In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-24. (y).

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

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

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

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

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

A mode of transmission whereby the sending and receiving stations operate continuously at a fixed relationship of phase and...

The number of electrons emitted per photon incident upon a photodetector.

A laser capable of generating light pulses that last only a few femtoseconds. This can be achieved by nonlinear filtering to...

An element within a three-dimensional data set image.

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

The property of a phosphor that determines its ability to emit light for a time after the stimulus has been extinguished....

A laser with output over a wide range of wavelengths spanning the far-infrared region of the spectrum (30 to 1000 µm);...

Phenomenon caused by an ultrashort and ultra-intense light pulse propagating in a Kerr medium, such as air or water. When...

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

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

The principle that a light ray extending from one point to another will, after any number of reflections and refractions,...

A system that consists of a spectrophotometer with a photoelectric detector for measurement of radiant energy.

Transformation of an image, such as a change in position or scale, that does not alter the linearity of the original image.

In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the...

An alien, electrically charged atomic system in a solid; an ion substituted for the constituent atom or ion in a crystal...

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

Reflectance spectroscopy is a technique used to analyze the reflective properties of materials across various wavelengths of...

A layer between the corona and the photosphere of the sun; its emission is overwhelmed by light emitted by the underlying,...

A photographic process using x-ray radiation or the g-rays of radioactive materials.

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

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

1. In glass, a solid inclusion having a small diameter. 2. A particular, single crystal that, after undergoing the...

A crystal formed by covalent bonds that are generally highly directional by nature. The electric characteristics of these...

A graph of the intersections of a fan of rays with the final image plane, plotted as a function of the positions of the rays...

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

The transmission of data in groups (packets) of information~comma~ each handled as an aggregate.

A crucible made of electrically resistive material through which a current is passed to heat the material inside, which then...

Voltage that produces current flow in the direction of lesser resistance to the steady-state direct current, i.e., from the...

A hologram formed without lenses and with the object and reference points sharing the same plane. In the initial recording,...

Characteristic of an absorber in the IR region, whereby absorption increases as a direct function of the intensity of the...

An early type of nonvacuum photocell consisting of a layer of copper oxide on a metallic substrate, with a thin transparent...

An instrument that contains a spectrograph with a grating in which an array of slits, in place of a photographic plate, is...

A specific type of storage in which the material to be written on is heated above its transition temperature and switched in...

A phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density...

The method of disintegrating the substance of the cathode by bombarding it with ions and depositing it on another electrode...

A quarter- or half-wave retarder made from two plates of quartz, mica or polymer with their fast axes crossed; the...

A digitized image consisting of just two brightness levels, as black and white, represented in memory as zeros and ones.

The use of a computer to generate a series of interrelated images so that the images give the illusion of movement in space...

A hologram in which diffraction is produced by the silver image, resulting in a dimmer image than in a phase hologram, where...

The greatest luminosity possible for a specified chromaticity.

A laser radar application in which a sequence of direct measurements of target position is fed into a tracking filter to...

A copolymer of styrene and acrylic used in molded optical components; it has a high refractive index and a low coefficient...

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

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

Transparencies that represent progressive steps in the amount of transmitted radiation for administering predetermined...

Exhibiting the characteristic of materials that are electrical insulators or in which an electric field can be sustained...

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

An optical lens manufactured to control the transmission of light over a specified wavelength range. Low absorption lenses...

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

Electromagnetic radiation present upon the open aperture of the source within an operating environment.

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

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

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

Two formulas used in diffractometer analysis, the first giving the individual diffraction patterns of each aperture, the...

A type of fiber optic sensor that responds to a change in the intensity of received light caused by the displacement or...

The procedure applied to flame-excited line emissions to determine spectra and wavelengths.

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

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

A television display system in which the television signal is converted to an image that is projected onto either a front or...

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

Name originally given to the sun's infrared radiation by Sir William Herschel in his Philosophical Transactions of 1800.

A passive infrared system that uses two line-of-sight telescopes to generate both narrow and wide field-of-view images of...

A mirror whose percent reflectance varies as a function of position on the mirror surface.

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

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

1. A faint second image caused by reflection that is sometimes seen when observing through an optical instrument. 2. With...

An instrument designed to measure the rate of rotation of components, such as shafts.

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

States that in interferometers in which the separation of the maxima is equal to the half-value width, a slight drop in...

1. To influence to a single direction. 2. Voltage that is applied to a solid-state device.

An energy transition concerned with the combination of a photon and a phonon.

One of the electrodes used to focus the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube. As the electrode's voltage is changed, its...

A support for optical parts comprising a solid bed that permits precise longitudinal movement of one component relative to...

Spots in a polished glass surface that are opaque and have a silvery, metallic reflection.

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

Luminous flux emitted by a source in a given range of directions; the unit of measure is the lumen/steradian, now known as...

A self-healing, index-matching, nonporous coating for optical components that can eliminate production difficulties and...

A photosensitive device used to optically scan and read character data (numbers, letters etc.) and input this data into a...

That point in a Gaussian beam where the wavefront has a curvature of zero and the beam diameter is a minimum.

A small half-shade analyzer placed in the eyepiece of a polarimeter to determine the character of the polarized light...

In field-sequential color television, the rotating tricolor disc placed between the subject and the lens, or between the...

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

In television system specifications, the number of parallel horizontal black and white lines of equal thickness, that can be...

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

The object distance at which the eye is focused with the eye lens in a neutral or relaxed state.

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

The parallel resistance and capacitance appearing between the active guard ring junctions in a silicon photodiode.

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

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

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

A facility designed for the observation and recording of astronomical phenomena.

In image processing and elsewhere, generally an adjective to describe an assembly-line arrangement for performing a task....

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

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

Describing the standard television method of raster scanning in which the image is the product of two fields, each of which...

Computerized lens design algorithm that permits the lens MTF characteristic to be included and controlled during the...

A reference incandescent light source having a luminous intensity that is used in photometry for comparison of other light...

Popular process for silicon and polycrystalline production that consists of an alteration of the original state of a...

An instrument, similar in design to regular binoculars, that can transmit and enlarge infrared images.

An electron-beam tube designed so that the beam can be carried through a portion of the wall of an evacuated enclosure.

Also called scanning laser acoustic microscope. A device that uses high-frequency ultrasound waves to penetrate surfaces. A...

The suppression of fluorescence by absorption of the stimulating radiation.

The element that resembles a lightweight metal, but when very pure, has a very high electrical resistance and is transparent...

Transmission loss in optical fibers caused by packaging processes; it is considered a power-coupling effect from the guided...

A transistor designed to respond to either light or electrical signals.

An image with variations in density due to the differential scattering ability of microscopic bubbles in a transparent layer.

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

A reflecting prism that inverts the image. The image is reflected four times internally and emitted laterally. The prism is...

A type of additive color photography using a lenticular structure impressed on a film base and a camera lens with a filter...

The use of lasers in tailoring of such components as thin-film resistors. The process improves speed and accuracy.

In target tracking, a technique for speeding up the image processing by removing bunches of pixels that are outside the area...

Photographic recording that uses infrared radiation as the light source to form an image of a microscopic object and a...

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

A single-particle scattering technique in which an incident laser beam is tightly focused by means of lenses to yield a...

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

The conversion of a still picture into sound waves and its subsequent transmission by radio.

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

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

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

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

Refers to a notation system using a base of 3 and the numerical characters 0, 1 and 2.

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

An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2...

The function that characterizes the quality of an optical system by denoting the modulation and spatial phase shift of the...

The propagation constant evaluated along the axis of a waveguide, that is, in the direction of transmission. Also called...

A doped or absorbing transparent medium cut or molded into a wedge in order to measure the real and imaginary components of...

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

A device that converts data transmitted in the parallel mode to a sequence of bits at a single frequency for output in the...

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

A chart, either printed on paper or prepared photographically on glass plates or film, that consists of 3-bar resolution...

An evacuated bulb containing a tungsten filament that is heated by passing an electric current through it. In domestic light...

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

Introduced into the laser beam from localized fluctuations in current density within the plasma itself. These fluctuations...

A pixel-based computer graphics system that simulates the tools of an artist.

An instrument in which an object's image, produced by a lens of known focal length, is used to determine the object's...

Light present in the environment around a detecting or interpreting device, especially a machine vision system, and...

A weapon launched from a ground-based platform and controlled by a two-way fiber optic data link. The fiber is payed out...

A charge-injection device (CID) refers to a class of devices that manipulate and detect electrical charge within a...

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

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the...

A device used to create a light output that exceeds light input, the energy being provided by an electric field. It consists...

The electrical power used to stimulate any light source. Power supplies may be step-up or step-down transformers; rectifiers...

In interlaced television scanning, an effect in which the lines of one field fail to fall exactly within the lines of the...

A scattering photometer using scattered light in the solid angle 4.51+0 19° with respect to the forward direction, and...

Radiation from the sun that is made up of a very wide range of wavelengths, from the long infrared to the short ultraviolet...

Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system...

The simplest, most inexpensive type of camera, which is shaped as an oblong or square box, containing the simplest lens,...

The approximate dimension of the refractive-index correlation length in a given medium.

A method of designing lasers whereby the laser rod is cut into elliptical discs and cooled by running water over the disc...

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

Fluorescence microscopy is a specialized optical imaging technique used in biology, chemistry, and materials science to...

An image intensifier tube that uses a magnetic field for focusing. It yields high-quality images, but its use is limited by...

A method used to approximate the values of the homogeneous second derivatives at each iteration in the course of lens design...

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

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

The formation of microimages for microreduction. The technique is used, for example, in the production of precision reticles...

Fine lines, wires or threads used in the focal plane of many optical instruments to point out and locate particular objects...

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

The physical length of the light path in a substance divided by the refractive index of that substance. See also equivalent...

The maximum number of users who are using a given communication channel. Typically, the number of users at any given time is...

A method of focusing an optical system by moving the front component (the lens closest to the subject) to change the...

The green line, in the spectrum of the aurora borealis, that has a wavelength of 5577 Å; it is caused by a forbidden...

Technique for the precision evaluation of coincidence of a laser beam's center with the edge of the object under study and...

A method of storing digital data using techniques that consume less memory space than basic methods do. See differential...

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

The photographic recording of a visible image formed by the impact of invisible radiation on a fluorescent screen.

A passive fiber optic coupler that divides light from a single fiber into two or more fiber channels.

That branch of astronomy concerned with the study of the moon's physical characteristics.

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

The detection and analysis of naturally formed extraterrestrial electromagnetic radiation within the radio frequency range...

An instrument used for video or computer data storage in which a laser optical head is used to write digital information...

Optical surface damage due to abrasive rubbing. Abrasion damage affects are less than the thickness of the optical coating...

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

The selective scattering of light as it passes through a diffusing medium.

A glass that is heated, then chilled (usually by an air blast) to set up internal stresses so that the surfaces are under...

The radiation emitted in semiconductors when electrons in the conduction band recombine with holes in the valence band. If...

Measure of the amount of light that is transmitted, relative to the amount lost by absorption or reflection.

A diode with a semiconducting material, such as germanium or silicon, for one electrode, and a fine wire "whisker''...

The minimum amount of strength characteristic of an optical fiber, as determined by proof stressing; expressed in thousands...

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

A spectrograph having glass as its refracting component and used in cases where speed and high dispersion are not required....

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

The logarithm of the reciprocal of diffuse transmittance. Diffuse density results when a sample is diffusely illuminated.

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

A physical stop that is conjugate to the entrance pupil and is used primarily to reduce diffraction effects at longer...

In image processing and machine vision, the process in which an initial measurement pattern or some subsequence of...

The capacity of a chiral substance such as a crystal or molecule to rotate the plane of polarized light that is transmitted...

A light absorbing material applied to ground optical surfaces during the process of making that surface non reflective. Such...

An early form of photographic media consisting of glass plates coated with an emulsion.

The physical thickness times the refractive index.

An energy transition concerned with photons alone.

A thin film of absorbing or nonabsorbing layers in which the absorption of radiation at any point is directly proportional...

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

A system of Japanese origin that utilizes Fresnel lenses and a fiber optic network to transmit sunlight to otherwise...

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

An instrument used to record rapidly varying currents or voltages. An oscillograph may consist of a cathode-ray tube...

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

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for high-resolution, in vivo imaging...

A solar cell that uses a thermoelectric converter, consisting of two sheets of metal with a semiconductor sandwiched between...

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

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate...

The law stating that the amount of chemical change produced is proportional to the amount of light absorbed. Actually, the...

1. A lens situated at or near the plane of an internal image to project the aperture of a previous objective or erector upon...

The interferometric analysis of a complex object by utilizing the three-dimensional hologram. By causing a laser beam to...

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

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

Study of the reflection or transmission properties of specimens as a function of wavelength.

The ability of an electrical current to destroy superconductivity by means of the magnetic field generated by the current....

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

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

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

The introduction of a filter into an imaging system to implement a phase contrast for an intensity mapping of a pure phase...

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

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

Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is a specialized technique in biophysics and molecular...

The SI unit of temperature equal to 1°C. See absolute temperature scale.

Stimulating light used for the production of energy through photosynthesis, solar cell or other light senstitive device.

1. To center an image or place it in any part of the television screen desired. Also applies to stills. 2. A single image of...

A surface heat-treating process that produces a highly stressed surface. In case-hardening of glass, a plate of glass is...

A technique for obtaining improved resolution of images produced by large telescopes and distorted by the effects of...

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

That property of certain optical devices, e.g., a penta prism, that maintains the angular relationship between the entering...

An experimental research technique by which absorbed or unabsorbed radiation is analyzed in order to characterize and...

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

The amount of x-rays used to penetrate and diffuse a target sample undergoing electron-probe microanalysis.

A filter that transmits a single spectral line emitted by a line source.

The transport of molecules in a cell which requires the use of a cell's internal energy. The energy used in the cell may be...

The adjustment of a binocular instrument so that the lines of sight of both telescopes are parallel.

See emissivity; exitance.

Irregular propagation of a wave due to variations in the medium's density or refractive index.

The pattern of microwave field intensity that can be obtained by detecting the minute expansion of a microwave absorber slab...

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

A two-part lens that has a different focal length for each part. Generally, it is used in eyeglasses to correct for both...

MWIR stands for mid-wave infrared, referring to a specific range of wavelengths within the infrared spectrum. Infrared...

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

The electrical resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant difference of potential of one volt, applied...

An electronic transducer, either fixed or adjustable, that reduces the amplitude of a wave without causing significant...

A solid-state device similar to an ordinary transistor except that incident light on the PN junctions regulates the response...

A method for obtaining the optical absorption spectra of solids, semisolids, liquids and gases. PAS is inherently...

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

One of the two principal types of optical glass, the other being flint glass. Crown glass is harder than flint glass, and...

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

A defect of vision where a single object appears as two. Also known as double vision.

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

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

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

A device designed to measure linear or rotary motion by detection of the movement of markings on a transparent medium past a...

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

A three-dimensional grating designed with thin metal sheets to remain opaque to all but one specific and predetermined wave.

A device containing an electro-optic crystal and using the Pockels effect. A voltage applied across the crystal generates...

Abbreviated SoC. A single chip containing all the electronic circuits required for a complete, working product. SoCs are...

The ratio of energy or intensity absorbed by the medium (numerator) to the total incident energy.

The use of high temperatures, between 2000 and 3000 °C, to excite emission lines from a sample in spectroscopic...

A refrigeration method based on the Peltier effect. When an electric current passes through a thermocouple of two dissimilar...

The detection and measurement of nuclear and x-ray radiation.

A neutral density filter that, when placed in front of the iris of a lens, increases the f-stop range.

A waveguide or coaxial cable that transmits a signal from an antenna to a receiver or from a transmitter to an antenna.

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

1. An instrument used to measure the opacity or density of dyes, pigments or dispersed particles that form an image in or on...

An optical interference technique widely utilized as a method of nondestructive testing when determining the ray deflection...

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

An optical waveguide in which only the lowest order bound mode, which may consist of a pair of orthogonally polarized...

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

The use of chemicals or radiation to induce a desired change in a substance; e.g., some optical adhesives are set by...

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

A liquid crystal display using the material in its supertwisted nematic phase; the birefringence of the liquid crystal...

A stream of electrons emitted by a single source that move in the same direction and at the same speed.

A camera containing an electronic image sensor that converts the image to an electronic signal suitable for television...

A high-frequency pulse-rate laser with an output limited by the heat capacity of the laser medium. Instead of having...

The process whereby a blank or disc is heated to a sufficiently high temperature to sag into a mold having a desired...

A small convergent lens, located between the objective and eyepiece of a microscope, that focuses an image of the upper...

A material used as a protective layer on an aluminized or silvered mirror. It is evaporated on the mirror as a thin layer,...

A specific gas-filled tube designed to illustrate the luminous effects of discharges through rarefied gases.

A device designed to enlarge the image of a microscopic object by television process. It may be a flying spot scanner that...

A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be...

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

Pitch, wax, resin or other cement suitable for holding optical parts to a spindle during grinding and polishing processes.

The process of using a spectrograph with a telescope to acquire information on an astronomical object's speed and physical...

A plate consisting of fused optical fibers with both surfaces ground and polished, and having the entrance surface curved to...

1. The basic unit of length in the metric system, equal to 39.37 in. or 3.28 ft. 2. Any device or instrument used for...

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

A transition boundary between two regions having different properties in a P-type semiconducting material.

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

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

Process of analysis in which the analyte substance is distributed in a matrix before laser desorption. This method avoids...

coma, fifth order aberration with on-axis focal point variation with incident off axis ray height position

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

A device employed to identify toxic agents lingering on the ground or in the air from up to three miles away, by using laser...

A microscopic crystal found in an intricately crystallized substance that is only visible under a microscope.

The wavelength at which the radiant intensity of a source is maximum.

A method used to produce precision spherical and aspheric molded glass lenses without grinding or polishing.

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

Optical glass containing zirconium fluoride that results in special characteristics such as improved transmission.

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

The study of and classification of rocks.

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

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

The photographic recording of visible and ultraviolet spectra on an ordinary photograph.

A restricting wavelength above or below which a specified form of radiation is totally almost absorbed by a specified medium.

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

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

The perception of visual stimuli at the left and right outer boundaries of the visual field.

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

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

The laser pumping that exhibits an advantage over longitudinal pumping in that the threshold pump power density can be...

An electric or electronic device that regulates the voltage going to a light source as a means of varying the intensity of...

Common name for a variety of adhesives used for lens bonding, fiber optic splicing and other photonics applications. The...

Transmission in different amounts as a function of wavelength, as a result of absorption and scattering, leading to color...

A mass spectrometer utilizing both radial electrostatic and magnetic field analyzers to improve the focusing and increase...

A two-fiber optical cable containing two single-fiber cables that are connected by a strip of jacket and that can easily be...

The mathematical set of equations showing the relationship between oscillating electric and magnetic fields that are...

Radiation emitted by electrons when they travel in circular orbits at speeds close to that of light. Synchrotron radiation...

A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and...

1. A lens formed to a desired curve and used to form a polisher. 2. A piece of glass included in a block to fill out the...

The variation of the electronically detected signal with respect to the scaled version of the classical optical signal...

The multiple beam form of Brewster's fringes formed when the two plane-parallel plates have high-reflecting surfaces.

A laser rangefinder is a device that uses laser technology to measure the distance between the device and a target. It...

Also known as an eyepiece micrometer. A microscope eyepiece that has a finely divided scale ruled or photographed on a...

Infrared radiation emitted from a source that is not heated sufficiently to give off visible radiation.

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

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

A light therapy that utilizes nonionizing light sources, including lasers, LEDs, and broadband light, in the visible and...

Silicon carbide (SiC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current is...

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

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

An analog signal capable of being modulated as to frequency, amplitude or phase to carry information.

An interferometer constructed to be positioned on a telescope to measure the angular separation of the components of double...

The point on the optical axis of a lens that is the image of the nodal points. For any bundle of rays passing through the...

The elimination of magnetic fields from within a material as that material makes the transition from the normal to...

Image sensors in a two-dimensional configuration of rows or columns.

The array of methods used in the transmission and reception of pictures and images with a three-dimensional appearance.

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

Term applied to radiation composed of particles or photons that will not easily penetrate a material because of their low...

Ablation applied to polymers and chemical solids. Process of material removal that minimizes edge damage but will not heat...

The linear relationship between input and output optical fields for a given optical system or application that allows the...

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

Two essential pieces of equipment used in connection with the microfilming process: a camera capable of producing, on film,...

The science that deals with the measurement of optical absorbance (i.e. optical densities) over microscopic areas of a given...

A glow discharge lamp consisting of a cold cathode and a mixture of inert gases. The intensity of illumination varies with...

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

1. In relation to cathode-ray tube displays, errors in the signal's amplitude, phase or both that result in small, rapid...

The science of sensing and measuring information at some remote location and transmitting the data to a convenient location...

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to investigate the optical properties...

A bench photometer that depends on the inability of the eye to distinguish color in brief flashes of light. Any difference...

A nonlinear label-free imaging technique commonly used during surgical procedures for the visualization of collagen fibers...

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

The fluctuation in apparent illumination that has a rate comparable to the reciprocal of the period of persistence in vision.

Also known as UV-VIS spectrometer, a device that measures the absorbance, reflectance or transmittance of light in the...

The surface curvature designed to reduce the marginal error found in the periphery of a spectacle lens.

The line from a spark or other very hot source that has greater intensity than that of a line produced by an arc or flame...

A spectroradiometer having a means to scan different regions of the light spectrum, providing simultaneous representations...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

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

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

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

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

The measured change in absorption at a single wavelength while altering experimental parameters such as the incident...

A device used to count objects that pass a given point by allowing each object to obstruct a beam of light falling on a...

An adhesive used for bonding optical elements or for holding devices.

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

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

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

In a cathode-ray tube, the visible line or lines formed on the screen by the deflection of the electron stream.

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

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

The degree to which a vision system is capable of sensing differences in light intensity between two regions.

The superposition of satellite or aerial images with a map in order to process and remove distortion. Uses reference points...

An optical component coated to reflect infrared radiation. Gold, silver and aluminum are typical coating materials.

An optical illusion in which distant objects are lighter in tone and less distinct in outline than those closer to the...

In sensitometric testing, a series of areas progressing by equal density steps (usually the increments between steps are...

A CCD image sensor that uses a proximity-focused image intensifier to provide greater sensitivity at low light levels.

To supply a signal to some point.

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

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

A device consisting of an airtight quartz tube that holds the material to be analyzed. When a high-frequency electrostatic...

A type of color-generating cathode-ray tube that uses a shadow mask, a thin perforated electrode, located close to the...

Commonly performed in spectroscopy, the optical null process is a method for radiation detection whereby physical detectors...

A single band in a group of light and dark bands that can be viewed in the periphery of Fresnel diffraction shadow.

A stimulus that contains equal energy at each wavelength in the visible region of the spectrum.

An imaging process, similar to specific Doppler mapping radar techniques, that utilizes a laser, an optical imaging system,...

A technique used to suppress extreme noise amplification during digital image reconstruction that relies on smoothing and...

A substance that transmits the infrared, but which is too delicate or fragile to be used in the form of a single crystal....

A type of cable made up of two conductors; one conductor is inside of and concentric with the other.

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

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

A material that produces stimulated emission during the process of amplification with a laser system.

A technique for polishing silicon in which an alkaline suspension containing silicon dioxide particles creates a soft layer...

A solid-state semiconducting structure (basically one of the bolometers) that changes electrical resistance with...

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

The indistinct, less luminous portion lying immediately outside an electric arc whose spectrum often differs from that of...

A microdensitometer that contains a scanning stage to provide simultaneous representations of position vs. density.

The high-speed electrons and positrons emitted by radioactive materials.

A theoretical, ideal lens capable of producing perfect images. Used as a lens design and analysis tool to image collimated...

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

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

A false image in television that follows the desired image so closely that it appears to be smeared.

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

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

Calorimetry is a branch of science that involves the measurement of heat flow in physical or chemical processes. It...

A solid-state panel of the photoconductor-electroluminescent type. The photoconductive layer, sensitive to x-rays, is coated...

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

A forerunner of the modern camera, this instrument had a focusable lens that produced a sharp image on the enclosure...

A fluid having three components: a carrier fluid, magnetite particles suspended by Brownian motion and a stabilizer to...

In fiber optics, the annular region between two concentric circles; used to specify fiber cladding and core sizes.

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

The entire range of colors a specific color model can produce, represented as a three-dimensional solid.

An electrical problem that occurs when voltage is not the same with respect to ground at every node of a system, causing...

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

One lumen-second, the SI unit of the quantity of light.

A nonabsorbing, multireflecting device, similar in design to the Fabry-Perot interferometer, that serves as a multilayer,...

A device used to take turbidimetric or nephelometric measurements by considering the contrast between a constant brightness...

The sine of the vertex angle of the largest cone of meridional rays that can enter or leave an optical system or element,...

The term photochemical pertains to chemical processes or reactions that are initiated or influenced by the absorption of...

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

Pitch for polishing mixed with other materials to give it the right viscosity so that it will follow the fine-ground lens...

A device that samples and quantizes a signal in digital form for storage in memory.

With respect to pictorial displays, the ratio of the width to the height. The television standard in the US is 4:3....

Also known as cathode rays. Formerly, this term described a stream of electrons emitted from the cathode of a gas-discharge...

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

An instrument consisting essentially of a photoelectric cell filtered to respond to a specified wavelength region, an...

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

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

1. A measure of absorbed dose, equal to the energy imparted by ionizing radiation to a mass of matter corresponding to 1 J...

Radiation from the invisible (usually ultraviolet) region of the spectrum.

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

A contour mapping technique that uses electronic scanning and sampling techniques instead of a reference grating (see moire...

The line or lines emitted by an element when its radiation particles travel from one energy level to another.

The responsivity of a photocathode to luminous energy equal to the ratio of the photoelectric emission to the incident...

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

A passive coupler that distributes signals from one or several inputs among a larger number of output waveguides arranged...

The conductivity increase exhibited by some nonmetallic materials, resulting from the free carriers generated when photon...

The ratio of the intensities of a light bundle before and after passing through the lens.

Spectrum analysis concerned with the spectra formed by transitions in molecules.

A device that consists of two types of mode converters, one of which must be magnetic. It is nonreciprocal because the...

An incandescent or carbon arc lamp designed with a stable and compact arc or filament that permits it to be used as a light...

An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic...

A telescope similar to the customary Cassegrain telescope, but having a primary mirror that is ellipsoidal and a secondary...

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

An area in which airborne particulates can be monitored and controlled so that given size particles do not exceed a...

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

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

With respect to photography, the law stating that the optical density of an exposed emulsion with standard development is a...

A technique that uses a solid-state laser and a detector to determine an object's relative distance to the system. The laser...

A crystal often used for windows and refracting components in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared. Characteristically,...

A direct-readout television pickup tube.

An analytical technique used to determine the nature of extremely small samples by forming the x-ray spectrum of the samples...

The degree to which a predetermined or previous setting of a positioning device can be duplicated by observance of the...

The change in position of the image of a sine wave object from its ideal position. Usually measured in degrees with...

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

A device, consisting of a diode activated by an interference pulse, that is designed to minimize the white spots on a...

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

The Golgi staining technique (also called the black reaction) makes it possible to look at the nervous system by rendering...

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

An instrument designed for laser technology that is used to extract single pulses from the laser and transmit a portion of...

Describing a surface that is coated with a film of metal of such thickness that it transmits about one-half of the incident...

For a single-mode fiber, the measurement of the irradiance distribution at the fiber's end face.

Flux per unit solid angle leaving a surface in any direction is proportional to the cosine of the angle between that...

A filter purposely made to be placed before a lens to render the image rather unclear.

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization...

The use of an electric field or signal to couple a lightwave from one dielectric waveguide into another dielectric waveguide.

A device used in thin-film deposition; the material to be evaporated is placed in a crucible that is heated inductively by...

A metal tool used to grind lenses with loose abrasive (see diamond cutting tool). The functional surface of the lap is...

Continuous conversion of oscillatory energy into heat, relative to time or distance.

A nitrogen vacancy (NV) refers to a specific type of defect or impurity in a crystal lattice where a nitrogen atom replaces...

A filter that serves to alter the color temperature and the mired value of the radiation emitted by a source.

In polarized light, the plane of vibration that a polarizer will transmit.

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

The nondestructive analysis and recording of industrial components based on the absorption of relatively low-energy neutrons...

A television system in which the images produced appear three-dimensional.

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

A pulse that has the waveform of a Gaussian distribution.

Spectroscopy characterized by the Mossbauer effect - recoilless emission and absorption of nuclear gamma radiation- which...

Colorless crystals used in photoelectric cells and for photosensitive material in cathodes.

A lamp designed to emit a large amount of infrared radiation; used in applications requiring heat.

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

An instrument for measuring the radius of curvature of a spherical lens or mirror surface. It may consist of a ring resting...

The soft x-rays used in the industrial radiography of materials having too small a range of densities to produce an image...

A guided missile that uses an infrared sensor to detect and home in on an enemy target. The missile is guided by the high...

The criterion maintaining that if light follows a specific path through an optical system, it will, if reversed, traverse...

The resulting contraction or expansion of a piezoelectric crystal along an electric axis when the crystal is under the...

With respect to the crystal, the decrease in energy that follows the process whereby the ions, separated from each other by...

A crystal-based device that combines and adjusts the intensities of multiple wavelengths of laser light in order to obtain...

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two...

A method in optical character recognition in which a mobile light beam scans the outlines of characters for subsequent...

1. The variation in intensity of a light beam as it travels through the atmosphere. 2. In radiation physics, a light flash...

Rate at which optical radiation or a signal is varied through the use of a mechanical or electronic chopper. Also called...

A device to modulate spatially a collimated coherent beam of light with input data in optical data processing. It uses a...

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

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

Photobleaching is a phenomenon in which the fluorescence of a fluorophore (a fluorescent molecule or dye) is permanently...

Raster scanning process like that of television: each line is scanned successively.

The second adjustable iris diaphragm in an optical system. In the common microscope condenser system, it usually is located...

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

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

A modified form of an image-retaining panel that can be used in subdued daylight. This is achieved by adding a layer of zinc...

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

A complex filter that uses polarization and interference to transmit light that is nearly monochromatic.

A kinescope used to survey the details of television video transmission.

The emission and/or propagation of energy through space or through a medium in the form of either waves or corpuscular...

A satellite-borne remote sensing device capable of transmitting images at 10 and 20 m resolution from an altitude of 830 km,...

A type of electron microscope in which the specimen also serves as the cathode source.

A salt of formic acid that can be used to enhance the photosensitivity of silver halide crystals.

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

A compound crystal having two or more crystals or crystal sections that, when regularly positioned, are in reverse position...

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

An imaging process in which the single opening of a simple pinhole camera is replaced with many openings called,...

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

Any of a number of instruments that uses a flame to vaporize a solution of the chemical being analyzed so that light may be...

An electronic device that minimizes short-term drift effects and random measurement error inherent in alternate...

The ability of the human eye to adjust itself to an alteration in the intensity of light.

The partial differential equations for the spatial and time dependence of electric and magnetic fields inside a...

Also known as OCT-A, optical coherence tomography angiography is an imaging technique that uses light waves to measure...

1. The process of wearing down the surface of a softer material by rubbing it under pressure against the surface of a harder...

The photographic filming of the action of x-ray images recorded on a fluorescent screen by means of large lens apertures and...

In a perfectly centered lens, the mechanical axis (defined by the ground outside the diameter of the lens) is made to be...

Noise created by patterns imaged on a CCD surface. Pixel sensitivity is altered by responsivity during illumination.

In optics, a shape often given to the leading edge of a projectile. In any side view it appears as a pointed arc, while any...

1. The decrease of the absorption (or gain) coefficient of a medium near some transition frequency when the power of the...

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

A television receiver that receives the signals generated by a television camera directly, or remotely through a radio...

Electromagnetic radiation detectable by the eye, ranging in wavelength from about 400 to 750 nm. In photonic applications...

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

An optical fiber in which ions of a rare-earth element, such as neodymium, erbium or holmium, have been incorporated into...

A technique that uses the passage of an electrical current through a recording medium to produce a permanent image on that...

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

gas laser using ionized argon as the active medium and applying electronic excitation in order to produce the laser light

The light-sensitive cells on the retina of the eye that are responsible for low-resolution, peripheral vision.

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

The properties exhibited by a semiconductor as the result of its modification by imperfections and impurities in the crystal.

Device that operates by interaction of incident radiation with semiconductor based material in order to produce an...

Any filter in which the range of frequencies within a chosen radius suffers no attenuation and the range of frequencies...

The use of a short-duration electron beam to record high-speed events that occur in microscopic objects made of materials...

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

Total number of characters available to each position of a digital numeric system.

A variation of tomography, which is a means of visualizing any one of a large set of parallel planes in the patient. A...

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

A device used to delay transmission of a signal for functions such as memory loops, sequential processing or built-in...

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

Adhering material used to glue optical components that transmit in the infrared. It is easily dissolved by acetone.

The number of fields scanned per second in a television system. The US standard is 60. Also called field frequency.

In morphological image processing, a series of erosions followed by the same number of dilations.

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

Production of a repeated image of a transmitted beam through a diffractive optical element such as a holographic card or...

The progressive defocusing of a cathode-ray tube display image that occurs when the deflected electron beam impinges on the...

Having properties resembling those of light- waves; e.g., the propagation of waves in the television spectrum.

A flowmeter is a device used to measure the flow rate or quantity of a fluid passing through a particular point in a system....

A photoemissive cell having an inert gas added to its envelope. Subsequent ionization of the gas increases the responsivity...

A lens with aberrations corrected to the point that residual wavefront errors are substantially less than one-quarter the...

In optics, an image is the reconstruction of light rays from a source or object when light from that source or object is...

The substrate upon which a diffraction grating will be ruled. It must be dimensionally stable, and the surface must be...

A state in which an image is distorted by an optical system.

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

A phase-modulated sensor is a type of sensor that uses modulation of the phase of a signal to measure changes in a physical...

The portion of a glow discharge tube that permits little or no light transmission.

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

The processes in which luminous energy incident on the eye is perceived and evaluated.

Basically, a hydrogen atom with two alterations, positronium is the lightest atom in the universe and has an extremely light...

An apparatus, designed for use with a camera, that is used to rapidly open the path from lens to film, to maintain the...

A lamp that has mercury in a tube or bulb that has first been evacuated. The electricity travels through the vapor between...

The sensitivity of a photographic emulsion when exposed to light, provided that the film is developed through a standard...

A linear or two-dimensional matrix of individual detector elements, typically used at the focus of an imaging system.

The total range of wavelengths, extending from the shortest to the longest wavelength or conversely, that can be generated...

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

Any irregular motion, variation in intensity or change in color that arises because of atmospheric turbulence during the...

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

A laser that uses a substance in the liquid state, such as an organic dye, as the active lasing medium.

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) refers to a phenomenon in wave physics, particularly in optics, where waves, such as light or...

The simultaneous collection of two or more signals at a single location. In a digital computer, it refers to the number of...

A powerful method, referred to as FCS, for determining the average diffusion coefficients of fluorescent molecules in...

A fluorographic method whereby the sensitive photographic medium is pressed against a fluorescent screen to form a visible...

In general, changes in one oscillation signal caused by another, such as amplitude or frequency modulation in radio which...

A standard lens interface initially made for 16mm movie cameras and now used primarily on closed-circuit television cameras....

The value of the distance of distinct vision, minimum focusing distance or near point, divided by the focal length of the...

Unit of mass in the SI system.

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

Variations in a signal passing through an optical fiber caused by the effect on the pulse of the fiber's material and mode...

A lamp that emits light when an electric current passes through a resistant metallic wire situated in a vacuum tube.

The presence, within the body of the glass, of extraneous or alien material. See seed; striae.

Technique using a fiber optic assembly to illuminate an opaque object and transmit an image back from it without a lens...

An ion carrying a positive charge and thus attracted to the cathode during electrolysis.

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

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

In a solid-state laser, the material (Nd:YAG, Nd:glass, ruby) in which lasing action takes place.

With respect to a crystal, one of the paths or axes that will exhibit a piezoelectric charge when subject to tension or...

A particular type of phototube having increased sensitivity as a result of the glow initiated by light incident to the...

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become correlated to such an extent...

The concept of the de Broglie wavelength exploits the wave-particle duality of quantum physics by associating all matter (of...

Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring substances. These...

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

A filter that maximizes signal-to-noise ratio so that a waveform of known shape can be separated from random noise.

In a dual-ring local area network, a node that is connected only to the primary, active ring and not to the secondary ring...

The analysis of structural and molecular dynamics caused by low temperature.

A defect in an optical system that prevents rays from reaching their intended destination; it can be caused by an undersized...

The process in which the normal rate of fluorescent emission from a substance is enhanced by virtue of the optical gain of...

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to...

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

An approach to optical character recognition based on matching the input character against a set of stored prototypes.

The re-emission of absorbed energy, having the same wavelength as the incident energy, in an arbitrary direction from a...

A light-sensitive resistor in which resistance decreases with increase in light intensity when illuminated. The device...

A plane passing through a crystal that has the optic axis of the crystal and the light ray under consideration.

In optics, an octave typically refers to a range of frequencies or wavelengths that spans a factor of 2. In other words,...

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

A lens assembly containing several movable elements to permit changing of the effective focal length (EFL). Unlike a zoom...

An emulsion in which grains of the photosensitive material silver halide are deposited. Each grain, when exposed to light,...

The discernment of depth or apparent difference in distance that causes the object to stand out from its background because...

In a laser, the optical resonator formed by two coaxial mirrors, one totally and one partially reflective, positioned so...

Bar pattern represented as a sine curve in which the light distribution varies in one direction.

A vacuum deposition method in which the coating material (target) is removed from the surface of the coating source...

An assembly of prototype instruments, equipment and/or software designed to perform all the functions of a concept or idea...

System of information coding in which the signal is sampled 8000 times per second and the samples quantized by referring...

A prism that inverts and reverts an image while deviating the line of sight by a 45° angle.

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

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

The use of photographs to record astronomical objects and phenomena for purposes of physical observation and measurement of...

1. In a plane Cartesian coordinate system, the horizontal axis, or axis in the left to right direction. 2. In a quartz...

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

The span of frequencies within which a single channel of broadcast television must fall; in the US, it is 6 MHz.

A photovoltaic cell usually sensitive to infrared radiation. It may have a copper base and a film of cuprous oxide. When it...

In the optical shop, the process of positioning and marking a blank or lens before surfacing, cutting and edging.

The process of forming a polisher by pressing it with an optical surface.

Process for growth of solar cells that results in rectangular shapes consisting of many interconnected cells in a series or...

Radiation similar in origin to spontaneous emission but determined by the presence of other radiation having the same...

The measurement and analysis of color using a photoelectric instrument having three filters with broad spectrum bands.

Noise generated within an optical communications system link that has both internal (dark current) and external (background...

The all-encompassing noise associated with a given environment, usually being a composite of a number of sources, far and...

Spectra can be conveniently recorded on photographic film or plates. The portions that are occupied by regions of the...

Lens aberration resulting in image size variation as a function of wavelength. See also chromatic aberration.

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

Use of achromatic design; the correction of chromatic aberration; without color or hue (grey, black and white)

Also known as a shadow mask, a perforated plate placed between the focusing and accelerating electrodes, and the tricolor...

In a sequence of laser pulse emissions, the intitial pulse that often helps initiate a reaction at the target surface,...

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

Two microscopes that are coupled on a common stand, the two images being projected side by side in the field of view of a...

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

A transmission line having no wave reflection along its path.

Signal used in optical transmission systems to generate currents in a detector that are decoded with reference to a...

In biology, particularly genetics and evolutionary biology, the phenotype refers to the observable characteristics or traits...

A system mounted a few inches above a moving plane that consists of a light source, lenses and one or more phototubes. In...

A vision defect commonly referred to as farsightedness. Results when the image of a distant object is focused beyond the...

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

A television system that uses a slow rate of horizontal scanning to increase its reproduction and transmittance accuracy of...

Generally, a rotatable table with scales marked in degrees. The fiducial marking also may be a vernier scale. The same...

Process that occurs when a polymerized soft plastic rod with higher refractive index is placed in a bath of a lower...

An instrument designed to measure the proportion of light emitted by a source in the blue region of the spectrum.

A technique for measuring the energy spectrum of electrons emitted during the absorption of ultraviolet radiation. This...

The distribution of one signal to more than one location. In a digital computer, it refers to the number of outputs that can...

The process whereby a quantum mechanical system alters from one energy level to another. During this process, energy is...

A device for automatic exposure control in which a motor-driven diaphragm adjusts the aperture in response to a signal from...

The successive analysis or synthesizing of the light values or other similar characteristics of the components of a picture...

An infrared detector that achieves a specified sensitivity through the application of certain cryogenic temperatures.

The chemical method of separating compounds dissolved in one phase (usually mobile) through its equilibration with a second...

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

The quality of asymmetrical intensity distribution in a laser beam, as opposed to a circular distribution.

A chemical substance that exhibits fluorescence when excited by ultraviolet radiation, x-rays or an electron beam. The...

In remote sensing technology, this represents the intensity of energy flow in the direction of wave propagation.

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

An image converter that produces a visible image based on the infrared emittance of the object. The infrared energy is...

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

An instrument that uses a photoelectric system to determine the size and volume of dust particles in a given unit of air.

A glow-discharge tube in which the discharge takes place in the conical or crater-shaped depression at one end of the tube.

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

A photoemissive detector sensitive to wavelengths up to 1 µm. It has one sharp maximum of sensitivity at 350 nm and a...

A spatial light modulator consisting of a metallized polymer film stretched over an array of metal-oxide semiconductor...

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

An opaque inclusion in glass that contains undissolved or crystalline material. Also known as a seed.

Designation for the fundamental mode of an optical fiber.

In computer graphics, intersection of a plane with a three-dimensional object to create a sectional view.

An electrowetting display (EWD) is a type of electronic display technology that utilizes the principles of electrowetting to...

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

A group of solar cells that are electrically contacted and physically arranged so that they may be oriented in the direction...

A computer architecture used in parallel processing whereby all the processing elements are operating under their own local...

1. In optics, the bending of rays away from each other. 2. In lasers, the spreading of a laser beam with increased distance...

A plot showing how the response (ability to detect a signal) varies with wavelength. D(l).

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

1. The negative electrode of a device in an electrical circuit. 2. The positive electrode of a primary cell or storage...

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

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

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

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

In the SI system, prefix meaning one-thousandth, 10-3.

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

A unit of frequency equivalent to 1012 cps. Named for Augustin Jean Fresnel, a French physicist known for his work in light...

Literally the opposite of resonance, antiresonance occurs when any variation in excitation frequency results in an increased...

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

A meniscus that is often fitted before a camera lens to permit focusing on near objects.

A vacuum pump in which pressure is reduced by condensing gases on surfaces cryogenically cooled to about 20 K (liquid...

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

A device, either visual or electronic, that emits signals to identify set positions for use in the navigation of aircraft...

The properties of certain materials that cause them to have relative permeabilities that exceed unity. This permeability...

The logarithmic method of determining emulsion speeds developed by the German standards organization, Deutscher...

A dielectric ceramic material used in laser capillary tubes because of its high electrical resistivity and high thermal...

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

A metal coil or coils wrapped around the outside of the neck of a cathode-ray tube. Current passing through the coils...

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

PCSEL stands for "photonic crystal surface-emitting laser." It refers to a type of laser diode that emits light from its...

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

A device used to detect radiant energy by means of the thermal expansion of gas.

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

The rotation of an instrument (or the line of sight of an optical system) in a horizontal plane; transverse.

The spectroscopic analysis of interference patterns using an electronic imaging tube with a Fabry-Perot interferometer to...

Pertaining to or as a function of wavelength. Spectral quantities are evaluated at a single wavelength.

In laser welding or heat treating, the instantaneous laser beam power per unit area. This parameter is key in determining...

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

Proportions of standard primaries (tristimulus values) required for a color match; ratios of each tristimulus value of a...

The method of acquiring characteristic x-ray spectra from microscopic samples by use of the combination of a scanning...

Abbreviated PAI. An imaging modality with a hybrid technique based on the acoustic detection of optical absorption from...

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

In surface height measurement of optics with steep slopes, the use of two short visible wavelengths to synthesize a longer,...

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

The computer module whose circuitry interprets instructions and guides the actions of the peripherals. Also known as the...

The emission of an electron from a surface that occurs when a photon impinges upon the surface and is absorbed. This effect...

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

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

A system in which the electrical signal embedded within an audio input signal is converted to a modulated light pattern and...

A type of compensator for use with a microscope and consisting of a quarter-wave plate in a fixed position and a rotatable...

An inspection device in which the profile of a mechanical part is projected onto a ground-glass screen at a precisely known...

A step-by-step method of reducing the amount of data in a digital video signal to transmit or store a high-quality image....

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

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

The name of the mixture of liquid and grinding or polishing compounds used in processing optical materials.

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

The effect of a powerful gravitational field on light traveling through the field. This effect is detectable in astronomical...

Any photographic medium that, when chemically developed, produces an exact photographic reproduction of the original.

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

The process or device by which more than one signal can be sent over a single channel by using different time intervals for...

A deliberately nonlinear amplitude modulation that strengthens weak signals and reduces strong signals for transmission.

The ability of a camera to compensate in cases where a subject with a large amount of background light would otherwise be...

The point to which the extension of the straight line, reaching from the sun to the observer's eye after penetrating the...

A photodetector mounted in the same package as a laser diode that is positioned to monitor the output from the rear facet of...

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

A method of lasing in which free electrons in a laser-produced plasma collide with neonlike ions to excite electrons to...

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

Measurement of the interval during which a photodetector's signal and output current drops from 90 to 10 percent.

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

A smooth, highly polished surface, for reflecting light, that may be plane or curved if wanting to focus and or magnify the...

The term perovskite refers to a specific crystal structure commonly found in various materials. Perovskite structures have a...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1021. (Z).

SI unit of luminous intensity. It is defined as one sixtieth the normal intensity of one square centimeter of a blackbody at...

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

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

Separating two or more signals that have been combined into one signal.

The measurement of the intensity of spectral lines by the examination of a very small area under a microscope and the...

In an optical waveguide, that dispersion attributable to the variation of refractive index profile with wavelength. The...

A precision-engineered microminiature light source that is safe for darkroom use, yet emits a beam of light bright enough to...

An image that can be studied three-dimensionally through a pair of complementary color filters composed of two superimposed...

The scale for floating hydrometers used to measure the specific gravity of a polishing suspension. The depth of immersion is...

A portable instrument that uses a four-sided reflecting prism or set of mirrors to create a duplicate image of an object on...

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

1. A mechanism that permits the focusing of an optical system.2. A means of obtaining the sharpest image from a cathode-ray...

A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...

A reticle pattern in a surveying instrument consisting of parallel lines that can be superimposed on a calibrated rod,...

A type of liquid-crystal display in which each display element contains an active component, such as a thin-film transistor,...

The production of rough glass lens blanks that are pressed while red-hot to the approximate size and shape of the finished...

In a fiber optic guided missile, the point at which the optical fiber pays out from the bobbin on which it is wound.

An instrument that serves to produce an enlarged electron image on a fluorescent screen by focusing an infrared image of a...

A type of optical fiber loss resulting from the misalignment of fibers in a splice or connector.

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

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

A resampling and interpolation method that uses only the value of the nearest neighbor pixel, while not considering values...

An automatic surface-generating process involving the removal of a material from a given surface. Optical milling typically...

A device designed to measure radiant energy, particularly in the thermal region.

In a local area network, a unique signal that travels from one node or station to another, providing them serially with...

A monitoring technique used to measure the oxygen saturation levels in the brains of patients, commonly in operating room...

A far-field pattern holographically reproduced image that is categorically considered with three-dimensional lensless...

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

Material hardness scale that is used to characterize the scratch resistance of various materials. This surface hardness...

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

An optical device that permits the alignment of a gun, cannon or rocket launcher system with its target.

A device that holds a number of filters and allows the filter with the desired characteristics to be rotated into an optical...

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

An infrared detector mounted directly on the cold finger of the Dewar cooler rather than at the interface of Dewar and...

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

With respect to television, the returning direction of the electron beam during the vertical blanking period.

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

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

The photochemical reaction of light present in the decomposition of a substance.

The interval between direction of signal to a light-emitting diode and attainment of 10 percent output current in the...

In a laser diode, the photocurrent produced by a photodiode that detects the emission from the rear facet of the...

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

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

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

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

A form of laser output noise that is caused by thermal, mechanical, or acoustical disturbances of the cavity length. Mode...

In optics, the total radiant energy incident on a surface-per-unit area. It is equal to the integral over time of the...

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

That property of a material that determines its ability to release electrons when absorbing photons.

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

A common technique in microscopy, oblique illumination is one in which the object is illuminated by a light source that is...

A device designed to measure electromotive force or electrical difference potential.

Two oppositely charged particles.

A sudden, brief increase in current or voltage in a circuit that can damage sensitive components and instruments. Preventive...

Abbreviation of "synchronization.'' In television, the timing signals used to drive the scanning process. Horizontal...

Microscopic investigation of two-dimensional areas of a three-dimensional object that can be quantitatively evaluated by...

A two-electrode device with an anode and a cathode that passes current in only one direction. It may be designed as an...

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

The figure seen through or imaged by an optical system. It may contain structures, natural or artificial, or it may be the...

A device that provides means for accurately moving minuscule tools over the surface of a microscopic object. The motion...

The electron emission from a substance or instrument whose surface has been bombarded by a suitable amount of radiation.

Phase shift in electromagnetic signals caused by daily variations in the ionosphere, often during sunrise or sunset.

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

The area of optics that deals with the interaction of light with a given material. The optical properties of material are...

Radiation in which every ray from any given object point can be considered to be parallel to every other. This is never...

A device for measuring linear dimensions. The optical caliper generally consists of two circularly mounted mirrors whose...

A semiconductor device with the property of conducting current more easily in one direction than the other. It has two...

The device, usually made of glass or a similar material, that contains the resonant cavity and optics of a gas laser.

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

The application of reversible writing with a laser beam on particular storage materials. In one method, an amorphous film is...

The thin, transparent film made up of specific substances applied to glass-air surfaces for the purpose of decreasing the...

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

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

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

A light source made up of silicon carbide or carborundum. It is resistant to the negative temperature coefficient and...

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

The process of microphotography that involves the reduction of the original at a ratio greater than 100 to 1. The process is...

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

In fiber optics, the condition in which each fiber of a bundle carries a separate channel.

Also known as TEA laser. A coherent optical source with a wide wavelength range in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet...

A unit of speed of transmission or receipt of a signal, roughly equal to bits per second; common baud rates are 300, 1200,...

The analysis of the atomic structures within crystals by means of x-ray diffraction.

The maximum distance at which the eye can perceive and evaluate objects.

A rangefinder on a camera that is integrated with the focusing mechanism so that when an object's range is determined, the...

An imaging device whose technology contributes three specific advantages: ability to study large solid specimens that...

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

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

Directed energy refers to a type of energy that is emitted and transferred in a controlled direction. The term is often...

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

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

For a laser, the maximum exposure time that the laser design allows; 0.25 seconds for a Class 2 laser.

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

An equation that uses the wavelength of light passing through a medium, along with a set of coefficients, to calculate the...

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

In imaging technology, assigning color to black and white images to differentiate features or convey information. Also...

An optical system used to collect infrared energy from a scene using scanning optics with a point or line detector, as...

The phenomenon that makes nonlinear the mathematical expression for the electrical polarization of a medium through which...

In printing, a translucent screen used with lenses to provide an even distribution of diffused light.

A miniature projecting device designed to enhance and reproduce the image generated by a smaller image-forming instrument....

A piece of glass having a crude plano surface on each side.

Glass containing small quantities of neodymium oxide that is used as a filter plate in color television or as a lasing...

A method used to detect internal or residual microstresses in a material by using a laser beam to locate changes in...

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

A type of change in the energy levels of molecules in a laser that results in lasing action. Vibronic transitions are those...

An instrument similar to the spectroheliograph, but having a scanning method that is performed by a pair of rapidly...

The reflection in different amounts as a function of wavelength, as a result of absorption and scattering, leading to color...

The intensity regulation of a cathode-ray tube by alteration of the grid-cathode voltage.

Any system of time measurement that is based on atomic resonances. The transition times between the hyperfine levels of...

The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...

Consisting of, containing, pertaining to or yielding carbon.

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

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by...

A coating made up of many layers of material having alternating high and low refractive index. In this way, it is possible...

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

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

Characteristic of an acousto-optic modulator, defined by the overlap integral of the incident light and sound field...

The resistance of individual grains of an abrasive to breaking down under pressure. If the grains break down under...

The optical form of the crystal fluorspar, calcium fluoride, that is utilized for its low optical dispersion, its low...

Category inclusive of all radiation that is incited electronically, except laser radiation, as a function of the application...

The face of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that has a fiber optic sheet attached to its surface. The sheet's fibers are at right...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution,...

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

The physical distance, measured along the optical axis, from the object to the image. Also called overall length.

A chemical solution that changes the silver salts (latent image) of exposed photographic film into black metallic silver...

Measures the absorption or sample transmittance over a range of specified wavelengths. Sample may be placed within the...

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

The series of equally spaced parallel slits that make up a scanning aperture in place of a single slit, in the scanning of a...

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

A type of laser used when a great amount of power is required. Avoiding the bulk of large numbers of optical lenses, this...

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

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

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

A spectroscopic technique used to display the intensity of an optical pulse as functions of time and frequency...

A reflection hologram using multiple color lasers that integrates various graphical techniques to allow the display of...

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

A large table with an accurately designed plane surface used to test other surfaces, or to provide a true surface for...

A gas, such as oxygen, that improves the speed and efficiency of a laser cutter or welder when applied to the work surface,...

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

The photographic recording of an image formed by the alteration in electrical properties of the sensitive materials and...

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

Literally, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet. A cylindrical rod of yttrium-aluminum-garnet doped with neodymium that is the...

The analysis and measurement of celestial bodies, their motions and positions.

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 tiny lens (as small as 100 µm in diameter) used to focus light on charge-coupled devices, formed by heating a...

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

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

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

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

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

Describes devices that are not provided with a means of focusing.

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

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

The minimum value of luminance for vision. The value may vary with age as well as dark adaption period. (Measured range...

Also known as the Bragg spectrometer. A system used for the x-ray analysis of crystal structure. In the instrument, a...

One of two types of solar time - the other being apparent solar time - the mean solar time is the time measured by the...

An optical instrument designed for the visual examination of the inside of the stomach.

That distortion resulting from dispersion of the group velocity of a propagating mode. It is the only distortion occurring...

A strip or annulus of glass coated with a semitransparent material such as inconel. The coating thickness, and as a result...

Also referred to as a band-stop or band rejection filter; a notch filter is a filter that is designed to screen out a very...

The permanent uniting of two glass pieces by high-temperature heating.

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

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

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

An eyepiece similar to the Huygenian eyepiece, but having an eye lens that is a cemented doublet and that provides more...

A semiconductor material used in photodetectors, sensitive in the infrared up to 5 µm.

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

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

A microscope objective designed to be used without liquid between the cover glass and the objective, or, in the case of...

A visual, single-unit spectrophotometer with a biprism and a Wollaston prism. The Wollaston prism polarizes coincident...

A measure of the optical path length for light traveling from the sun or other celestial source through Earth's atmosphere...

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

A gas lamp used in the early 1900s as a physical standard for measurement of luminous intensity. The Hefner unit was...

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

In analysis, the carbon layer that is evaporation-deposited on a specimen to protect and ready it for study by electron...

Defines the minimum operational standards for a self-sustaining fusion reactor as equivalence between energy released per...

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

Denoting a finished circular edge. A decentered lens is adjusted on a centering chuck so that its image runs true, and the...

Subsurface linear arrangement of elements of rock that is not mappable; lineation is a one-dimensional characteristic.

The dispersion of a light ray striking the surface of a biaxial crystal, in which the resulting rays are reflected in a...

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

An array of optically distinct fibers that are fused into one strand. They are used to keep the resolution efficiency of the...

A type of fiber optic cable that emits light from its sides along its length.

In a laser, a measure of the device's ability to dissipate internally generated heat.

A laser system consisting of a planar PN junction within a single crystal of gallium arsenide. The pair of parallel,...

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

A type of photoelectric proximity mode sensing incorporating a lens system to focus the light from the emitter in a small,...

Thin-film coating, single or multilayer, that is applied to a substrate to increase its reflectance over a specified range...

A technique for creating optimal performance in a system by producing a specific beam irradiance distribution, usually...

A thermometric instrument used for the detection and measurement of radiant energy. Its essential component is a short...

Small clefts or fissures that penetrate the glass surface in the form of short-hooked crescents. Fire cracks result from a...

Optical glasses containing the oxides of rare earths such as lanthanum to impart a very high refractive index combined with...

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

A retroreflector that can focus a beam of light, with one planar reflective surface, one spherical and a third that is...

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

An instrument that uses an image intensifier to aid in the viewing of subjects in low-light-level environments.

A linear computation or algorithm performed on a selected series in the form of an input signal that produces a new series...

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

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

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

Correction of an optical system at four separate wavelengths. This correction, longitudinal and lateral, is possible with...

Noise generated in the flow of current in the photomultiplier, produced by the intentional or controlled application of...

In image processing, a segmentation algorithm for isolating a region in an image by following its edge.

A maser that relies on the fact that electrons in orbital motion in high-magnetic fields will emit energy at the cyclotron...

The process of reducing the size of an image by removing a certain proportion of the samples produced from the original...

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

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

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

A polycrystalline material that transmits in the infrared; it is used as a phosphor in x-ray and television screens.

The positive ion current created in an electron tube as a result of the collisions between electrons and residual gas...

The analysis, by x-rays, of the crystalline structure and other properties of metals and alloys.

A technique used in photolithography of computer chips to compensate for errors caused by the proximity effect, which...

An array of refractive microlenses that are round, square and hexagonal and as small as 15 µm. They are used for...

Zone of laser operation in which the direct, reflected or scattered light exceeds the laser's MPE and (by ANSI standards)...

When, for example, a beam of monochromatic light passes through a diffraction grating, the emergent rays that have remained...

An infrared device used in satellites and rockets to determine a heat horizon for the Earth at altitudes (above 200 miles)...

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

A type of tubing used to protect optical fiber cables, consisting of a wire spiral of aluminum, galvanized steel or...

A cryogenically cooled component incorporated into the Dewar of an infrared detector assembly to maintain the sensing...

A system of sensors and related instrumentation that allows a navigable object (usually a missile) to locate its destination...

A fundamental law of wave scattering theory that connects the extinction cross section of a scatterer to the real part of...

In the SI system, prefix meaning one hundred, 102.

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

The point at which short-wavelength transmission is cut off.

A subtractive colorimeter that expresses a liquid's or object's color as a combination of three colors. These colors are...

The greatest luminous reflectance possible for a specified chromaticity.

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

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

A cine camera that exposes a series of individual frames to record the changes in a subject that slowly alters with time....

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

Dispersion that occurs when the medium's index of refraction decreases as the frequency of the propagating light increases....

The spectral transmission window in silica-based fibers between 830 and 850 nm.

Triggering a laser at a predetermined time by pumping it to a level just below its threshold and then using an auxiliary...

1. An eyepiece or magnifier with a scale at its image plane. That scale is placed in contact with an object, permitting...

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

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

A set of algorithms used to study the structural and spatial characteristics of objects in a digitized image for...

Operation in which the dispersion of a pulse limits the distance between repeaters in optical systems. Waveguide and...

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

1. The grinding or edging of a lens so that the geometrical center and optical center do not coincide. 2. The shifting of an...

A type of glass that includes phosphorus pentoxide and that, unlike silica-based glass, is resistant to hydrofluoric acid.

The emission of light by thermal radiation of a temperature high enough to render the source of radiation visible.

The combination of the audio and visual signals that are transmitted and received at the same time, correlating the scene...

The image distortion produced by a panoramic camera with a swinging lens or a swinging mirror in front of a fixed lens. The...

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

The use of a small ultrastable master oscillator (a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser) to achieve single-frequency operation of a...

Electromagnetic energy is transmitted in the form of a sinusoidal wave. The wavelength is the physical distance covered by...

A device used in broadcast CCD cameras to improve definition in heavily saturated colors by band-limiting the color...

Also referred to as a funduscope, an ophthalmoscope is a specialized instrument used by ophthalmologists for observing and...

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

An adhesive whose viscosity decreases as the temperature is increased to a limit. Canada balsam, resin and pitch are...

A coupling mechanism designed to quickly lock a connector into an adaptor or a lens into a lens mount. Typically coupling is...

Calculation of peak and average transmission power at a given point along an optical fiber or cable.

The angle between an instrument's line of sight and a reference horizontal plane.

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

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

Light transmission involving no scatter.

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

Variations in signal detected on a bolometer that are caused by instabilities in the temperature of the sky.

An adhesive used to hold optical elements to blocking tools. It is usually a thermoplastic substance such as resin, beeswax,...

A high-intensity source of incoherent white light in which a capacitor is discharged through a tube of xenon gas; often used...

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

A method of depositing crystalline films one molecular layer at a time, by dipping the substrate into water containing a...

Optical elements that have been coated with one or more layers of dielectric, or metallic material. These coatings serve to...

The theoretical explanation and analysis of the interactions between electron waves and crystals used in studying electron...

The simultaneous occurrence of direct and diffuse transmission.

A beam instability, induced by index of refraction inhomogeneities and component damage of dirt and dust particles, that...

A method of projecting integrated circuit patterns on a silicon wafer using x-ray wavelengths focused through a special mask.

A fiber optic component or system designed in such a way that it can be operated by people without specialized knowledge of...

Radiant flux incident per unit area of a surface. Also called radiant flux density.

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

The photographic recording of the heat radiation emitted from various points on the object as corresponding density...

A brightness, superimposed on the image of the retina, that decreases its contrast and that often results in decreased...

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

1. The use of an electronic microdensitometer to measure points of equal density on a photographic deposit. 2. A technique...

An instrumental technique that utilizes the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles as recorded from a mass spectrometer...

A device designed to measure crystal properties by analysis of crystal diffraction.

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

A device designed to convert linear change in the light state at input to log data at output.

A family of semiconductor switching devices of which the silicon-controlled rectifier and the triac are most commonly used....

Experimental method of measuring the transmission of a given sample as a function of the wavelength.

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

A device, such as a thermionic or crystal diode, that is introduced into the vision channel of a television receiver to...

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

A test for spherical aberration, coma or astigmatism in which incident rays from a point source are isolated by small holes...

A set of international standards by which a single telecommunications channel is used to transmit voice and data...

A device that detects and measures the quantity of exposure to nuclear radiation. It uses a special glass rod that...

In hybrid or monolithic integrated circuits, the laser ablation of a portion of resistor material to achieve the design...

A flexible fiber cable with a small diameter that transports light from the excitation laser to the target. Used in Raman...

High-modulus elastic fibers that exhibit the following differences from conventional elastic fibers: Increasing temperature...

Also known as zonal axis. The axis positioned through the center of a crystal that is parallel to a zone edge.

Equipment for testing an observer's color vision. Some tests require the identification or ordering of colored samples. The...

The multiple storage of a single image.

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

A surgical device used to deliver laser light. Specifically,contact tips are made with artificially grown sapphire which is...

An acronym for communications intelligence, referring to the collection of communications signals in the VHF and UHF...

A broadband continuum resonator that confines a wide range of wavelengths. From the optical confinement a single wavelength...

An imaging system that uses a mosaic of tiny light-sensitive semiconductors (phototransistors) to produce individual outputs...

A specific type of filter designed to reduce the amount of light scattered by reflections from the edges of optical...

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

A disc whose surface contains recorded digital data at high-packing densities arranged in concentric rings. The data,...

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

The splitting or shifting of spectral lines or energy levels caused by the application of a strong transverse electrical...

A short length of optical fiber permanently fixed to a component and used to couple power between it and the transmission...

A technique in photometry that uses an oxyhydrogen or oxyacetylene flame to optically excite a solution containing the...

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

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

Any optical transmission channel used in telecommunications designed to connect two end terminals or to be connected in...

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

An optical system that rapidly alternates two similar pictures or scenes to permit the detection of small dissimilarities...

An LCD that has pixels with no internal drive transistors.

A device having electrical resistance and used in an electric current for purposes of protection, operation or control of...

A physical source of radiation, as contrasted to illuminant. See illuminant.

Image processing operations performed on one area of an image.

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

A device using a parametric amplifier inside a resonant optical cavity to generate a frequency-tunable coherent beam of...

The monochromatic transparency effect produced by the immersion of a finely powdered substance (e.g., glass or quartz) into...

The ejecting of ions from the surface of a material.

Film that produces color negatives or transparencies by the use of three emulsions, one coated over the other, that are each...

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

A direct-vision prism made in one piece that can be used only in parallel light.

A system consisting of two or more Geiger-Müller counters, connected in coincidence with their centers on an axis. The only...

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

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

A material that is present or added to a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis, to serve as an intensity reference for...

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

When splitting the output of a single optical fiber into two or more fibers, the difference in the maximum loss between any...

The fluorescent emission spectrum emitted by certain substances following the irradiation of one of these substances with...

Synonym (regarded by some as erroneous) for multimode distortion, which see.

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

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

In image processing, the mathematical relationships that link pixel brightnesses of input images to those of output images...

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

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

A cable that incorporates multiple fibers, jacketed side by side in a ribbonlike form.

The photographic recordformed in macrophotography in which the size of the small nearby object at theimage plane is the same...

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

The luminance portion of a composite video signal, i.e., the portion of the signal that corresponds to the brightness of the...

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...

In image processing, the effect caused by large jumps between gray levels, rather than a gradual change.

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

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

A photometer that uses a photoemissive tube to detect and measure light. See photoelectric photometry.

A two-dimensional scanning process, in which a slow sector scan, propagated in one direction, is superimposed at right...

Photocells of various kinds used to measure photometric quantities; i.e., intensity, luminance and illuminance. Meter...

A repeater that is designed for digital transmission. Also called a regenerator.

A single positive lens or group of lenses used in a projection system to collect light from a source and cause it to...

A laser whose pulses are expanded, using gratings and optical fibers, before amplification and compressed to increase beam...

A broadband, visible picosecond probe pulse capable of measuring an entire absorption spectrum in one shot.

Quantum confinement refers to the phenomenon in quantum mechanics where the motion of charge carriers, such as electrons or...

An individual circuit component, complete in itself, such as a resistor, diode, capacitor or transistor. It is used as an...

Light produced by visible radiation that moves from the light source to the object without reflection. With respect to...

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

A device used to detect and measure the quantity of exposure to nuclear or x-ray radiation, and dependent on the fact that...

1. A framelike structure that serves to restrict the viewing area of the screen when placed before a television picture...

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

Extensive data storage in the form of bits, with the use of high-resolution photographic materials and optics, and generally...

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

The analysis of light in the blue region of the visible spectrum.

In morphological image processing, a series of dilations followed by the same number of erosions.

In optical fiber, bends that are larger than microbends (see microbending), being visible. Generally they are caused by...

Any pyrheliometer that has a filter placed over its sensor to limit the range of solar radiation it will detect; used to...

An array of spectral lines formed when a beam of electrons, striking a crystalline solid, is scattered. It is used in the...

A laser having a rod that is a stacked array of discs immersed in a transparent flowing coolant fluid. In this way, the...

A device that combines electronic and optical techniques to form a monitored infrared signal between 1 and 14 µm. It...

A communications system that can transmit in only a single direction at a time. See duplex.

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

A laser that distributes its output power among two, three or four optical fibers simultaneously.

A coarse diffraction grating that is used to form a scale of intensities to determine the relative magnitudes of stars. The...

A polyethylene grating that transmits the long wavelengths and diffracts shorter wavelengths in controlled directions.

A type of ultrasensitive laser spectroscopy that can detect quantities as small as a single atom of some substances and that...

The point at which infrared transmission is cut off.

1. The angular displacement of the plane of polarization of light passing through a medium. 2. The azimuthal displacement of...

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

A means of high resolution study through the application of soft and hard x-rays onto a sample surface in order to obtain...

In positioning, in-plane rotation about the vertical axis. Also known as azimuth.

In data transmission, a self-checking code using a separate bit (the parity bit) to assure that all bytes of transmitted...

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

A two-electrode, radiation-sensitive junction formed in a semiconductor material in which the reverse current varies with...

A spectrophotometer specially designed to measure spectral reflectance.

In a pumped laser system, the ratio of output energy to pump energy.

The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained with a Fourier transform spectrometer when detector noise prevails, which exceeds...

An instrument that uses a photocell to detect and measure the intensity of incident light.

A method used in imaging to detect subtle differences between two apparently similar pictures. It can be achieved by...

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

A platform mount used to hold sensitive optical instruments immobile.

1. With respect to angular subtense, a source of light, such as a star, that is very small. In a lab, a point source may be...

A protective jacket added to an optical fiber to facilitate use in harsh environments. Armor usually consists of steel or...

A lens composed of two or more separate elements of optical glass that may or may not be cemented together. The surfaces of...

In atmospheric optics, the almost total blocking of light transmission in the atmosphere due to the scattering and...

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

An instrument that reads alphabetic, numerical and special characters by means of a photosensor that measures the varying...

A closely spaced series of well-known chemicals having a refractive index lying between 1.33 for water and 1.95 for a...

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

The underexposed collodion that is present on a glass negative as a positive when backed with material.

Also known as a pyrradiometer. An instrument that is designed to measure heat radiation nonselectively; e.g., the...

Powder used to produce a smooth optical surface through abrasive polishing. Compounds may produce a surface finish specified...

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

The physical center of the lens; it is on the axis of the lens, halfway between the front and rear vertex. It is sometimes...

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise...

Modulator/demodulator. An electronic device that modulates and demodulates signals transmitted over communications lines.

A crystalline semiconductor alloy used as the light confinement layer in both single- and double-heterostructure diode...

A field of physics that deals with light as if it truly were composed of rays diverging in various directions from the...

The process of perforating a silicon or ceramic substrate with a series of tiny holes along which it will break. Nd:YAG or...

The spectroscopic analysis of interference patterns using a monochannel spectrometer, spectrograph or multichannel...

The mathematical expression of the probability of any given state of energy being occupied when a semiconductor is in...

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

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

A gas laser in which the energy-state transitions between vibrational and rotational states of CO2 molecules give emission...

The theory and interpretation of spectra produced by the electron emissions of substances after their irradiation by x-rays.

A tachometer consisting of a light source, rotating perforated wheel and phototransistor to measure the rates of rotation of...

A plane in which an image is formed. A real image formed by a positive lens would be visible upon a screen located in this...

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

The determination of distance based upon the known size of an object and the size of its image at the image plane of an...

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

A measuring eyepiece with a screw-micrometer-driven crosshair used to measure the size of the image.

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

Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain accurate three-dimensional measurements of objects and environments through the...

The lens located at the object end of a microscope tube. A wide range of objectives is available, including simple...

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

An adhesive used to hold optical components in their mounts. It may be a thermoplastic or chemical-hardening substance.

Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, based on the notion that electrons with opposite momentum and spin...

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

A device designed to measure the amplitude and frequency of the elements in a complex waveform.

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-12.

Agents used for testing light sources and natural daylight with visual and instrumental assessment using a set of white...

Obeying Lambert's cosine law.

A graph used in photography to portray the increase of a film's density as its time of exposure increases.

Radiation that is emitted by a source outside the Earth and its atmosphere.

A photorefractive material used in image processing, holography and optical switching.

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

A signal traveling from transmitter to receiver that has an altered frequency due to the Doppler effect.

An image intensifier tube in which the photocathode and the output of the microchannel plate are proximity-focused on the...

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

The detection and measurement of spectral reflectance, spectral transmittance or relative spectral emittance, relative to...

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

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

In a fiber optic transmission system, the conversion of received optical pulses directly to an electrical signal.

A device used to measure the opening time of a shutter. The most common devices depend on the charging or discharging of an...

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

An optical instrument that uses a yellow light of varying intensity with red and blue lights of fixed intensity to test for...

That part of the science involved in the study of the theory and interpretation of spectra that uses the unique...

A measure of the sensitivity of a detector; the reciprocal of noise equivalent power (NEP). See D*.

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

A specific form of phase shifting interferometry - commonly referred to as multiple wavelength phase shifting interferometry...

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

Able to rotate the plane of polarization of a transmitted, plane-polarized light beam clockwise as seen by a viewer looking...

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

Hydrophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or do not readily interact with water. The word...

A loss of resolution or detail in a television signal caused by the size of the electron scanning beam.

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

Thermal emission caused by the unity in absorption bands that must be discriminated when calculating radiation intensity of...

1. The reduction in the developable density of a photographic emulsion that has been extremely overexposed. 2. In a laser...

A form of high-power microscope objective where the space between the object and the first element is filled with an oil...

A camera that permits adjustments in the perspective of an image; this is accomplished by the camera design, which permits...

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

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a type of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that uses a high-power...

A lens similar to the Cooke triplet anastigmat, with the rear crown achromatized for improved coverage and definition. It is...

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

The point at which decreasing current supplied to a laser results in the extinguishing of the laser discharge.

A machine vision technique of image correlation whereby the correlation kernel (template of the desired image) is...

Typically used for the examination of manufactured or engineered parts, an optical gauging device, in which a backlight is...

A positioning drive that rotates a fraction of a 360° turn when the motor coils are activated, resulting in linear or...

In photolithography, an opaque material used in masks that has a lower optical density and grainier composition than chrome.

Gain-switching is a technique used in lasers to generate short pulses of light by modulating the gain of the laser medium....

The reversible change in the absorption spectrum of certain compounds upon irradiation with a given wavelength of light.

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

A light ray that has had its direction altered because of its traversing an air-to-glass interface at some angle. In an...

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

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video...

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

A device that uses nematic liquid crystals sandwiched between fused silica substrates to change the phase of polarized...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-18.

In digital image processing, a unit equal to 16 bits.

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

That portion of physics concerned with motion in the abstract, such as of points or space figures, and separated from its...

A collector for photovoltaic power generation that consists of a thin plate that strongly absorbs sunlight striking its...

With respect to television, that part of a color television circuit that combines the I, Q and Y signals, and changes them...

The formation of a hologram by single reference-beam interferences with waves that are diffracted or scattered from a small...

The study of visual perception by the sense of sight.

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

A means of testing optical fiber for macrobending losses by wrapping the fiber once at very low tension around a mandrel,...

An OLED display formed by creating an array of OLED pixels connected by intersecting anode and cathode conductors arranged...

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

The distortion of an object's true image as the result of abnormal atmospheric disturbances along the path traveled by the...

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

SI unit of luminous incidence or illuminance, equal to 1 lumen per square meter.

1. Generally, an emulsion mask having a clean annular region in an otherwise opaque region. It is designed to eliminate...

An emulsion that can record colored light.

Radiography using the emission of gamma rays to form an image of the structure penetrated by the radiation.

The limitation on performance imposed by the distortion of a received signal rather than its amplitude or power.

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

In a radiation detector, the ratio of the output to the input signal.

A solid-state video detector consisting of a single row of light-sensitive semiconductor devices, used in linear-array...

A two-flux theory in which the radiation is assumed to be composed of two oppositely directed radiation fluxes through a...

A camera lens, used in macrophotography, that is designed and corrected to produce optimum definition of a nearby object...

A two-dimensional hologram.

Laboratory experiments that focus on demonstrating new capabilities of a certain technology or device, usually without...

The three-dimensional interference pattern of fringes that is recorded on a holographic plate to facilitate the study of a...

A type of laser welding of thin materials using a defocused or low-power carbon dioxide laser beam. The energy is absorbed...

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a method for detecting antigens or haptens in cells of a tissue section by using labeled...

A lens system made up of two sets of similar lenses, each of which compensates for many of the aberrations produced by the...

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

The photographic recording of images on a medium sensitive to infrared radiation, using a source capable of emitting in the...

The transmission of light by a condenser to observe either very small particles or very fine lines with a microscope.

Heating that results from the dissipation of energy.

A photodetector employing photoregeneration of carriers in the channel region of an FET structure to provide photodetection...

The central hole running the full length of a laser capillary tube, in which electrical discharge and laser action take...

An instrument designed to analyze the optical effects of color.

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

Pennwalt's trade name for polyvinylidene fluoride, a material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables where low smoke...

An instrument used to measure expansion of solids, liquids and gases.

Also cellulose acetate film. The emulsion layer applied to the substrate of a photographic surface. The emulsion layer is...

A catadioptric lens assembly consisting of a Maksutov corrector and a spherical primary mirror.

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

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

The production of a positron-electron pair by a photon having energy greater than one mega-electron-volt, whereby some of...

A well-corrected flat-field eyepiece with good eye relief. Similar to a Huygenian.

The process of sealing laser components by means of frit seals, welding or bonding rather than using epoxy.

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...

An instrument with a fluid that modulates a light beam traversing it because of the effect of ultrasonic waves passing...

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

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

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

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

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

A wide-field camera based on the classic Schmidt optical system used to photograph Earth-orbiting satellites.

A filter possessing one transmission band that extends from a cutoff frequency other than zero to frequency at infinity.

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

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

An electrically excited laser having carbon monoxide as the lasing material and in which lasing occurs in a partial...

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

An optical element located at an image plane, containing a pattern that assists in pointing an instrument or measuring...

The direct appreciation of the distance between a given object and the observer, or between the front and back of a solid...

An optical instrument designed to permit the visual examination of the interior of the bronchi.

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

A photodetector composed of a semiconductor material whose responsive properties can be altered by the addition of...

Also known as amplification. 1. The increase in a signal that is transmitted from one point to another through an amplifier....

The forming of a clear silhouette of an object by placing a light source behind it. Used in machine vision when surface...

Designating any instrument in which both eyes can be used to view the image to achieve a stereoscopic effect, or merely to...

Also known as transverse mode. The configurations of energy storage, relative to the structure of a laser resonator, that...

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

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

A form of Cassegrain telescope having a concave hyperbolic primary and a convex hyperbolic secondary. This form permits the...

The process of aligning the crystallites in a piezoelectric material by placing a large DC field across the element at an...

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

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

Photoconductivity due to the addition of impurities or external causes.

A nondestructive test, also referred to as LASAT, that uses a high-energy laser pulse that is targeted on an adhesively...

A small section of the surface of a sensor corresponding to a single pixel in the image.

Angular tracking measurement estimated from the properly normalized image second-moment tensor.

A relay that opens or closes an electrical circuit depending on the intensity of the light incident to a photoelectric...

Formulas designating the relationships between image distance, object distance, focal length, refractive index, etc., of a...

1. The faintly hued ring that is seen to surround a light source viewed through fog or light clouds. The size of scattering...

The apparent luminosity or glow that immediately envelops the cathode in a gas-discharge tube operating at low pressures....

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

Film designed especially for the needs and conditions encountered in aerial photography. It is produced in a variety of...

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

An embossed or marked disk, constructed out of a transparent material and used with a camera system to soften an image.

A device for converting sunlight into electrical energy, consisting of a sandwich of P-type and N-type semiconducting...

An instrument designed to measure radiation indirectly through the use of several phosphors and a photomultiplier tube. The...

A small erect-image telescope for use as a sighting device on a rifle. The chief requirement is a long eye relief to avoid...

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

A type of computer in which the electronic circuits, which process data serially, are replaced by photonic circuits capable...

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

A compound lens consisting of two negative lenses of flint glass. A double-convex lens of crown glass is cemented between...

The transmission of a color photograph by separating the colors into varying intensities of red, blue and green, and then...

The ratio of the intensity of the total radiation reflected from a surface to the total incident on that surface.

A thin-film device that integrates optics and electronics on a single chip to provide a passive-ring resonator gyroscope...

A specific method for measuring the diameter of irregular shaped particles, Martin's diameter is the measured distance...

In digital data transmission, the representation of a bit by change in amplitude of the outgoing signal. Amplitude shift...

A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable...

A mount for an optic element or optics assembly, designed so that all six degrees of freedom are singly constrained. This...

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

Two electrodes that shift the electron beam vertically on a cathode-ray tube screen using electrostatic deflection.

A slight displacement in the position of a spectral line because of an alteration in frequency, as a result, in turn, of a...

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

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

The observation of specimens by a microscope linked to a television camera and an image processor.

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

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

A cylindrical convex viewing mirror used for viewing distorted pictures formed by photographing the reflections of the...

The bands of spectral lines representing the electronic transition in a molecule.

An imaging system designed to highlight small deviations in a planar reflective object such as a mirror. The system can be...

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

A homogeneous solid solution with crystal lattice sites occupied, at random, by the molecules or ions of two or more...

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two...

In a camera or cathode-ray tube, distortion that is designated by a lateral skewing of the reproduced image.

An extremely short, high intensity electronic flash of light, having a duration of about 1 x 10-6 s, used in photographing...

A CCD device in which a solid-state electron multiplying register has been added to the end of the normal serial register....

A phosphor, such as sulfide or selenide, that can be excited to luminescence by incident infrared radiation simultaneous to...

An opaque projector is a device used for enlarging and projecting images from opaque objects such as printed pages,...

The radiation produced when a charged particle traverses a medium that has a refractive index considerably greater than...

A photoconductive cell that uses thallium oxysulfide as the light-sensitive medium.

Made up of a single color.

A local area network topology in which all nodes are tapped off a single cable, and all hear every transmission on the cable.

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

All formulas that present the index of refraction as a function of a wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. Also called...

An instrument used to record the emittance or reflectance of an object by scanning with discrete spectral resolution over a...

The liquid used in microscopy to fill the space between the high-power objective lens and the microscope slide in order to...

For any point on a thermal radiator, at thermal equilibrium and for each wavelength, the emissivity in any direction is...

A primitive crystal possessing two plane surfaces that form a dihedral angle bisected by another plane surface.

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

1. A compound lens consisting of two elements. If there is an air space between the elements it is called an...

Intensity of emission as a function of direction in a given plane.

A unit of measurement of luminous intensity based on a physical standard, a set of calibrated carbon filament lamps. The old...

Color sensitivity extended to cover the entire visible spectrum out to the red.

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

Fiber optic cable bearing many fibers independently sheathed and capable of carrying unrelated signals. They often surround...

Also referred to as primary color, this is the classic chromatic aberration of a single element caused by the variation of...

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

The pattern used as a probe in morphological image processing to manipulate the size and shape of objects in an image.

The decrease in the energy of a photoelectric emission as a result of the simultaneous incidence of radiation having lower...

A device that converts an analog signal, that is, a signal in the form of a continuously variable voltage or current, to a...

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

In a charge-coupled device, the disappearance of some of the accumulated charge into the silicon during readout.

A photosensitizing drug used in conjunction with photodynamic therapy.

A type of fatigue found in optical fibers, caused by water or another corroding agent.

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

The production of visible light by infrared radiation whereby the light is produced by heat and not by any direct change in...

The use of narrow bandpass filters and special photographic emulsions to discern features of a surface that would not be...

A form of an element that cannot demonstrate optical activity as a result of dextrogyrate and levogyrate effects that are...

A semiconductor diode operating in either a coherent or incoherent mode that is used as a near-infrared or visible source in...

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

A microscope designed so that the specimen is located face down above the objective.

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

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

A diagram that shows actual component signals and the basic wiring configuration of a relay logic circuit.

The use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one...

An instrument designed to produce an x-ray spectrum of a material as an aid in identifying it. This technique is...

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

A piece of glass, quartz or other transparent material formed roughly by molding or cutting into the approximate shape and...

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

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

A technique for observing the decay of light emissions from sources following their pulsed excitations, based on recording...

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

A printing process of electrostatic electrophotography that uses a photoconductive insulating medium, in conjunction with...

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

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

Qualitatively, the inverse of the amount of velocity produced by the application of a sinusoidal force to a system;...

The distance between the surface of a ferrule and the surface of a fiber end, provided that the ferrule extends above the...

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

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

A layer of material applied to a coated surface to protect it from physical or chemical action.

In digital image processing, a method of convolution that reduces random noise by replacing the value of each pixel with the...

In physics, nuclear fusion refers to the process in which two atomic nuclei come together to form a heavier nucleus,...

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

An electron tube that employs electromagnetic radiation to produce a visual replica of an image produced on its cathode....

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

A method of coding image data by storing in memory only differences in brightness of each pixel from that of its nearest...

High-voltage, fast-discharge circuit named after its inventor, Erwin Marx. Its capacitors are charged in parallel and...

An electric discharge between two carbon rods that are touched together to start the arc and then separated slightly. The...

Theoretical calculation of the cross section for a nuclear reaction given in the vicinity of a single resonance level in the...

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

Housing that resembles a small metal can for a semiconductor component, photodetector or similar device.

In cosmology, a star that exhibits a rapid increase in the magnitude of light, which is followed by a slow decrease in...

Characteristic of an object so small in size or so fine in structure that it cannot be seen by the unaided eye. A...

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the...

Westinghouse trade name for an alloy of iron, nickel and cobalt, which has the same thermal expansion as glass and therefore...

Eye blink or head movement in response to bright light. Aversion responses such as blinking are sufficient protection from...

Optical confinement of matter with high field energies intended to induce a stable nuclear fusion interaction.

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

A shutter consisting of a ring of interweaving blades that open outward and allow light to pass when they are pivoted at...

The state of a carrier signal that corresponds to maximum picture brightness in a television system.

A camera with two taking lenses and synchronized shutters. Two images are recorded simultaneously on separate frames,...

A quantum well is a structure in quantum mechanics that confines particles, such as electrons or holes, in one spatial...

Also known as a gray body; a nonselective radiator is a thermal radiator that has a constant spectral emissivity with...

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

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

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

RGB stands for red, green, blue, which are the primary colors of light used in additive color mixing. The RGB color model is...

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

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

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

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

Fused quartz and silica are closely related materials, both composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2), but they are...

The internal lens of the eye. It is semielastic to permit changes in its power when focusing on objects at near distances.

An acronym for radioactive detection, identification and computation. The term refers to the detection and measurement of...

1. In fiber optics, a protective material applied as an optical fiber cover that has no optical function. 2. In image...

An instrument or system capable of both transmitting and receiving a signal.

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

Simulation of radiative transfer in which each photon is generated by a source and its path through the medium is...

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

Also referred to as image visibility, the contrast of an image is the variation in the intensity of an image formed by an...

A heterochromatic photometric process using successive comparison of similar chromaticities and the calculation of relative...

The direct cladding used for fused silica cores to create large numerical aperture fibers and used as overcoats to...

Waves that propagate along the interface between two different media without radiation with exponentially decaying...

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

An artificial star used to aid in adaptive optics imaging of the sky. The guide star is provided from a telescope system on...

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

A laser using a dye solution as its active medium. Its output is a short pulse of broad spectral content and its achievable...

A contact tip made of artificial sapphire (AlO2) that allows surgeons to use laser power to cut and coagulate tissue...

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates digital information, typically in the form of computer-generated...

A piece of glass polished flat on one side, with a pair of polished faces that form an angle close to 180° on the other...

The internal transmittance per unit thickness of a nondiffusing material.

The degree to which a laser beam is aligned parallel to the housing axis.

The application of coherent wavefront techniques to the determination of the physical state of a system without appreciably...

Referring to the bandwidth and spectrum location of the signal produced by television or radar scanning.

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

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

In fiber optics, the limitation on performance imposed by the amplitude of a received signal rather than distortion.

A lens designed for projection of color transparencies.

An image-processing device that scans in a straight line parallel to the axis of a rotating cylinder to which the material...

A method of evaluating image quality whereby a large number of rays are traced through a lens from a single object point,...

In image processing, the memory that stores the values for the point processes. Input pixel values are those for the...

The degree to which the surface of a lens causes an incident ray of light to bend, or the amount of convergence or...

A type of holographic film widely used for industrial applications because it is inexpensive and erasable.

Of or pertaining to the methods of the French philosopher Rene Descartes. Refers to the standard orthogonal X-Y-Z coordinate...

A photoconductive cell having cadmium sulfide as its photoconducting material for the production of a very high dark-light...

The conversion of an internal latent image into a surface latent image through exposure to infrared radiation. The converse...

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

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

A glass filter that transmits visible light while absorbing infrared energy (heat).

In the SI system, prefix meaning one hundredth, 10-2.

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

A high-power riflescope specifically intended for sighting and shooting distant targets.

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

The greatest luminous transmittance possible for a specified chromaticity.

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

Data gathered by a facsimile system and converted into graphic, readable form; generally used in meteorology. Also known as...

A spectrograph that uses a diffraction grating as its dispersive element in place of a prism, and yields greater resolving...

A statistical analysis of facts obtained when the intensity of x-ray diffraction is calculated at different angles. In this...

Wavelengths between 400 and 1400 nm (VIS to NIR) are focused onto the retina by the cornea. Because the retina is sensitive...

A structure consisting of a thin film of liquid crystal sandwiched between light-polarizing filters that have received a...

A diagnostic instrument that uses a photocathode design to see a broad range of x-ray radiation by streaking the...

A screen composed of a sheet of diffusing plastic material that reveals excellent image detail for close viewing. It is...

A critical image parameter in applications where object position may change dynamically relative to the imager; this is a...

1. The characteristic of how light propagates through a waveguide that can be designated by a radiation pattern in a plane...

A set of three colored lights which, when mixed, give the sensation of white light. The set used in color television, for...

The natural log of the ratio of absorbed intensity over the total intensity which gives a constant value assuming a stable...

A method of heat removal in which liquid passes through small channels with high packing densities.

The generation, usually by a cathode-ray oscilloscope, of a two-dimensional image having a three-dimensional appearance.

The analysis of spectra and their components, determined from their measurements.

A short term for latent image intensification, a process much like hypersensitizing in photography, but used after exposure...

A laser device used to establish a location or target usually for detection by an impact source e.g. missiles and guided...

The frequency space between consecutive transmission peaks in the transmission spectrum of a Fabry-Perot interferometer or...

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

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

The micrometer-size depressions that store data digitally in an optical data storage medium.

In image processing, methods of reducing image defects that result from false data. Techniques include sampling, linear...

That radiation emitted by an atom or molecule that has the same frequency as that of an incident particle; e.g., a photon....

A whole-flow-field technique providing instantaneous velocity vector measurements in a cross-section of a flow that is...

A material often used in the construction of optical instruments because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion (0.9 x...

A spectroscopic technique that combines the high chemical specificity of Raman scattering and signal sensitivity provided by...

The figure of merit of a resonator, defined as (2p) x (average energy stored in the resonator)/(energy dissipated per...

A method of spectral analysis using wavelengths between 100 and 300 nm that utilizes both emission and absorption techniques.

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

(TOF) The length of time needed for a signal to arrive at and be reflected from the target. The basis of an active...

The storage of information via optical means, primarily employing a low-power laser to inscribe data on a photosensitive...

An abundant material found in the form of quartz and agate and as one of the major constituents of sand. The silicates of...

A nonluminous area around a negatively charged probe that is inserted into the positive column of an arc or glow discharge.

A transparent powdered solid immersed in a liquid or plastic of similar refractive index but widely different dispersion;...

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

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

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

A computer architecture used in parallel processing whereby the processing elements are directed by a single, central...

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

In positioning, rotation about an axis normal to the line of sight. Also known as attitude.

Also called Geiger-Müller counter. An instrument designed to detect and measure radioactivity through the use of a...

The process whereby a rotating wheel carries grains of an abrasive, suspended in a vehicle, across the surface of the...

A term used to describe a nondirectionally diffusing surface that, when illuminated, appears equally bright from all angles....

Any of the numerous powders used for grinding and polishing glass, crystal or metal, the chief material being emery and...

A scanning device used to cyclically tune through a given frequency range to determine the amplitude-frequency distribution...

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

Electric polarization characterized by homogeneous polar dielectrics and ascribed to the position of the permanent molecular...

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

Characteristic of dissimilar metals in thermoelectric solar cells whereby separate junctions exhibiting distinct...

1. That action occurring when light passes through an optical interface at other than normal incidence, i.e., refraction. 2....

Usually consists of a set of filters that attenuate specific wavelengths but transmit as much visible radiation as possible.

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

A device that is designed to modulate a beam of light, usually from a laser source, by acting upon the beam directly. The...

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

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

A sensitometer having a continuously controlled monochromator to measure spectral sensitivity and contrast of photographic...

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

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

A monolithic device containing both photonic and electronic sources, detectors, modulators, etc., on a single semiconductor...

A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all...

A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or...

An angle formed by the lines of sight of both eyes when focusing on an object. Also, the rate at which a ray approaches the...

The elongation of a transmitted data pulse through a fiber optic due to the chromatic dispersion of the fiber material.

A device that prevents electrons from a saturated pixel in a CCD imaging device from spilling into an adjacent pixel. The...

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

The direct computation of the Fourier transform of the space variant system output of an optical processor with a single...

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

An imaging technique in which an object moving through an interference field formed in space scatters light and is spatially...

In optics, a collapsible structure situated between the lens and film of a camera to allow variation of the distance between...

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

An optical device capable of transforming unpolarized or natural light into polarized light, usually by selective...

Referring to compound semiconductor materials combining one element with two valence electrons and one or more with six....

Vision at intermediate levels of luminance between photopic and scotopic vision, where both retinal cones and retinal rods...

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

The communications network between nodes of a data transmission system.

The parameters, relative to polarized light and the Poincaré sphere, that are usually represented as: I, the intensity of...

The process of grinding the concave surface of a single-vision spherical lens.

The study of the transmission of radiant energy through crystals, especially anisotropic crystals, and their effects on...

1. Mounting a lens or mirror so that its optical axis is coincident with the optical or mechanical axes of other portions of...

In spectroscopy, the false images arranged symmetrically on both sides of the true line and caused by irregularities in the...

Electron lens consisting of an homogeneous axial electric field.

A transistor that uses an electro-luminescent source, a transparent base and a photoelectric collector.

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

A polishing scratch having no visible conchoidal breaking of the edges.

A color filter that is designed to gradually increase or decrease its absorption with wavelength.

An electron tube having two electron guns, one on each side of the storage medium, to encode the information onto the...

A mid-infrared camera is a type of imaging device designed to capture images in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral range,...

The spectrographic analysis of matter that is in a cooled state. Generally, a mechanical refrigerator is used to lower the...

An emitter based on stimulated emission with amplification but insufficient feedback for oscillation to build up.

Optical elements, often created by micromachining, lithography or vacuum deposition, that rely on diffraction of the...

In the most general sense, the resistance of a solid surface to damage.

The nonluminous area that divides the negative glow from the positive column in a Crookes tube under conditions of moderate...

One of the two major types of optical glass, the other being crown glass. Flint glass is softer than crown glass, has a...

The area of optics in which quantum theory is used to describe light in discrete units or "quanta" of energy known as...

A filter that passes a series of wavelength regions that are at equal distances from one another, such that its output...

An image intensifier that consists of an evacuated tube with a large input phosphor screen at one end. The phosphor screen...

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

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

Pertaining to the possession of photoelectric characteristics as a result of the properties of the true crystal and not of...

A two-phase system consisting of dispersed liquid or solid particles in a gas; examples include dust, smoke and clouds.

1. A stereoscope that has adjustable scales to allow the determination of distances and dimensions from stereoscopic...

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

Information presented as a continuously variable relationship between a signal and a standard.

A measuring instrument used for surface profiling and quantifying the roughness of a material. The stylus is placed on the...

The underexposure caused by the diffraction of light passing through small openings spaced closely together in masks used in...

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

A gauge designed to measure high degrees of vacuum. It consists of a glass bulb attached to the vacuum vessel, the...

A type of stereoscopic photography in which the distance between the two view points is greater than the average...

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

A device that enlarges and strengthens a signal's output without significantly distorting its original waveshape. There are...

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

An ideal body that completely absorbs all radiant energy striking it and, therefore, appears perfectly black at all...

A pump-probe technique whereby a single wavelength source may be used in order to excite a given sample to determine...

Two flat parallel electrodes that are vertically mounted alongside each other in a cathode-ray tube and produce horizontal...

Laser light show effects equipment including optics and mechanical devices that reflect, position or distort the laser beam,...

Contains elements which produce lasing., e.g. gain medium, oscillator mirrors as well as housing.

A method that embraces the classical approach to image restoration and attempts to minimize the mean square difference...

A sensitometer that utilizes an electronic flashtube or a photoflash lamp as both the light source and the shutter for...

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

A measuring device that uses a light-sensitive cell or detector to determine the amount of light transmitted by a substance.

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

A television system that is capable of producing an image whose colors approximate the colors of the original, by the use of...

Ratio of the radiant flux at a particular wavelength lm to that at any other wavelength l, such that both radiations produce...

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

The broadening of a laser's line width in a way that affects every atom (or molecule), and thus the whole system, in the...

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

The graphic recording of physical changes vs. time, in electrical quantities, using an oscilloscope.

Referred to as SWCNTs, these cylindrical nanostructures composed of a folded sheet of graphene can be used as near-infrared...

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

The optically pumped, solid-state laser that uses sapphire as the host lattice and chromium as the active ion. The emission...

A standard of luminous intensity evaluated as the luminous intensity of 1 cm2 of a blackbody at the melting point of...

An emission spectrum consisting of bright bands against a dark background.

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

The light flash, produced in flash photolysis, that is triggered within a second discharge tube by the third electrode. It...

A fixed-focus camera designed to record the ink impression of fingerprints that have been impressed on a card or form for...

The adhesion of two sufficiently clean and close-fitting surfaces without the use of cement or glue. The optically contacted...

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

The intensity of radiation transmitted to a receiver.

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

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

A method of producing an essentially constant output signal from an electronic circuit despite variations in the strength of...

A beam of light whose electrical field amplitude distribution is Gaussian. When such a beam is circular in cross section,...

To reduce the size of a lens aperture, which increases the depth of field.

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

A photomicrographic recording technique that utilizes dark-field illumination to render an image of an object having a...

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

A lens that is symmetrical and designed to work between 1:1 and about 4:1. It covers a field of about ±20° at f/8...

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

Term for service offered by a vendor who leases a particular wavelength to a customer through DWDM technology. Lambda...

Capability requirement for optical switches for transmission lines to process arbitrarily polarized light because of the...

The fundamental tool of microdensitometry, the microdensitometer is an instrument used for the precise measurement of...

The recording achieved when a surface, illuminated by a signal-controlled light beam, emits electrons or reacts in some...

A device used to rapidly change the Q of an optical resonator. It is used in the optical resonator of a laser to prevent...

The luminous intensity of a source of light expressed in candelas.

A photographic objective that uses the thick meniscus principle to obtain its power. It is designed to photograph small...

Ultraviolet reflectance refers to the ability of a material or surface to reflect UV light. Ultraviolet light is...

A mounting used for large concave gratings, whereby the slit, grating and plate holder lie in the Rowland circle, and the...

A combination spectrometer and bolometer that is designed to measure a narrow band of radiation from a star.

Integral densities that are measured relative to arbitrarily selected red, green and blue filters.

A system that allows the transmission of more than one signal over a common path, by assigning each signal a different...

A laser output that occurs when the cavity resonator Q is first kept very low, using rotating mirrors or saturable...

Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These...

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

A transformer that is designed to regulate the amount of current that passes through an electron tube's filament.

A phase-shift interferometer used to detect the relative angular speeds or positions of two concentric rotors.

The alignment process that makes the optical axes of two related systems parallel to each other. Also, making the optical...

A sequential scanning device, utilizing a revolving lens, in which the cathode-ray tube image is transformed into a circle...

The spot on the retina where the optic nerve is attached; it is incapable of sensing light because of the absence of light...

The maximum aperture of a lens at which it will still give a sharp image, even though its physical aperture may be larger.

Equipment that supports microscopic live-cell imaging by managing the gas, media perfusion, temperature and other factors to...

A cathode-ray tube in which secondary emission electrons form a display of high intensity.

An illuminometer designed to measure illumination in terms of luxes.

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

Designed to observe objects below the surface of water. Not to be confused with hygroscopic.

1. A device generally used in a cathode-ray or camera tube to emit a stream of electrons moving at uniform velocity in a...

Property of a surface which, because of directional reflection, is responsible for the degree to which reflected highlights...

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

A filter that transmits infrared and ultraviolet but is opaque to visible radiation.

The amount of time needed for a detector signal or electronic circuit to reach 63 percent of its final value after a fixed...

A laser whose output is limited to a single wavelength.

In television, the number of individual pixels that can be distinguished in a horizontal scanning line; also called...

The analysis of the properties of radiation, such as light, when acted upon by variations in the atmosphere. Blue and red...

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

The branch of science that treats light as a wave phenomenon wherein light propagation is studied by wavefronts rather than...

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional...

An imperfection in optical glass consisting of a distinct streak of transparent material having a slightly different...

A lens, one surface being a cartesian oval, that produces an aplanatic condition.

The material that produces stimulated emission from within a laser oscillator. Laser gain media may vary from...

In optics, the process of combining two lenses having equal and opposite powers to produce a result having no power.

Measurement derived from calculation when incident flux of a negative is entirely diffuse and all radiation transmissions...

A device that changes the frequency of light by inducing the Raman effect on a beam passing through it.

In a symmetrical optical system this is a measure of the influence of the system upon the focus of a pencil of rays passing...

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

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

In image processing, inclusive term for point and group processing.

Optical components, usually reflectors, produced using proprietary techniques that transfer the precision of a master to a...

The distortion that is the result of viewing a print from a point other than the center of perspective. The center of...

An x-ray or radium photograph illustrating the nonuniform density of the structure that the rays penetrate.

An oven or furnace that possesses the design requirements and heat control necessary to anneal glass for the optical...

The emission of radiant energy produced by the passage of an electrical current through an appropriate electrolyte in which...

A double meniscus system in which two achromatized meniscus lenses are arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture...

A small defocused Galilean telescope mounted in a hole in a door. Viewed from inside through the positive lens, a wide-angle...

An electron lens consisting of a homogeneous axial electric field and a magnetic field used in high-quality image tubes for...

With respect to television, a potentiometer that allows variation of the intensity of the different elements of an image and...

A condition causing variation in output power that is eliminated by mode locking.

A spectral phenomenon in which the degree of the photoresponse of an illuminated semiconductor is determined by the...

Observed phenomenon of a small developed image with higher density than a larger image because of variation in photographic...

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

Thin layers intended to prevent damage to plastic optics.

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

Computation of tristimulus values by integrating or summing, over the visible wavelength region, the product of the relative...

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 device that measures the intensity of photochemically active radiation, particularly from the sun. One form of this...

See optical spectrum; visible spectrum.

Filtering procedures aimed at estimating the original image by removing the blurring and noise suppression that occur during...

In filter terminology, that wavelength where the filter transmission increases beyond 5 percent.

A spectrophotometer having a pair of identical collimators with two Glan polarizing prisms, one fixed in azimuth and the...

Single wavelength source with a larger linewidth often containing multiple longitudinal modes.

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

Conduction of an electric current through a chemical compound in its natural state, solution or as a molten, to decompose...

Acronym for self-aligned polysilicon interconnect N-channel. A metal-gate process that uses aluminum for the metal-oxide...

A type of receiver utilizing a local oscillator phase-locked to the incoming signal.

Plasma-enriched deposition or planar magnetic sputtering that offers increased deposition rates in optical thin-film...

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

A holographic plate coated by photopolymeric mixtures that are composed of one or more monomers and a photoredox catalyst...

An optical compensator similar to the Babinet compensator, but which produces a phase-change consistent throughout its...

In rudimentary form, this technology consists of diffusion of a PN junction through a mask of silica, over which a contact...

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

An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs...

A uniaxial, birefringent crystal having an ordinary ray with a higher velocity than the extraordinary ray.

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

The photographing of objects within generally inaccessible areas using endoscopes with camera attachments.

A zone plate produced by a computer and having a binary structure that can be etched into a chromium or quartz layer. It...

A general term referring to the situation in which an image is not a true-to-scale reproduction of an object. The term also...

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

A set of photodiodes with no gaps between them that can sense the displacement of a spot of light anywhere on the sensing...

In image processing, mathematical operations that change spatial geometry, as for instance scaling, translating, rotating or...

A casting consisting of an optical material molded into the desired geometry for grinding, polishing or, in the case of...

Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves...

The focusing of an electron beam by a magnetic field that permanently retains the majority of its magnetic properties.

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

Also referred to as the opposition surge, the opposition effect is a photometric phenomenon in which a rough retroreflective...

The ability of a device to operate without electromagnetically interfering with the operation of nearby equipment and...

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

In a gas, the temporary drop in density caused by contact with a sound wave.

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

A device that accumulates and stores electrical energy to introduce capacitance into a circuit. Basically, it is composed of...

A prism system designed to produce a very high dispersion of light.