Photonics Dictionary

A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light. Semiconductor diodes are electronic devices that conduct electricity primarily in one...

In a fiber optic transmission system, the conversion of received optical pulses directly to an electrical signal.

A type of glass optical fiber that provides low pulse dispersion over a broad portion of the light spectrum and as a result can operate at 1300-nm and 1550-nm wavelengths simultaneously.

A distributed feedback laser (DFB laser) is a type of semiconductor laser diode designed to emit coherent, narrow-bandwidth light with precise control over the wavelength. It achieves this through a...

Double-clad fiber (DCF) is a specialized optical fiber that features two concentric cladding layers surrounding a core. The design of double-clad fibers allows them to be used in various...

A method of fabricating an optical waveguide by melting the core and clad glasses in two suitably joined concentric crucibles and then drawing a fiber from the combined melted glass.

A system for fabricating optical fiber, consisting of a furnace that heats the materials, a polymer coating stage, a capstan-pulling apparatus that free-draws the preform into a fiber and a drum on...

Stress applied to an optical fiber at a constant rate.

An edge-emitting light-emitting diode is a type of LED structure where light emission occurs primarily along the edge of the semiconductor chip rather than from the surface. Edge-emitting LEDs are...

The real numerical aperture (NA) of a fiber when the computed NA is not valid because of change in the glass indices during drawing and fusion.

A change in the refractive index of an optical fiber caused by variation in the length of the fiber core in response to mechanical stress.

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 technology that uses electrically activated holograms stored within specially developed crystals to route information in the form of lightwave signals from one optical fiber to another within and...

The recording of the information contained in a modulated electron beam onto photographic or silicon resin-coated materials. A direct recording method involves the passage of the recording medium...

The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or structure. In this context, "embedded" implies that the laser is an integral part...

An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or confined spaces within the body. It consists of a flexible or rigid tube equipped...

Common name for a variety of adhesives used for lens bonding, fiber optic splicing and other photonics applications. The term is actually a prefix denoting the presence of an epoxide group in a...

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. The erbium (Er) ions are introduced into the crystal...

A high-frequency approach to the propagation of light in graded-index fibers in which the modal field is represented in terms of an inhomogeneous (evanescent) plane wave with a complex phase, so that...

A cement used to reduce crosstalk in fiber optic bundles or plates.

The fiber optic connector standard for Nippon Telephone & Telegraph (NTT) installations, developed with Nippon Electric Co. (NEC).

A mechanical fixture, generally a rigid tube, used to confine the stripped end of a fiber or a fiber bundle.

The lowest frequency at which the magnitude of the fiber transfer function decreases to a specified fraction of the zero frequency value. Often, the specified value is one-half the optical power at...

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of optical filter that is inscribed or "written" into the core of an optical fiber. It consists of a periodic modulation of the refractive index along the length...

A rigid or flexible, concentrated assembly of glass or plastic fibers used to transmit optical images or light. See aligned bundle; incoherent bundle.

A property of optical fiber that results from thermal stresses during manufacturing and is defined as the amount of curvature over any specified length of fiber.

A standard for fiber optic data transmission systems being developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and associated working groups that will make fiber optic components from...

A phenomenon in which high optical power, encountering an imperfection in an optical fiber, destroys the fiber's core and causes damage to back-propagate down the fiber. It is caused by classic...

A method of optical fiber coupling in which the fibers are ground down to expose their cores and placed together to allow light pulses to transfer from one to the other.

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as erbium, ytterbium, or neodymium. Fiber lasers generate coherent light through...

A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and other components that are assembled together to facilitate the transmission of...

A device used to prepare optical fiber end faces; a scribe line made by the cleaver's blade propagates across the fiber, resulting in a clean break.

A plate made up of thousands of glass fibers arranged parallel to one another, i.e., in a coherent bundle, and fused together so that it is hermetically tight. It transfers an image from one plane to...

A plate consisting of fused optical fibers with both surfaces ground and polished, and having the entrance surface curved to match the image curvature of the input lens system. The plate transmits to...

A weapon launched from a ground-based platform and controlled by a two-way fiber optic data link. The fiber is payed out from a bobbin in the back of the missile.

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 imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each fiber optic strand within the bundle acts as a conduit for transmitting light....

A bundle of optical fibers arranged randomly for the purpose of transmitting energy, not an image.

A fiber optic preform is a cylindrical glass rod or tube used as the starting material for manufacturing optical fibers. It serves as the precursor from which optical fibers are drawn. The process of...