Optimax Systems, Inc. - Optical Components & Systems 2024 LB

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Photonics Dictionary

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quantum sensing

Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the precision and sensitivity of measurements. Traditional sensors operate based...

quantum wire

A narrow channel created by cleaving a crystal made of alternating layers of gallium arsenide and aluminum gallium arsenide, and adding additional layers on the cleaved end face, at right angles to...

quantum-ehanced metrology

Quantum-enhanced metrology refers to the use of quantum mechanics principles and techniques to enhance the precision and sensitivity of measurements in metrology—the science of measurement....

quarter-wave plate

A plate made of a double-refracting crystal having such a density that a phase difference of one-quarter cycle is formed between the ordinary and extraordinary elements of light passing through.

quartz light source

A lamp with a quartz envelope that transmits radiation generally rich in the ultraviolet.

quartz plate

A crystalline-quartz plate designed according to specifications but having its two major faces parallel.

quartz spectrograph

A spectrograph used to detect radiation in the range of the ultraviolet in the electromagnetic spectrum. It is made up of quartz because that material, unlike regular glass, is not opaque to the...

quasi-optical

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

quick-flashing light -> stroboscope

A device that produces brief flashes of light for observing the behavior of an object during a short interval. One of the most effective means for accomplishing this is a gaseous tube energized by...

racemic

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

radio-frequency linear accelerator

A device used to accelerate the electrons in a free-electron laser by channeling microwave energy into waveguide cavity assemblies.

radioautograph

The photographic image of a thin specimen having a radioactive isotope that, formed through contact between the specimen and a photographic plate, displays the distribution of the radioactive...

rare earth dopants

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally introduced into the crystal lattice of a material to modify its properties....

rare gas halide laser -> excimer laser

An excimer laser is a type of ultraviolet laser that emits short pulses of light in the ultraviolet spectrum. The term excimer is derived from excited dimer, reflecting the nature of the gain medium...

ray tracing

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene. It involves tracing the path of rays of light as they travel through a...

Rayleigh line

That element of a spectrum line in scattered radiation having a frequency equal to that of the corresponding incident radiation, due to ordinary or Rayleigh scattering.

reflected ray

The light ray leaving a reflecting surface, indicating the path of light after reflection.

reflecting galvanometer

A galvanometer having a small mirror that is mounted on a moving element and that reflects a light beam onto a scale.

reflecting microscope

A microscope that uses a reflecting objective; often used with ultraviolet or infrared radiation.

reflecting objective

An image-forming system that uses mirrors rather than lenses. Such objectives are frequently used for astronomical telescopes and in ultraviolet microscopes.

reflecting prism

A prism having several plane polished surfaces, some to transmit light, some to reflect light, and some to serve both functions in succession. It acts generally as a group of plane mirrors held in a...

refraction

The bending of oblique incident rays as they pass from a medium having one refractive index into a medium with a different refractive index.

refractive index liquids

A closely spaced series of well-known chemicals having a refractive index lying between 1.33 for water and 1.95 for a solution of phosphorus in carbon disulfide. They are used to identify powdered...

regenerative amplifier

A type of multiple-pass amplifier in which no optical leakage is allowed until a finite number of passes has occurred; at this time the entire cavity output is released as one pulse.

resistor

A device having electrical resistance and used in an electric current for purposes of protection, operation or control of current.

resonance absorption (light)

The re-emission of absorbed energy, having the same wavelength as the incident energy, in an arbitrary direction from a particle because of an energy level transition within the material.

resonator

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or stimulus is applied at a specific frequency, causing the system to oscillate...

retardation plate -> wave plate

An optical element having two principal axes, slow and fast, that resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually perpendicular polarized beams. The emerging beam recombines to form a particular...

retroreflection

Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly parallel to the direction from which it originated. This occurs due to the...

rhodamine

Rhodamine refers to a family of fluorescent organic dyes that are widely used in various fields, including biology, chemistry, medicine, and materials science. These dyes are known for their bright...

riez photodiode

A photodiode having a conducting grid that covers the surface of the photodiode junction and intercepts and wastes some of the light. In this way, efficient optical- and microwave-frequency design...

ring-laser gyroscope

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) is a type of gyroscope that uses laser light to detect and measure changes in orientation. It operates based on the Sagnac effect, which is a fundamental principle of...

ringdown testing

A test method for determining high-reflectivity levels by monitoring cavity decay within a resonant cavity formed by two mirrors under test.

Ritchey-Chretien telescope

A form of Cassegrain telescope having a concave hyperbolic primary and a convex hyperbolic secondary. This form permits the simultaneous correction of spherical aberration and coma.

robotic arms

Robotic arms, also known as robot arms or manipulator arms, are mechanical devices designed to mimic and perform the functions of human arms. They consist of multiple articulated segments, joints,...

Rugate filters

A Rugate filter is a type of optical filter that is designed to have a continuously varying refractive index profile throughout its thickness, rather than the discrete layers found in traditional...

Rydberg atom

The term "Rydberg atom" refers to an atom in a highly excited state where one or more of its electrons are in a Rydberg orbital. A Rydberg atom is characterized by having an electron orbit that is...

saccharimeter

A special-purpose polarimeter having a scale calibrated directly in the concentration of sugar in the test solution.

Sagnac interferometer

Sagnac interferometry is a technique used to measure rotation or angular velocity based on the principle of interference. It relies on the Sagnac effect, named after the French physicist Georges...

sapphire -> sapphire

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications due to its exceptional optical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Sapphire...

sapphire

saturable absorber

A saturable absorber is a type of optical device that exhibits variable absorption properties depending on the intensity of incident light. In essence, it becomes less absorbent as the light...

scaling law

In coherence theory, an optical law put forth by physicist Emil Wolf that explains the behavior of light as it travels away from its source over large distances in space. Light spectra are assumed to...

scanning electron microscope

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials characterization, and various industrial applications. Unlike traditional optical...

scanning spectroradiometer

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

scatterplate

A flat plate having its surface formed into a random pattern by abrasives. Radiation wavelengths that are longer than the scale of the pattern are specularly reflected; shorter wavelengths are...

Schmidt camera

A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the mirror. The purpose of the plate is to correct the spherical aberration of the...

Schumann plate

A specific type of photographic plate designed with only a small amount of gelatin to function in the extreme ultraviolet and in positive-ray analysis.

scintillation crystal

A scintillation crystal, also known simply as a scintillator, is a material that emits light when it interacts with ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, x-rays, or charged particles. The emitted...

SEC

secondary emission conductor; short external cavity

Photonics Dictionary