Photonics Dictionary: W

Scattering (other than material scattering) that is attributable to variations of geometry and index profile of the waveguide.

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...

A grazing incidence mirror telescope with concentric conic surfaces having a single common point: a paraboloid-hyperboloid combination with two internal reflections.

A Cassegrain telescope having a parabolic primary mirror, a spherical secondary mirror and a zero-power doublet in the converging bundle for aberration correction.

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...

In the context of electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, a wafer refers to a thin, flat disk or substrate made of a semiconducting material, usually crystalline silicon. Wafers serve as the...

An image intensifier tube in which the photocathode and the output of the microchannel plate are proximity-focused on the microchannel plate input and output phosphor screen, respectively.

An oscilloscope used to survey the waveform of a video signal.

The graph of the oscillating variations making up a wave, relative to time.

For each mode in an optical waveguide, the term used to describe the process by which an electromagnetic signal is distorted by virtue of the dependence of the phase and group velocities on...

A photofluorescent compound that, when used with a scintillating substance, absorbs photons and emits related photons having a greater wavelength. In this way a phototube or photocell may employ the...

An optical filter so constructed that the density increases progressively from one end to the other, or angularly around a circular disc.

A photometer that uses a wedge, marked to show its reduction of flux density, to make two light sources equal in intensity for comparison of luminous intensities. This is accomplished by the gradual...

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 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...

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,...

A sealed, hard, magnetic disc drive used for the storage of data in a computer system.

In microscopy, the clear distance between the specimen being viewed and the first optical element of the objective lens.

Term for the brightness of an oscilloscope trace.