Photonics Dictionary

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their source, regardless of the direction from which the light approaches. Unlike...

A system of local area networking in which each node or station is connected to two others, ultimately forming a loop. Data are passed in one direction only, being received by each node and then...

The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves are indicated by a stationary set of nodes spaced one-half wavelength apart...

A small telescope mounted on a tripod and free to rotate about a vertical axis. A spirit level is mounted over the telescope and adjusted so that when the bubble is central, the telescope axis is...

A mode of transmission whereby the sending and receiving stations operate continuously at a fixed relationship of phase and frequency, generating signals to control the timing of the data that are to...

A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that uses magnetic fields to steer charged particles, typically electrons or positrons, in a closed, circular or elliptical path. The name synchrotron...

1. The term used to describe any of the many instruments used to remotely record physical dimensions, such as strain, temperature or pressure, and transmit this data to a receiving station. 2. A...

A laser fitted with up to eight optical fibers that transmit the energy to different workstations in turn.

In a local area network, a unique signal that travels from one node or station to another, providing them serially with access to the network for sending data.

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...

After putting a thick photographic emulsion on a front-faced mirror, and exposing the emulsion to monochromatic incident light normal to the face, Wiener discovered, upon developing the emulsion,...

The difference in electrokinetic potential between the stationary liquid connected to a solid phase surface and the mobile portion of the liquid's diffuse layer.

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving some of the components of the system along the lens axis, other components...