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374 terms

Photonics Dictionary

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chalcogenide

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te). These elements are known as...

channel density

The number of channels per unit bandwidth handled by a single optical fiber.

characteristic angle

The angle at which a given mode propagates down an optical fiber.

chip

1. A localized fracture at the end of a cleaved optical fiber or on a glass surface. 2. An integrated circuit.

chirped-pulse amplification laser

A laser whose pulses are expanded, using gratings and optical fibers, before amplification and compressed to increase beam intensity without damage to the optical train.

choledochoscope

A small fiber optic endoscope used in laser surgery.

cladding

The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against surface contaminant scattering. In all-glass fibers, the cladding is...

cladding glass

In fiber optics, the glass that is found around the glass core of the fiber, and that has a lower refractive index than the fiber.

cladding mode stripper

A mechanism or device, especially a coating with a refractive index equal to or slightly greater than that of an optical fiber's cladding, that removes modes propagating through the cladding by...

cladding ray

A ray that is reflected into the core of an optical fiber from the outer surface of the cladding.

coherent communications

A fiber optic communications system that works on the principles of homodyning or heterodyning. The transmitting laser produces an optical wave that is modulated in amplitude, phase or frequency by...

coherent fiber bundle

A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers arranged in a specific geometric pattern to maintain the spatial coherence of...

concatenation

The process of linking optical fiber end to end.

concentricity error

The distance between the center of the two concentric circles of an optical fiber that designate the diameter of the cladding and the center of the two concentric circles that designate the diameter...

connector loss

Energy loss encountered at connectors in optical fiber transmission systems. The major contributors are mutual core displacement and fiber axis tilt. It is observed in both permanent splices and...

core

The light-conducting portion of an optical fiber, defined by the region of high refractive index.

core-coupled lens

A semispherical or conical lens created directly on the core of an optical fiber to focus light from a laser into the fiber core.

coupling efficiency

The fraction of available output from a radiant source that is coupled and transmitted by an optical fiber.

crush strength

The physical limit of an optical fiber or cable to withstand an applied force or weight perpendicular to the axis of the fiber.

cutoff wavelength

1. In detector technology, the long wavelength at which detector response falls to a set percentage (usually 20 or 50 percent). 2. In fiber optics, the shortest wavelength at which a fiber transmits...

data bus

A system incorporated into fiber optic data communications characterized by several spatially distributed terminals that are served with the same multiplexed signal.

deeply depressed cladding fiber

An optical fiber, usually a single-mode fiber, that has an outer cladding with nearly the same index of refraction as the core and an inner cladding with a very low index of refraction.

delay line

A device used to delay transmission of a signal for functions such as memory loops, sequential processing or built-in testing. The delay can be achieved by coiling long lengths of coaxial cable or...

dense wavelength division multiplexing

Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) is an optical communication technique used to increase the data-carrying capacity of optical fiber networks by simultaneously transmitting multiple...

differential mode attenuation

The variation in attenuation among the propagating modes of an optical fiber.

differential mode delay

Differential mode delay (DMD) is a parameter used to characterize the propagation characteristics of optical fibers, particularly in multimode fiber optic systems. It refers to the difference in...

diffraction grating

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel grooves or rulings. These rulings act as an array of closely spaced slits...

diode laser -> diode laser

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...

diode laser

direct detection

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

dispersion-flattened single-mode fiber

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.

dispersion-shifted fiber

A dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) refers to a type of optical fiber designed to minimize the effects of chromatic dispersion, which is the phenomenon where different wavelengths of light travel at...

distal end

The end of an optical fiber farthest from the source of illumination.

distributed feedback laser

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

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...

double-crucible method

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.

double-window fiber

Optical fiber capable of operating at both a shorter and a longer wavelength.

drawing tower

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...

dual-window cable -> double-window fiber

Optical fiber capable of operating at both a shorter and a longer wavelength.

dynamic fatigue

Stress applied to an optical fiber at a constant rate.

edge-emitting LED

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...

elasto-optic effect

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.

electro-optic modulator

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...

electroholography

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...

electron-beam recording

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...

embedded laser

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...

endoscope

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...

energy-sharing laser

A laser that distributes its output power among two, three or four optical fibers simultaneously.

epoxy

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...

erbium-doped fiber amplifier

An optical fiber that can be used to amplify an optical input. Erbium rare earth ions are added to the fiber core material as a dopant in typical levels of a few hundred parts per million. The fiber...

Photonics Dictionary