Photonics Dictionary

A type of photographic film, often used in microfilming, that is processed by heat treatment, needing no liquid application.

An instrument used to measure expansion of solids, liquids and gases.

In a liquid crystal system, the director refers to the local symmetry axis around which the long range order of the liquid crystal is aligned. In the case of the nematic phase, the molecular long...

A microscope objective designed to be used without liquid between the cover glass and the objective, or, in the case of metallurgical objectives, between the objective and the specimen.

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from electron-hole recombination in a PN junction is one example. This is the...

A high-speed shutter, similar to a Kerr cell, that uses the birefringence produced in a liquid during the passage of an electric current through it to change the liquid's optical transmission...

An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for low-light imaging applications that require high sensitivity and fast readout...

An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic visual display technology used in electronic devices for the purpose of...

The movement of particulate material by flowing gas or liquid.

A well controlled thin films technique for growing films with good crystal structure in ultra high vacuum environments at very low deposition rates. Epitaxy methods are well known for the growing of...

A process, either naturally occurring or mechanically induced, whereby water is changed from its liquid state into a vapor.

An electronic display in which a flat screen is formed by an orthogonal array of display devices, such as electroluminescent devices, light-emitting diodes or liquid crystal cells.

In various fields such as fluid dynamics, microfluidics, and biotechnology, a flow channel refers to a defined pathway through which a fluid (liquid or gas) flows. The channel can be of various...

Flow chemistry, also known as continuous-flow chemistry, is a chemical manufacturing process where reactions take place in a continuous stream of fluids (liquids or gases) rather than in batch...

A method of synthesis for crystals such as KTP. The process involves the use of a high-temperature solution called flux to enable crystal growth. Flux dissolves the elements of the desired crystal,...

FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption or emission of a solid, liquid, or gas sample. It operates based...

1. The combination of the effects of two or more stimuli in any given sense to form a single sensation. With respect to vision, the perception of continuous illumination formed by the rapid...

A type of refractometer designed to measure the refractive indices of liquids. A section of the instrument is immersed into the sample being measured.

A material, often a liquid or cement, whose refractive index is nearly equal to the fiber's core index, used to reduce Fresnel reflection from a fiber end face.

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,...

Laser active elements typically refers to the substances or materials within a laser system that play a critical role in the amplification of light through the process of stimulated emission. These...

A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined region or space where light undergoes multiple reflections, leading to the...

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut, vaporize, coagulate, or otherwise modify tissues for therapeutic or...

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...

A subtractive colorimeter that expresses a liquid's or object's color as a combination of three colors. These colors are developed through viewing the specimen object through three series of slides,...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...

The temperature at which the solid phase of a material is in equilibrium with the liquid phase, or when the material changes from a solid to a liquid.

An excited energy state of an atom or atomic system that has a longer lifetime than the ordinary excited state and typically a shorter lifetime than the ground state of that system. Metastable states...

A method of heat removal in which liquid passes through small channels with high packing densities.

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small screen. Unlike traditional displays, microdisplays are typically very compact...

The liquid used in microscopy to fill the space between the high-power objective lens and the microscope slide in order to increase the numerical aperture (NA) or collecting power in object space of...

Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as light) by spherical particles. Unlike Rayleigh scattering, which is...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path difference to create interference between split optical wavefronts. The...

State typically studied in liquid crystals in which the dielectric coefficient parallel to the director is less than the dielectric coefficient perpendicular to the director.

A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick specimens with polarized light. During this phase, the molecules of the...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

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...