Photonics Dictionary: A

Automated optical inspection (AOI) is a technology used in manufacturing processes, particularly in electronics, to automatically inspect and detect defects or anomalies in products. AOI systems use...

A system for automatic industrial process control or measurement, consisting of an optical module for image acquisition, a segmentation processor to isolate the image from its background, and an...

An optical device, such as a Nicol prism, capable of producing plane-polarized light, and used for detecting the effect of the object on plane-polarized light produced by the polarizer.

Ray oriented and assumed to propagate orthogonal to the optical axis

A dispersion relation defined in order to value the reciprocal amount of dispersion. It is defined as the refractivity over the difference in index values of the shortest and longest visible...

A form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may be placed within the optical path of a system and invert the image without...

A reflecting prism that inverts the image. The image is reflected four times internally and emitted laterally. The prism is cut normal to the optical axis while the image is internally reflected from...

A departure from ideal paraxial imaging behavior. The distortion of an optical field wavefront as it is propagated through the elements of an optical system. The field distortion is due to the...

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image the wavefront to the CCD image plane. Live feedback may be applied through...

The alteration and reduction of color with the addition of white light. The perceived color shift that occurs as the monochromatic-white combination meets the eye and is interpreted by the brain. The...

Optical surface damage due to abrasive rubbing. Abrasion damage affects are less than the thickness of the optical coating layers. Surface investigation may be achieved by aluminization of the coated...

Powder used to produce a smooth optical surface through abrasive polishing. Compounds may produce a surface finish specified for each.

An instrument that uses optical filtration in order to measure the transmittance for a discrete range or specific number of wavelengths.

The natural log of the ratio of absorbed intensity over the total intensity which gives a constant value assuming a stable volume as well as energy. In optical physics the absorbance may be defined...

An optical lens manufactured to control the transmission of light over a specified wavelength range. Low absorption lenses are produced which are anti-reflection coated for UV, VIS and IR wavelengths...

The range of angle or solid angle values by which light may enter an optical system.

A curve expressing an optical fiber's total transmitted power as a function of its launch angle at the input.

A broadband continuum resonator that confines a wide range of wavelengths. From the optical confinement a single wavelength may be released by means of a tuning grating.

An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon where different colors of light...

The optical reconstruction of image information contained in a sound field. First the diffraction pattern, formed by an object irradiated by ultrasonic rays, interferes with a mutually coherent...

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...

Discipline within optical physics that addresses sound vibration, phonon effects and their influencing behavior within optical elements and systems.

The change in refractive index that occurs as acoustic vibrations are transmitted through an optical material.The index changes are periodic in relation to the frequency, spatial orientation, and...

A thermoplastic or optically transmitting hard plastic produced by applying polymerization initiator and heat to a monomer.

That point in the electromagnetic spectrum at which an optical system focuses the most chemically effective rays.

That layer in a semiconductor injection laser or light-emitting diode that provides optical gain.

The layer of material in a laser diode from which the optical radiation is emitted; light producing region

The process of adjusting input pixel by pixel at the filter plane to adapt to nondeal phase behavior in an optical correlator.

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of atmospheric distortions. The Earth's atmosphere can cause light passing through it...

The intermolecular attraction between two surfaces, as between a substrate and a coating; it is an important factor in the durability of optical thin films.

An intermolecular substance that serves to hold materials together. Two types are used in the optical industry: one, which must be transparent and colorless, to cement lenses together; and a...

An optical illusion in which distant objects are lighter in tone and less distinct in outline than those closer to the observer because of the atmospheric diffusion of light.

The use of optical or electronic recording systems to extract information from the terrain, while aloft, for reconnaissance applications.

An optical system with object and image points at infinity. Literally, "without a focal length."

A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and positioning equipment, air bearings are of two types, linear or rotary,...

The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a uniformly irradiated, aberration-free circular optical element or system.

An optical tooling instrument consisting of an objective lens, a focusing lens, an optical micrometer, a reticle and an eyepiece. The alignment telescope projects a precise line of sight to which a...

Left- and right-hand circularly polarized beams that are produced at different velocities by passing plane-polarized light through an optical substance. When recombined, they exhibit different phases...

The disordered, glassy solid state of a substance, as distinguished from the highly ordered crystalline solid state. Amorphous and crystalline phases of the same substance differ widely in optical...

Broadband radiation emitted by a laser that does not transmit through the optical element. It can be removed by filtering.

A device that enlarges and strengthens a signal's output without significantly distorting its original waveshape. There are amplifiers for acoustical, optical and electronic signals.

An optical system with different focal lengths or magnification levels in perpendicular planes to the optical axis.

A state in which an image is distorted by an optical system.

A lens that distorts an optical image.

An angle formed by the lines of sight of both eyes when focusing on an object. Also, the rate at which a ray approaches the optical axis.

Angular deviation from the optimum alignment of source to optical waveguide, waveguide to waveguide, or waveguide to detector, resulting in a loss of optical power.

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and simulate the propagation of optical waves, particularly in the context of wave...