Photonics Dictionary

An acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is a device that utilizes the interaction between sound waves and light waves to modulate or control the intensity, frequency, phase, or direction of laser beams. It...

An optical scanning device designed to read information printed in the form of bars of different size by detection and processing of the varying reflectivity of light in the barcode.

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...

The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and then scans the pattern to produce a corresponding electronic signal for...

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...

A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than traditional optical techniques. CGHs are generated entirely in digital form...

A method in optical character recognition in which a mobile light beam scans the outlines of characters for subsequent reading of these outlines.

A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape resembling a cylinder. Unlike spherical lenses, which have the same...

A dichroic mirror, also known as a dichroic beamsplitter or interference filter beamsplitter, is an optical device that selectively reflects or transmits light based on its wavelength. Dichroic...

The scanning of photographs or transparencies of images, either by a vidicon camera or flying spot scanner, for the conversion of the images to digital form for storage on magnetic tape.

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 scanning technique in optical character recognition in which an array of photocells is used to scan each character to determine its horizontal and vertical characteristics.

A measurement of the spatial resolution of a line or area array in an optical character recognition scanning device.

An electro-optic deflector is a device that can change the direction of light beams using an electric field. It operates based on the electro-optic effect, which involves the modulation of the...

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and research laboratories to pattern extremely fine features with sub-micrometer...

A nonmagnetic instrument utilizing an electrofocus and deflection tube with a photocathode for imaging purposes. The optical image is converted into a photoelectric output at the photocathode and is...

The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or structure. In this context, "embedded" implies that the laser is an integral part...

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,...

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is composed of layers of gallium, aluminum, and arsenic, hence...

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...

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather than having a uniform refractive index like conventional lenses. This...

An optical system used to collect infrared energy from a scene using scanning optics with a point or line detector, as compared with a fixed optical system with a full two-dimensional detector array.

Instantaneous field of view (iFOV) is a term commonly used in the context of remote sensing, imaging systems, and optical instruments. It refers to the specific portion of a scene that an optical...

In an interlaced scanning electro-optical system such as television, the system resolution will be less than the number of active scan lines because of the random phase nature of the object being...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single package. These modules are designed to provide a convenient and efficient...

Technique using functional optical microscope with the addition of a coherent source collinear with the image path. The laser light is intended to scan the sampled plane and acquire information from...

In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, stages, or other elements within an optical setup. The...

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 scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused through a pipette and raster scanned across the specimen at a distance less...

A measurement technique used to determine the spatial distribution profile of an electrical or optical quantity of interest which is provided by multiple scans within the near-field region of a...

An optical barcode reader, commonly known as a barcode scanner, is a device that uses optical technology to capture and interpret data encoded in barcode symbols. Barcodes are typically printed on...

A photosensitive device used to optically scan and read character data (numbers, letters etc.) and input this data into a storage device. Optical character readers are based off the process of...

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into machine-readable text. OCR software and systems are designed to recognize and extract...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. An OCT imaging...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. It provides...

1. The direct storage of data as bits in memory using optical systems and properties. The memory makes use of a laser beam that is divided by a beamsplitter and controlled by a modulator and a...

An optical scanning system found in most computer scanners that can read documents, often in many type styles, and convert the document text into digital information to be stored, and displayed by a...

A television camera tube in which a low-velocity electron beam scans a photoactive mosaic that has been created by an optical image. Once scanned by the electron beam, the electrical storage capacity...

An erasable data recording and storage medium that uses a laser to heat the crystalline surface of the disc to a certain temperature, at which it becomes amorphous and records a bit of information;...

A polygonal mirror, also known as a multifaceted mirror or facet mirror, is a type of optical component used in various laser systems, optical scanners, and imaging devices. It consists of a flat or...

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of seventeen chemical elements found in the Earth's crust, characterized by their unique properties and scarcity relative to other elements. Despite their name,...

The technique for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by scanning the entrance face with the vertex of a high numerical aperture cone and measuring the change in power of refracted...

1. The photosensitive membrane on the inside of the human eye. 2. A scanning mechanism in optical character generation.