Photonics Dictionary

In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit material onto substrates, creating patterns or structures with precise...

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it. The phase mask is used to control the spatial distribution of the light's...

A photomask, also known simply as a mask or reticle, is a key component in the photolithography process used in semiconductor manufacturing and other areas of microfabrication. It is a high-precision...

Also known as a shadow mask, a perforated plate placed between the focusing and accelerating electrodes, and the tricolor phosphor screen in a color-television tube.

An instrument for detecting and analyzing repetitive signals. Using a fixed time delay or "gate," the input signal is sampled numerous times and averaged to increase the ratio of the...

A system that determines whether an image is in or out of focus by means of a source of illumination at the conjugate focal point, which reflects off the target; the return beam is mediated by masks...

1. In optics, the bending of light rays toward each other, as by a convex or positive lens. 2. Turning in the eyes to view a near object. 3. In a television picture tube, the crossing of the...

A telescope in which a mask occults the solar disk, generating an artificial eclipse and allowing observation and recording of the sun's corona.

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and research laboratories to pattern extremely fine features with sub-micrometer...

The masking of all openings of an optical transform -- except the hole at the symmetrical center -- with a thin wire gauze to attain a more precise image.

Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the surface of substrates, typically silicon wafers. It involves the transfer of...

1. A framelike structure that serves to restrict the viewing area of the screen when placed before a television picture tube. 2. In photolithography, a photomask (or mask) is typically a patterned...

A technique used in photolithography of computer chips to compensate for errors caused by the proximity effect, which results in variations in size between areas of the mask that have many small...

Instrument that uses absorption spectroscopy to detect gases in planetary atmospheres. Dispersed incoming radiation is transmitted to one or more sampling elements, or masks, before reaching the...

In image processing, the assigning of certain portions (or pixels) of an image a constant value of either 0 (black) or 1 (white) as to restrict image processing operations to a specific set of pixels...

A small opening or slit in a mask.

A computer-generated, phase-and-amplitude, off-axis hologram made by a multi-exposure technique that uses three computer generated transmission masks. Each mask controls one fixed-phase component of...

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes place with the light coming under an oblique angle to the mask. The...

The use of retroreflective projection technology (RPT) to project a background image onto a masked object, such as a vehicle or overcoat, thereby making the masked object appear invisible....

In photolithography, an opaque material used in masks that has a lower optical density and grainier composition than chrome.

Photolithography is a key process in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). It is a photomechanical process used to transfer...

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)....

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate and exposed through a suitable mask. After development of the plastic...

An accurately produced hole of any size and shape that is used as a masking device in an optical system. Pinhole apertures of accurate diameters often are produced by laser beam penetration or by...

The underexposure caused by the diffraction of light passing through small openings spaced closely together in masks used in photolithography.

Essentially, a hologram of a hologram, in which the first-generation hologram is masked with a narrow slit. During image reconstruction, the slit operates as the exit pupil in image space. The...

A type of color-generating cathode-ray tube that uses a shadow mask, a thin perforated electrode, located close to the display screen. Each hole in the mask coincides with a triad of three phosphor...

Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is a specialized technique in biophysics and molecular biology used to study the distances and dynamic interactions between two...

1. Generally, an emulsion mask having a clean annular region in an otherwise opaque region. It is designed to eliminate undesired information. 2. A pinhole in a metal plate, placed at a focal plane...

A technique for obtaining improved resolution of images produced by large telescopes and distorted by the effects of atmospheric turbulence. Many individual exposures are recorded at high speeds by a...

A high-contrast transparency of the gas sought, or an array of exit slits that correlates with some features of the spectrum. No standardized formula for positioning, number or thickness has been...

A tiny lens (as small as 100 µm in diameter) used to focus light on charge-coupled devices, formed by heating a photosensitive material exposed through a mask, leaving a pattern of raised...

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field, distortion-free images at all magnifications with a high-intensity vertical...

The projection of the image beam by a cathode-ray tube through a mask, where it is deflected through the suitable character position in the mask and then deflected by another system to its suitable...

In rudimentary form, this technology consists of diffusion of a PN junction through a mask of silica, over which a contact is applied.

A nondestructive testing method for very large scale integration circuits, using a scanning electron microscope to monitor changes in the electronic state of the chip as it is fed test voltages while...

A method of projecting integrated circuit patterns on a silicon wafer using x-ray wavelengths focused through a special mask.