Photonics Dictionary

A device used to transmit and receive images that have been converted to electrical signals over regular telephone lines; it includes a scanner, a transmitter, a receiver and a printer.

The reproduction of a picture or image, produced by scanning the image and converting it into electrical signals that carry the image to be reproduced. Also known as fax.

The product of Avogadro's constant and the electrical charge of an electron; thus, the electrical charge carried by 1 gmol of a substance, or approximately 9.65 x 104 C.

Ferroelectric materials are a type of dielectric materials that exhibit spontaneous electric polarization, meaning they possess a permanent electric dipole moment even in the absence of an external...

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as erbium, ytterbium, or neodymium. Fiber lasers generate coherent light through...

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in orientation or rotation. It operates based on the principle of the Sagnac effect,...

A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or environmental parameters. Unlike traditional electrical sensors, fiber optic sensors...

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic communications to transmit and receive data over optical fibers. It integrates both a...

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna with optical fibers for the purpose of generating or detecting terahertz...

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent plate. The phosphor is induced into luminescence, similar to traditional...

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video transmission.

A device that converts stored electrical energy into light by means of a sudden electrical discharge.

A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of a transparent specimen. The flying spot is modulated by the varying density...

A device used to scan, with a small, intensely bright spot, portions of a picture surface and to transform the original picture into a series of electrical signals. In optical character recognition,...

One of the electrodes used to focus the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube. As the electrode's voltage is changed, its electrical field is changed, resulting in a change of the electron beam's spot...

Functional materials refer to materials that possess specific properties or functionalities that make them suitable for particular applications or purposes. These materials are designed and...

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound made up of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). It is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material that exhibits unique electrical and optical properties. Gallium nitride is...

The emission of radiant energy produced by the passage of an electrical current through an appropriate electrolyte in which an electrode, made of certain metals such as aluminum or tantalum, has been...

A galvanometric scanner, also known as a galvanometer scanner or galvo scanner, is a type of optical scanning device used to rapidly and precisely direct a laser beam or other light source to...

Gallium nitride-based light-emitting diodes (GaN-based LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current passes through them. These LEDs are constructed using gallium nitride...

A beam of light whose electrical field amplitude distribution is Gaussian. When such a beam is circular in cross section, the amplitude is E(r) = E(0) exp [-(r/w)2], where r is the distance from beam...

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor commonly used in various electronic and optical applications. Germanium crystals...

A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be made to go through a definite cycle over a period of days, or even weeks, if...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice pattern. It is the basic building block of other carbon-based materials...

The light flash that occurs when an electrical field is applied to a phosphor already excited by ultraviolet radiation.

That voltage required across a Pockels, Kerr or other electro-optic light modulator to retard one polarization electrical vector by one-half a wavelength relative to the other. It corresponds to a...

A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a tungsten filament surrounded by a small amount of halogen gas, such as...

A helium-neon (HeNe) laser is a type of gas laser that emits visible red light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. It operates based on the principle of stimulated emission of photons from excited helium...

An electron tube whose electrical characteristics will not be affected by gaseous ionization because of its high degree of evacuation. Also known as a hard tube.

A thin film of absorbing or nonabsorbing layers in which the absorption of radiation at any point is directly proportional to the electrical field intensity at that point.

A cable assembly containing both optical fibers and copper electrical conductors in the same jacket.

A wave in the electromagnetic spectrum that has both electrical and magnetic field vectors in the direction of propagation.

A mode possessing components of both electrical and magnetic field vectors in the direction of propagation.

A camera tube that employs a high-velocity electron beam to scan a photoemissive mosaic and to store electrical charge patterns.

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the electrical signal being modified electronically before being recorded on...

Photon flow created by imaging of light into a detector array; IPD is the electrical signal used by the image processor in a laser radar angular tracking system.

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the electrical signal being modified electronically before being re-recorded on...

An alien, electrically charged atomic system in a solid; an ion substituted for the constituent atom or ion in a crystal lattice, or located in an interstitial site in the crystal.

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the III-V group of semiconductors, where elements from groups III and V of the...

A device used to accelerate the electrons in a free-electron laser by supplying electrical energy to the electron beam through a series of transformers.

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 InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a combination of indium (In), gallium (Ga), and arsenic (As). The term InGaAs...

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...

A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized gas. The gases are electrically excited in a container called a plasma tube,...

A semiconductor device with the property of conducting current more easily in one direction than the other. It has two terminals containing a single crystal of semiconducting material that ranges...