Photonics Dictionary

A nitrogen vacancy (NV) refers to a specific type of defect or impurity in a crystal lattice where a nitrogen atom replaces a carbon atom adjacent to a vacancy (an empty lattice site) in the diamond...

A pulsed laser having molecular nitrogen as laser material and a wavelength output of 337 nm in the ultraviolet region. It is essentially a channel flashtube in which a pulse is applied to the...

A color center, in the context of materials science and condensed matter physics, refers to a specific type of crystallographic defect in a crystalline structure that introduces color to the...

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound made up of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). It is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material that exhibits unique electrical and optical properties. Gallium nitride is...

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from group III and group V of the periodic table. More specifically, these...

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. These detectors are utilized in various applications,...

An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2 molecules in the (100) vibrational state are excited to the (001) level, and...

A nanotube, also known as a nanotubule or simply a tube-like structure, is a nanoscale cylindrical structure composed of various materials, including carbon, boron nitride, or other compounds....

Injecting a gas (usually nitrogen) with a very low moisture content into the body of an optical instrument to create a positive internal pressure. This prevents the entrance of moisture, which could...

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller than the wavelength of the light. It is named after the British scientist...

Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from fluctuations in electron distribution. These forces are relatively weak...

The bands found by Vegard in the spectrum of the aurora borealis and by Kaplan in the nitrogen afterglow. They are formed by the effect of metastable nitrogen molecules.