Photonics Dictionary

A 2D profile sensor is a type of sensor used in various industrial and technological applications to measure and capture detailed information about the shape, contour, or profile of an object in two...

Electromagnetic radiation present upon the open aperture of the source within an operating environment.

The transport of molecules in a cell which requires the use of a cell's internal energy. The energy used in the cell may be ATP as a primary transport or an electrochemical gradient give as the...

Light present in the environment around a detecting or interpreting device, especially a machine vision system, and generated from outside sources. Such light must be treated as noise by the vision...

The all-encompassing noise associated with a given environment, usually being a composite of a number of sources, far and near.

An antigen is any substance that is capable of triggering an immune response in an organism. Antigens are typically proteins or large polysaccharides, although other types of molecules can also act...

A bright spot or point, due to Fresnel diffraction, that appears at the center of the shadow of a circular object in light originating from a point source. Also referred to as a Fresnel spot or...

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical elements in a sample by measuring the absorption of light at...

An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on the principle of autocollimation, where a light source is directed onto a...

A channel for communication with the source in an otherwise unidirectional network, such as a channel that provides interactive features in a cable television network.

Backscatter refers to the phenomenon in which radiation or waves are scattered backward, opposite to the direction of the incident beam. This occurs when the incident radiation encounters a target or...

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It involves measuring and visualizing how the optical power or intensity is...

A set of mirrors mounted on solenoids to move them into and out of the path of a laser beam, making it possible for multiple workstations to alternate using the single laser source.

A device used to compare the luminous intensities of two sources by locating a point between the two light sources where the produced flux densities are equal. The luminous intensities of the two...

Two formulas used in diffractometer analysis, the first giving the individual diffraction patterns of each aperture, the second representing the constant of the degree of an incoherent circular...

Unified notation for specification of reflectance in terms of both incident- and reflected-beam geometry; i.e., the ratio of reflected radiance in direction toward the viewer to the irradiance in...

A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation incident upon it and emits radiation in a...

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically between 400 and 500 nanometers. Diode lasers are compact,...

Brightfield refers to a type of microscopy and imaging technique in which the specimen is illuminated with a white light source, and the image is observed or captured against a bright background. In...

Carbonization is a process in which organic materials are heated in the absence of air, leading to the decomposition of the material and the production of carbon-rich residue. During carbonization,...

A heterochromatic photometric process using successive comparison of similar chromaticities and the calculation of relative luminances of unlike chromaticities as the product of ratios of luminances...

1. The negative electrode of a device in an electrical circuit. 2. The positive electrode of a primary cell or storage battery. 3. The primary source of electrons in an electron tube, serving as the...

Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a substrate, typically a printed circuit board (PCB), without the need for...

A rapid change, as opposed to a long-term drift, of the emission wavelength of an optical source. Chirping is most often observed in pulsed operation of a source.

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state image sensor technology. CID cameras are capable of capturing images in a...

The image of a point source that appears as a circle of finite diameter because of defocusing or the aberrations inherent in an optical system.

A reticle carrying patterns of various forms that can be rotated in an optical beam to cause variations in the intensity of the beam. It also is used in infrared detectors to scan the object field...

An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e. illuminated slit or retical) at its focal plane. Collimators are used to...

A filter that serves to alter the color temperature and the mired value of the radiation emitted by a source.

A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides objective and standardized color information, typically expressed in terms...

Transparent media which, when placed in front of a light source, change their color as a result of the selective absorption of some of the light.

An early type of nonvacuum photocell consisting of a layer of copper oxide on a metallic substrate, with a thin transparent layer of a conductor over the oxide. When light falls on the cell, a small...

A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite characterized by its standardized size and modular design. CubeSats are typically used for scientific research, technology demonstration, educational...

Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to assist clients in various aspects of product development, system design, or...

The interaction of superimposed light from two separate sources that results in a combined intensity that is less than the sum of their individual intensities before they were superimposed.

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to investigate the optical properties of materials, particularly in the field of spectroscopy. Unlike traditional...

A digital twin refers to a virtual representation or digital counterpart of a physical object, system, or process. This digital replica is created using real-time data and simulation models, allowing...

A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light. Semiconductor diodes are electronic devices that conduct electricity primarily in one...

A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into a solid gain medium, resulting in the generation of coherent light. This...

Light produced by visible radiation that moves from the light source to the object without reflection. With respect to microscopy, this is the light that directly strikes the stage of the microscope...