Photonics Dictionary

The photographic recording that uses ultraviolet radiation to irradiate the microscope sample being examined and to form an image of the object on a photographic medium. The components of the...

Ultraviolet reflectance refers to the ability of a material or surface to reflect UV light. Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than those of visible light,...

Refers to the transistors in which the working current flows through only one type of semiconductor material, either P-type or N-type. In unipolar transistors, the working current consists of either...

A unit of measurement in a rangefinder corresponding to 12 s of arc in the apparent field.

One of the four functions that allows the computation of a transparent medium's index of refraction, provided the index has been identified for four standard wavelengths.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard. UAVs are remotely controlled or autonomously operated, and they can be used for various...

A type of glass contrived by Schott that is highly transparent to ultraviolet radiation.

A vacuum chamber is a sealed enclosure from which air and other gases are removed to create a low-pressure environment, typically close to or at a complete vacuum. These chambers are often...

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent materials in a magnetic field. Therefore, in the equation: where a...

An image with variations in density due to the differential scattering ability of microscopic bubbles in a transparent layer.

A vibrational transition refers to a change in the vibrational energy of a molecule. Molecules consist of atoms that are connected by chemical bonds, and these atoms are not stationary but are in...

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment or experience that can be interacted with and explored by an individual using electronic devices, such as a...

The transparent fluid that fills the portion of the eye between the eye lens and the retina (the posterior chamber).

Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) are specialized optical elements that consist of periodic variations in refractive index throughout the volume of a transparent material, typically a photosensitive glass...

A vortex phase plate is an optical device designed to impart a phase singularity, commonly referred to as a vortex or phase vortex, onto a light beam. This singularity results in a phase profile...

A device that consists of two types of mode converters, one of which must be magnetic. It is nonreciprocal because the coupling constants of the two mode converters have a different phase relation...

A system that allows the transmission of more than one signal over a common path, by assigning each signal a different frequency band. Also known as frequency division multiplexing.

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for obtaining high-quality diffraction patterns from single crystals. This...

A well plate, also known as a microplate or microtiter plate, is a flat plate with multiple small wells or depressions arranged in a grid pattern. Each well serves as a separate container for holding...

A feature of some imaging devices, such as digital cameras, that allows them to compensate for different lighting conditions by adjusting the color balance based on the difference between a white...

Whole slide imaging (WSI), also known as virtual slide microscopy or digital pathology, is a technology that involves the digitalization of entire glass slides containing histological or cytological...

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to capture a broader field of view. Wide-angle lenses are characterized by their...

Wide-field fluorescence microscopy uses either naturally occurring structures or staining with fluorescent tags that are activated by specific wavelengths of light and then emits a different...

The phenomenon in which alkali metals are transparent to ultraviolet radiation.

The series of processes used to identify and evaluate crystal structure by using crystalline solids to diffract x-rays. In the Laue method, radiation of a wide range of wavelengths is transmitted by...

An instrument for eye surgery that directs intense xenon arc light through the transparent cornea lens to the retina where absorption by the pigment epithelium and the choroid produces heat and...

A high-intensity source of incoherent white light in which a capacitor is discharged through a tube of xenon gas; often used as a source of pumping radiation for various optically excited lasers.

Spherical or chromatic aberration in a lens having a wide aperture. It is present because the refracting power varies for different zones concentric at the axis. This is the residual when the lens...

A plate of glass, usually a photograph, on which there is a central spot surrounded by concentric annular zones, alternately opaque and transparent, the radii of the boundaries between the zones...