Photonics Dictionary

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...

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. These detectors are utilized in various applications,...

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating infrared (IR) radiation within the infrared spectrum. These lenses are used in...

Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of microwaves. The infrared spectrum spans wavelengths...

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector outputs. With an intensity interferometer, the primary collectors need not be...

The ratio of the radiant power transmitted to the second surface of a medium to the corresponding radiant power that has just passed through the first surface. Internal transmittance does not denote...

The Kerr effect, named after the physicist John Kerr who first observed it in 1875, is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where the refractive index of a material changes in response to an applied...

A two-stage illuminating system for a microscope in which the source is imaged in the aperture of the substage condenser by an auxiliary condenser, and the substage condenser in turn forms an image...

A laser crystal, also known as an active medium or gain medium, is a solid-state material used in the construction of lasers. The primary function of the laser crystal is to amplify light by...

A laser rangefinder is a device that uses laser technology to measure the distance between the device and a target. It operates on the principle of measuring the time it takes for a laser beam to...

A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and focused beams of light through the process of optical amplification based...

Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in temperature. In other words, it is the production and emission of light by a...

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of light. It is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder, who...

Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic radiation). This field of physics explores how the properties of light, such...

A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens and second rear surface is a spherical mirror. This combination utilizes...

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or 'microwave laser' was the first device to produce coherent electromagnetic waves,...

A lamp that has mercury in a tube or bulb that has first been evacuated. The electricity travels through the vapor between the electrodes and produces a blue-green light that is rich in ultraviolet...

Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that is employed to produce...

A monochromator is an optical instrument used to isolate and select a narrow range of wavelengths from a broader spectrum of light. The term monochromator is derived from "monochromatic," meaning...

Also known as gatling gun laser. A system that has an array of lasers sharing a common central axis on a rotating Fabry plate to achieve increased laser firing rates by sequential Q-switching.

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes place with the light coming under an oblique angle to the mask. The...

A neuromorphic vision sensor is a type of imaging device designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human visual system. Inspired by the biological principles of the human eye and brain,...

An instrument devised by Nichols and Hull for use in the measurement of radiation pressure. The device has two small silvered, glass mirrors that are suspended, in the way of a torsion balance, by a...

The measurement of first- and higher order properties of a lens and its formed image, including effective focal length, back focal length, f number, aberrations, blur patterns, magnification and...

The distance between the object and the cornea, or the first surface of the objective in an optical device.

The optical element that receives light from the object and forms the first or primary image in telescopes and microscopes. In cameras, the image produced by the objective is the final image. In...

A form of high-power microscope objective where the space between the object and the first element is filled with an oil having the same index as that element. This form reduces losses, increases the...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and components to meet specific performance requirements and application needs....

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....

Characteristic of optical analyses that are limited to infinitesimally small apertures. Also called first-order or Gaussian optics.

The term perovskite refers to a specific crystal structure commonly found in various materials. Perovskite structures have a cubic arrangement of oxygen ions, forming a framework within which other...

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or systems to specialized manufacturing firms. Photonics involves the...

A piezoelectric translator that moves up and down a spindle like a caterpillar. It clamps itself at one end, expands, clamps the other end, releases the first end, and then contracts and begins the...

A material used to jacket fiber optic cables. It is chemical- and moisture-resistant, but not fire-resistant.

The arrangement of two Porro prisms so that the inverted image formed by certain types of optical instruments is the same as the object. The first prism, which is set at 90° to the second, inverts...

The first-order spectrum formed by a diffraction grating.

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...

The area of optics in which quantum theory is used to describe light in discrete units or "quanta" of energy known as photons. First observed by Albert Einstein's photoelectric effect, this particle...

A narrow channel created by cleaving a crystal made of alternating layers of gallium arsenide and aluminum gallium arsenide, and adding additional layers on the cleaved end face, at right angles to...

The first nonlinear theory in plasma physics that details the time and space evolution of plasma wave instability from a microscopic vantage point and provides an outline of the plasma in terms of...

Essentially, a hologram of a hologram, in which the first-generation hologram is masked with a narrow slit. During image reconstruction, the slit operates as the exit pupil in image space. The...

When a lens system with a circular aperture is free of aberrations, the image of a point object will appear as a disc of finite size surrounded by concentric rings. When two points are separated such...