Photonics Dictionary: F

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 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...

A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or environmental parameters. Unlike traditional electrical sensors, fiber optic sensors...

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to transmit light from a source to a spectrometer unit, where the light is...

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 use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one location to another. Fiber optics is based off of the principle of total...

An optical recording technique that uses light source(s), a beamsplitting cube, light detector(s) and an optical fiber chronically implanted in animal brain to deliver excitation light to neurons...

A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the purpose of efficient light transmission. In this configuration, the LED serves...

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise end-to-end placement or epoxy sealing in fiber connections.

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent plate. The phosphor is induced into luminescence, similar to traditional...

1. A lens situated at or near the plane of an internal image to project the aperture of a previous objective or erector upon the aperture of a following lens. 2. A lens at or near the plane of a...

The field of view (FOV) refers to the extent of the observable world or the visible area that can be seen at any given moment through a device, such as an optical instrument, camera, or sensor. It is...

An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.

The ratio of active to inactive areas on a pixel.

A mechanism in a camera designed to position the film in the focal plane for exposure.

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video transmission.

Filoviruses are a family of viruses that are responsible for severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fevers in humans and non-human primates. The name "filovirus" is derived from their filamentous...

The necessary increase of a photograph's exposure time as the result of the additional absorption of light by the filter being used.

A spectrophotometer that makes use of filters to isolate narrow bands of the spectrum.

A low-power telescope with a wide field of view, typically attached to a higher power telescope with a narrower field of view. This enables an observer to locate a celestial object with the...

The locus of points in a system along a line that remains stationary while the remainder of the system rotates.

Fixed-pattern noise is the measure of the static (nontemporal) differences between pixels when the detector is evenly illuminated. In microbolometers, this effect is mostly caused by mismatch between...

Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau interferometer is named after the French physicist Armand Fizeau, who...

A type of interferometer noted for producing narrow multiple-beam interference fringes. As a result, when compared with the Twyman-Green, the Fizeau interferometer has fewer optical components, does...

A technique in photometry that uses an oxyhydrogen or oxyacetylene flame to optically excite a solution containing the sample to be analyzed.

The use of high temperatures, between 2000 and 3000 °C, to excite emission lines from a sample in spectroscopic analysis.

Any of a number of instruments that uses a flame to vaporize a solution of the chemical being analyzed so that light may be passed through the vapor. Monochromation of the transmitted light is...

A part of the spectrochemical analysis of a sample that deals with the excitation of that sample by flame analysis.

The study of the reflection or transmission properties of specimens as a function of wavelength after they have been excited by flame-analysis techniques.

A device that is designed to automatically turn electric lamps on and off in a rapidly repeating sequence. The device may use a motor-driven mechanism or a combination heater filament and bimetallic...

A pulsed dye laser in which the excitation is provided by means of a flashlamp. Output is tunable from 335 to 850 nm, with peak power up to 7000 kW.

An electronic display in which a flat screen is formed by an orthogonal array of display devices, such as electroluminescent devices, light-emitting diodes or liquid crystal cells.

A frame taken with a CCD camera of a surface that is evenly illuminated by diffuse light. This frame shows irregularities in the light-sensing ability of the CCD, such as electronic defects and dust...

An imaging device analogous to a drum scanner, but operating at greater speeds; it uses a row of sensors to traverse an image affixed to a flat surface.

A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable, allowing for unconventional form factors and enhanced portability. Unlike...

The fluctuation in apparent illumination that has a rate comparable to the reciprocal of the period of persistence in vision.

Any noise with a power spectral density that is the inverse of the signal's frequency and is therefore most significant for low-frequency signals. It can be expressed as 1/f and is therefore also...

A bench photometer that depends on the inability of the eye to distinguish color in brief flashes of light. Any difference in the intensity of reflected colored samples, presented to the observer in...

Heterochromatic photometry that depends on the elimination of chromatic flicker at a lower frequency than luminance flicker.

In various fields such as fluid dynamics, microfluidics, and biotechnology, a flow channel refers to a defined pathway through which a fluid (liquid or gas) flows. The channel can be of various...

Flow chemistry, also known as continuous-flow chemistry, is a chemical manufacturing process where reactions take place in a continuous stream of fluids (liquids or gases) rather than in batch...

Flow cytometry is a powerful technique used in biology and medicine for the quantitative analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of cells and particles suspended in a fluid. The method...

A flowmeter is a device used to measure the flow rate or quantity of a fluid passing through a particular point in a system. It works by sensing the velocity of the fluid passing through it and...

A technique developed to measure the molecular weight of macromolecules by analyzing the spontaneous fluctuations that occur in the inherent thermodynamic concentration of solute molecules in a...