Photonics Dictionary

An astronomical scanning technique for capturing images of stars without moving the sensor. To perform a drift scan, a CCD sensor's readout rate must be synchronized with the motion of celestial...

A technique used in radiography to obtain an unblurred image of a moving object by the use of very short x-ray exposures, such as one microsecond, to record the image.

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device designed to capture fast-moving events or phenomena at extremely high frame rates....

A shutter actuated by means other than mechanical springs for timings on the order of nanoseconds. The shutter is used in the photography of rapid moving objects or events.

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs in the optical system. This phenomenon is often observed in certain types of...

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...

Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the entire image simultaneously. This technique is commonly used in various...

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to capture images one line or row of pixels at a time, rather than a full...

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals. Unlike area image sensors (such as CCD or CMOS sensors), which capture an...

A linear positioning stage, also known as a linear stage or translation stage, is a precision mechanical device used to accurately move and position objects along a linear axis. These stages are...

A device that provides means for accurately moving minuscule tools over the surface of a microscopic object. The motion precision of a micromanipulator exceeds that of the unaided human hand....

The visual phenomenon of the apparent difference in the rate of motion of two objects that are actually moving at the same velocity but that lie at different distances from the observer.

The unequal angular velocities of two objects moving at equal speeds but at different distances from the observer, which are just noticeable.

Method for reducing laser speckle in which the object field comes from a real diffuse object or the reconstructed object field from a hologram. During recording of the image, an aperture is moved in...

A camera that uses a rotating mirror to project sequential images onto lenses that are arranged in an arc. The reflected images can then be recorded on stationary film. By using an 8-mm frame format,...

Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer scale. This technology enables the positioning of objects with extremely high...

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,...

Optical tweezers refer to a scientific instrument that uses the pressure of laser light to trap and manipulate microscopic objects, such as particles or biological cells, in three dimensions. This...

A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is mounted to rotate about a vertical axis. A slit opening in the film plane and the...

A camera equipped with angular scales in altitude and azimuth. The scale readings are imprinted on the film when an exposure is made. The exact point indicated by the scale readings is shown by...

Positioning generally refers to the determination or identification of the location or placement of an object, person, or entity in a specific space or relative to a reference point. The term is used...

Rolling shutter artifacts are distortions or visual anomalies that can occur in images or videos captured by cameras with rolling shutter sensors. A rolling shutter is a type of image sensor that...

A scientific CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) camera is a type of digital camera specifically designed for scientific imaging applications. It employs CMOS sensor technology, which...

An imaging technique in which an object moving through an interference field formed in space scatters light and is spatially recorded on a photographic film as a hologram. If the interference field...

A method of scanning in which a frame transfer device produces a continuous video image of a moving object by means of a stack of linear arrays aligned with and synchronized to the movement of the...

An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements so that it emerges from the fixed lens as a large-diameter parallel bundle....