Photonics Dictionary

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...

Means of amplifying optical waves whereby an intense coherent pump wave is made to interact with a nonlinear optical crystal to produce amplification at two other optical wavelengths. See parametric...

A device using a parametric amplifier inside a resonant optical cavity to generate a frequency-tunable coherent beam of light from an intense laser beam of fixed frequency. This device is tuned by...

Totally coherent radiation is produced by a purely monochromatic point source. In the real world the energy will have a limited bandwidth and the point source will subtend some angle resulting in...

Phase matching is a crucial concept in the field of optics, particularly in nonlinear optics and the generation of coherent light. It refers to the condition where the phases of two or more waves,...

A phase-modulated sensor is a type of sensor that uses modulation of the phase of a signal to measure changes in a physical quantity. In such sensors, variations in the phase of the signal are...

A laser output that occurs when the cavity resonator Q is first kept very low, using rotating mirrors or saturable absorbers, so that the population inversion achieved is greater than usual. A high...

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...

When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered light has frequencies removed from the frequency of the incident beam by...

The coherent wave used to play back a recorded hologram. It is identical to the reference wave used in the generation of the original hologram; part of it is diffracted by the recording medium and...

An imaging system that uses a mosaic of tiny light-sensitive semiconductors (phototransistors) to produce individual outputs that are then converted into a coherent video signal.

A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent light. The term "solid-state" refers to the fact that the active medium, where...

The process whereby sound waves are employed to form a three-dimensional image of an object. The process involves generally: the recording of the diffraction pattern of an object exposed to sound...

Device that uses a coherent reference wave to record the interference patterns produced by incident ultrasonic waves on an object.

Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative phase imaging methods. It is designed to provide high-resolution,...

A power intensity pattern produced by the mutual interference of partially coherent beams that are subject to minute temporal and spatial fluctuations.

Radiation similar in origin to spontaneous emission but determined by the presence of other radiation having the same frequency. Because the phase and amplitude of the stimulated wave depend on the...

Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the near-infrared or even mid-infrared regions of the electromagnetic...

Directional and coherent radiation pulses that result from an ensemble of coherently prepared states in an optical medium.

A synonym for spatial coherence. See spatially coherent radiation.

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber or preform by illuminating it coherently and transversely to its axis, and examining the far-field radiation pattern.

Also known as TEA laser. A coherent optical source with a wide wavelength range in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet that uses an electrical discharge transverse to (across) the optical axis to...

Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) are specialized optical elements that consist of periodic variations in refractive index throughout the volume of a transparent material, typically a photosensitive glass...

A high-intensity source of incoherent white light in which a capacitor is discharged through a tube of xenon gas; often used as a source of pumping radiation for various optically excited lasers.