Photonics Dictionary

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

An optical scanning system found in most computer scanners that can read documents, often in many type styles, and convert the document text into digital information to be stored, and displayed by a...

A transparent crystalline substance that displays the same optical properties (i.e. refractive index) in all directions such that all light rays behave the same in all directions of propagation and...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) technology that utilizes organic compounds to produce light. OLEDs are commonly used in display technologies, such as...

The direct computation of the Fourier transform of the space variant system output of an optical processor with a single spherical lens. The one-dimensional output spectrum appears along a 45°...

An LCD that has pixels with no internal drive transistors.

An OLED display formed by creating an array of OLED pixels connected by intersecting anode and cathode conductors arranged in rows and columns. Electrical power is passed through selected pixels by...

Photometry is the branch of science that deals with the measurement of light, particularly in terms of its intensity and the way the human eye perceives it. It involves the quantification of visible...

Pixel pitch refers to the distance between the centers of two adjacent pixels on a display screen or imaging sensor. It is typically measured in millimeters and is a crucial specification in...

A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a fundamental unit that represents a single point in a raster image, which is a grid of...

A type of flat panel display made up of a layer of gas between two glass plates. The glass is coated with parallel conductors that form cells which, when energized, produce a gas discharge that makes...

Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other electromagnetic waves. In simpler terms, it describes the direction in which...

A polygonal mirror, also known as a multifaceted mirror or facet mirror, is a type of optical component used in various laser systems, optical scanners, and imaging devices. It consists of a flat or...

The dielectric coefficient parallel to the director in a liquid crystal display (LCD), rather than perpendicular to the director.

The instrument used to analyze a pulsed electromagnetic wave to determine its time, amplitude, duration and shape, and to display this information in some appropriate form, either visually or...

Quantum confinement refers to the phenomenon in quantum mechanics where the motion of charge carriers, such as electrons or holes, is restricted to a region of space that is smaller than their...

Quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are semiconductor nanocrystals, to produce vibrant and high-quality images. QLED displays are...

A quantum dot is a nanoscale semiconductor structure, typically composed of materials like cadmium selenide or indium arsenide, that exhibits unique quantum mechanical properties. These properties...

The spontaneous visual presentation of radar information by electronic traces on a cathode-ray tube.

The analysis of the photographs taken from the radar display of a survey aircraft and used when recording terrain that is obscured by clouds.

The photographic image of a thin specimen having a radioactive isotope that, formed through contact between the specimen and a photographic plate, displays the distribution of the radioactive...

The luminescence displayed when particular minerals are irradiated with β-rays and g-rays, after being exposed to nuclear radiation.

The pattern of lines traced by rectilinear scanning in display systems.

A display in which regeneration takes place serially at a fixed speed in a set pattern through the scan lines.

Raster scanning is a technique used in imaging and scanning systems to systematically capture and process information from a two-dimensional area or surface. It involves moving a sensor or scanning...

The vertical or horizontal distance between two addressable points on a display screen; indicates the basic resolution element of a terminal.

Also known as display primaries. Colors formed by a television receiver that are of constant chromaticity and variable luminance, and that, mixed in certain proportions, form other colors. Red, green...

RGB stands for red, green, blue, which are the primary colors of light used in additive color mixing. The RGB color model is widely used in various electronic displays, such as computer monitors,...

A display device, such as a cathode-ray tube, that is located at some distance from the source generating the displayed information.

Sapphire crystal refers to a transparent, single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) known as corundum. It is one of the hardest known materials, second only to diamond on the Mohs scale of...

1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The scanning takes place inside the television tube as electrons, guided by...

A type of color-generating cathode-ray tube that uses a shadow mask, a thin perforated electrode, located close to the display screen. Each hole in the mask coincides with a triad of three phosphor...

A form of liquid crystal in which flow does not take place in the usual manner. When examined with polarized light, the substance often forms drops that display a series of fine lines. X-ray...

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the smallest discernible or resolvable features in the spatial domain, typically...

A scanning device used to cyclically tune through a given frequency range to determine the amplitude-frequency distribution of the signals present, usually by displaying output on a chart or...

Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the physical structure of the material. In structural color, the interaction of...

A liquid crystal display using the material in its supertwisted nematic phase; the birefringence of the liquid crystal results in a characteristic yellow or blue color, unless corrected.

A form of liquid crystal in which the 90° twist of the twisted nematic phase has been increased to 180° or more, resulting in higher contrast and a wider viewer angle in the display.

The use of head-mounted displays and body-operated remote actuators to control distant machinery. Provides a virtual environment for humans to control devices, robots, etc., in a hostile real...

A television display system in which the television signal is converted to an image that is projected onto either a front or rear projection screen.