Photonics Dictionary

A method of demonstration or examination using a point source illumination without the use of any projection lens between the object and its shadow, the shadow being cast on a distant screen.

A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart occurs in a xenon or other gas medium, providing a visible light resembling a...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light in two dimensions, typically in the form of an array. SLMs are...

The projection of the image beam by a cathode-ray tube through a mask, where it is deflected through the suitable character position in the mask and then deflected by another system to its suitable...

A projection printer that is capable of reproducing a multiplicity of images from a master transparency on a single support coated with a photosensitive layer by indexing the receiving material from...

The projection of a plane or grid pattern of light onto an object. It can be used for the determination of three-dimensional characteristics of the object from the observed deflections that result.

In optics, a shape often given to the leading edge of a projectile. In any side view it appears as a pointed arc, while any cross section perpendicular to its long axis appears as a circle.

A variation of tomography in which several photographs of a patient are taken at different angles, and back-projection of the resulting radiographs produces light distribution in a chosen...

A color-television viewing system with three kinescopes, three lenses and three deflection yokes used to form the red, green and blue images required for a tricolor television projection.

An evacuated bulb containing a tungsten filament that is heated by passing an electric current through it. In domestic light bulbs the inside of the bulb is frosted to soften shadows. In projection...

The process of microphotography that involves the reduction of the original at a ratio greater than 100 to 1. The process is usually accomplished by the use of a reduced-scale negative, which, in...

The use of miniature scanners to project raster-scanned video images directly onto the surface of the human retina, eliminating the need for a projection surface.

A method of projecting integrated circuit patterns on a silicon wafer using x-ray wavelengths focused through a special mask.

The arc formed when the rare gas xenon is excited electrically and emits a brilliant white light. Xenon is used to fill electronic and stroboscopic flashlamps, and also large discharge tubes for...