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320 terms

Photonics Dictionary: M

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mechanical birefringence -> stress birefringence
Birefringence of materials that is induced or altered by stress fields.
machine vision system
A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and analyze images to perform automated inspection, measurement, and quality...
magnetic bremsstrahlung -> synchrotron radiation
Radiation emitted by electrons when they travel in circular orbits at speeds close to that of light. Synchrotron radiation occurs in the x-ray and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. Once considered...
magneto-optic storage
A specific type of storage in which the material to be written on is heated above its transition temperature and switched in a biased field. Reading of the material is determined by the magneto-optic...
magneto-optical photonic crystal
A photonic crystal that comprises magneto-optical material such that the optical response of the device depends on the magnetization of the magneto-optical material. The magneto-optical effect can be...
mandrel wrap test
A means of testing optical fiber for macrobending losses by wrapping the fiber once at very low tension around a mandrel, and then measuring attenuation vs. wavelength.
master oscillation -> injection seeding
The use of a small ultrastable master oscillator (a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser) to achieve single-frequency operation of a large pulsed Nd:YAG host laser, providing improved bandwidth and temporal...
matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
Process of analysis in which the analyte substance is distributed in a matrix before laser desorption. This method avoids the mass limitations associated with laser desorption and possibly enhances...
meniscus anastigmat
An anastigmatic lens with a thick meniscus construction that flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration.
metastable state
An excited energy state of an atom or atomic system that has a longer lifetime than the ordinary excited state and typically a shorter lifetime than the ground state of that system. Metastable states...
Michelson stellar interferometer
An interferometer constructed to be positioned on a telescope to measure the angular separation of the components of double stars.
microcrystal
A microscopic crystal found in an intricately crystallized substance that is only visible under a microscope.
microelectromechanical systems
Refers to micron-size complex machines that have physical dimensions suitable for the fabrication of optical switches for use in state-of-the-art communications networks.
microenvironmental control system
Equipment that supports microscopic live-cell imaging by managing the gas, media perfusion, temperature and other factors to which a sample is exposed. While reducing the negative impacts these...
microfilm system
A camera copying system that can reduce originals onto 35- or 16-mm film for easy storage.
microheterogeneous systems
Extremely small organic and inorganic systems of molecules within a substance. In general, systems are colloidal size in spite of the large number of molecules. Photochemistry and optical...
microscope stage
The component of a microscope on which the sample or slide to be examined is placed. Depending on the design of the microscope, the stage may play a passive role of just supporting the sample or...
microstereology
Microscopic investigation of two-dimensional areas of a three-dimensional object that can be quantitatively evaluated by consideration of the line intersections or point counts obtained via...
microstereoscope
A binocular microscope designed for the viewing of stereo pairs. As these stereoscopic image pairs are seen through a microstereoscope, they are merged into a single image allowing the brain to...
MIL-STD
U.S. military standard. See MIL-SPEC.
minimum object distance
Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system is capable of producing a sharp and focused image. In photography, this term...
mirror substrate -> mirror blank
A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...
mirror testing
The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The process generally is done before coating so as not to damage the delicate coated...
mist -> hackle
A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, defined as multiple surface irregularities across the fiber surface. A less serious imperfection of the same nature is known as mist.
mixed crystal
A homogeneous solid solution with crystal lattice sites occupied, at random, by the molecules or ions of two or more separate compounds
mode distortion -> multimode distortion
In an optical waveguide,- typically a multimode fiber - the distortion resulting from differential mode delay, i.e. axial rays (modes), with the shortest path length, will have the shortest...
modulator crystal
A nonlinear crystal used to modulate a polarized beam of light by means of the Pockels effect. A Pockels cell is used as a voltage-controlled waveplate by means of applying a known voltage across the...
monostable display
A matrix-controlled display that has no information storage at the display surface.
mosaic structure
In a crystal, its subdivision into polyhedral blocks of macroscopic sizes, with discontinuities contained in the lattice formation between them.
multiline laser system
A multiline laser system refers to a type of laser that is capable of emitting multiple discrete wavelengths or spectral lines simultaneously. Unlike single-line lasers, which produce radiation at a...
multimode distortion
In an optical waveguide,- typically a multimode fiber - the distortion resulting from differential mode delay, i.e. axial rays (modes), with the shortest path length, will have the shortest...
multiple instruction/multiple data
A computer architecture used in parallel processing whereby all the processing elements are operating under their own local control rather than under the direction of a central control unit.
multistripe array
A monolithic laser diode incorporating multiple coupled emitters.
Munsell color system
Founded by professor Albert Munsell. In the field of colorimetry, the Munsell color system is a color space that identifies a given color based on three different color measurements. These...
MEMS -> microelectromechanical systems
Refers to micron-size complex machines that have physical dimensions suitable for the fabrication of optical switches for use in state-of-the-art communications networks.
MEMS fiber optic switch
A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals between multiple fiber optic channels. These switches utilize miniature...
modulation transfer function
Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the modulation in the image to the modulation in the object as a function of frequency...
mosaic detector array
A group of photosensors arranged in a grid-like pattern covering the entire field of view, enabling them to record it all at once (as a camera records an image on film) rather than by scanning parts...
MTF curve -> modulation transfer function
Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the modulation in the image to the modulation in the object as a function of frequency...
m
meter;mass;milli- m is the standard unit symbol for length in the International System of Units (SI). 1 meter is equivalent to 3.28 feet. m is also the standard symbol for mass; m is also the standard SI metric unit prefix milli- which represents one thousandth i.e. 10-3, of a given unit.
M
mega;magnification -SI metric unit prefix which represents one million, 106, also the standard symbol for the magnification of a given optical system.
Mach bands
The illusory appearance of a light or dark band at a line of brightness contrast that enhances the edge between the two contrasting regions. This effect can create the appearance of graduated...
Mach-Zehnder interferometer
A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of light. It is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder, who...
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the development of algorithms and statistical models that enable computers to improve their performance on a specific...
machine vision lens
A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated inspection, measurement, and quality control in industrial applications....
machine vision lighting
Machine vision lighting refers to the use of specific lighting techniques and equipment in the field of machine vision, which is a technology that enables machines to capture and interpret visual...
machine vision
Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically computers, to interpret and understand visual information from the world,...
macula lutea
The small central portion of the human retina that is responsible for providing the clearest, and most distinct aspects of human vision. Light from an object directly forms an image on the macula...
Maddox rod
Lenslike composition of stacked glass cylinders through which a spot of light appears as a streak perpendicular to the cylinder's axes in attempt to measure heterophoria in the human eye.
magnesium fluoride
A colorless, crystalline compound whose low refractive index (n = 1.38) makes it effective as a lens antireflection coating when deposited by thermal evaporation in a near vacuum. This process...

Photonics DictionaryM


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