Operation in which the dispersion of a pulse limits the distance between repeaters in optical systems. Waveguide and material dispersion can make recognition of a pulse impossible.

The electrostatic field acting locally within a crystal as a result of the microscopic arrangement of atoms and ions in the...

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter...

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in...

The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The...

A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated...

The positioning of two Nicol prisms so that their axes are at right angles to each other. With this arrangement, light...

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

A flanged or plain ring with a restricted aperture, located in an optical system at any of several points, that cuts off...

A microscope to which a beamsplitter and illuminated reticle have been added that is used to measure contact lenses.

The scattering of electromagnetic waves by free electrons, whereby the incident radiation and the scattered radiation are of...

The coupling of laser or light beams via nonlinear optical techniques such as four-wave mixing to achieve spatial variation...

The process by which a vitreous or amorphous substance forms a crystal structure at a specified temperature.

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

The effect discovered by Faraday in 1845 whereby nonoptically active materials or substances become capable of rotating the...

Pyramid error in optics refers to an aberration in the shape of an optical surface, particularly in the context of mirrors....

A cathode-ray tube that either splits an electron beam from one source or uses beams from two sources to produce two beams,...

An APD detector, or avalanche photodiode detector, is a type of photodetector used to detect light or optical signals by...

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

A quadrivalent semiconductor material, with electrons as the majority charge carriers, that is formed by doping with donor...

An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter...

A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various...

When a stereo pair of images is switched so that the right eye sees the left image and the left eye the right, the stereo...

An exciton is a quasiparticle that represents the bound state of an electron and a hole in a solid-state material, typically...

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

Positioning generally refers to the determination or identification of the location or placement of an object, person, or...

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

The arc formed when the rare gas xenon is excited electrically and emits a brilliant white light. Xenon is used to fill...

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

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

The method by which interferograms are produced.

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

The area of optics in which the wave nature of a particle is exploited to carry out very accurate interferometry and other...

Also known as ocular. The lens system used between the final real image in a visual optical system and eye. It acts as an...

The technique of producing spectrograms in wavelengths beyond 120 nm by the use of a diffraction grating and a Schumann...

Any of the various methods of decomposing a signal into a set of coefficients of orthogonal waveforms (trigonometric...

The intermolecular attraction between two surfaces, as between a substrate and a coating; it is an important factor in the...

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

A device used in solar systems to direct mirror-reflected sunlight to a heat absorber and heat-driven engine, which turns a...

The use of a reflective device, which can be fashioned from a variety of materials including gases, solids, dyes, aerosols,...

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

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

A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics....

A molecular motor refers to a nano-sized device composed of organic molecules or other small-scale components that can...

Examination of the processes whereby heat energy is converted into other forms of energy.

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

Charged frozen pellets that are rapidly bombarded with a focused high-power laser to form a dense plasma that can be heated...

In the context of materials science and semiconductor physics, doping refers to the intentional introduction of impurities...

A type of microscope that uses radiation in the infrared region to illuminate objects that are opaque to visible radiation....

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

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

1. The process of aligning the optical axes of optical systems to the reference mechanical axes or surfaces of an...

The production of holograms initially from either conventional photographs or incoherent optical equipment.

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

An astronomical body that emits radiation concentrated by a strong magnetic field into two beams that rotate, giving a...

An instrument consisting of a high-voltage vacuum tube used to form hard x-rays or high-speed ion beams. By partitioning the...

A waveguide is a physical structure or device that is designed to confine and guide electromagnetic waves, such as radio...

A microscope that allows examination of a small crystal and conveniently provides linearly polarized object and reference...

The optical element that receives light from the object and forms the first or primary image in telescopes and microscopes....

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

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

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

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

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...

An instrument that employs the interference of lightwaves to measure the accuracy of optical surfaces; it can measure a...

In fiber optic communications systems, generally one that operates between 1000 and 1700 nm.

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

A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that uses magnetic fields to steer charged particles, typically electrons or...

An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...

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

A silicon photodiode is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. It is a type of photodetector...

Describing a prism, or the effects produced by prisms.

A coating made up of particular birefringent materials having polarizing properties. It may be used, in some cases, to...

In optics, "mode beating" refers to an interference phenomenon that can occur in laser systems with multiple longitudinal...

An instrument for determining the sensitivity of a photographic film to light. The film is given either a stepped exposure...

Opsins are a group of light-sensitive proteins found primarily in the retinas of vertebrate and invertebrate eyes, as well...

A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized...

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

Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of...

A cathode-ray tube, driven by a computer, that receives impulses of information from the computer and displays it in a...

The analysis of the atomic structure of a sample by means of a source radiation that is absorbed and emitted by the sample...

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

A study of the energies and wavelengths of radiation emitted by atoms and molecules when particular physical conditions are...

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

Extremely small organic and inorganic systems of molecules within a substance. In general, systems are colloidal size in...

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

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

In digital image processing, a subcategory of frame processing that transforms pixel brightness and contrast through use of...

Optimization method used in optical design computer programs that employs a variable-by-variable approach to construct new...

An instrument used for viewing in low levels of illumination by means of infrared radiation. A high-aperture lens forms an...

An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find...

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical...

A photometric instrument having two prisms clamped in optical contact to produce a photometric field with an acute dividing...

The first nonlinear theory in plasma physics that details the time and space evolution of plasma wave instability from a...

A photodiode detector is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. It operates based on the...

A type of adsorption in which the adsorbed layer is attached to the adsorbent surface by an attractive force between the...

A glass rhomb that is used in photometry to compare two illuminated surfaces. This is accomplished by the rhomb's angles,...

Filtered light to which photographic or other photosensitive materials are not responsive; used to illuminate darkrooms when...

Photochromic refers to a property exhibited by certain materials, typically organic compounds or dyes, which undergo...

A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly...

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

The smallest object that may be seen, measured in terms of the angle subtended by the object measured at the eye. Also...

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

A tough, durable, heat- and cold-resistant optical quality plastic used in injection-molded items such as streetlight...

Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies...

A very hard, highly transparent coating based on forms of carbon, used to protect optical components from abrasion and...

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

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna...

Observed phenomenon in laser pulses in which a large number of excited electrons are created and in which multiphoton...

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

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

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

Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but...

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...

A photon sieve is an optical device used in the field of optics and imaging. It's designed to focus and shape light,...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a...

Fluorescence formed when atoms of one element collide with excited atoms of another.

A specially designed microscope for observing the etched surface of a polished metal specimen. The specimen is often laid...

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) refers to a set of safety features and technologies designed to assist drivers in...

Attosecond-pump attosecond-probe spectroscopy (APAP) is an advanced technique in ultrafast spectroscopy that allows...

An electro-optic system using, in general form, an evacuated glass envelope with a semitransparent photocathode at one end...

An instrument that produces an intense, tightly focused beam of ions to stimulate emissions from a minute section of a...

The number of separate images exposed by a cine camera in a second or the number illuminated by a cine projector in a...

Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of...

A metal box with an opal glass front enclosing a lamp, used for viewing color transparencies or x-ray films.

A two- or three-dimensional space grating formed when ultrasonic beams with varied paths of propagation intersect.

Photolithography is a key process in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and...

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

The holographic recording of sequences of high-speed phenomena. With a multiple beam laser, multiple holograms that depict...

A material consisting of very small colorless particles imbedded in a clear glass matrix. It is available in two forms:...

The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial...

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

A time-to-amplitude converter (TAC) is an electronic circuit that converts a time interval between two events into an...

The measurement of surface temperature by a thermograph that forms a pattern of the heat radiated by the surface on a...

A technique based on the principles of laser trapping and used to manipulate the position of small particles by gradually...

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

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

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a mechanism describing the transfer of energy between two closely spaced...

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

An alteration in magnification from the center of the field to any point in the field, measured in a radial direction from...

A reticle carrying patterns of various forms that can be rotated in an optical beam to cause variations in the intensity of...

A 2D profile sensor is a type of sensor used in various industrial and technological applications to measure and capture...

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device...

A compound prism consisting of an assembly of small prisms cemented together that is used in a coincidence rangefinder to...

A nanotube, also known as a nanotubule or simply a tube-like structure, is a nanoscale cylindrical structure composed of...

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

A receiver for optical communications systems consisting of a symmetric binary, pulse-code-modulated transmitter, a...

A method of growing single crystals in which atoms and molecules from gaseous organic compounds interact and form a layer on...

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

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

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

Neuromorphic refers to the design and development of computing systems or devices that are inspired by the structure and...

An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine...

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

A dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) refers to a type of optical fiber designed to minimize the effects of chromatic dispersion,...

Mathematical definition for the changes that occur between potential and kinetic energy. These formulas express wave motion.

The transition cross section constant coefficient which defines the transition probability of absorption from ground to a...

A point cloud is a set of data points in a three-dimensional coordinate system, where each point represents a specific...

An advanced technique that allows the detection of one molecule within a crystal or a cell through optical excitation....

The emission of radiant energy in which the energy emitted originates in the thermal motion of the atoms or molecules of the...

A laser with a gain medium consisting of an organic dye, which is carbon-based. The dye is mixed with a solvent, allowing...

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

Optical fiber optic switches are devices used in optical fiber communication systems to selectively route optical signals...

Irregularities and disturbances in the atmosphere that are of particular interest because they induce random temporal and...

One or more optical elements – typically cemented together - in an optical system that are treated as a single group;...

In optical character recognition systems, the identification of a character facilitated by means of known factors governing...

The process of determining, with the aid of plane-polarized light, the stress distribution in materials under complex...

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

Epitaxial refers to the growth of a crystalline layer on a crystalline substrate in such a way that the orientation of the...

An angstrom, symbolized by the Ångström or Å, is a unit of length used to express atomic and molecular...

A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a...

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

1. In visual perception, the minimum value of stimulus that can be perceived on the average. 2. In optical detection...

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

A source that emits radiant energy when its molecules or atoms are thermally excited.

In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such...

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment or experience that can be...

In digital image processing, a subcategory of frame processing that treats each pixel in terms of its relationship to...

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms,...

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

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

A technique used in radiography to determine a crystal's structure by obtaining radiographs of it in powder form, normally...

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

Metrology is the science and practice of measurement. It encompasses the theoretical and practical aspects of measurement,...

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

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

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

Automated optical inspection (AOI) is a technology used in manufacturing processes, particularly in electronics, to...

Energy loss encountered at connectors in optical fiber transmission systems. The major contributors are mutual core...

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) refers to a specific range of UV radiation that has disinfectant properties capable of killing...

Refers to a variety of methods and tools used to determine the surface contour and performance of optical components and...

A group of lenses, or any combination of lenses, mirrors and prisms, so constructed as to refract or reflect light to...

Developed for use in military reconnaissance systems, it consists of a polygonal mirror, drive motor, interface between...

Inertial fusion energy (IFE) refers to a proposed method of generating electricity by harnessing the energy released from...

A gyroscope is a mechanical device consisting of a spinning disk or wheel mounted on a spinning axis in such a way that its...

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

A group of related lines that represent transitions between two spectroscopic terms, each of which may be complex. Also in...

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

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

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

The spreading of potentially equal radiation frequencies that results in broadening of the spectral line. This effect is...

The superimposing of holographic pages in a thick, erasable storage material by changing the reference and object beams....

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

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

Discipline within optical physics that addresses sound vibration, phonon effects and their influencing behavior within...

1. The direct storage of data as bits in memory using optical systems and properties. The memory makes use of a laser beam...

Piezoelectric transducers are devices that utilize the piezoelectric effect to convert electrical energy into mechanical...

A fiber optic device that uses a HeNe laser, beamsplitter, monochromator and photomultiplier to detect trace levels of...

An instrument usually consisting of a very long interferometer, 3 to 800 m, and a laser light source for the study and...

A method of measuring distance by recording a single scene from two points of perspective. Surveying instruments can be...

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of...

Means of correcting laser postweld shift. The correction procedure is applied to optoelectronic systems such as laser diode...

An optical barcode reader, commonly known as a barcode scanner, is a device that uses optical technology to capture and...

A type of birefringent polarizing prism that transmits the extraordinary ray and removes the ordinary ray through total...

A still or motion-picture camera designed to photograph through a microscope. Photomicrographic equipment usually contains a...

The term half bandwidth (HBW) generally refers to the width of a spectral band or frequency range at half of its maximum...

An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize...

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

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

Camera Link HS (high speed) is a standard developed for high-speed digital data transmission in machine vision and...

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

A well plate, also known as a microplate or microtiter plate, is a flat plate with multiple small wells or depressions...

A cooling system used to attain and maintain desired low temperatures in infrared systems. The Stirling type is a mechanical...

1. The additive process whereby the amplitudes of two or more overlapping waves are systematically attenuated and...

Resonance can be defined in various contexts, including physics, chemistry, and music. Here are definitions for resonance in...

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

The use of optical or electronic recording systems to extract information from the terrain, while aloft, for reconnaissance...

A method of studying the chemical and physical properties of atoms and molecules (typically living tissue and chemical...

A breakout cable, also known as a fan-out cable or breakout assembly, is a type of cable that combines multiple individual...

An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...

In infrared imaging systems used for mass screening of printed circuit boards or other quality control applications, an...

A factor derived by equating the incident light on the subject to the required incident light for suitable photography. The...

The principle that electronic energy transitions occur at such speeds that the nuclei of the atoms in the molecular system...

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

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

An optical correlator incorporating a binary phase-only spatial light modulator made from an iron garnet magneto-optic solid...

A linear positioning stage, also known as a linear stage or translation stage, is a precision mechanical device used to...

The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing...

Broadening of a laser's spectral linewidth when the resonance frequencies of the atoms (or molecules) of the medium are not...

A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess...

Inactive optically, but having the capacity for resolution into forms of opposed optical activity. The term is derived from...

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

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

A type of erasable data storage device that uses a medium deposited on the disc in two layers, each dyed to absorb a...

The organic inclusion in quartz crystal that forms delicate films and microspheres and that shows a maximum absorption at...

Unified notation for specification of reflectance in terms of both incident- and reflected-beam geometry; i.e., the ratio of...

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

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

An optical system that is corrected for distortion and spherical aberration and therefore forms the image of a straight line...

A process and method by which manipulation and orientation of a given number of directed laser beams decreases the motion of...

An instrument that transforms heat energy into electrical energy.

A prism or series of prisms used to disperse a beam of radiant energy of mixed wavelengths into its spectral components.

Any organic substance, that when dissolved in appropriate liquid based solvents will absorb and emit electromagnetic...

A type of fluorescence spectroscopy in which an excimer laser, a dye laser and a frequency-doubling device are used to...

A type of transversely excited laser with a uniform arc-free discharge of large cross-sectional area that can be scaled to...

A technique for confining atoms, molecules or small particles within one or more laser beams. This can be accomplished...

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

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

The cause of some forms of laser injury in which tissue absorbs incident laser light and experiences a damaging rise in...

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

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

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

An isotope of cesium that emits negative beta particles and has a half-life of 2.19 years; its applications include...

A computer whose architecture contains several CPU chips arranged in parallel. Often used in image processing systems.

The optical energy transfer between ions of differing atoms.

The term "excimer," strictly used, refers to excited species made by combination of two identical moieties, atoms...

A dark-field microscope used to view extremely small objects. These objects are suspended in a gas or liquid in an enclosure...

Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...

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

The process whereby the number of atoms or atomic systems in a set of energy levels is changed by the absorption of light...

Sets of lenses (positive, negative and cylindrical) usually mounted in circular rims suitable for slipping into trial...

A subsurface imaging technique based upon the polarization of light reflected off an object. The polarization of reflected...

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

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

Nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy is a microscopy technique that combines the principles of photonic...

That length over which energy in two separate waves remains constant. With respect to a laser, the greatest distance between...

The diagnostic procedure that uses ultrasonic energy to probe the body and, with the help of laser beams, a reflecting...

The field of microscopy as applied to chemical problems and analysis.

A sensor module used in advanced pattern recognition systems, containing signal-processing integrated circuits stacked and...

A compound prism composed of two 30° prisms, one of which is partially coated with a suitable opaque metal of high...

A galvanometric scanner, also known as a galvanometer scanner or galvo scanner, is a type of optical scanning device used to...

An infrared detector in which radiation passes through a doped germanium crystal, creating a voltage drop that can be...

A device that uses four electrodes set in an alternating positive-negative polarity series to focus the beams of charged...

Optical components exceeding 24 in. in diameter. The components are usually glass, acrylic or polystyrene and are used for...

A technique used to generate a phase shift between reference and sample light beams. The phase shift can be performed...

Gamma ray radiation released when matter and antimatter, such as electron and positron, unite and eliminate each other,...

The representation of arbitrary functions as the superposition of sinusoidal functions whereby the representations...

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

Plastic optical fiber (POF) is a type of optical fiber made from transparent plastic, typically polymethylmethacrylate...

An intermolecular substance that serves to hold materials together. Two types are used in the optical industry: one, which...

The area of optics that deals with the propagation of Gaussian laser beams in free space, or any general medium - i.e....

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

A device used to measure power loss in fiber optic connectors, cables or systems.

Photovoltaic (PV) refers to a technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductors. The term...

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

An edge-emitting light-emitting diode is a type of LED structure where light emission occurs primarily along the edge of the...

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

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

The study of the arrangement of atoms in a crystal by means of x-rays.

A spectroscope having a divided circle and a means for the rapid reversal of prisms for the measurement of refractive index...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...

A single number, defined by the computer program or the user that expresses the performance of an optical system. Also known...

The phase change of one of the two split beams of an interference microscope.

A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals...

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

A broadband filter is an electronic or electromagnetic device designed to pass a range of frequencies or signals within a...

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

A visual system including a tiny television tube and imaging optics, all contained in a helmet to be worn by pilots in...

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

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

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

Material used to integrate photoconductors into electro-optical systems. It should provide low resistance to the flow of...

Reactive evaporation refers to a process in thin-film deposition where a material is deposited onto a substrate through...

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

Optical elements that use diffraction to control wavefronts. Diffractive optical elements include diffraction gratings,...

A mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO) is a type of electronic test instrument that combines the capabilities of both a...

That branch of science involved in the study and utilization of the motion, emissions and behaviors of currents of...

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

Free-space optics (FSO), also known as optical wireless communication or optical wireless networking, refers to the...

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

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

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or...

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

A powerful and flexible machine-learning approach that can be used in machine vision to help solve difficult problems....

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs...

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

A Risley prism, also known as a Risley prism pair or Risley rotating prism, is an optical device used for controlling the...

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and...

High harmonic generation (HHG) refers to a nonlinear optical process in which intense laser light interacts with a gaseous...

A branched fiber optic lightguide that performs both receiving and transmitting functions.

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

An eyepiece consisting of two planoconvex lenses of the same focal length, with facing convex surfaces.

Epitaxial deposition is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing and materials science to grow a thin crystalline...

A quantum dot is a nanoscale semiconductor structure, typically composed of materials like cadmium selenide or indium...

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals....

A crystalline material with a high electro-optic coefficient, capable of operating at short wavelengths, with applications...

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

A thin layer of a substance deposited on an insulating base in a vacuum by a microelectronic process. Thin films are most...

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

Photographing of terrain on the ground and objects in the air by cameras mounted in aircraft; utilized in satellites,...

Left- and right-hand circularly polarized beams that are produced at different velocities by passing plane-polarized light...

1. An optical distance finder that depends on triangulation of two convergent beams on an object from disparate view points....

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry to obtain IR spectra of samples....

A pulsed interferometer that permits the continuous quantitative mapping of the surface deformation of an adaptive optical...

In the spectral sense, an optical source that emits one or more spectrally narrow lines as opposed to a continuous spectrum....

An optical clock is a highly precise and advanced timekeeping device that relies on the oscillations of electromagnetic...

Transparent glassy and or crystalline structured materials engineered from inorganic, non-metallic materials via various...

An accelerator at the Argonne National Laboratory, providing powerful x-ray beams for materials research applications.

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

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

A function that quantifies the performance degradation of coherent communications systems, imaging systems and all systems...

Concave is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves inward or has a hollow or recessed appearance. In...

The visual perception of contrasting forms is more difficult if the forms have the same luminance but different...

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

Recombination of only the light that is correctly dispersed by the first stage of a polychromator through its wide...

Devices in which the lasing medium is a vapor of metal atoms or ions, sometimes mixed with another gas. Metal vapor lasers...

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through...

A standard for fiber optic data transmission systems being developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and...

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

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

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

Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry...

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

A defect of a binocular instrument causing two images to be seen separately instead of being fused. It is caused when the...

A camera that uses an image converter tube in such a way that voltage waveforms applied to internal electrodes cause the...

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...

Image displacement by a decentered lens, rotated on a chuck whose axis of rotation passes through the geometrical center of...

In laser systems, the granular effect that is noted when observing the expanded cross section of a laser beam.

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

Two 30° prisms that are used to produce constant deviation when rotated by equal and opposite angles.

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a...

An instrument consisting essentially of a tube 160 mm long, with an objective lens at the distant end and an eyepiece at the...

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

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

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images...

A small object that behaves as a whole unit or entity in terms of it's transport and it's properties, as opposed to an...

1. The process by which an atom acquires energy sufficient to raise it to a quantum state higher than its ground state. 2....

In holography, the beam of light that is directed from the beamsplitter to the recording medium, where it interferes with...

A device composed of a light source and phototube used to scan a moving strip of material in photoelectric side-register...

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and digital image processing...

Collisional absorption of energy that occurs in inertial confinement fusion systems when hydrodynamic expansion of the...

Used in computer design for optical systems with common parts and different applications.

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

In image processing, a device that transforms the digital data into an analog video image that can be viewed on a monitor or...

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

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

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 solid-state laser consisting of active atoms or ions of a transition metal, rare-earth metal or actinide, imbedded in a...

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

A photometer having a pair of Nicol prisms introduced into the beam from the brighter of two sources to be compared. Turning...

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

Superresolution refers to the enhancement or improvement of the spatial resolution beyond the conventional limits imposed by...

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

Carbonization is a process in which organic materials are heated in the absence of air, leading to the decomposition of the...

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

1. A geometrical arrangement of two or more light beams for use in laser shows, object detection or other applications...

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

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

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...

An interferometer spectrometer designed to measure thicknesses of thin films or layers by recording the interferogram and by...

In the context of electronics and optics, an isolator refers to a device that allows the transmission of signals in one...

A measure of image quality produced by an optical system. May be specified in terms of cycles per millimeter, referencing a...

Imaging materials that generally consist of a polyester base, a transparent electrically conductive layer and an organic...

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

In semiconductor physics, the term bandgap refers to the energy range in a material where no electronic states are allowed....

A hologram formed when the light of the illuminating beam is absorbed in correspondence with the recording exposure. In...

Sputtering equipment is machinery used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....

FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of...

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller...

A spheric lens, also known as a spherical lens, is a type of optical lens with at least one surface that is part of a...

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

I/O stands for input/output. In computing, it refers to the communication between a computer system or program and its...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or...

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are substances or compounds used to enhance the thermal conductivity between two surfaces...

A technique for producing micron-size structures on surfaces by using short-wavelength light or electron beams.

Combining light beams, usually of unlike frequencies, to form a single beam with a frequency that is equal to the frequency...

E.I. duPont's trade name for a polyester film. The most practical beamsplitter for use beyond the 15-µm wavelength...

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

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

An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for...

Technology that uses data from an array of sensors, one of which is commonly lidar, to solve the problem of creating a map...

An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...

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

A Dammann grating is a type of diffractive optical element (DOE) used to create an array of equally spaced,...

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

Linear receive optics typically refers to the optical components and systems used in the reception (detection) of linearly...

The combination of two or more signals for transmission along a single wire, path or carrier. In most optical communication...

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

The use of computer systems for monitoring and controlling industrial production.

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

The material favored for study of interaction of high-acoustic intensities with free carriers. Tellurium is the...

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor...

Instantaneous field of view (iFOV) is a term commonly used in the context of remote sensing, imaging systems, and optical...

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

The recorded interference pattern formed by the interference of two sound beams.

A frequency comb is a precise and regular series of equally spaced spectral lines, or frequencies, that are generated with...

A technique proposed for studying the atomic structure of crystals by measuring the interference pattern generated when the...

A long-pass filter is an optical filter that allows longer wavelengths of light to pass through while blocking or...

A viewfinder whose optical system forms a direct image of a subject, as opposed to those systems that use reflectance in the...

Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet radiation with shorter wavelengths than those of visible...

The application of observed operational processes of sophisticated living organisms to mechanical and electrical systems in...

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

The term gradient-index profile refers to a specific type of refractive index distribution within an optical material. In...

The interaction between two oscillations of unlike frequencies that forms other oscillations, specifically those with a...

A detector and signal demodulator used in optical communications systems to receive a signal and often to translate it into...

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

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

An instrument for detecting and analyzing repetitive signals. Using a fixed time delay or "gate," the input signal...

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

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

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of...

In compact disc systems, the two principal frame formats for data storage. Mode 1 devotes 2048 bytes to user data, reserving...

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

Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication,...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal...

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

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

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

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

In compact disc and CD-ROM technology, the portion of the drive that projects the laser light onto the surface of the media...

A lens that exhibits spherical aberration when used at large aperture settings, and that forms an image with a slightly...

Die bonding is a critical process in semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics assembly, where a semiconductor die or...

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

The least space between two parallel lines that can be discriminated as a gap to the human eye. It is measured in terms of...

An electron-beam tube with power-handling capability that is essentially based on controlled electron beams. Its control and...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...

A precisely defined series of steps that describes how a computer performs a task.

An organizational method used in optical design computer programs. The technique produces one number (merit function) to...

A detector cooling device in which a gas under high pressure escapes through an expansion valve in the tank; as the escaped...

RTSP, or real-time streaming protocol, is a network control protocol designed for controlling streaming media servers. It is...

A two-stage illuminating system for a microscope in which the source is imaged in the aperture of the substage condenser by...

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...

Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly...

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

A night-vision device that uses one or more infrared transducers to scan a scene in the 3- to 5-µm or 8- to...

Controlled beam technology that introduces beams of sunlight through holes in a roof that are relayed throughout the...

Spectra that originate from atoms; they are composed of lines having irregular spacing and intensity.

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) refers to a technology that converts heat energy into electricity using the principles of...

Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded...

An optical diffuser is an optical component or material designed to scatter or diffuse light that passes through it. It is...

Machine vision lighting refers to the use of specific lighting techniques and equipment in the field of machine vision,...

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

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

A phenomenon that occurs in WDM and DWDM systems when three closely spaced signal wavelengths near the zero-dispersion...

The average length in a specific material in which a relativistic charged particle will lose 67 percent of its energy by...

A lidar (light detection and ranging) technique used in pollution monitoring. Two light beams are emitted simultaneously,...

A document-transmitting process that uses a cylinder that rotates the document to be scanned and detected by a photoelectric...

A form of a stereoscopic microscope having paired objectives, prisms and eyepieces, and invented by H. Greenough.

A technique in which a beam of x-rays is directed against a crystal, the atoms of which, because of their lattice...

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

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

A power intensity pattern produced by the mutual interference of partially coherent beams that are subject to minute...

FMCW lidar stands for frequency-modulated continuous wave lidar. It is a type of lidar (light detection and ranging)...

The manifestation of light from scatterers outside the plane of the object in coherent light systems. The output of these...

Multiple exposures of holograms, one for each position of a vibrating image, that are used for vibration analysis and that...

An accelerometer is a sensor or transducer that measures the rate of change of velocity of an object, or in simpler terms,...

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

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...

In micropositioning systems, motion (most frequently undesired) about the Z-axis.

The color process that is used to form positive color cine films by dye transfer or imbibition, based on the use of separate...

Full width half maximum (FWHM) is a measure of the extent of a function. Given by the difference between the two extreme...

The phenomenon that can render an optical resonator the equivalent of a semiconductor flip-flop. A bistable device will...

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

The radiation-free transition that takes place within an ion, in which inner-shell vacancies in neutral atoms are filled by...

A refractometer that has a greater resolving power than a standard refractometer, and that uses a pentagonal prism to split...

A technique used in integrated optics where a groove is cut on a substrate surface and covered by a thin film to facilitate...

Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic...

An imaging technique used in radiology that is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to produce...

A filter designed to improve contrast in an imaging system. For visual and black and white photosystems, a yellow filter is...

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

A circuit incorporated into counter systems that records only pulses that have amplitudes between two preselected limits.

Topology is a branch of mathematics that focuses on the properties of space that are preserved under continuous...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...

Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in...

The total optical power loss in a system. The loss budget is often stated in terms of the transmitted power and the power...

A transmission interference microscope that produces interference patterns of a sample by using birefringent plates that...

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or...

Solar regions characterized by low density and open magnetic fields where high-speed solar wind streams originate....

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

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a...

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

A device that is used to determine the index of refraction of a gas or liquid through the interference patterns formed by...

In dry etching, a method of characterizing the composition of solid materials such as metal. Atoms in the OES technique are...

Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their physiological or behavioral characteristics....

Propagation of electromagnetic waves through the Earth's atmosphere in a path that conforms to the curvature of the Earth...

A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical...

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

Oleophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or resist oils. The word oleophobic comes from the...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...

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

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

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...

A filter that polarizes light passing through it. It is possible to fabricate sheets of plastic or gelatin that contain...

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

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

A small card (10 x 15 cm) that has been treated with a photographic emulsion to record and store the microimages of...

Developing a photographic image by means of an applied electric field. The methods used include electrolysis and...

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

A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable,...

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

In optical communication systems, operations in which the amplitude of the pulses, as opposed to their width, determines the...

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

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

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

A device designed to detect microwave modulation and to mix modulated and unmodulated laser beams. It consists of a...

LiFi, short for light fidelity, is a wireless communication technology that utilizes visible light or infrared light to...

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

A technique whereby two laser beams, one at an excitation wavelength and the second at a wavelength that produces Stokes...

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

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

An analysis used for problems of wave propagation. The principle notes that each point of an advancing wavefront is the...

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

An impurity-doped silicon detector array sensitive to long infrared wavelengths, installed in optical collecting systems...

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

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

Color resulting from the interference between two light beams.

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

A laser having a Q-switching method that allows separate parallel volumes of the lasing material to act independently of...

Electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by an electron as it is accelerated or decelerated while moving through the...

1. Synonymous with radioactivity. The intensity of a radioactive source illustrated as the number of atoms disintegrating in...

A spectral signature, in the context of remote sensing and spectroscopy, refers to the unique pattern or characteristic...

A technology that uses electrically activated holograms stored within specially developed crystals to route information in...

A diffraction pattern sampling unit composed of a 32-element monolithic silicon photodiode array and a readout unit. The...

A device (e.g., prisms, lenses, tubes) used to align a beam in a system.

A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams...

A type of recording material, usually a photodielectric polymer, offering in situ development mechanisms because of its...

A device consisting of two optical systems in which two signals are simultaneously transformed to produce their spectra, and...

Etaloning is an optical phenomenon that occurs in imaging systems, particularly in devices such as spectrometers,...

A Michelson-type interference microscope used to produce interference patterns of reflective specimens through the...

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

Conceptual formulas that characterize both the transmittance functions of lenses and propagation in the Fresnel zone.

A thin film or coating that forms on various finished surfaces. On optical surfaces it usually denotes aging.

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

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...

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

End-fire coupling refers to a method of coupling energy into or out of a waveguide, transmission line, or antenna, where the...

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

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

Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau...

Ion-beam sputtering (IBS) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for depositing thin films onto substrates. It...

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

A dark band that may appear in the field of crossed Nicol prisms with a powerful source such as the sun because the light is...

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound made up of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). It is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material...

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

The term "metaverse" refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical...

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

In coherent optical communications systems, a laser used at the receiving end to produce a steady wave that is combined with...

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

A lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses...

A phase screen, in the context of optics and wave optics, refers to a surface or medium that introduces a phase delay to an...

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

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

A nonradiative transition refers to a process in which an electron or an atom undergoes a change in its energy state without...

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field,...

A filter that transmits light in a series of sharp, widely spaced wavelength bands by its sandwich construction of...

The condition in which there are more atomic systems in the upper of two energy levels than in the lower, so stimulated...

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

A spectrophotometer in which the beam emitted by the radiation source is split into beams that travel through the sample and...

Micro-LED (micro-light-emitting diode) refers to a technology that involves the use of very small light-emitting diodes to...

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

A lock-in amplifier is a specialized electronic instrument used to extract and measure small signals embedded in noise or...

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

A fiber optic preform is a cylindrical glass rod or tube used as the starting material for manufacturing optical fibers. It...

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that measures changes in hemoglobin...

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

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

Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly...

Instruments used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to study the eye. There are, for instance, the ophthalmoscope to...

The vertical angular disparity between the lines of sight of the left and right systems in a binocular instrument....

An optical channel monitor (OCM) is a device used in optical communication systems to monitor and analyze the performance of...

One of the first lasers to find practical application. Generally, the pumping mechanism is an electric discharge, although...

Primarily the measurement of photographic sensitivity of certain materials such as photographic film. It refers to the...

Multi-axis alignment refers to the process of aligning or adjusting components or systems in multiple spatial dimensions or...

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a...

Loss mechanisms that degrade the performance of all thin-film optical devices by removing radiant flux out of the specular...

Present in photocurrent burst, it is the low frequency pulse that corresponds to the light scattered from the beams in the...

A mixture of phosphor with a trace of a radioactive element that emits faint light continually. It is used on watch dials...

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

A ring dye laser that uses prisms and a saturable absorber within the laser cavity to shape and shorten the pulses...

The use of computer analysis in the calculation of diffraction patterns for information on the design of optical systems. In...

A cosmetic defect on the surface of an optical element. A dig is nearly equal in terms of its length and width. The size is...

A beamsplitting mirror that reflects as a function of wavelength.

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

An atomic force microscope (AFM) is a high-resolution imaging and measurement instrument used in nanotechnology, materials...

A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications...

An extremely powerful microscope that renders individual ionized atoms visible by using an electric field to propel the ions...

The area of optics in which the propagation of light is described by geometrical lines (or rays) governed by Fermat's...

Whole slide imaging (WSI), also known as virtual slide microscopy or digital pathology, is a technology that involves the...

A photoreceptor material used in solar cells and in drums for laser printers and high-speed copiers because of its high...

Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...

A polariton is a quasiparticle resulting from the strong coupling between photons (light particles) and certain types of...

A scanning laser radar system applied to transmission and concentration analysis in three dimensions of clouds as well as...

An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration....

Collaborative Robot (Cobot): Unlike traditional autonomous robots, which usually work by themselves, a collaborative robot...

A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a...

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is an advanced optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the...

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

Ratio of the molecular diffusion coefficients of momentum in terms of heat; used in convection studies.

A relatively hard crystal, highly resistant to excessive energy radiation, that is frequently used for optical windows,...

Laser annealing is a process that involves using a laser beam to heat and modify the microstructure of a material, typically...

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

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

Sometimes referred to as the surface normal or 'surface norm'; the normal is an axis that forms right angles with a surface...

The storage of data as bits in memory by holographic processes. The laser beam is divided into reference and object beams,...

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

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

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

GigE, short for gigabit Ethernet, refers to a standard for high-speed Ethernet communication, capable of transmitting data...

A thin layer of metal deposited on the surface of a substrate. The film may serve as a reflector, beamsplitter, neutral...

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....

A well controlled thin films technique for growing films with good crystal structure in ultra high vacuum environments at...

Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) refers to a technology used in the fabrication of integrated circuits,...

A characterization of the throughput performance of data storage systems; the EDR is the total of data retrieved divided by...

A technique for measuring the concentration of any gases. Identical infrared beams are alternately chopped, one passing...

The allowable departure from the given figure or geometrical form. It may be described in terms of fringes or wavelengths.

Photometry is the branch of science that deals with the measurement of light, particularly in terms of its intensity and the...

A near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer is an analytical instrument used to measure the absorption, transmission, or reflection...

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

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

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...

A device used in the sputtering of thin films, in which a magnet system on the back of the cathode deflects the electrons,...

A semiconductor material in which the dopants create holes as the majority charge carrier. It is formed by doping with...

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

A magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of a magnetic field. It can detect...

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

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

A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing and quantum information...

An arranged series of coils, magnets or electromagnets disposed in such a way that the resulting magnetic fields generate a...

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

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

The naturally occurring crystalline form of silicon dioxide. It is slightly birefringent and exhibits rotary dispersion of...

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

A rear or front projection screen composed of minute optical surfaces that introduce a spread to the light beam that...

A component used to modify light rays by diffraction; the HOE is produced by recording the interference pattern of two laser...

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

A device used to measure the masses and relative concentrations of atoms and molecules. It utilizes the Lorentz force...

Lenses or prisms that serve to erect the image; i.e., to bring the image upright after it has been inverted by the objective.

The Kerr effect, named after the physicist John Kerr who first observed it in 1875, is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where...

Refers to micron-size complex machines that have physical dimensions suitable for the fabrication of optical switches for...

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

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

Double-clad fiber (DCF) is a specialized optical fiber that features two concentric cladding layers surrounding a core. The...

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

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

That process by which radiation spontaneously emitted by a volume of optical materials is resonantly reabsorbed within the...

Parallel scanning refers to a method of acquiring data or images simultaneously from multiple sources or in parallel, rather...

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

An infrared imaging device composed of a detector array and readout electronics. It may include a cryogenic cooling system....

A high-resolution imaging instrument that can detect and measure the positions of individual atoms on the surface of a...

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

A cryogenic cooler device that is an intermittent Joule-Thomson refrigerator with a passive radiator serving as the...

Laser peening is a surface enhancement technique used to improve the mechanical properties of materials, particularly...

A Peltier cooler, also known as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or thermoelectric module, is a solid-state device that uses...

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

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

A semitransparent mirror in an optical system that combines two or more output beams into a single coaxial beam.

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

Equipment used for chemical analysis by investigation of the spectra formed and observed in chemical activity. Of particular...

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

Phase distortion refers to a change in the phase relationships between different frequency components of a signal. In the...

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

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

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method of achieving nuclear fusion, a process where two atomic nuclei combine to...

A class of optical phenomena that can be viewed only with nearly monochromatic, directional beams of light, such as those...

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

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

A contraction of "excited dimer." The term refers to an excited species made by combination of two identical atoms...

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard. UAVs are remotely...

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

Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the...

A soft, malleable, stable rare-earth element. Holmium laser systems are used in surgical procedures involving the cutting...

Freeform optics refers to the design and fabrication of optical surfaces that do not follow traditional symmetric shapes,...

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

(SALI) A type of spectroscopy in which neutral atoms or molecules are ionized by an excimer laser beam and then measured by...

Laser active elements typically refers to the substances or materials within a laser system that play a critical role in the...

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with...

An emission spectrum is a graphical representation or a characteristic pattern of the wavelengths or frequencies of light...

A category of systems designed to communicate a photo taken from the air (e.g., aircraft, balloon, satellite) to a ground...

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

The term used in reference to vacuum systems using oil and diffusion pumps, describes the migration of pump fluids and their...

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic...

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

A high-contrast transparency of the gas sought, or an array of exit slits that correlates with some features of the...

A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a...

Anisotropy refers to the property of exhibiting different values or characteristics when measured in different directions....

The scattering of x-rays by the regularly spaced atoms in a crystal. The angle at which the reflection occurs is known as...

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

A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing...

Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or...

A means of adjusting the sharpness of an image automatically, with a sensor for estimating distance or contrast and a drive...

The formation of an interferogram by means of two holograms on the same recording medium, often used for determining small...

A cathode-ray tube that increases the brightness or size of an image or forms a visible image from invisible radiation. The...

The processing of an image or portion of an image by transform coding and analysis. Fourier, Hadamand, Kronecker and...

A tool used to determine the curvature of a lens surface in terms of dioptric power. See lens watch; spherometer.

A pathogen is a biological agent, such as a virus, bacterium, fungus, protozoan, or parasite, that causes disease in its...

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

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

The relative path difference (or phase shift) traveled between two rays that pass through different mediums from the same...

A cathode-ray tube that generates symbols for use in other displays. The tube operates by scanning specific characters on...

Visible laser radiation, often optically expanded and collimated, used to induced temporary blindness from within a walking...

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

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

Remote sensing is a method of data collection and observation where information about objects, areas, or phenomena on...

Degradation factor in coherent light systems where the amplitude of the recorded signal is decreased as the number of object...

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

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

A product of the area of a light beam (normal to its direction of propagation) and the solid angle that the beam includes;...

Power modulation refers to the intentional variation of power levels in a signal, often in the context of electronic...

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

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...

In coherence theory, an optical law put forth by physicist Emil Wolf that explains the behavior of light as it travels away...

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

The series of processes used to identify and evaluate crystal structure by using crystalline solids to diffract x-rays. In...

A family of specialized instruments used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to study a patient's eyes and prescribe...

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

An optical coupling device that uses light to bridge the gap between incompatible wire communications systems. It contains...

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

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

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image...

A computer-generated, phase-and-amplitude, off-axis hologram made by a multi-exposure technique that uses three computer...

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

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

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

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

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

A desklike apparatus with an opal glass surface illuminated from beneath by fluorescent tubes. It is equipped with roll...

An instrument designed to measure the index of refraction of a gas by the interference patterns formed by two beams, one of...

A glass-ceramic material developed in Russia. Astrosital resembles Zerodur in terms of its ultralow thermal expansion. Other...

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

A microscope to which a beamsplitter and illuminated reticle have been added to measure the radius of curvature of a...

A controlled random search process, such as generalized simulated annealing, that has been incorporated into many optical...

A simple form of astronomical telescope that uses a fixed objective and a focusable eyepiece. The objective forms an...

Heatless light emissions from living organisms caused by the combination of oxygen and pigments such as luciferin.

In image processing, modifying the dot that forms the image in order to simulate a series of gray tones.

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

A spectrum that displays the distribution in mass or in mass-to-charge ratio of ionized atoms, molecules or molecular parts....

A discipline that combines optics and genetics to enable the use of light to stimulate and control cells in living tissue,...

A plastic disc coated with ferric oxide or other films on which data can be stored by selectively magnetizing areas of the...

A device for obtaining very low crosstalk in a crosspoint by arranging two simple switches along different arms of a passive...

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

The analysis of fluorescence emitted by discrete atoms, in flames, that have absorbed radiation from an external source. It...

A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30°...

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

An infrared source, set in a stationary position, that is used as a reference in certain navigational systems.

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects...

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

An acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is a device that utilizes the interaction between sound waves and light waves to modulate...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the...

A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped...

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

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

The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as...

An optical instrument used to determine the distance to a target being viewed. Two similar optical systems view the target...

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into...

A color center, in the context of materials science and condensed matter physics, refers to a specific type of...

An electro-optical infrared tracker consisting of a beamsplitter, an illuminating source, an image dissector tube and an...

A set of samples used in the analysis of multielement thin films.

An illuminometer designed to measure illumination in terms of luxes.

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

A device used in electron microscopes and particle accelerators to focus electron beams by the arrangement of four...

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

A neuromorphic vision sensor is a type of imaging device designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human visual...

Single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) is a group of super-resolution microscopy techniques that surpass the...

Technology that corrects the shape of reflective optics; primarily applied in large telescope systems, in order to...

A computer-generated routine for achieving true-temperature readings in thermal infrared imaging systems.

Counter propagating beams imaged along the same path in order to detect rotation. Precise rotation is measured through...

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

A device, also called a fluorescence lifetime instrument, that measures decay curves of fluorescing samples. It generally...

1. A plane that forms one side of the groove ruled on a diffraction grating. 2. To form the individual grooves of a grating...

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

An instrument used to measure the change of heat content of a system by measuring microwave power in terms of generated heat.

Any type of interference produced by a beamsplitter.

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

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

A spectrophotometer having a pair of identical collimators with two Glan polarizing prisms, one fixed in azimuth and the...

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...

A high-resolution spectroscopic device commonly used in the early 20th century as a component of double-beam...

Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves...

The smallest area of uniform brightness that can be seen by the eye. It is measured in terms of the solid angle subtended by...

A wedge in a rangefinder or heightfinder used to displace the image produced by one telescope so that it coincides with that...

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

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

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates digital information, typically in the form of computer-generated...

With respect to display systems, a device that uses an independent light source and a control-layer medium, the active...

The series of rings or bands formed when light beams reflected from two polished, adjacent surfaces, placed together with a...

STED microscopy, or stimulated emission depletion microscopy, is a superresolution imaging technique in fluorescence...

Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative...

The center of the sphere of which the surface of a lens or mirror forms a portion. Each curved surface of a lens has a...

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

In the context of optical materials, the term "impurity level" refers to the presence of foreign atoms or molecules within...

A family of lenses commonly used in scan systems for reading or printing documents. The lens must be designed such that the...

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

A glass block that produces stationary fringes in the region crossed by incident light beams.

A tool made by imbedding small particles of diamond in the working edge. In the optical field, the most commonly used...

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

An arc flash is a sudden release of electrical energy due to an electric arc — a continuous, high-current discharge of...

Calorimetry is a branch of science that involves the measurement of heat flow in physical or chemical processes. It...

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

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

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

A measure of the ability of a photographic system to record fine detail. Usually stated in terms of cycles per millimeter on...

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

Thin-film deposition equipment refers to machinery and tools used in the process of depositing thin layers of material onto...

A network interface card (NIC), also known as a network adapter or LAN adapter, is a hardware component that allows...

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

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

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

Techniques used in biology to produce microradiographs of cells, tissues or small organisms.

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

The study of the diffraction of beams of a wave by matter to ascertain the structure of the matter.

The photographic record of the diffracted beams formed when heterogeneous x-rays emerging from a pinhole or slit impinge...

Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production...

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

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

A strip or annulus of glass coated with a semitransparent material such as inconel. The coating thickness, and as a result...

A system of modular mechanical components for building precision optical systems. The basic equipment includes a variety of...

One of the types of change in the energy levels of molecules or atoms in a laser that can result in lasing action. Because...

The study of the generation of electromagnetic power by radiation from high-energy beams.

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

Expression of the length of a transmission medium in terms of wavelengths of the propagating wavelength. In general,...

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

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

Holographic recording whereby the object is illuminated by two pulses, separated by a time interval, from a Q-switched laser...

The alignment process that makes the optical axes of two related systems parallel to each other. Also, making the optical...

A 3D profile sensor, also known as a 3D profiling sensor or 3D depth sensor, is a technology that is used to capture and...

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

A classification of particular regularities that occur in the spectra of many atoms.

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

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

A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all...

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

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

A microlens array is a grid-like structure composed of numerous small lenses, typically arranged in a regular pattern. Each...

A device employed to identify toxic agents lingering on the ground or in the air from up to three miles away, by using laser...

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

The arrangement of two Porro prisms so that the inverted image formed by certain types of optical instruments is the same as...

The recording of three or more separate holograms having a different color on a medium, so that illumination with a tricolor...

Also known as the Wiener spectrum or the noise power spectrum, the optical power spectrum is a fundamental quantity in...

A distributed feedback laser (DFB laser) is a type of semiconductor laser diode designed to emit coherent, narrow-bandwidth...

A metabolite is any small molecule that is a product of metabolism, the chemical processes that occur within living...

The small central portion of the human retina that is responsible for providing the clearest, and most distinct aspects of...

The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...

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

A high-frequency approach to the propagation of light in graded-index fibers in which the modal field is represented in...

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

Dewetting is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where a thin film or coating spontaneously undergoes a process of...

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

A 45-90-45° reflecting prism whose surfaces form the 90° angle reflecting the light beam through a total angle of 180°. The...

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for...

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

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

The state of optically excited luminescence. Luminescence refers to the light emitted by excited atoms or ions as they decay...

An instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to sort out the relative masses of atoms and molecules.The same way an...

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

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

The use of atoms, molecules and molecular-scale structures to enhance existing technology and develop new materials and...

A method of depositing crystalline films one molecular layer at a time, by dipping the substrate into water containing a...

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

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

The use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one...

Directed energy refers to a type of energy that is emitted and transferred in a controlled direction. The term is often...

A defect in infrared systems that appears as a dark circular area on a displayed image, caused by radiation reflecting into...

Conductor element for use in integrated electro-optic systems that measures current flowing through it.

A microscope in which laser light is delivered through single-mode fibers that replace the pinhole usually used in confocal...

Signal used in optical transmission systems to generate currents in a detector that are decoded with reference to a...

Spectrometric analysis of the distinct and characteristic spectra of atoms of elements. The atoms are energized to emit...

A hologram produced by a pair of radiation beams, each carrying information.

In Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS), an incident photon (usually laser light) interacts with acoustic phonons in a...

The term "Rydberg atom" refers to an atom in a highly excited state where one or more of its electrons are in a Rydberg...

Freeform mirrors refer to reflective optical components that deviate from traditional symmetric or rotationally symmetric...

A thin, stretched plastic membrane cemented to a rigid supporting ring. It may be coated to act as a beamsplitter, for...

Fused quartz and silica are closely related materials, both composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2), but they are...

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using...

A set of algorithms used to study the structural and spatial characteristics of objects in a digitized image for...