Photonics Dictionary

Continuous wave (CW) refers to a type of signal or transmission where the signal is constant and does not vary with time. In various contexts, the term is used to describe continuous, uninterrupted...

A mass-relieving method whereby material is removed through the sides of a reflector in a direction parallel to the surface. A method of cutting a cylindrical piece of material from a large piece.

A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...

A cryostat is a device used to maintain very low temperatures, typically below the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K or -196°C) or even lower. It provides a controlled environment for...

A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess this structure, or it may acquire it through mechanical means. More than 50...

A diode with a semiconducting material, such as germanium or silicon, for one electrode, and a fine wire "whisker'' which lies on the semiconductor, as the other electrode. The low capacitance...

Glass of special composition that is melted, formed into desired shapes, and subjected to a high-temperature treatment in which the glass undergoes a stage of nucleic formation, and a second stage,...

A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape resembling a cylinder. Unlike spherical lenses, which have the same...

Deep ultraviolet (DUV or deep-UV) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet light with shorter wavelengths than those in the UV-A and UV-B regions. The exact wavelength range considered as DUV can...

A detector array refers to a collection of individual detector elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid or matrix format. Each element within the array is capable of detecting electromagnetic...

Dewetting is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where a thin film or coating spontaneously undergoes a process of breaking up and forming isolated droplets on a substrate. This occurs due...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce high-quality optical surfaces and components with extremely tight tolerances. It...

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and mirrors, from materials such as metals, plastics, and crystalline materials...

A dichroic mirror, also known as a dichroic beamsplitter or interference filter beamsplitter, is an optical device that selectively reflects or transmits light based on its wavelength. Dichroic...

A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is almost completely plane polarized with an intensity that is half that of the...

Dichroism refers to the property of certain materials to exhibit different colors or absorbance of light depending on the direction of light propagation or polarization. The term is commonly used in...

Die bonding is a critical process in semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics assembly, where a semiconductor die or chip is attached and electrically connected to a substrate or a package....

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the contrast of transparent...

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to investigate the optical properties of materials, particularly in the field of spectroscopy. Unlike traditional...

An optical diffuser is an optical component or material designed to scatter or diffuse light that passes through it. It is used to create a more even or uniform illumination, reduce glare, or soften...

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...

A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into a solid gain medium, resulting in the generation of coherent light. This...

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing through a medium. This variation in the speed of light for different colors...

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...

In the context of materials science and semiconductor physics, doping refers to the intentional introduction of impurities into a semiconductor material in order to alter its electrical properties....

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...

An electro-optic deflector is a device that can change the direction of light beams using an electric field. It operates based on the electro-optic effect, which involves the modulation of the...

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 device consisting of an airtight quartz tube that holds the material to be analyzed. When a high-frequency electrostatic field, generated by microwaves, is applied to the tube, it emits energy of a...

The use of a tightly focused beam of electrons to drill minute holes in substances. The drilling is accomplished by the evaporation of the material in the desired circumference by the intense heat of...

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and research laboratories to pattern extremely fine features with sub-micrometer...

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...

An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find applications in various fields, including cathode ray tubes (CRTs), electron...

An electrowetting display (EWD) is a type of electronic display technology that utilizes the principles of electrowetting to control the behavior of colored oil droplets on a hydrophobic surface....

Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the measurement of changes in the polarization state of light reflected or...

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...

Epitaxial refers to the growth of a crystalline layer on a crystalline substrate in such a way that the orientation of the crystal lattice of the growing layer is related to that of the substrate. In...

Epitaxial deposition is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing and materials science to grow a thin crystalline layer, known as an epitaxial layer, on a substrate. The term epitaxial refers to...

Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of crystalline layers on a substrate material. Epitaxial growth is a critical...

A well controlled thin films technique for growing films with good crystal structure in ultra high vacuum environments at very low deposition rates. Epitaxy methods are well known for the growing of...

Etaloning is an optical phenomenon that occurs in imaging systems, particularly in devices such as spectrometers, interferometers, and cameras. It is characterized by the appearance of interference...