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BAE Systems Sensor Solutions - Fairchild - Thermal Imaging Solutions 4/24 LB
APE Dictionary Terms

electron-beam lithography system
An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...
functional material
Functional materials refer to materials that possess specific properties or functionalities that make them suitable for...
pulse forming network
A series of capacitors and inductors connected to the flashlamp in a pumped Nd:YAG laser system in order to regulate the...
aspheric lens
An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...
split lens
A close-up lens, semicircular in shape, that is mounted in front of a conventional lens focused at infinity. The result is...
spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...
Schmidt camera
A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the...
drum camera
A type of streak camera that uses film wrapped around a drum, which moves at a constant speed to record the changing shape...
laser surgery
Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut,...
halogen lamp
A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a...
front operating aperture
The restricting aperture located at the front of the lens. It is usually defined as the maximum diameter of the entrance...
pupil
1. In the eye, the opening in the iris that permits light to pass and be focused on the retina. 2. In a lens, the image of...
aperture diaphragm
The second adjustable iris diaphragm in an optical system. In the common microscope condenser system, it usually is located...
glass annealing furnace
A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be...
waveguide
A waveguide is a physical structure or device that is designed to confine and guide electromagnetic waves, such as radio...
thermal interface materials
Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are substances or compounds used to enhance the thermal conductivity between two surfaces...
3D printing
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that builds three-dimensional objects...
scanner
1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The...
Lissajous pattern
The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes...
biconic connector
A type of fiber optic connector consisting of two cone-shaped ferrules aligned by a mating sleeve.
auto-iris lens
A device for automatic exposure control in which a motor-driven diaphragm adjusts the aperture in response to a signal from...
ring dye laser
A laser using a dye solution as the active medium whose resonator is formed into a ring (or a triangle or another shape) by...
diverging lens
A diverging lens is a type of lens that causes parallel rays of light to spread out or diverge. It is thinner in the center...
resolution target
A chart on paper or glass containing a series of sets of lines at progressively smaller spacing and used to ascertain the...
image dissector tube
An electron tube that is used as a camera tube for a television system. When the picture to be transmitted is focused on a...
digital camera
A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of optical lens that consists of a series of concentric grooves or steps carved into a flat, thin...
fused array of fibers
Optical fibers fused together to form a solid, vacuum-tight assembly in the form of a slab or rod. Discs or rectangular...
cylindrical lens
A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape...
electrowetting display
An electrowetting display (EWD) is a type of electronic display technology that utilizes the principles of electrowetting to...
free aperture
 electronic video recording
A term applied to the recording of video images by means of magnetic tape or disc, so that the image's record can be played...
molded lens
A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such...
chalcogenide
Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...
beam shaper
A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...
magnetorheological finishing
Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...
moving aperture technique
Method for reducing laser speckle in which the object field comes from a real diffuse object or the reconstructed object...
electronic shutter
A mechanical shutter that has had its timing escapement replaced with an electronic timing circuit. This circuit allows a...
keystone distortion
A type of geometrical distortion that brings about a trapezoidal display of a nominally rectangular picture. Usually...
Bertrand lens
A small convergent lens, located between the objective and eyepiece of a microscope, that focuses an image of the upper...
printer
A photographic enlarger with a fixed negative plane and a fixed paper plane, often using a roll of paper that is advanced...
phase distrortion
Phase distortion refers to a change in the phase relationships between different frequency components of a signal. In the...
figuring
The process whereby the shape of an optical surface is altered by polishing.
lensometer
An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens,...
electrostatic tape camera
A camera that records its images electrostatically on plastic tape; used in situations where radiation would have an adverse...
aplanatic points
Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...
basic roughness
The roughness profile shape from which light scattering is expected to occur.
lens mount
The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal...
crystallized glass
Glass of special composition that is melted, formed into desired shapes, and subjected to a high-temperature treatment in...
soft-focus lens
A lens that exhibits spherical aberration when used at large aperture settings, and that forms an image with a slightly...
aperture mask
Also known as a shadow mask, a perforated plate placed between the focusing and accelerating electrodes, and the tricolor...
nonlinear optics
Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a...
spatial light modulator
A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...
bevel face width
The actual width of a bevel rather than its width projected along the lens aperture.
compound lens
A lens composed of two or more separate elements of optical glass that may or may not be cemented together. The surfaces of...
aplanatic surface
An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...
pinhole camera
A lensless photographic camera that uses a small sharp-edged hole as its aperture. The light passed by this aperture onto...
magneto-optic readout device
A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light...
polymer
Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded...
stereolithography
A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal...
matched filter
A filter that maximizes signal-to-noise ratio so that a waveform of known shape can be separated from random noise.
nanoimprint lithography
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a...
wedge spectrograph
A spectrograph in which the flux density transmitted through the entrance aperture is regulated by an optical wedge or...
filovirus
Filoviruses are a family of viruses that are responsible for severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fevers in humans and...
Cornu-Jellet prism
A prism formed by dividing a Nicol prism in a plane parallel to the path of vibration of the transmitted light and taking...
2D profile sensor
A 2D profile sensor is a type of sensor used in various industrial and technological applications to measure and capture...
dilation
In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the...
rear operating aperture
The restricting opening at the rear of a lens or prism that is commonly defined as the maximum diameter of the emergent cone...
double slit
A pair of long, slender parallel apertures used in experiments on diffraction and interference.
Becke apertometer
Device used to measure the numerical aperture of a microscope, composed of a 14-mm-thick glass block with numerical aperture...
uniformly redundant array
Array used in coded-aperture imaging experiments with two-beam CO2 lasers that provide an artifact-free process, faithful...
quantum
The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...
fiber optic taper
A coherent fiber optic bundle made from fibers whose diameter changes gradually along its length. Used to magnify or reduce...
Wehnelt cylinder
Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a...
beam diameter
1. Calculated distance between two exactly opposed points on a beam at a chosen fraction of peak power (typically 1/e2). 2....
pulse video thermography
A noncontact, nondestructive method of measuring defects in thin composite materials, using a xenon flashtube to generate...
prism
A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It usually has two parallel bases,...
concave and convex spherical mirror
Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These...
diamond turning
Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...
microscope immersion fluid
The liquid used in microscopy to fill the space between the high-power objective lens and the microscope slide in order to...
rhomboid prism
A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces;...
cone
1. A solid figure whose base is a circle and whose sides taper upward evenly to a point or apex. Light rays diverging from...
Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor
The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....
well plate
A well plate, also known as a microplate or microtiter plate, is a flat plate with multiple small wells or depressions...
pulse analyzer
The instrument used to analyze a pulsed electromagnetic wave to determine its time, amplitude, duration and shape, and to...
sputtering target
A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....
wide-field fluorescence microscopy
Wide-field fluorescence microscopy uses either naturally occurring structures or staining with fluorescent tags that are...
substrate
A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various...
nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy
Nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy is a microscopy technique that combines the principles of photonic...
structuring element
The pattern used as a probe in morphological image processing to manipulate the size and shape of objects in an image.
accessible radiation
Electromagnetic radiation present upon the open aperture of the source within an operating environment.
television aperture
The term that represents the size of one of the many small elements into which a television image is necessarily broken down...
aptamer
An aptamer is a short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecule that can bind to a specific target molecule with high affinity...
microscope
An instrument consisting essentially of a tube 160 mm long, with an objective lens at the distant end and an eyepiece at the...
laser diode module
A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single...
limiting aperture
The maximum circular area over which radiance and radiant exposure can be averaged.
working aperture
The maximum aperture of a lens at which it will still give a sharp image, even though its physical aperture may be larger.
corneal shaping
The mechanical modification of the shape of the cornea to correct a vision defect.
rim ray
A ray of an image-forming bundle that passes through the edge of the entrance pupil or aperture stop. Usually used in...
Winston cone
Specified curved optic intended for maximum collection of light, including off-axis rays, before leaving the exit aperture.
aperture imaging
The formation of an image by a pinhole aperture that transmits radiation, such as gamma radiation.
phase annulus
A term for the ring-shaped stop in a phase contrast microscope. The phase annulus limits the amount of light that reaches...
otoscope
An otoscope is a medical device used by healthcare professionals, particularly ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists,...
aperture ratio
The ratio of the lens aperture to its focal length (1/f/#).
field stop
An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.
vignetting
In an optical system, the gradual reduction of image illuminance as the off-axis angle increases, resulting from limitations...
hard copy
Text or images printed on paper or another tangible medium, as opposed to those viewed electronically on a cathode-ray-tube...
aperture card
A combination 80-column computer card containing a 35-mm microfilm frame. Reference data can be punched onto the card to...
near-field region
The area closest to an aperture or source where the diffraction pattern differs substantially from that observed at an...
apertometer
An instrument designed to measure the numerical aperture of an objective.
motion picture camera
A camera equipped with a lens and a long length of perforated film, the latter being moved intermittently between exposures...
glass
A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or...
colliding pulse modelocked ring laser
A ring dye laser that uses prisms and a saturable absorber within the laser cavity to shape and shorten the pulses...
aperture illumination
The amplitude, polarization and phase contained in the field distribution over the aperture.
effective f number
For a lens with an obscured or noncircular aperture, the focal length divided by the effective aperture.
lens molding
The production of rough glass lens blanks that are pressed while red-hot to the approximate size and shape of the finished...
Martin's diameter
A specific method for measuring the diameter of irregular shaped particles, Martin's diameter is the measured distance...
stop down
To reduce the size of a lens aperture, which increases the depth of field.
angular aperture
The angle between the most divergent rays that can pass through the lens to form an image. In a birefringent crystal light...
variable-focus condenser
An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements...
symmetrical lens
A lens system made up of two sets of similar lenses, each of which compensates for many of the aberrations produced by the...
light pipe
Transparent matter that usually is drawn into a cylindrical, pyramidical or conical shape through which light is channeled...
box camera
The simplest, most inexpensive type of camera, which is shaped as an oblong or square box, containing the simplest lens,...
optical manufacturing tools and machinery
Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...
optical profiler
Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to...
point cloud
A point cloud is a set of data points in a three-dimensional coordinate system, where each point represents a specific...
electron-gun system
An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find...
Vickers microhardness test
A test similar to the Knoop hardness test, but used for fractured material. The indenter is a square-based pyramid-shaped...
photon jet
A photon jet is a narrow, highly collimated beam of light that is formed when light interacts with small dielectric...
filter wheel
A device that holds a number of filters and allows the filter with the desired characteristics to be rotated into an optical...
rotary laser
A structured light device using a rapidly rotating laser to project a beam of light that appears to the human eye as a...
lateral load test
A method of measuring microbending losses in optical fiber by sandwiching a length of fiber between two parallel plates,...
objective aperture
 recording camera
A type of camera that incorporates a tiny mirror that oscillates in accordance with incoming signals. An illuminated slit is...
convergence
1. In optics, the bending of light rays toward each other, as by a convex or positive lens. 2. Turning in the eyes to view a...
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...
3D laser line profile sensor
A 3D profile sensor, also known as a 3D profiling sensor or 3D depth sensor, is a technology that is used to capture and...
grinding
The process in the manufacture of an optical system that gives it the required geometric shape.
polarization-preserving fiber
Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its...
Fresnel number
In a lens, the square of the radius of its aperture divided by the product of the focal length and the wavelength. It...
morphological processing
A set of algorithms used to study the structural and spatial characteristics of objects in a digitized image for...
Petzval lens
A high-speed, narrow-field lens consisting of two achromats spaced about the aperture stop. Its uses include portrait...
topology
Topology is a branch of mathematics that focuses on the properties of space that are preserved under continuous...
mandrel
A shaft, spindle or any object generally passed through a workpiece to hold, support or shape a particular piece during its...
optical instrument dome
A dome-shaped structure used for some optical instruments in place of a flat window. The transparent material should be of...
bend loss
The loss of optical power in an optical fiber because radiation escapes through its bends. The radiation loss caused by...
electron-beam recording
The recording of the information contained in a modulated electron beam onto photographic or silicon resin-coated materials....
pattern
A device that determines the lens shape in the cutting or edging phase of fabrication. It also is used to denote the...
distortion
A general term referring to the situation in which an image is not a true-to-scale reproduction of an object. The term also...
molded blank
A blank whose basic surface curves are attained by heating and forming a given weight of raw glass; a rough glass blank...
electrostatic printer
An instrument used to print an optical image on a specially treated paper. Light and dark portions of the original image are...
snooperscope
An instrument used for viewing in low levels of illumination by means of infrared radiation. A high-aperture lens forms an...
Butterworth filter
An electric filter that is characterized by a passband of the flattest possible shape.
black hole
A cosmic phenomenon in which the mass and density of a star pass a critical point so that the escape velocity matches the...
microfiche
A small card (10 x 15 cm) that has been treated with a photographic emulsion to record and store the microimages of...
retroreflection
Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly...
liquid marble
Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a...
blocking pitch
An adhesive used to affix optical elements to an approximately shaped body -- usually of cast iron.
contour projector
An inspection device in which the profile of a mechanical part is projected onto a ground-glass screen at a precisely known...
jig allowance
Also called coating jig allowance. That margin on an optical component that is outside the clear aperture for use in holding...
edge-defined film-fed growth
Process for growth of solar cells that results in rectangular shapes consisting of many interconnected cells in a series or...
area concentration
The ratio of aperture area over receiving area for a specific lens. Also called geometric concentration.
color
The attribute of visual experience that can be described as having quantitatively specifiable dimensions of hue, saturation,...
normalized frequency
Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a dimensionless quantity, denoted by the...
helium-neon laser
A helium-neon (HeNe) laser is a type of gas laser that emits visible red light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. It operates...
radiation trapping
That process by which radiation spontaneously emitted by a volume of optical materials is resonantly reabsorbed within the...
electrophoretic display
An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic...
aperture stop
A physical constraint, often a lens retainer, that limits the diameter of the axial light bundle allowed to pass through a...
intensity interferometer
An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector...
Sonnar lens
A photographic objective that uses the thick meniscus principle to obtain its power. It is designed to photograph small...
dye transfer method
The subtractive imbibing process of transferring color prints on paper whereby the dyes from three separately prepared...
object displacement
The movement of an object seen through a refracting prism toward the apex of a prism.
empty magnification
Magnification that is above the level of maximum useful magnification and does not contribute useful resolving power. In a...
micro-optics
Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....
marginal rays
Also referred to as the axial ray (or a-ray), a marginal ray originates from the axial point of the object and passes...
disc laser
A laser having a rod that is a stacked array of discs immersed in a transparent flowing coolant fluid. In this way, the...
Seidel aberrations
Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and...
lapping
1. The process of wearing down the surface of a softer material by rubbing it under pressure against the surface of a harder...
clear aperture
The limited light-gathering area of an optical system. The area is normally restricted to an edge or outer surface of an...
telescope exit pupil
The image of the aperture stop, usually the objective lens, that is produced by the eye lens. When the exit pupil of the...
additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional...
biomarker
A biomarker, short for biological marker, refers to a measurable and quantifiable indicator of a biological condition,...
beamwidth
The angular width of a radiation beam. With respect to a conical beam of light, it is the vertex angle of the cone. The...
photostatic camera
A type of copying camera in which the object is placed on a horizontal easel and photographed by a horizontal camera above...
photodynamic inactivation
Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is a therapeutic approach that utilizes the combination of light, a photosensitizer, and...
Gaussian optics
1. That branch of optics that illustrates the theory in which q is substituted for sin q in Snell's law. Effective results...
saddle
A term used to describe a saddle-shaped -- i.e., convex along one axis, concave along the other -- polished surface,...
microscope objective
The lens located at the object end of a microscope tube. A wide range of objectives is available, including simple...
zonal aberration
Spherical or chromatic aberration in a lens having a wide aperture. It is present because the refracting power varies for...
medical lasers
Medical lasers are devices that produce intense beams of light with specific characteristics and properties, which are used...
tangent ogive
In optics, a shape often given to the leading edge of a projectile. In any side view it appears as a pointed arc, while any...
character read-out system
A photoelectrically controlled, alphanumeric reading device that converts characters to audible or sorting signals which can...
V-groove
A V-shaped channel pressed or etched into a substrate, in which, for example, optical fibers may be placed to create an...
flat pack
A slab-shaped, very low profile package for electronic components; often used when printed circuit boards must be closely...
light-emitting diode
An LED, or light emitting diode, is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs...
clipping
A defect in an optical system that prevents rays from reaching their intended destination; it can be caused by an undersized...
photobiomodulation
A light therapy that utilizes nonionizing light sources, including lasers, LEDs, and broadband light, in the visible and...
aspheric mirror
An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...
off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirror
Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly...
angular spectrum approach
The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and...
minimum angle of deviation
The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...
minimum spot size
The smallest linear diameter to which a laser or other beam of radiant energy is capable of being focused, depending on the...
amplifier
A device that enlarges and strengthens a signal's output without significantly distorting its original waveshape. There are...
computer numerically controlled grinding
Computer numerically controlled (CNC) grinding is a manufacturing process that utilizes computerized controls and precision...
sagged bevel
The shape of the edge of a concave surface when the depth of the bevel plane to the vertex of the surface is controlled to a...
diamond-turned optic
Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...
telecentric lens
There are three types of telecentric lenses: -Image-space telecentric lenses are those in which the aperture stop is...
cassette
A container designed to hold recording material (film, video- and audiotape) so that when it is loaded into a recording...
crater lamp
A glow-discharge tube in which the discharge takes place in the conical or crater-shaped depression at one end of the tube.
Ritchey-Common test
An interferometric method for describing the surface shape of large coated or uncoated optical flats. The procedure uses a...
diffraction fanning
The formation of a fan of light or energy rays in a beam as the beam passes through an extremely narrow aperture.
diaphragm
A flanged or plain ring with a restricted aperture, located in an optical system at any of several points, that cuts off...
blur circle
A blur circle refers to the out-of-focus region in an image captured by an optical system. When an object in a scene is not...
digital optical processing
The scanning of photographs or transparencies of images, either by a vidicon camera or flying spot scanner, for the...
cup bevel
A bevel produced by grinding with a cup-shaped tool.
Koenig-Martens spectrophotometer
A visual, single-unit spectrophotometer with a biprism and a Wollaston prism. The Wollaston prism polarizes coincident...
pulse shaping
The use of variations in the power supplied to a laser to change the shape of the output pulse. The technique is used in...
Kerr soliton
A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical...
Weissenberg method
The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...
spectral signature
A spectral signature, in the context of remote sensing and spectroscopy, refers to the unique pattern or characteristic...
freeform optics
Freeform optics refers to the design and fabrication of optical surfaces that do not follow traditional symmetric shapes,...
magnetic tape recorder
An instrument used to record sound, pictures or both on a magnetic tape for storage and playback.
photon sieve
A photon sieve is an optical device used in the field of optics and imaging. It's designed to focus and shape light,...
pseudohologram
Coded image obtained optically with a nonredundant pinhole array imaging aperture.
line scan
Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the...
cineradiography
The photographic filming of the action of x-ray images recorded on a fluorescent screen by means of large lens apertures and...
diamond cutting tool
A tool made by imbedding small particles of diamond in the working edge. In the optical field, the most commonly used...
optical materials
Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...
Fresnel zone plate
A zone plate in which the zones are alternately transparent and opaque to specific radiation, and coarse enough so that no...
multiple slits
The series of equally spaced parallel slits that make up a scanning aperture in place of a single slit, in the scanning of a...
barrel distortion
The negative distortion that causes a square grid pattern to be imaged as barrel-shaped.
exit pupil
In a lens or other optical system, the image of the aperture stop as seen from image space.
collector
A positive lens located at or close to an intermediate image plane. The collector refracts off-axis light bundles, directing...
image transducer
Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of...
slicing and cutting machine
A slicing and cutting machine is a type of equipment used to precisely cut or slice materials into smaller pieces or shapes....
far-field region
A region far from an aperture or source where the diffraction pattern is essentially the same as that at infinity. Changes...
Fresnel diffraction
1. Also known as near-field diffraction. The field of radiation sent through an aperture in an absorbing screen at large...
convex
Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly...
liquid mirror
A mirror composed of liquid, taking advantage of the parabolic shape of a spinning liquid and the fact that the mirror's...
effective aperture
1. That portion of the aperture that functions to collect energy and deliver it to the final system detector. 2. For an...
electron-beam gun
1. A device generally used in a cathode-ray or camera tube to emit a stream of electrons moving at uniform velocity in a...
flexible display
A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable,...
phototelegraphy
A document-transmitting process that uses a cylinder that rotates the document to be scanned and detected by a photoelectric...
Weibull distribution
A statistical means of characterizing the failure of a fiber or device as related to strain or time. Results are plotted on...
semitransparent and p-phase annular aperture
An aperture consisting of a semitransparent central region whose amplitude transmittance only is varied, and the relative...
beam converter
A device used to alter the shape of or energy distribution within a beam of radiation.
wedge ring detector
A diffraction pattern sampling unit composed of a 32-element monolithic silicon photodiode array and a readout unit. The...
guide factor
A factor derived by equating the incident light on the subject to the required incident light for suitable photography. The...
geometric image
The position and shape of the image of a point source, as predicted by geometric optics alone. The geometric image is to be...
tapered undulator
microRNA
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules, typically consisting of about 19 to 24 nucleotides,...
optical caliper
A device for measuring linear dimensions. The optical caliper generally consists of two circularly mounted mirrors whose...
Talbot's bands
The series of interference bands that appear in the spectrum when a specified glass plate is inserted into a spectroscope,...
hydrogel
A hydrogel is a three-dimensional network of polymer chains that are hydrophilic, meaning they have a strong affinity for...
camera obscura
A forerunner of the modern camera, this instrument had a focusable lens that produced a sharp image on the enclosure...
grinding and polishing machinery
Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...
numerical aperture
The sine of the vertex angle of the largest cone of meridional rays that can enter or leave an optical system or element,...
pyramid error
Pyramid error in optics refers to an aberration in the shape of an optical surface, particularly in the context of mirrors....
optical glass
Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...
blister
An extended bubble or seed on glass, elliptically shaped and more than one-quarter inch (6.3 mm) in length.
globulite
A crystal of microscopic size having no definite plane faces and having a globular shape. At the time the crystal is formed,...
resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...
point source lamp
A lamp, usually incandescent, that has a very compact filament, permitting a greater concentration of emitted light, aided...
induced pluripotent stem cells
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are ordinary cells that are genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like...
confocal scanning microscope
A microscope design that involves apertures inserted in conjugate plane positions inside the microscope, with one aperture...
inefficient shutter
A shutter in which the opening and closing times for a large aperture setting occupy a substantial fraction of the total...
surface profile
A representation of the shape of a surface, including any roughness or other irregularities. The profile can be generated by...
pulse reduction factor
Factor that relates the pulse spread occurring in a graded-index fiber to that of an equivalent step-index fiber having an...
scalar diffraction theory
Scalar diffraction theory is a simplified approach used to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves, particularly...
astronomical mirror
An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It...
Talbot's law
The law stating that the brightness of an object that is examined through a slotted disc, rotating over a critical...
rapid rectilinear lens
A double meniscus system in which two achromatized meniscus lenses are arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture...
astronomical telescope
An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...
beam profiler
A device that measures the spatial distribution of energy perpendicular to the propagation path of a radiant beam. An energy...
Risley prism
A Risley prism, also known as a Risley prism pair or Risley rotating prism, is an optical device used for controlling the...
point spread function
The point spread function (PSF) is a fundamental concept in imaging that describes the response of an imaging system to a...
hyperfocal distance
That object distance at which a camera must be focused so that the far depth of field just extends to infinity. The near...
liquid crystal
Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid...
blackbody simulator
A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical,...
edge
The flat or angled surface, usually fine-ground, that limits the aperture of a lens or prism surface.
dark-field condenser
A condenser that forms a hollow cone-shaped beam of light with its focal point in the plane of the specimen. If it is used...
oil-immersion objective
A form of high-power microscope objective where the space between the object and the first element is filled with an oil...
blocking shaper
A convex, concave or flat cast iron form that is used to shape a soft mold block of optical components.
synthetic aperture radar
Imaging radar that increases the sweep of its along-track (or azimuth) capacity by measuring not only the time delay of the...
thermal imaging
The process of producing a visible two-dimensional image of a scene that is dependent on differences in thermal or infrared...
fluorographic camera
A camera with a very high aperture lens or mirror system for photographing x-ray fluorescent screen images, mainly to save...
binning
Combining adjacent pixels into one larger pixel, resulting in increased sensitivity and lower resolution, or, in image...
launch numerical aperture
The numerical aperture of an optical system used to couple (launch) power into an optical waveguide.
effective numerical aperture
The real numerical aperture (NA) of a fiber when the computed NA is not valid because of change in the glass indices during...
camera shutter
An apparatus, designed for use with a camera, that is used to rapidly open the path from lens to film, to maintain the...
infrared modulated ellipsometry
A direct method of measuring refractive index that works best with flat-surfaced samples (i.e., those that are not dependent...
phase mask
In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it....
apodization
The use of a variable transmission filter at the aperture stop of a lens to modify its diffraction pattern. Reduced...
endoscope
An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...
Bessel functions
Two formulas used in diffractometer analysis, the first giving the individual diffraction patterns of each aperture, the...
phase translation
The propagation or hindrance of waves reaching each aperture of the interferometer because of atmospheric turbulence.
correction wedge
In rangefinders and height finders, a rotatable or sliding wedge-shaped element used to divert the line of sight precisely...
scannogram
The record formed on paper by a scanner.
machine vision lens
A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated...
plastic jackets
The direct cladding used for fused silica cores to create large numerical aperture fibers and used as overcoats to...
elastomer
Any material of a macromolecular nature that can stretch at room temperature to more than twice its length and return to...
paraxial
Characteristic of optical analyses that are limited to infinitesimally small apertures. Also called first-order or Gaussian...
fluorographic lens
A lens having an extremely high aperture and used in the recording of x-ray fluorescent screen images. It often is specially...
masks for evaporation/deposition
In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit...
optical testing instrument
An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and...
fiber optic transceiver
A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic...
orange peel
In the context of imaging, particularly digital imaging and printing, "orange peel" refers to a texture or visual distortion...
aperture
An opening or hole through which radiation or matter may pass.
freeform mirrors
Freeform mirrors refer to reflective optical components that deviate from traditional symmetric or rotationally symmetric...
definition test object
A chart, either printed on paper or prepared photographically on glass plates or film, that consists of 3-bar resolution...
trapezium distortion
The distortion of an image formed by a cathode-ray tube, caused by unbalanced deflection voltages or deflection voltages...
metabolic imaging
Metabolic imaging refers to the visualization and quantification of metabolic processes within living organisms, tissues, or...
stressed mirror polishing
A method of polishing an aspheric surface by mechanically distorting the optic while polishing the surface to a perfect...
divergence
1. In optics, the bending of rays away from each other. 2. In lasers, the spreading of a laser beam with increased distance...
field lens
1. A lens situated at or near the plane of an internal image to project the aperture of a previous objective or erector upon...
wide-angle lens
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...
embedded laser
The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or...
polycrystal
A substance that transmits the infrared, but which is too delicate or fragile to be used in the form of a single crystal....
refracted ray method
The technique for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by scanning the entrance face with the vertex of a high...
Martens wedge
A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane...
phenotype
In biology, particularly genetics and evolutionary biology, the phenotype refers to the observable characteristics or traits...
optical phase distortion
Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...
lens blank
A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which...
microring resonator
A microring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped...
test glass
A transparent block shaped accurately to reverse curvatures of the components it is used to test. By contacting an...
slit
An aperture, usually rectangular in shape, with a large length-to-width ratio, and a fixed or adjustable shape through which...
photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain accurate three-dimensional measurements of objects and environments through the...
hololens
A series of permanent holograms in dichromated gelatin formed by opening total page-composer apertures and setting a point...
tapered waveguide
A waveguide having a characteristic that is altered continuously with the distance traveled, relative to the axis of its...
chief ray
The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an...
void
A blank area (caused by insufficient inking of the paper) that falls within the range of an intended character stroke in an...
lateral shearing interferometer
A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams...
sky filter
A filter designed to decrease the luminosity of the sky without decreasing that of the landscape in the foreground. A filter...
prism apex
The thin edge of a refracting prism; the line of intersection of two refracting surfaces of a prism.
intravital microscopy
Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in...
electrostatic image dissector
A nonmagnetic instrument utilizing an electrofocus and deflection tube with a photocathode for imaging purposes. The optical...
in vivo
In vivo is a Latin term that translates to "within the living." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and...
horizontal chromatography
A type of paper chromatography that produces a chromatogram that is horizontal instead of vertical.
optical figure
The amount by which an optical surface deviates from its ideal design value, expressed in wavelengths of light. Optical...
optical repeater
In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal,...
optical bench
A support for optical parts comprising a solid bed that permits precise longitudinal movement of one component relative to...
feature extraction
In image processing and machine vision, the process in which an initial measurement pattern or some subsequence of...
telescope lense
A telescope lens is a primary optical component of a telescope system that gathers and focuses light to form an image. It is...
read-write head
That part of a magnetic or optical tape or disc drive that retrieves data from or records data on the recording media.
tapered transmission line
 Secondary Speckle Pattern
A self-interference effect that generates random patterns; secondary speckle pattern (SSP) typically occurs in diffuse...
Joule-Thomson cooler
A detector cooling device in which a gas under high pressure escapes through an expansion valve in the tank; as the escaped...
infrared lens
An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...
relative aperture
The ratio of the diameter of the entrance pupil in an optical system to the equivalent focal length of that system. The...
active optics
Technology that corrects the shape of reflective optics; primarily applied in large telescope systems, in order to...
computer-calculated diffraction pattern
The use of computer analysis in the calculation of diffraction patterns for information on the design of optical systems. In...
eye pattern
A pattern on an oscilloscope display that consists of a string of shapes that resemble eyes. Because the pattern becomes...
entrance slit
The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...
sunlight recorder
An instrument consisting essentially of a photoelectric cell filtered to respond to a specified wavelength region, an...
coded aperture imaging
An imaging process in which the single opening of a simple pinhole camera is replaced with many openings called,...
Huefner spectrophotometer
A visual spectrophotometer with a rhomb located directly before the entrance aperture of a constant-deviation...
entrance pupil
In a lens or other optical system, the image of the aperture stop as seen from object space.
Rayleigh criterion of resolving power
When a lens system with a circular aperture is free of aberrations, the image of a point object will appear as a disc of...
holography
Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and...
periscopic lens
Two simple meniscus lenses arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture stop, providing reduced coma, lateral color...
aperture distortion
A loss of resolution or detail in a television signal caused by the size of the electron scanning beam.
phototheranostics
Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines...
Gires-Tournois interferometer
An interferometer similar in construction to a Fabry-Perot interferometer but having a rear mirror with high reflectivity,...
uniphase interference
In interferometry, the result of superimposing two wavefronts of identical shape, yielding a uniform intensity interference...
oscillograph
An instrument used to record rapidly varying currents or voltages. An oscillograph may consist of a cathode-ray tube...
machine vision
Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically...
rectification
A technique used in photogrammetry to ensure parallelism during projection printing. Failure to do this will change a...
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...
camera
A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material...
Bunsen screen
A photometer screen that contains a diaphragm of paper or parchment with a translucent central spot of oil or paraffin.
light-beating spectroscopy
The spectroscopic analysis of optical line shapes and frequency shifts, using the technique of light beating; i.e., the...
precision aperture
An accurately produced hole of any size and shape that is used as a masking device in an optical system. Pinhole apertures...
concave
Concave is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves inward or has a hollow or recessed appearance. In...
overfill
The condition of the numerical aperture or beam diameter of the laser, LED, or other optical source being larger than the...
Koehler illumination
A two-stage illuminating system for a microscope in which the source is imaged in the aperture of the substage condenser by...
cathode-ray tube lens
A high-quality, narrow-angle lens of high aperture designed for low magnification in the recording of cathode-ray tube...
critical aperture
In an optical system, the aperture size at which the lens gives its best overall performance.
chip-on-board lights
Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a...
lidar
Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and...
optical tape recorder
An instrument used for video or computer data storage in which a laser optical head is used to write digital information...
beam profiling
Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It...
microaperture
A small opening or slit in a mask.
blank
A piece of glass, quartz or other transparent material formed roughly by molding or cutting into the approximate shape and...
erosion
In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the...
antiguide
A waveguide that has a core with a lower refractive index than the refractive index of the cladding. This structure can...
cribbing
The breaking of the excess glass from the specified shape.
member
In a lens system, a group of elements considered as an entity; either a front or rear member depending on whether it is...
Mills cross (telescope)
The Mills Cross telescope is a two dimensional radio telescope in which the two antenna arrays are positioned perpendicular...

(388 results found)

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