Photonics Dictionary

Digital signal processing (DSP) refers to the manipulation and analysis of signals, which are representations of physical quantities that vary over time or space. In the context of DSP, these signals...

The ratio of the power of the carrier wave to that of unwanted signal distortions, or noise, before any nonlinear signal processing such as detection or amplitude limiting.

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te). These elements are known as...

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state image sensor technology. CID cameras are capable of capturing images in a...

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to capture digital images. CMOS cameras have become ubiquitous due to their low...

A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used to capture visual information and convert it into electrical signals for...

A fiber optic communications system that works on the principles of homodyning or heterodyning. The transmitting laser produces an optical wave that is modulated in amplitude, phase or frequency by...

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

A femtosecond laser is a type of laser that emits ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of femtoseconds, where one femtosecond is equal to 10-15 seconds. These lasers are capable of...

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in orientation or rotation. It operates based on the principle of the Sagnac effect,...

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic communications to transmit and receive data over optical fibers. It integrates both a...

The frequency domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to represent signals and data in terms of their frequency components. In contrast to the time domain, where signals are...

The term half bandwidth (HBW) generally refers to the width of a spectral band or frequency range at half of its maximum amplitude. It is commonly used in the context of signal processing, optics,...

In optical communications, the translation of optical signals into radio signals, lowering their frequency in detection from greater than 1014 Hz to less than 1010 Hz, so that further signal...

A device where each pixel in the detector array is mated with a preamplifier on a single silicon chip, providing sensing and signal processing capabilities.

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between optoelectronic devices and providing signal processing functions.

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical systems due to the Kerr effect. The Kerr effect is the phenomenon where the...

LiFi, short for light fidelity, is a wireless communication technology that utilizes visible light or infrared light to transmit data. Developed as an alternative or complementary technology to...

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals. Unlike area image sensors (such as CCD or CMOS sensors), which capture an...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the intensity, phase, or polarization of light passing through it using liquid...

A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped waveguide structure to selectively enhance or filter certain wavelengths of...

A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It consists of a micro-sized, gas-filled spherical cavity (the "microbubble")...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a material and induces nonlinear responses. In contrast to linear optics, where...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. An OCT imaging...

Optical fiber optic switches are devices used in optical fiber communication systems to selectively route optical signals from one input fiber to one or more output fibers. They play a crucial role...

The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial domain representation of an image into its corresponding frequency domain...

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or integrity of the transmitted information. This type of noise is particularly...

Phase distortion refers to a change in the phase relationships between different frequency components of a signal. In the context of signal processing, it occurs when the phase response of a system...

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and functions on a single chip, similar to the way electronic integrated circuits...

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical technique used to detect changes in blood volume in tissues. It measures variations in light absorption caused by the pulsatile nature of blood...

A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays, x-rays, or charged particles. It consists...

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a medium, causing a change in the phase of the light due to its interaction with...

An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs are directly connected to electronic logic circuits, which also are a part...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light in two dimensions, typically in the form of an array. SLMs are...

The time domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to describe signals in terms of their behavior over time. In the time domain, signals are represented as functions of time, showing...