Search
Menu
DataRay Inc. - ISO 11146-Compliant Laser Beam Profilers
Photonics Marketplace
1,178 terms

Photonics Dictionary

Clear All Filters xsystem x
backreflection -> narcissus
A defect in infrared systems that appears as a dark circular area on a displayed image, caused by radiation reflecting into a detector. It can be reduced by low-reflective coatings or by altering the...
backscatter
Backscatter refers to the phenomenon in which radiation or waves are scattered backward, opposite to the direction of the incident beam. This occurs when the incident radiation encounters a target or...
backstreaming
The term used in reference to vacuum systems using oil and diffusion pumps, describes the migration of pump fluids and their decomposition products into the vacuum chamber.
baffle
An opaque shielding device designed to reduce the effect of stray light on an optical system.
bakeout
The elimination of gases from the surfaces of a vacuum system by heating the surfaces when the pumping phase is occurring.
Baker-Nunn camera
A wide-field camera based on the classic Schmidt optical system used to photograph Earth-orbiting satellites.
ball lens
A ball lens is a small, spherical optical component typically made of glass or other transparent materials. It is characterized by its spherical shape, with both its front and back surfaces forming...
bandwidth-limited operation
In fiber optics, the limitation on performance imposed by the system bandwidth rather than the amplitude of the signal.
baselength
The distance between pupil centers in a two-pupil system, measured perpendicularly to the optic axis.
BDS
beam-delivery system
beaconage
A system of beacons used in navigation.
beam bender
A mirror used to manipulate the beam in a laser system.
beam divider -> beamsplitter
A beamsplitter is an optical device used to divide a beam of light into two or more separate beams, typically by reflecting a portion of the incident light while transmitting the remainder....
beam expander
A system of optical components designed to increase the diameter of a radiation beam. Usually an afocal system.
beam positioner
A device (e.g., prisms, lenses, tubes) used to align a beam in a system.
beam profiling
Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It involves measuring and visualizing how the optical power or intensity is...
beam shaper
A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or light beam. The goal is to transform the incoming beam into a desired shape...
beamsplitter
A beamsplitter is an optical device used to divide a beam of light into two or more separate beams, typically by reflecting a portion of the incident light while transmitting the remainder....
beamwidth
The angular width of a radiation beam. With respect to a conical beam of light, it is the vertex angle of the cone. The beamwidth is a measure of the rate of divergence or convergence of a light...
BEST
business EDR system technique
bias buildup
Degradation factor in coherent light systems where the amplitude of the recorded signal is decreased as the number of object points is increased, resulting in poor noise performance.
binary on-off
Signal used in optical transmission systems to generate currents in a detector that are decoded with reference to a specified threshold.
biometrics
Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their physiological or behavioral characteristics. These unique attributes are used to verify or identify individuals, often in...
bionics
The application of observed operational processes of sophisticated living organisms to mechanical and electrical systems in order to analogize capabilities or efficiency.
biostimulation
The action of a biological system responding to a single or multiple coherent particles of light produced from a laser source. Examples of laser biostimulation include: retinal interaction of light...
bit error rate
The ratio of the number of bits received incorrectly to the total number of bits transmitted digitally in a system.
blackbody source
A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation incident upon it and emits radiation in a...
blaze height
Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of a series of closely spaced parallel grooves or slits. The blaze height is...
blink comparator
An optical system that rapidly alternates two similar pictures or scenes to permit the detection of small dissimilarities between them.
blue diode laser
A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically between 400 and 500 nanometers. Diode lasers are compact,...
blur circle
A blur circle refers to the out-of-focus region in an image captured by an optical system. When an object in a scene is not in perfect focus, its image is spread out into a circular shape on the...
Bohr's frequency relation
The law given by the formula: that is, the frequency of radiation emitted or absorbed by a system when E2 and E1 are the energies of the states among which transition takes place, and h is...
borescope
A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or gas mains. The long narrow tube used contains a telescope system with as...
boresight
The alignment process that makes the optical axes of two related systems parallel to each other. Also, making the optical axis parallel to a related weapon system axis.
Boys camera
A camera system for recording lightning.
Bragg spectrometer -> ionization spectrometer
Also known as the Bragg spectrometer. A system used for the x-ray analysis of crystal structure. In the instrument, a homogeneous beam of x-rays is directed on the known face of a crystal and the...
Bravais-Miller index
One of the constants h, k, f or I, used to demonstrate any set of parallel planes in a crystal of the hexagonal system.
brightness resolution
The degree to which a pixel in a digital image represents the analog brightness of the corresponding point in the original image. It is dependent largely on the number of bits devoted to representing...
Brillouin scattering
Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with acoustic phonons (quantized lattice vibrations) in a material, resulting in the...
broadband dielectric mirrors
Broadband dielectric mirrors, also known as broadband mirrors, are optical coatings designed to efficiently reflect or transmit light over a broad range of wavelengths. These mirrors are constructed...
calcite
A doubly refracting mineral used to produce polarizing prisms. It is uniaxial negative and in the trigonal division of the hexagonal system of crystals. Its indices are e = 1.486, w = 1.658; its...
calcium indicator
A calcium indicator is a molecule that is sensitive to changes in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations in biological systems. These indicators are commonly used in various fields, including cell...
calibrated wedge
An optical wedge in which transmittance or density is a function of the location of the wedge, relative to a specific optical system.
calligraphic imager -> stroke pattern
The pattern formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are composed of a sequence of line segments (strokes) generated by the electron beam motion with time...
calorimeter
An instrument used to measure the change of heat content of a system by measuring microwave power in terms of generated heat.
calorimetry
Calorimetry is a branch of science that involves the measurement of heat flow in physical or chemical processes. It encompasses various techniques and instruments used to quantify heat transfer,...
camera chain
The term sometimes used to describe the sequential arrangement of components in a video system -- from transmitter to receiver.
Camera Link HS
Camera Link HS (high speed) is a standard developed for high-speed digital data transmission in machine vision and industrial imaging applications. It is an evolution of the original Camera Link...
camera
A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material or a detector. The camera generally contains a lens of variable aperture...
CAMRSS
Center for Autonomous and Man-Controlled Robotics and Sensing Systems (NASA)

Photonics Dictionary

We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.