Photonics Dictionary

One or more optical elements – typically cemented together - in an optical system that are treated as a single group; e.g., a beamsplitter, or a cemented doublet or triplet.

A system of modular mechanical components for building precision optical systems. The basic equipment includes a variety of modules for mounting, supporting and accurately positioning lenses and...

An instrument used to measure backscatter as well as optical return loss and reflectance within an optical fiber system by measuring the reflected light when a continuous wave is transmitted through...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and components to meet specific performance requirements and application needs....

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to simulate, model, analyze, and optimize the performance of optical systems and...

A small low-power microscope or magnifier with a scale that is used to measure the exit pupil diameter and eye relief on visual instruments. Optical dynameters are often used to measure the...

Mathematically defined as the product of etendue (or throughput) and the square of the refractive index, the optical extent is the quantitative value that describes the geometrical limit to how much...

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...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light signals over long distances with minimal loss of signal quality. It serves as a...

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical filters are used to control the spectral content of light in various...

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 glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems, such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, and filters. Optical glass is...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

1. The direct storage of data as bits in memory using optical systems and properties. The memory makes use of a laser beam that is divided by a beamsplitter and controlled by a modulator and a...

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...

An optical scanning system found in most computer scanners that can read documents, often in many type styles, and convert the document text into digital information to be stored, and displayed by a...

The relative path difference (or phase shift) traveled between two rays that pass through different mediums from the same object point. For a perfect optical system, the optical path, or distance,...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through a medium. This distortion can result from variations in the refractive...

Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to millimeter-scale step heights. A standard arrangement includes an illumination source,...

The process whereby the number of atoms or atomic systems in a set of energy levels is changed by the absorption of light that falls on the material. This process raises the atoms to specific higher...

In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal, converts this optical signal to an electrical signal which is then...

A measure of image quality produced by an optical system. May be specified in terms of cycles per millimeter, referencing a repeating bar pattern; or angular resolution, referencing the angle...

A reflecting or refracting surface contained within an optical system.

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using various techniques to selectively switch or redirect optical paths. This...

Refers to a variety of methods and tools used to determine the surface contour and performance of optical components and systems.

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...

An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize and analyze the optical fibers' characteristics, including attenuation,...

The function that characterizes the quality of an optical system by denoting the modulation and spatial phase shift of the image of a sinusoidal object with frequency as the independent variable.

The process by which an atomic system changes from one energy level to another by either the emission or absorption of visible, infrared or ultraviolet radiation.

One of a class of crystalline substances belonging to triclinic, monoclinic and orthorhombic systems that have two optic axes. Two polarizations are allowed for any given direction of propagation,...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...

Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems that integrate the manipulation of light and fluids. This field focuses on...

A discipline that combines optics and genetics to enable the use of light to stimulate and control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light....

An optical coupling device that uses light to bridge the gap between incompatible wire communications systems. It contains an input amplifier, a light-emitting diode, a photodiode and an output...

Optomechanical refers to the integration of optical and mechanical systems or components. In optomechanical systems, optics (related to the manipulation of light) and mechanics (related to the...

A camera designed with a telecentric optical system and a narrow field of view; the telecentric optical system (placement of the system's stop at its focal point) ensures that the principal image...

An instrument used to record rapidly varying currents or voltages. An oscillograph may consist of a cathode-ray tube oscilloscope with a camera attachment, or a mirror galvanometer with a lamp and...