The formula describing the spectral radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody as a function of its temperature and the wavelength of the emitted radiation. where Wλ equals radiation emitted into a hemisphere, C1 equals 3.7405 x 104,...

The time domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to describe signals in terms of their behavior over...

A beamsplitter is an optical device for dividing a beam into two or more separate beams. A simple beamsplitter may be a very...

The use of a krypton laser system for the measurement of small molecules aligned by an electric field, by analyzing the...

MTF analysis/measurement equipment refers to instruments and tools used to measure and analyze the modulation transfer...

A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical,...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....

Data or encoded information capable of being eradicated, leaving the media free for rewriting. Also called reversible.

Histology is the branch of biology and medicine that involves the study of the microscopic structure of tissues and organs...

A pattern on an oscilloscope display that consists of a string of shapes that resemble eyes. Because the pattern becomes...

The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged...

A mirror mount is a mechanical device used to secure and precisely position mirrors in optical systems. Mirrors are...

A mechanical or electrical-electromagnetic device for periodically interrupting or blocking abeam of light for a brief known...

A reagent is a substance or compound that is used in a chemical reaction to bring about a specific transformation or to...

An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives...

Law relating the illuminance (or irradiance) of a surface to the cosine of the angle, q, between the normal to the surface...

Three-photon microscopy is an advanced imaging technique that belongs to the family of multi-photon microscopy methods. It...

A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or...

The number of unique ways in which a part can move in an alignment system. In static alignment, there are six: one in the...

The term delta error (delta-E) generally refers to the difference or change in error between two values or states. The word...

A cold-cathode tube containing neon and designed to visually determine a potential difference or field.

A quantitative measurement of the coherence of a light source; equal to the visibility (V) of the fringes of a two-beam...

A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light...

Broadband dielectric mirrors, also known as broadband mirrors, are optical coatings designed to efficiently reflect or...

1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the...

Also referred to as differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy; Nomarski microscopy is a unique form of microscopy...

The emission of a photon by the return of an excited carrier from the conduction band to the valence band of a semiconductor...

A broken circle used as the test object in distinguishing visual acuity. The width of the gap in the circle is equal to the...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...

A dichroic mirror, also known as a dichroic beamsplitter or interference filter beamsplitter, is an optical device that...

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses...

The point spread function (PSF) is a fundamental concept in imaging that describes the response of an imaging system to a...

Microscopy is a scientific technique that involves the use of microscopes to observe and study objects that are too small to...

Ultrasonic refers to sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing, typically above...

A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal...

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized...

A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance...

A machine vision technique that compares a template of the desired image (the correlation kernel) with the actual camera...

Illumination in which the light source is imaged at the object.

The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes...

Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field that involves the manipulation and control of very small fluid volumes, typically...

Micro-optical coherence tomography (micro-OCT) is an imaging technique that is an adaptation of optical coherence tomography...

Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the...

A microscope designed with two eyepieces (oculars), permitting the use of both eyes when viewing through the instrument.

In optics, the double refraction that is produced when stress is applied to a transparent material. Plastics, which are...

In astronomy, the relative brightness of a celestial body. Originally a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 represented the brightest...

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...

Cathode radiant sensitivity refers to the ability of a photocathode to convert incident radiant energy, typically in the...

A large-scale, precise drawing of the contours of a perfect mechanical part, often with plus and minus tolerances drawn or...

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the...

A microscope that has an annular stop in the lower focal plane of the condenser, and a quarter-wave retarding and absorbing...

A lens that has one convex surface and the other concave.

An interferometric method for describing the surface shape of large coated or uncoated optical flats. The procedure uses a...

A small television tube originally developed for closed-circuit television. It is about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches...

A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is...

Alphanumerical description of color according to Munsell hue, value and chroma.

A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola....

The law stating that when light strikes a surface at such an angle that the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular...

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...

Image distortion that occurs when the axes of the original image are not perpendicular in the resulting image, making the...

Phase contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy technique that enhances the contrast of transparent and colorless...

The methods and techniques used to obtain medical photographs of the human eye. To photograph the exterior of the eye,...

A material that can rotate the polarization of light that passes through it. An optically active material exhibits different...

A method of graphical ray tracing through a boundary surface dividing two media of differing indices of refraction.

Area scan, in the context of imaging and cameras, refers to a method of capturing an entire two-dimensional image in a...

A near-infrared (NIR) camera is an imaging device designed to capture images in the near-infrared region of the...

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...

A colorimeter using a spinning disc made of different colored sections for colorimetric analysis.

A medical imaging method in which gamma camera heads rotate about the patient to detect radionuclides, enabling physicians...

A device attached to the end of an alignment telescope that detects and calculates a plane mirror's rotation axis that is...

A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism...

A laser having a material, such as ruby, that has an energy state structure of three levels: the ground state (1) wherein...

A technique for detecting free radicals by their electronic spectra. The material to be studied is placed in a...

Phase matching is a crucial concept in the field of optics, particularly in nonlinear optics and the generation of coherent...

A device consisting of a microammeter, a photovoltaic cell and a battery. It is used for the measurement of scene brightness...

A laser warning and countermeasure system containing a sensor that indicates the direction of a laser beam, and analytical...

Hardware installed on fiber cable ends to provide cable attachment to a transmitter, receiver or other cable. Usually a...

Displacement in a direction perpendicular to that of the intended displacement, as in a translation stage with simple...

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a spectroscopic technique that involves using a laser to excite molecules or atoms,...

Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its...

A photodiode that has been designed so that the bar of semiconductor material has a PN junction perpendicular to its length...

Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a...

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as...

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes...

Also termed eye distance. The distance between the vertex of the last optical surface of a visual optical system and the...

Irregular waves; e.g., light waves, having little coherence and a broad spectrum of frequencies.

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a...

A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to...

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are ordinary cells that are genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like...

A semiconductor laser diode that emits light perpendicular to the active region. The output radiation is taken through the...

An instrument using a Michelson interferometer, a beamsplitter, two plane mirrors and a detector to give Fourier analysis of...

A laser-induced scar on experimental bare glass surfaces usually attributable to threshold damage and indicative of isolated...

A lens aberration that causes a flat object surface to be imaged onto a curved surface rather than a plane.

Long-wave infrared (LWIR) refers to a specific range of the infrared spectrum. Infrared radiation is divided into three main...

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...

The mounting of a concave diffraction grating and a plate holder at the ends of a rigid bar. The ends follow separate...

Optical fibers fused together to form a solid, vacuum-tight assembly in the form of a slab or rod. Discs or rectangular...

The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive...

The ratio of the power of a plane-polarized beam that is transmitted through a polarizer placed in its path with its...

An excimer laser is a type of ultraviolet laser that emits short pulses of light in the ultraviolet spectrum. The term...

A standard source of high-charge-state ions for accelerators that has an external magnetic field oriented perpendicularly to...

An LED (light-emitting diode) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs...

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter...

A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light....

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by...

Excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) refers to a medical procedure used in the treatment of coronary artery disease....

The occurrence of very large rotations in transparent materials at weak magnetic fields as predicted in the classical...

A single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is a specialized type of photodetector designed to detect extremely weak optical...

The process whereby white light is separated into its component wavelengths. Light beams of different wavelengths are...

A Ti:sapphire laser is a type of solid-state laser that utilizes a titanium-doped sapphire crystal as the gain medium. The...

An intensified charge-coupled device that uses a large negative charge at the grid to switch off the flow of electrons at...

A surface that envelops a bundle of rays or bundle of normals to the wave surface. It may be observed as a hollow, luminous...

The bending of x-rays by the regular layers of molecules in a crystal acting like a very small diffraction grating. The...

A prism is a geometric optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It is typically a solid, transparent...

A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of...

Low Earth orbit (LEO) refers to a region in space that is relatively close to Earth's surface, typically characterized by...

A refracting telescope that yields an erect image by the use of a positive lens for its objective and a negative lens for...

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful analytical technique that enhances the Raman scattering signal of...

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical...

An infrared light-emitting diode (IR LED) is a semiconductor device that emits infrared light when an electric current...

A parallel plate of glass in such a position that the refracted and reflected rays of incident parallel light are mutually...

The term reflective is an adjective that describes the ability of a surface or material to reflect light or other forms of...

A method of fabricating an optical waveguide by melting the core and clad glasses in two suitably joined concentric...

A radiation detector with its active medium mounted within a lens that focuses the radiation signal. The improvement in...

A means of determining a prism's index of refraction by placing the prism so that its emergent face is perpendicular to the...

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such...

A thermal-infrared camera, often referred to simply as a thermal camera, is a type of imaging device that detects infrared...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a widely used molecular biology technique used to amplify a specific segment of DNA...

Digital signal processing (DSP) refers to the manipulation and analysis of signals, which are representations of physical...

As a wavefront of light passes by an opaque edge or through an opening, secondary weaker wavefronts are generated,...

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and...

A type of geometrical distortion that brings about a trapezoidal display of a nominally rectangular picture. Usually...

An LED, or light emitting diode, is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs...

Measures the refractive indices axially from the fiber profile. Microscopy technique provides an interferogram with high...

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and...

The law expressing the condition under which a crystal will reflect a beam of x-rays with the greatest amount of distinction...

Brightfield refers to a type of microscopy and imaging technique in which the specimen is illuminated with a white light...

The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a...

Phototoxicity refers to the harmful effects caused by exposure to light, particularly intense or ultraviolet (UV) light, on...

A formula indicating that, for an imaging lens system, the image brightness for off-axis points will fall off at a rate...

Computer vision enables computers to interpret and make decisions based on visual data, such as images and videos. It...

Continuous wave (CW) refers to a type of signal or transmission where the signal is constant and does not vary with time. In...

A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to...

A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or...

The law stating that the illuminance (or irradiance) from a point source varies as the inverse square of the distance...

A double-plate device used to transmit polarized light and form interference fringes of the light, thus indicating its...

A semiconductor is a type of material that has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. In...

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...

Sets of paired lines carefully designed to give the most accurate pointing possible for various lengths of sight.

An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e....

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and...

Solar radiation intensity existing in free space at the mean solar distance of the Earth. Commonly expressed in g cal...

An otoscope is a medical device used by healthcare professionals, particularly ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists,...

A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart...

A measure of the relative difference in refractive index between two optical materials. Most commonly used in fiber optics...

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to measure and analyze the optical...

Gram-negative bacteria are a group of bacteria that possess a cell envelope composed of a thin layer of peptidoglycan...

A hollow sphere coated internally with a white diffusing material and provided with openings for incident beam, specimen and...

The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other...

The apparent difference in brightness between light and dark areas of an image. For a light target against a dark...

Process developed for the production of high-resolution patterns in electro- and magneto-optics. These high-generation...

Piezoresistance is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where the electrical resistance of a material changes in...

A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber...

In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit...

Nonlinear optical materials are substances that exhibit optical properties that are not linearly proportional to the...

Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically...

A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.

An arc discharge tube having a grid that is used to start the discharge through an atmosphere of inert gas or vapor at low...

The basis of color vision in the human eye. Three types of cones have been identified, each having a unique spectral...

A magnetic-deflection mass spectrometer that has an electrostatic field placed perpendicularly to its magnetic field,...

A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are...

A small instrument containing a picture support and a pair of magnifying lenses so arranged that the left eye sees only the...

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single,...

A detector array refers to a collection of individual detector elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid or matrix format....

An antigen is any substance that is capable of triggering an immune response in an organism. Antigens are typically proteins...

The ratio of the intensities of two specified spectral lines of a source having vastly different excitation energies. This...

The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and...

Unlike the thermocouple or bolometer, the pyroelectric infrared detector is a current source with an output proportional to...

An infrared light source is a device that emits light in the infrared spectrum, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of...

That property of a material indicating that it will react when exposed to light energy.

A device containing two opposed quartz wedges of equal angle, one wedge being movable along its length by a micrometer...

In vivo is a Latin term that translates to "within the living." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and...

Embedded vision refers to the integration of computer vision technologies into various embedded systems, devices, or...

For light incident on a plane boundary between two regions having different refractive indices, the angle of incidence at...

A polygonal mirror, also known as a multifaceted mirror or facet mirror, is a type of optical component used in various...

A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...

A transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a powerful microscopy technique that uses a beam of electrons to create...

One of a class of crystalline substances belonging to triclinic, monoclinic and orthorhombic systems that have two optic...

Return of radiation by a surface, without change in wavelength. The reflection may be specular, from a smooth surface;...

The negative distortion that causes a square grid pattern to be imaged as barrel-shaped.

An instrument capable of precise measurements of the Earth's gravity. This permits the detection of small changes in local...

A method used in surface quality testing for accurate positioning and rotation of metal spheres about an axis or fixed point...

Terahertz (THz) refers to a unit of frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum, denoting waves with frequencies between 0.1...

A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its...

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline...

In an ionic crystal, the region in the crystal lattice where the ion, predicted to be present, is absent.

Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) refers to the portion of the infrared spectrum that encompasses wavelengths roughly between...

An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by...

A lens consisting of two or more elements, usually of crown and flint glass, that has been corrected for chromatic...

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut,...

A term used to denote a difference in magnification along mutually perpendicular meridians. Anamorphic systems are basically...

When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered...

The simplest lens in which all primary aberrations may be corrected. It consists of two positive crown elements on either...

Diffraction efficiency is a measure of how effectively a diffractive optical element (DOE) or diffraction grating directs...

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...

An instrument in which an image of the sun is scanned by the entrance slit of a monochromator, the exit slit simultaneously...

A photoanalytical instrument for analysis of jaundice conditions in infants that measures bilirubin (a breakdown product of...

A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers...

Also known as single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), this process was designed for imaging of sensitive samples and...

Computer numerically controlled (CNC) grinding is a manufacturing process that utilizes computerized controls and precision...

A camera equipped with angular scales in altitude and azimuth. The scale readings are imprinted on the film when an exposure...

An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...

The base used to hold an astronomical telescope. It may be either altazimuth, with horizontal and vertical axes of rotation,...

The development of a transverse electric field in a solid material when it carries an electric current and is placed in a...

In a diode laser, a mode in the plane of the active layer that is perpendicular to the direction of the emitted beam.

In vitro is a Latin term that translates to "in glass." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and medicine, it...

Virtual histology refers to the use of digital technology and computational methods to simulate or recreate histological...

An optical medical instrument that uses an intense, precisely focused beam of light to stop weakened blood vessels from...

A set of rays through a lens originating at a common point and contained in one plane.

The physical limit of an optical fiber or cable to withstand an applied force or weight perpendicular to the axis of the...

Indication of emission brightness with degree of emission from an optical source.

The Fourier series representation of a two-dimensional periodic field, assuming that the original image is periodic both...

A device that measures the spatial distribution of energy perpendicular to the propagation path of a radiant beam. An energy...

A scale on an optical instrument that indicates the condition of focus. May indicate the distance to the object or diopter...

Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems...

A type of internal photonic connection in an integrated circuit in which a holographic grating is used to focus light at...

An aptamer is a short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecule that can bind to a specific target molecule with high affinity...

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent...

A series of permanent holograms in dichromated gelatin formed by opening total page-composer apertures and setting a point...

A telescope objective with excellent spherochromatic correction, consisting of a meniscus crown and a meniscus flint, both...

A model that predicts laser-induced damage to thin films caused by irradiation of identical, randomly distributed film...

The method by which Thomas Young in 1802 disproved Newton's corpuscular theory of light by the formation of interference...

The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...

A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens...

The scanning of photographs or transparencies of images, either by a vidicon camera or flying spot scanner, for the...

1. The angle between two vectors that represent two simple periodic quantities that vary sinusoidally and that have the same...

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or...

A factor, F, indicating the increase in shot noise in an avalanche photodiode as compared with the ideal multiplier, which...

The movement of the eye as it focuses on details of a scene. Some imaging systems mimic this movement by small, rapid...

A gas laser in which the electrodes are mounted perpendicular to the optical resonator.

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single...

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the...

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that involves the use of artificial neural networks to model and solve complex...

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) is a type of gyroscope that uses laser light to detect and measure changes in orientation. It...

A type of refractometer designed to measure the refractive indices of liquids. A section of the instrument is immersed into...

A tabulation of predicted positions that have been calculated for one or more celestial bodies or orbiting satellites.

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital...

An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to...

In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the index varies in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis....

With respect to a crystal, having three unequal axes intersecting at angles, only two of which can be equal and only one of...

Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to...

That part of an infrared detector-Dewar assembly that limits the solid angle viewed by the sensor; it is maintained at a...

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...

The use of retroreflective projection technology (RPT) to project a background image onto a masked object, such as a vehicle...

An optical element having plane-inclined surfaces. Usually the faces are inclined toward one another at very small angles....

A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to...

Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light...

Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) is a technique that extends traditional Raman spectroscopy by incorporating...

Topological photonics is a branch of physics and optics that explores the application of topological concepts to the...

Laser ablation is a process that involves the removal or erosion of material from a target surface using laser energy. This...

The field of view (FOV) refers to the extent of the observable world or the visible area that can be seen at any given...

Light striking a surface at an angle perpendicular to the surface.

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light...

A photodetector, also known as a photosensor or photodiode, is a device that detects and converts light into an electrical...

A telescope with a concave paraboloidal objective mirror and a small plane (diagonal) mirror that reflects rays from the...

An observed effect of the ability of certain atomic particles to pass through a barrier that they cannot pass over because...

A system for automatic industrial process control or measurement, consisting of an optical module for image acquisition, a...

Piezoelectric motion systems are mechanical systems that utilize piezoelectric materials to generate controlled motion or...

Phototherapy is a medical treatment that involves the use of light to treat various conditions, particularly those related...

In the context of optics and lasers, a transverse mode refers to a specific spatial pattern of the electric field within the...

Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines...

Light consisting of a single wavelength or a very narrow band of wavelengths.

A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide...

Harmonic generation refers to a nonlinear optical process in which incoming photons interact with a material and produce new...

Also called proximity focus image intensifier. A compact image intensifier that utilizes a microchannel plate...

An aerial photograph produced when the optical axis of the camera is perpendicular to the surface below.

A lens aberration, resulting from different magnifications in the various lens zones, that occurs in that part of the image...

A Nernst glower, also known simply as a Nernst lamp or Nernst filament, is a type of incandescent lamp or radiant heater...

Essentially, noise that cannot be predicted. Therefore, even if the magnitude of sound or oscillation in a system is known...

A thick meniscus lens arranged concentric with the center of curvature of a spherical mirror to produce an image free of...

A type of fiber optic sensor that detects alteration in position, distance, pressure, liquid level or temperature by...

An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines...

Fluorescent proteins are proteins that exhibit the property of fluorescence, which is the ability to absorb light at a...

A Fresnel lens is a type of optical lens that consists of a series of concentric grooves or steps carved into a flat, thin...

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...

An atomic clock is a highly precise timekeeping device that uses the vibrations or oscillations of atoms as a reference for...

The frequency domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to represent signals and data in terms of their...

An optical instrument containing a gimballed sighting telescope, used to measure angular relationships in horizontal and...

A form of liquid crystal in which flow does not take place in the usual manner. When examined with polarized light, the...

A sapphire window refers to a transparent optical component made from sapphire crystal. Sapphire is a single-crystal form of...

Chemical vapor deposition is a process of applying dopants to a glass bait by flame reactions of gaseous compounds. See also...

Cemented prisms of differing refractive indices which refract incident light and, due to differing refractive indices, will...

A measure of the dispersive properties of a glass. The relative dispersion is defined as: where C, D, and F refer to the...

An optical system having two sets of components separated by an air space, while successive lenses in each set are cemented...

The instrument used to collect thermal radiation information on an object by scanning. It consists basically of a detector,...

A fluorophore is a molecule or a portion of a molecule that has the ability to emit light upon excitation by an external...

Azimuthal polarization refers to a specific polarization state of light where the electric field vector of the...

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is a therapeutic approach that utilizes the combination of light, a photosensitizer, and...

A lens having one or more toric surfaces. A toric surface is one having a maximum power in one meridian and a minimum power...

The range of angle or solid angle values by which light may enter an optical system.

A dichroic coating, also known as a dichroic filter or dichroic mirror, is an optical coating designed to selectively...

A light beam whose electric vectors are broken into two elements of unlike amplitudes that are perpendicular to each other...

A paraboloidal surface on which the image is located when there is no astigmatism.

Cold atoms refer to atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures, typically in the microkelvin (µK) to...

Holmium lasers are a type of medical laser that utilizes holmium-doped crystals as the gain medium. The term holmium laser...

A vidicon that has a photoconductive surface that can be excited by infrared radiation.

Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to...

A fluorescent screen refers to a phosphorescent or fluorescent-coated surface that emits visible light when exposed to other...

With respect to waveguides, the continuous change in the direction of the axis of the wavelength, during which the axis is...

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that uses the near-infrared region of the...

A system that uses a continuous-wave laser to measure the velocity of an object by focusing the laser beam on the object,...

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical...

Backscatter refers to the phenomenon in which radiation or waves are scattered backward, opposite to the direction of the...

An electroluminescent semiconductor that emits low intensity radiation in the green or red regions. Used as an indicator...

In microscopy, the measured distance between theoretical parallel lines that are drawn tangent to the particle profile and...

Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the...

In an optical system, the gradual reduction of image illuminance as the off-axis angle increases, resulting from limitations...

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or...

The distance, on either side of the object plane focused on, through which satisfactory image definition can be obtained....

The path of a given point on a wavefront. One of the radii of a wave of light that indicates the direction of light travel.

A reticle, also known as a reticule or graticule, is a pattern or set of markings placed in the focal plane of an optical...

GaN (gallium nitride) distributed feedback (DFB) lasers refer to a specific type of semiconductor laser based on Gallium...

A medical imaging device that uses a ring of crystal/photomultiplier tube assemblies encircling the patient to detect gamma...

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at...

The ratio between two given absorption coefficients.

The study of the optical properties of living tissue. Increased understanding of the behavior of light in this varied,...

Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it...

The efficiency of scattering by an atom in a particular direction, expressed as: where AA is the amplitude of the wave from...

A mode of data transmission whereby each bit of information is generated separately, with some stop/start code to indicate...

A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution...

Fluorescence lifetime refers to the average time it takes for a fluorophore, a molecule that absorbs light at one wavelength...

An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other...

The vertical or horizontal distance between two addressable points on a display screen; indicates the basic resolution...

An etalon is an optical device that consists of two parallel reflecting surfaces separated by a precise and known distance....

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...

An optical grating, in the context of optics and physics, refers to a device with a periodic structure of closely spaced,...

Filoviruses are a family of viruses that are responsible for severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fevers in humans and...

A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical...

A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into...

Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the...

An eyepiece consisting of a planoconvex field lens and a cemented doublet as the eye lens.

In fiber optics, the use of a detector to study the range of refractive indices achieved at various wavelengths. This...

A PIN photodiode is a type of photodetector or semiconductor device used to convert light signals into electrical signals....

A camera system used for microphotography in which the document to be recorded is on a flat bed, perpendicular to the lens...

The visual examination by a trained observer of the image of a point source. Any coloring or departure from the Airy disc...

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera,...

An absorption peak refers to a sharp increase or spike in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a particular...

A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into...

Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is...

The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic...

Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...

Medical lasers are devices that produce intense beams of light with specific characteristics and properties, which are used...

A method of predicting the nonlinear optical effects exhibited by different molecules without synthesizing the molecules...

Laser marking is a process in which a laser beam is used to mark or engrave a surface by altering its properties or...

A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is...

A sensor generally used for infrared imaging. It consists of two chambers separated by a thin, blackened membrane. An...

A calcium indicator is a molecule that is sensitive to changes in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations in biological systems....

A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or...

Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer...

Also known as corner-cube reflector or retrodirective reflector. Three reflecting surfaces, perpendicular to each other,...

Dichroism refers to the property of certain materials to exhibit different colors or absorbance of light depending on the...

A display that allows the observation and measurement of the altitude and range of airborne objects.

A compound prism formed by cementing together two 30° prisms, one of right-handed and one of left-handed quartz. It has...

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials...

Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical...

The real numerical aperture (NA) of a fiber when the computed NA is not valid because of change in the glass indices during...

Raman spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry and physics to study vibrational, rotational, and other...

A spectroscope having a diffraction grating for the resolution of light of various wavelengths.

Laser lithotripsy is a medical procedure that uses laser energy to break down or fragment stones in various parts of the...

Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser...

Also known as cathodic etching. Surface etching achieved by bombarding an evacuated surface with gas ions.

A figure of merit corresponding to the amount of light seen by a viewer through binoculars. A higher number indicates a...

A femtosecond laser is a type of laser that emits ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of femtoseconds,...

There are three types of telecentric lenses: -Image-space telecentric lenses are those in which the aperture stop is...

Two plane mirrors that are not wholly located in the same plane. When light from a point source or slit reflects from the...

A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to...

The specification of allowable flaws in a surface by comparison to reference standards of quality. Two graded sets of...

Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or...

A band of light that appears along the outer edge of a transparent material under microscopic investigation and that moves...

Holographic tomography is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and tomography to provide three-dimensional...

Flow cytometry is a powerful technique used in biology and medicine for the quantitative analysis of the physical and...

The photographic recording of a subject that exhibits luminescence only for an extremely short time (10-8 s) after the...

Calculations of lens aberrations whereby the first two terms of the series expansion are the only ones employed....

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...

An instrument that measures several optical parameters, such as optical power and wavelength, with a single measurement...

In a lens, the square of the radius of its aperture divided by the product of the focal length and the wavelength. It...

The change in refractive index that occurs as acoustic vibrations are transmitted through an optical material.The index...

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a technique used in additive manufacturing, specifically in the field of 3D printing. It...

Laser texturing is a manufacturing process that involves using a laser beam to selectively modify the surface of a material,...

The value equal to the raster height divided by the half-period of a periodic test pattern.

Laws that predict the maximum power output as a function of tube diameter for a hydrogen cyanide laser of a given discharge...

A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser...

A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary...

An optical mounting device that permits adjustment around two perpendicular and intersecting axes of rotation.

A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and...

The unit solid angle subtended at the center of a sphere by an area on its surface equivalent to the square of the radius;...

The dielectric coefficient parallel to the director in a liquid crystal display (LCD), rather than perpendicular to the...

A chemical placed in a solution that will indicate when an excess of a substance or ion has been reached by coloring the...

A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that forms at temperatures close to absolute zero. It is named after...

A wave of radiant energy in which each point of the wave is repeatedly displaced at equal time intervals.

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to...

A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68°...

A system in which a supplied signal causes the deflection of the electron beam in a cathode-ray tube, thus forming a visible...

A scintillation crystal, also known simply as a scintillator, is a material that emits light when it interacts with ionizing...

A photonic cavity, also known as an optical cavity, is a structure that confines electromagnetic radiation within a certain...

Ultraviolet (UV) fiber optics refers to optical fibers that are designed and optimized for the transmission of ultraviolet...

A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is...

Fluence is a term used in various scientific and technical disciplines to describe the amount of something per unit area....

The ratio of the diameter of the entrance pupil in an optical system to the equivalent focal length of that system. The...

A rangefinder similar to a pair of binoculars with a long base, a dot or other wander mark provided in each eyepiece field,...

In aerial photography, the geometric method of indicating the three-dimensional location of ground points from a pair of...

Fluorescence is a type of luminescence, which is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other...

A ruggedized scintillation counter used in oil well logging. The cylindrical housing contains a gamma ray source, a...

The Mills Cross telescope is a two dimensional radio telescope in which the two antenna arrays are positioned perpendicular...

Indicating a capability to deal with a relatively wide spectral bandwidth.

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a nonlinear optical process that occurs when two photons with the same frequency combine...

Nondestructive measurement of the delta and alpha of clad optical fibers that involves interferometry with the fiber...

An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to...

A source of light will not cast a distinct shadow of an interfering, opaque object, but will cast a shadow having two parts:...

A holographic grating is a type of diffraction grating that is produced using holographic recording techniques. It consists...

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and...

Lenslike composition of stacked glass cylinders through which a spot of light appears as a streak perpendicular to the...

Deep ultraviolet (DUV or deep-UV) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet light with shorter wavelengths than those in the...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules, typically consisting of about 19 to 24 nucleotides,...

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to...

1. In the geometric sense, an abbreviation for the term "sagitta,'' the height of a curve measured from the chord. ...

Optoacoustic, or photoacoustic, refers to a phenomenon and related techniques that involve the generation of acoustic waves...

A straight line, real or imaginary, passing through a body and indicating its center; a line so positioned that various...

Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in...

The distance from the final optic within a system to the rear image point of the system. See focal length.

In the region of a Gaussian beam focus by a diffraction-limited lens, it is the axial distance from the point of minimum...

A physical constraint, often a lens retainer, that limits the diameter of the axial light bundle allowed to pass through a...

An instrument used to measure the light from a scene to be photographed and to indicate the camera lens and shutter settings...

A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added...

Histochemical staining is a laboratory technique used in biology and medicine to visualize specific chemical components...

A vacuum chamber is a sealed enclosure from which air and other gases are removed to create a low-pressure environment,...

In chemistry, a halide refers to a chemical compound containing one or more halogen atoms bonded to another element. The...

The ratio between the focal length of a lens having a longer focal length than that of the standard lens used with a camera,...

A transducer is a device or component that converts one form of energy into another. It is commonly used in various fields,...

A technique that combines two or more imaging processes in order to minimize the disadvantages within each of the...

Medical diagnostic (x-ray) imaging using laser printers to produce high-resolution digital hard copy instead of film exposed...

The light ray leaving a reflecting surface, indicating the path of light after reflection.

Enhanced picture archiving and communication system (PACS) display (ePAD) is a software tool used in medical imaging to...

An interference filter in which a very thin metal foil with a periodic array of square holes (inductive mesh) or a thin...

A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides...

A medical technology that uses lasers or other light sources in combination with photosensitizing drugs to treat cancerous...

A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the...

An optical projection device designed to project positive color transparencies onto a screen for viewing.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain...

The optical phenomenon that causes relative motion between two objects when the eyepoint is moved laterally. When parallax...

Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of...

A process of color photography in which colors are added one to another in the form of light, rather than as colorants, to...

A sheet of plastic material containing microscopic crystals of herapathite or some other similar substance that transmits...

A type of mosaic detector array that combines features of scanning and staring sensors by using a small rapid scanning...

An InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) camera is a type of imaging device that utilizes InGaAs sensors to capture images in the...

Also called DLIP, a high-speed, high-resolution processing technique that uses high-power, pulsed laser systems to directly...

A device used to project a small area of light on a screen for indication.

Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by the presence of suspended particles. These...

Laser drift typically refers to a phenomenon where the frequency or wavelength of a laser source gradually changes over...

An eyepiece used in a polariscope or polarizing microscope to give a comparison view of the same object under illumination...

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...

A form of lens assembly used in a projection system to maximize efficiency and assure uniform illumination of the object...

Electromagnetic radiation with frequencies between 300 GHz and 10 THz, and existing between regions of the electromagnetic...

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a...

A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or...

A noncontact, nondestructive method of measuring defects in thin composite materials, using a xenon flashtube to generate...

An optical recording technique that uses light source(s), a beamsplitting cube, light detector(s) and an optical fiber...

A type of interferometer noted for producing narrow multiple-beam interference fringes. As a result, when compared with the...

An optical system that is designed to produce a high temperature in a specified area by the optical direction and...

A device used to investigate the dichroism of crystals.

Short-lived molecular or atomic particles, with an unpaired electron, that play an important part in many photochemical...

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) refers to a specific range of electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum....

A general-purpose lens, also known as the Celor lens, used widely in photography and commercial processing; it has the form...

The distance between pupil centers in a two-pupil system, measured perpendicularly to the optic axis.

A spectroscopic technique used in the detection of free radicals by virtue of their electronic spectra. In this method, an...

Second-order nonlinear optical properties refer to a class of phenomena exhibited by certain materials in response to...

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced imaging technique that captures and processes information from across the...

An assembly of multiple prisms that disperses incident light into its spectral components without deviating light at the...

A photomultiplier tube (PMT) is a highly sensitive vacuum tube that detects and amplifies low levels of light. It is widely...

In polarization-preserving optical fibers, the element used to induce birefringence. The SAP is highly doped to provide a...

A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...

In a straight line. When applied to a lens, it indicates that images of straight lines formed by the lens are not distorted.

Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other...

Transparent matter that usually is drawn into a cylindrical, pyramidical or conical shape through which light is channeled...

The curved boundary between two optical media of different refractive indices, which causes convergence.

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric)...

The measure used in vacuum technology to quantify the total pressure capacity of the ferrofluidic seal before it fails.

The incident ray, the normal to the refracting surface at the point of incidence of the ray at the surface, and the...

An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements...

The separation of unpolarized light into two plane-polarized elements by a doubly refracting crystal. When a crystal, such...

1. In a plane Cartesian coordinate system, the vertical axis orthogonal to the X-axis. 2. In a quartz crystal structure, the...

A form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may...

3D Laser Triangulation - A technology that allows sensors to probe the surroundings. Laser triangulation systems have an...

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from...

A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into...

A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent...

Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is an advanced imaging technique that provides information about the lifetime of...

An instrument incorporating an infrared detector assembly, used to analyze carbon dioxide gases and in medical applications...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and...

CoaXPress (CoaXPress or CXP) is a standardized digital interface and communication protocol used primarily in machine vision...

Quantum-enhanced metrology refers to the use of quantum mechanics principles and techniques to enhance the precision and...

A lamp that uses the transmission of an electric current through a gas or vapor to produce illumination. Neon, mercury and...

Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long...

A geometric representation of a light path through an optical device; a line normal to the wavefront indicating the...

Autofluorescence refers to the natural emission of fluorescence exhibited by certain biological structures or molecules when...

A telescope with an ellipsoidal secondary concave mirror that reflects rays from a parabolic primary mirror through an...

A vibrational transition refers to a change in the vibrational energy of a molecule. Molecules consist of atoms that are...

Abbreviated TEA CO2 laser. A gas laser that provides shorter pulses and higher peak powers than conventional CO2 lasers. The...

A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.

Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a dimensionless quantity, denoted by the...

A negative lens used to increase the effective focal length of a telescope objective.

A periodic structure formed by intersecting or superimposed laser beams. These beams can trap atoms in low-potential...

An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on...

The technology of manipulating light on a micro scale. In optical communications, this is usually accomplished using two or...

An aberration that remains after primary color is corrected. Primary color causes the back focus of a lens to vary with...

A biomarker, short for biological marker, refers to a measurable and quantifiable indicator of a biological condition,...

A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.

Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) is a semiconductor alloy composed of gallium (Ga), arsenic (As), and phosphorus (P). It...

Of all the rays passing through a lens from an off-axis object point to its corresponding image point, there is always one...

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible...

An array of lines in the infrared region of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Their wave numbers are expressed by...

A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces;...

An optical system that superimposes a synthetic display providing navigational or weapon-aiming information on a pilot's or...

An event-based image sensor, also known as a dynamic vision sensor (DVS), is a type of digital imaging device designed to...

The position and shape of the image of a point source, as predicted by geometric optics alone. The geometric image is to be...

A type of piezoelectric translator that uses two thin strips of piezoelectric material, one expanding while the other...

Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of...

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...

Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine that focuses on the anatomy, physiology, and diseases of the eyes and visual system....

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of...

A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator...

The pattern of lines traced by rectilinear scanning in display systems.

A glow discharge tube placed on an insulating rod to detect the presence of high-frequency radiation in the vicinity of a...

A Pockels cell, also known as an electro-optic modulator, is an optical device used to control the polarization of light by...

Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the...

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...

Functional materials refer to materials that possess specific properties or functionalities that make them suitable for...

In astronomy, the main lobe of an antenna pattern that has a small angular extent in two mutually perpendicular directions....

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene....

Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...

A type of optical modulator with potential application in optical switching and displays, in which applied voltage causes a...

Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the...

A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiode is a type of photodetector that consists of metal electrodes on a semiconductor...

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...

A measure of the transmittance through an optical medium. Optical density equals the log to the base 10 of the reciprocal of...

On a display monitor, a small, mobile rectangle, cross-hair or pointer that locates a feature in an image that is the object...

Also known as Fresnel reflection. That portion of the incident radiation that is reflected from the surface of a refractive...

In optics and photonics, "phase" refers to a property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the position...

A metalens, short for "metasurface lens," is a type of optical lens that uses nanostructured materials to manipulate light...

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the...

This type of miniaturized system, referred to as CMOS qPCR, combines microfluidic technology with an ultralow-light CMOS...

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical technique used to detect changes in blood volume in tissues. It...

Molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid or tube. Also called buckyballs....

A device utilizing an electron beam for the observation and recording of submicroscopic samples with the aid of photographic...

A laser crystal, also known as an active medium or gain medium, is a solid-state material used in the construction of...

Irradiation of a cylindrical crystal with an x-ray beam resulting in Bragg diffraction that produces a slightly enlarged...

State typically studied in liquid crystals in which the dielectric coefficient parallel to the director is less than the...

Gallium nitride-based light-emitting diodes (GaN-based LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric...

In an optical waveguide, a ray for which geometric optics would predict total internal reflection at the core boundary, but...

A law that uses the square of the cosine between the plane of polarization of a beam of plane-polarized light and the plane...

Thin-film coatings are layers of material applied to the surface of an object or substrate, typically to modify its optical,...

Philips trade name for a lead oxide low-light-level vidicon tube.

A term pertaining to devices (generally optical) designed for use with both eyes viewing through a single exit pupil. The...

Time-lapse optical coherence tomography (OCT) refers to a medical imaging technique that captures a series of sequential OCT...

An experimental lens used to produce interference fringes. A positive lens is cut into halves along its center, and the...

Light striking a surface at an angle almost perpendicular to the normal.

Fresnel reflection refers to the reflection of light at the interface between two different media with different refractive...

The number of electrons that can share a principal quantum number by preventing identity between any two electrons' four...

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent...

A YAG crystal refers to a solid-state crystal made of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), which is a synthetic crystalline...

Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a...

A method for characterizing a fiber wherein an optical pulse is transmitted through the fiber, and the resulting light...

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small...

The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and...

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their...

Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy...

A telescope stand equipped with a polar axis that can be set parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation and a declination axis...

A scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused...

A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates...

In the context of electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, a wafer refers to a thin, flat disk or substrate made of a...

1. The near total absorption of plane-polarized light by a polarizer that has an axis perpendicular to the plane of...

Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a laboratory technique used to detect and measure the presence of specific...

Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from...

The deflection of an electron beam by the action of an electrostatic field that has a component perpendicular to the...

Solid-state laser geometry in which the standard rod is replaced by a slab of laser material. Often called...

A photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) refers to a type of laser diode that emits light from its surface rather...

The formula that indicates the total radiation at all wavelengths from a perfect blackbody. W Total = 5.67 x 10-12 T 4(W/cm2)

A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a...

A camera system that uses a fine powder to diffract x-rays from the specimen. A beam of monochromatic x-rays passes through...

Spectral repeatability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of spectral measurements across multiple trials or...

The Foucault test is performed by moving a knife edge laterally into the image of a small point source. The eye, or a...

Radiation that occurs perpendicular to the plane of the radiation device.

A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set...

The term light field refers to the spatial distribution of light rays traveling in all directions through a given space. It...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...

The optical reconstruction of image information contained in a sound field. First the diffraction pattern, formed by an...

Also known as reversed telephoto lens. A lens consisting of an ordinary objective with a negative component near its front...

Q-switched operation, or q-switching, is a technique used in lasers to produce short and intense pulses of light. The term...

An optical element having two principal axes, slow and fast, that resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually...

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to...

Specified curved optic intended for maximum collection of light, including off-axis rays, before leaving the exit aperture.

Situation in which the observer requires fewer than three independent stimuli to make color matches. Dichromats require only...

A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It...

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment refers to a class of specialized apparatus used in the process of chemical vapor...

A device used to measure the intensity of radiant energy.

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...

The analysis and measurement of the fluorescence emitted by a source. Fluorometric processes are more sensitive than light...

An instrument used to record infrared images of large areas. The recorded data are used to produce maps in false color...

A phenomenon, exploited for medical imaging, in which the nuclei of material placed in a strong magnetic field will absorb...

A testing device that provides a contour map of the emergent wavefront for the observer in terms of the given wavelength of...

A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique that combines the principles of Raman spectroscopy...

Rockwell hardness (Rc) refers to a method for measuring the hardness of a material, primarily metals, using an indentation...

The letter form used on visual performance test charts. The overall letter height is equal to five times the thickness of...

The angular relation between two light rays that originated at the same object point. Sometimes used to indicate the angle...

Exhibiting the quality of dichroism.

A digital twin refers to a virtual representation or digital counterpart of a physical object, system, or process. This...

A mirror employed with a very high incidence angle to form a pair of coherent light sources by reflection, and therefore...

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle...

A camera equipped with a lens and a long length of perforated film, the latter being moved intermittently between exposures...

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite characterized by its standardized size and modular design. CubeSats are...

Also known as constant angle or constant deviation fringes. The interference fringes observed with dense flat plates near...

Pushbroom scanning is a technique used in remote sensing and imaging systems, particularly in satellite and aerial sensors,...

Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...

The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves...

A chart on paper or glass containing a series of sets of lines at progressively smaller spacing and used to ascertain the...

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...

A television camera tube that preceded the development of the vidicon tube and incorporated a method to separate reflected...

Hyperspectral resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in the spectral information captured by a...

An ultrafast pulsed laser is a type of laser that emits extremely short pulses of light with durations typically on the...

An optical system with different focal lengths or magnification levels in perpendicular planes to the optical axis.

Multispectral imaging is a technique that involves capturing and analyzing images at multiple discrete spectral bands within...

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is an international standard for medical imaging created by both the...

The series of images formed when periodic objects are exposed to collimated monochromatic radiation and that result from...

An exposure meter that indicates the amount of light reflected from the subject of interest.

Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly...

Also known as radiation thermometer. A pyrometer in which the radiant intensity from the source to be measured is used to...

An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and...

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel...

The equivalent f number of a fictitious lens that has a circular opening and 100 percent transmittance, which would give the...

A plasma accelerator is a type of particle accelerator that uses electric fields and magnetic fields to accelerate charged...

A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...

An interference pattern that is recorded on a high-resolution plate, the two interfering beams formed by a coherent beam...

A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing...

The technology that deals with the interaction of organic materials with light and other forms of radiant energy whose...

A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...

An ocular having two planoconvex lenses that are formed from similar glass and that are separated by a space equal to half...

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving...

A self-interference effect that generates random patterns; secondary speckle pattern (SSP) typically occurs in diffuse...

A type of quarter-wave retarder in the form of a glass rhomb; light entering the retarder undergoes two total internal...

A system incorporated into fiber optic data communications characterized by several spatially distributed terminals that are...

The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and...

A number that indicates the magnitude of the shift in a solid of positive and negative charges in opposite directions when a...

A regular, periodic, geometric array of points corresponding to the positions of the atoms in a perfect crystal.

A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used...

Technique in which the polarization rotation of light, and its relationship to the magnetic field strength can be analyzed...

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide...

In a lens or lens system, that surface at which the projections of an entering and exiting ray intersect. Also known as the...

A lens assembly made up of three lens elements that may or may not be cemented.

In a visual optical system, the axial distance from the last mechanical surface of the eyepiece to the exit pupil.

A compound lens so constructed that its overall length is equal to or less than its effective focal length.

A fiber optic bundle split along its length with the ends of the fibers extending separately to illuminate different points...

Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is a medical treatment approach that combines elements of phototherapy and immunotherapy to target...

The addition to the information signal in communications of redundant bits that enable the originally encoded message to be...

A transparent crystalline substance in which the refractive index of the optic axis (extraordinary axis) is different from...

A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...

An alexandrite laser is a solid-state laser that utilizes a synthetic crystal made from the rare earth element alexandrite...

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain...

Condition in which a perpendicular surface can be discovered for every ray in a group. This condition is commonly observed...

A type of interferometer in which two coils of optical fiber are arranged so that light from a single source travels...

A high-speed, narrow-field lens consisting of two achromats spaced about the aperture stop. Its uses include portrait...

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...

A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated...

In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some...

A doubly refracting mineral used to produce polarizing prisms. It is uniaxial negative and in the trigonal division of the...

A standard direct-readout vidicon tube linked by fiber optics to an intensifier for increased sensitivity.

A condition in which an emergent ray is perpendicular to the normal of the emergent surface of a medium.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that belongs to the powder bed...

The intensity distribution seen when scanning the image of a line, in the direction perpendicular to that line.

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of optical filter that is inscribed or "written" into the core of an optical fiber. It...

A fiber optic imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each...

Device which measures the index of refraction of glass as well as the dispersion over visible range.

Machine learning (ML) is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the development of algorithms and...

A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.

An instrument designed to give a visual indication to the pilot when the plane has strayed from a specific flight path.

A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in...

An image of an object that appears above the object's true position as the result of abnormal refraction of the image rays...

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by preparing a thin sample that has its faces perpendicular...

Micro-robotics refers to the field of robotics that involves the design, development, and application of miniature robotic...

The least angle of incidence at which total internal reflection takes place. The angle of incidence in a denser medium, at...

The range of image distances that corresponds to the range of object distances covered by the depth of field.

A light beam whose electric vectors can be broken into two perpendicular elements that have equal amplitudes and that differ...

1. A device used in chemistry to compare the colors of solutions held in flat-bottomed tubes and viewed along the length of...

The circle that contains the slit, grating and primary astigmatic focus of a concave diffraction grating.

Metabolic imaging refers to the visualization and quantification of metabolic processes within living organisms, tissues, or...

The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an...

A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and...

Having three unequal angles perpendicular to each other.

A hydrogel is a three-dimensional network of polymer chains that are hydrophilic, meaning they have a strong affinity for...

An intensity distribution (intensity as a function of radial distance from the beam center) which is given by the Gaussian...

A fast, wide-angle lens used in television and photographic cameras, with excellent overall correction, but subject to...

An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.

A lens aberration that results in the tangential and sagittal image planes being separated axially.

Quantum efficiency (QE) is a measure of the effectiveness with which a device or system, typically in the context of...

The angle formed between a ray of light striking a surface and the normal to that surface at the point of incidence.

A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick...

The law given by the formula: that is, the frequency of radiation emitted or absorbed by a system when E2 and E1...

Periodic interruptions of a light beam incident on an absorbing medium that produce heat, expansion and acoustic wave...

A type of spectroscopy used extensively in the analysis of biological samples. Because most biologically synthesized...

A ground-based navigation beacon that emits pulsed signals which are picked up by aircraft making an instrument (blind)...

A mechanical device designed to smoothly vary the effective diameter of a lens, thereby controlling the amount of light...

A device used to scan, with a small, intensely bright spot, portions of a picture surface and to transform the original...

The organ of vision or light sensitivity.

A fish-eye lens designed to photograph cloud formations over the entire visible sky.

A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is...

The perpendicular orientation of the molecular axes of the nematic molecules in a nematic crystal, relative to the electrode...

The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or...

A lens aberration in which the focal length varies radially outward from the center of the field. It has the effect of...

A piece of uniform birefringent material placed at a 45° angle to the plane of polarization in a polarizing microscope...

A densitometer having a receiver that indicates when a desired radiation level has been attained.

A phage, short for bacteriophage, is a type of virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. Phages are composed of...

Hydrophilic is a term used to describe substances or materials that have an affinity for water. The word hydrophilic comes...

Prediction based on observations of nuclear masses in the valley of stability that indicates the maximum number of electrons...

A form of liquid crystal widely used in displays, achieved by sandwiching a liquid crystal material between two substrates...

A material having refractive indices that can be altered by an applied electric field.

A device used to detect elevation, pyramid and resolution errors in prisms and other components by bringing them into...

A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...

Photonic crystals are artificial structures or materials designed to manipulate and control the flow of light in a manner...

Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the...

When a lens system with a circular aperture is free of aberrations, the image of a point object will appear as a disc of...

The unwanted and unpredictable fluctuations that distort a received signal and hence tend to obscure the desired message....