Photonics Handbook

Analysis, Test & Measurement
Detectors, Cameras & Imaging
Fiber Optics & Communications
General Information
Lasers & Light Sources
Optical Components
Optical Design
Optical Materials & Coatings
Photonic Manufacturing
Positioning Equipment

Analysis, Test & Measurement

Imaging Colorimetry
CCD-based instruments provide accurate photometric and colorimetric data for each image pixel,...

Dynamic Interferometry
Mechanical vibration, moving parts and turbulent airflow present significant problems for most...

Quantifying Light
When an application requires an illumination source, the designer can provide an optimal solution...

Spectroscopy
Understanding the whys and wherefores of a technology goes a long way toward solving your problem....

Photometry
Simply put, photometry is the measurement of visible light based on the response of the average...

Broadband Spectrophotometry
Broadband spectrophotometers coupled with relatively simple algorithms can provide fast,...

Particle Image Velocimetry
New tools and techniques such as single-oscillator, double-pulsed lasers expand the applications...

Integrating Spheres
The integrating sphere is a simple, yet often misunderstood, device for measuring optical...

Radiometry
Radiometry involves measuring and predicting levels of optical radiation. This article removes some...

Colorimetry
Colorimetry, the science of color measurement, is widely employed in commerce, industry and the...

Spectroscopy
Spectrochemical analysis employing optical spectroscopic methods is used to monitor the water we...

NSOM
Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is an optical microscopy technique capable of imaging...

Interferometry
Long applied to optical shop testing, interferometry is now used to measure many different types of...

Detectors, Cameras & Imaging

Near-UV Reflectance Imaging
Near-ultraviolet imaging has long been thought to be difficult and awkward by many photographers...

Camera Resolution
Most image-quality discussions center on resolution, which is thought to uniquely determine system...

Detectors
Choosing a detector requires evaluating many operating parameters and desired outcomes. This...

Adaptive Optics
For more than three centuries, the Earth’s atmosphere has frustrated astronomers. The layer of...

Detectors
Charge-injection device (CID) technology provides a means to convert optical signals from 185 nm to...

Digital Still Cameras
The digital camera reflects a sea change in the compact camera market. While the 20th was the...

Infrared Spectral Selection
An IR imaging system employing a narrow spectral band brings hidden images to light, broadening IR...

Digital Cameras
Reducing pixel size can increase a digital camera's performance. However, there are tradeoffs that...

SWIR Imaging
Short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging with InGaAs-based cameras is well suited to nondestructive...

Image Processing
Digital imaging provides the means to enhance features of interest while attenuating details that...

Infrared System Design
While equations and data pertaining to infrared system design abound,1 comparatively little has...

High-Speed Video Selection
The demand for high-speed imaging has increased for a broad range of applications, from automotive...

Hyperspectral Imaging Spectroscopy
Spectral imaging has grown from an expensive research-oriented technique to one that is applicable...

Detectors
The CCD camera is becoming the imaging method of choice in biological laboratories for its...

Frame Grabbers
Frame grabbers are the key component in vision systems and a consideration in real-time and...

Detector Arrays
Devices that perform well under laboratory conditions often face hurdles in uncontrolled real-world...

Image Intensification
Through succeeding generations, image intensifying devices have brought vision to the dark of...

Photomultipliers
Rapid detection of light calls for a sensitive detector and electronics that do not introduce...

Fiber Optics & Communications

Spectrum Analysis for DWDM
The demand for bandwidth drives a growing need for a new breed of test and measurement instruments....

Adhesives for Fiber Optics Assembly
Using the proper adhesive in the assembly of fiber optic components not only saves time and...

Characterizing High-Speed Transmitters
The basic fiber-based communications system consists of a laser transmitter which converts...

Polarization in Fiber Systems
To appease the demand for bandwidth, telecommunication operators are pushed to increase the...

OTDRs
The optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is used to characterize a fiber optic span. It...

Fiber Optics
Nothing has changed the world of communications as much as the development and implementation of...

Connectors and Splices
Whether the job is splicing fibers together or connecting fibers to system devices, alignment is...

Polarization Mode Dispersion
The performance of high-speed, digital fiber optic communications systems depends upon how reliably...

General Information

Coefficients of Expansion and Densities of Optical Materials
Material Coefficient of Expansion(×10–6...

Photometric Units
SI...

SI Prefixes
International System of Units (SI)SI...

Angle Conversions
A chart listing angle conversions – Degree, Minute, Second, Radian, Milliradian, Circumference and...

Units of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Greek Alphabet
Table of the Greek alphabet and what the letters are commonly used to designate

Chemical Symbols for the Elements
Chart of the first 103 chemical symbols for the elements

Density
Conversion table – density to percent transmission

Transmission Ranges for Optical Materials

Physical Constants & Conversion Factors

Rules of Thumb
Photonics Rules of Thumb Scientists and engineers tend to want to answer simple relational...

The Photonic Spectrum Reference Chart

Lasers & Light Sources

Driving Diode Lasers
Observing the basic principles and understanding the physical behavior of diode lasers helps users...

CO2 Lasers
Four decades ago, the first industrial use of lasers was for drilling through diamonds or wire draw...

Laser Diodes
You are designing a product that incorporates a high-power laser diode. Do you need a custom...

Fiber Lasers
Since its inception, the fiber laser has attracted users because of its large gain and the ability...

Laser Scanning Systems
Laser scanning technology is employed in a variety of applications, each of which has specific...

Diode-Pumped Lasers
Diode-pumped, solid-state lasers offer several advantages over gas and lamp-pumped solid-state...

Lasers
Although lasers range from quantum-dot to football-field size and utilize materials from gases to...

Beam Diagnostics
Whether the application is scientific, commercial, industrial or medical, beam diagnostics has...

Laser Applications Tables

Excimer Lasers
A unique combination of high power and short wavelength output makes excimer lasers critically...

Solid-State Lasers
Optimizing the power and repetition rate of pulsed solid-state lasers allows materials processing...

Ion Lasers
While newer technologies now compete with ion lasers in a number of applications, demand for them...

Laser Safety
Laser eye injuries are an integral part of the history of lasers, but with a cultural change among...

Industrial Lasers
The field of industrial laser applications includes welding, drilling, cutting, marking, heat...

High-Power Semiconductor Lasers
Besides their established role in telecommunications and optical information storage, semiconductor...

Laser Beam Measurement
Although slit-based profilers were designed to measure continuous-wave (CW) lasers, they can also...

Semiconductor Lasers
Within only a few decades, the semiconductor laser diode has evolved into a family of robust,...

Machine Vision Lighting
Lighting, sometimes a step-child in machine vision considerations, has become a first-order...

Standard CIE Illuminants

The VCSEL Advantage
Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) differ from edge-emitting lasers in that their...

Nd:YAG Lasers
The Nd:YAG laser crystal was developed not long after the discovery of the ruby laser in the 1960s....

Tunable Laser Technology
Many types of lasers are designed to allow the operator to tune or change the output wavelength...

Pulsed Lasers
Operation in a pulsed rather than continuous-wave (CW) manner enables a laser with a given average...

Optical Components

Cleaning Optics
Cleaning optical elements improves performance, providing proper materials, techniques and handling...

Excimer Optics
The excimer laser, a powerful source of UV radiation, has accelerated its move from the research...

Optical Components
Optical components fall into two basic groups: transmissives and reflectives. Transmissives include...

Filters
The following is a list of terms commonly used to describe the spectral characteristics of...

Lens Aberrations
A perfect lens can produce a perfect image. But seven primary lens aberrations can blur or distort...

Bandpass Filters
Bandpass filters are passive optical devices that control the flow of light, much as a transistor...

Component Choices
Designing an optical system involves more than simply understanding the theory behind optics. To...

Acousto-Optic Devices
Charts showing the characteristics of acousto-optic scanning devices, acousto-optic figures of...

Beryllium Mirrors
Beryllium mirrors are finding commercial applications, while maintaining their military and space...

Optical Design

Pressurization

Optical Design Software
Thanks to powerful and inexpensive desktop computers and a wide range of software product...

Plastic Optics
The versatility of plastic optics opens new doors for optical designers who understand the whys and...

Polygonal Laser Scanners
Polygonal laser scanning is the technology of choice in a variety of applications. It can be used...

Common Lens Formulas
Formulas for lens focal length, magnification, relative aperture (f/#), object-to-image distance,...

Optical System Design
The design of optical systems should balance the coating constraints with the optical and...

Nano-Optics
Operating in the nano-realm offers designers a host of new opportunities. Understanding what to...

Beamsplitters
With the large variety of beamsplitters available, the designer needs to take many factors into...

Illumination Design Software
Optical systems design and analysis software is a key element in an optical engineer’s toolkit....

Gaussian and Newtonian Thin Lens Formulas
Four important equations from which the image distance and the lateral magnification can be...

Global Optimization
Optical Research Associates’ Global Synthesis (GS) algorithm has been in use for more than ten...

Passive Athermalization
An optical system is athermalized if its critical performance parameters (such as MTF, BFL, EFL,...

Optical Objective Systems
Simple Meniscus Lens The simple meniscus lens is almost universally used in...

Optical Materials & Coatings

Heat Control and Lighting Systems Design
Modern coating technology offers the lighting system designer a number of ways to deal with heat...

High-Brightness LEDs
Ongoing advancements pave the way for high-power LEDs in broader application...

Data Tables
Tables showing parameters of the most frequently used physical vapor deposition materials for a...

Common Infrared Optical Materials
The purpose of this guide is to identify the most common infrared transmitting materials, point...

Optical Materials

Antireflection Coatings for the Ultraviolet, Visible and Near-IR
Graphs showing reflection curves of common antireflection coatings

Mirrors
A mirror is an important element in many optical systems. Its basic function is to redirect light,...

Optical Coatings
The challenges of producing dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) filters for...

Materials for Optical Coating Deposition
Coatings made of optically thin layers are used in a variety of applications to control the...

Photonic Manufacturing

Laser Perforation
Perforated thin sheets of material are required in many applications, including plastic and metal...

Diamond Machining
Ultraprecision machining can be defined in general terms as the removal of material from a...

Photonic Component Manufacturing
A shift in assembly methods would help reduce costs and increase production in the optoelectronics...

Fiber Bragg Gratings
Fiber Bragg grating technology has gained favor in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)...

Connecting Photonic Devices
Because photonic components such as multiplexers, carrier and pump lasers and attenuators must fit...

Microassembly
Optimizing positioning systems for microassembly processes requires an understanding of the...

Optical Materials
Double-sided lapping and polishing utilizes planetary action with the combination of a top and...

Nano-Optics Technology
Transforming ordinary materials into extraordinary optics holds the key to...

Photonics Packaging
An examination of the packaging technology of photonic components for optical communication and...

Positioning Equipment

Nanopositioning
Nanopositioning has enjoyed a blistering rate of innovation, both in new technologies and in...

Performance
To make the right decisions and to ensure satisfactory performance in a positioning system, it is...

Vibration Control
In an environment where both industry and research are working in a micron realm, vibration can...

Optical Mounts
For optical equipment manufacturers or laboratory researchers, minimizing drift to eliminate...