redirect optical paths. This...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...

An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize and analyze the optical fibers' characteristics, including attenuation,...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...

A discipline that combines optics and genetics to enable the use of light to stimulate and control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light....