Photonics Dictionary

A package for an optical fiber or fibers that may include cladding, buffering, strength members and an outer jacket.

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...

A flexible single- or multifiber cable having a bundle of glass fibers arranged to transmit an image.

A coherent optical fiber bundle in which the configuration is flat rather than round, giving an output in a line.

A scanner in which a fiber optic assembly replaces a lens system.

A device used for coding messages and having a fiber bundle that is aligned at both ends and scrambled in the middle, potted and cut. The resulting halves of the bundles serve as encoders or decoders...

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 coherent fiber optic bundle made from fibers whose diameter changes gradually along its length. Used to magnify or reduce the input image.

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 face of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that has a fiber optic sheet attached to its surface. The sheet's fibers are at right angles to the face, allowing the transmittance of the fluorescent trace...

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 fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna with optical fibers for the purpose of generating or detecting terahertz...

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.

A wide-field multiobject spectroscopy system used in astronomy, in which a bundle of low-loss optical fibers positioned on the target images is rearranged at its other end into a linear array along...

An optical instrument consisting of an objective lens, a coherent (usually flexible) fiber bundle and an eyepiece to examine the output of the fiber bundle.

An optical switch that controls conduction paths into and out of a junction in fiber optic and integrated optical circuits.

A material that surrounds a fiber optic cable's buffer tubes to prevent moisture from entering if the jacket is breached.

Fluoride fibers are optical fibers made from fluoride-based materials, typically fluoride glasses or crystalline fluoride compounds. These fibers are characterized by their unique optical properties,...

A fiber optic device that uses a HeNe laser, beamsplitter, monochromator and photomultiplier to detect trace levels of chemicals and viruses in samples inside or outside the body.

Free-space optics (FSO), also known as optical wireless communication or optical wireless networking, refers to the transmission of data using modulated beams of light through free space (air or a...

A method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by measuring the reflectance as a function of position on the end face.

Optical fibers fused together to form a solid, vacuum-tight assembly in the form of a slab or rod. Discs or rectangular shapes having ground and polished surfaces perpendicular to the fiber lengths...

Glass consisting of almost pure silicon dioxide (SiO2). Also called vitreous silica. Frequently used in optical fibers and windows.

A splice accomplished by the application of localized heat sufficient to fuse or melt the ends of two lengths of optical fiber, forming a continuous single fiber.

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is composed of layers of gallium, aluminum, and arsenic, hence...

A system of mirrors that can be used to direct light from a single laser source into any one of a number of separate optical fibers.

The optical power loss caused by a space between axially aligned fibers.