Photonics Dictionary: N

Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer scale. This technology enables the positioning of objects with extremely high...

The code used to describe the United States system of color telecasting.

A neuromorphic vision sensor is a type of imaging device designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human visual system. Inspired by the biological principles of the human eye and brain,...

A coating applied to a neutral density glass that is designed to reduce the amount of light evenly across the transmitted light spectrum with no color distortion. These coatings are designed to...

A light filter that equally decreases the intensity of all wavelengths of light without altering the relative spectral distribution of the energy.

A strip or annulus of glass coated with a semitransparent material such as inconel. The coating thickness, and as a result its transmission, varies linearly as a function of distance. The neutral...

A device that uses low-level visible radiation or infrared radiation to produce a visual image of a night scene. These devices may rely on the amplification of existing visible light by...

A television system used for seeing in the dark, particularly with the use of infrared rays.

Derivative of the half-tone screen process involving the fabrication of a binary pulse-width modulated copy of the continuous-level input using a halftone screen and spatial-filtering single...

A nonradiative transition refers to a process in which an electron or an atom undergoes a change in its energy state without emitting a photon. In contrast to radiative transitions, where a photon is...

Dispersion characterized by an increasing index of refraction in the medium as the frequency of the propagating light increases towards the resonant frequency of the medium. Normal dispersion occurs...

In physics, nuclear fusion refers to the process in which two atomic nuclei come together to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy. This process powers the sun and other stars...

A photographic emulsion of the silver-halide type that is used to record the path of a charged traveling particle. The tracks recorded on these emulsions are typically observed under a microscope...

In a remote sensing system, nadir refers to the point on the ground located vertically below the center of the system. In astronomy, the nadir is the vertical direction that points towards the force...

An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a high-resolution, high-throughput process that involves the mechanical...

An LED (light-emitting diode) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs are commonly used for lighting, displays, and indicators. A NanoLED is on the...

A small object that behaves as a whole unit or entity in terms of it's transport and it's properties, as opposed to an individual molecule which on it's own is not considered a nanoparticle.....

Nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy is a microscopy technique that combines the principles of photonic resonators and nanoparticle imaging to visualize and study biological samples...

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at dimensions smaller than the wavelength of light. It involves the study and...

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters which ultimately alter the way light propagates through and is...

A nanotube, also known as a nanotubule or simply a tube-like structure, is a nanoscale cylindrical structure composed of various materials, including carbon, boron nitride, or other compounds....

An imaging system designed to highlight small deviations in a planar reflective object such as a mirror. The system can be used to detect minute flaws or to image faint marks that are made in the...

An optical pyrometer that is equipped with a narrow bandpass filter to transmit a limited number of wavelengths to the sensing device.

The light emitted from tissues without the use of fluorescent dyes as markers. Because cancerous tissues and normal tissues have differing emission spectra, the native fluorescence can be used to...

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. This type of laser emits light at a wavelength of 1064 nm in the...

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes place with the light coming under an oblique angle to the mask. The...

A scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused through a pipette and raster scanned across the specimen at a distance less...

A near-infrared (NIR) camera is an imaging device designed to capture images in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The near-infrared spectrum typically extends from about 700...

A near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer is an analytical instrument used to measure the absorption, transmission, or reflection of light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum....

A monitoring technique used to measure the oxygen saturation levels in the brains of patients, commonly in operating room and neonatal intensive care unit settings. The technique, which is based on...

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum to study the absorption of light by molecules in a sample....

A light source, such as the sun or an incandescent lamp, that freely penetrates ordinary glass bulbs and emits in the near-ultraviolet (wavelengths ranging from about 300 to 400 nm). A mercury vapor...

A resampling and interpolation method that uses only the value of the nearest neighbor pixel, while not considering values from any other neighboring pixels from the source image to determine the...

The structure that holds the photographic negative in a proper position that is both flat and parallel to the lens plane, as well as being placed in a fixed position that is the right distance from...

A ghost image that has the reverse lightness relations of the original image. This phenomenon is a common optical illusion that takes place in the human visual system, following long exposures to an...

A photocathode having a P-type semiconductor with a work function less than its bandgap. The photocathode can release a hundredfold increase of photoemission in the infrared region.

An artificial material, engineered to have a negative refractive index value, such that light or any other form of electromagnetic radiation bends in the opposite direction than it would in ordinary...