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Photonics Dictionary

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marhic method
Nondestructive measurement of the delta and alpha of clad optical fibers that involves interferometry with the fiber immersed in an index-matching oil and illuminated perpendicular to the fiber axis.
mechanical splice
A fiber splice accomplished by fixtures or materials, rather than by thermal fusion. Index matching material may be applied between the two fiber ends.
MEL
many-element laser; maximum excess loss (MEL) — the many element laser is a laser unit that consists of N like elements of active materials for support with the mode selection of the laser output. The mode selection properties of a many element laser have been experimentally exploited with as many as 10 like elements. Maximum excess loss is the maximum power lost within a give system (typically a fiber optic communication system) including scattering, dispersion, absorption and coupling loss.
MEMS fiber optic switch
A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals between multiple fiber optic channels. These switches utilize miniature...
metropolitan area network
A cable backbone used to interconnect local area networks at various sites (corporate offices and factories, for example) in a given region. Optical fiber is well-suited to the transmission of both...
micro-optics
Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level. These components are miniaturized optical elements that manipulate light at a...
microbend-modulated sensor
A type of fiber optic sensor that detects changes in pressure, vibration, sound level or acceleration by monitoring the ejection of light from the fiber core to the cladding caused by microbending...
microbending loss
Transmission loss in optical fibers caused by packaging processes; it is considered a power-coupling effect from the guided modes to the radiation modes.
microbubble resonator
A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It consists of a micro-sized, gas-filled spherical cavity (the "microbubble")...
mist -> hackle
A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, defined as multiple surface irregularities across the fiber surface. A less serious imperfection of the same nature is known as mist.
mode filter
A device used in measuring the attenuation of multimode optical fibers. A short reference length of fiber when combined with the mode filter has approximately the same angular output distribution of...
mode scrambler
A device for inducing mode coupling in an optical fiber. Also, a device composed of one or more optical fibers in which strong mode coupling occurs. Also called mode mixer.
modified chemical vapor deposition
Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that is employed to produce...
modulator
A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a communication channel. The process of modulating involves varying one or...
monocoil sheathing
A type of tubing used to protect optical fiber cables, consisting of a wire spiral of aluminum, galvanized steel or stainless steel, encased in a polyvinyl chloride or silicon rubber coating. These...
monomer exchange diffusion
Process that occurs when a polymerized soft plastic rod with higher refractive index is placed in a bath of a lower refractive-index monomer to obtain plastic fibers with a nearly parabolic index...
monomode optical waveguide -> single-mode waveguide (or fiber)
An optical waveguide in which only the lowest order bound mode, which may consist of a pair of orthogonally polarized fields, can propagate at the wavelength of interest.
MSM photodiode
A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiode is a type of photodetector that consists of metal electrodes on a semiconductor material. Unlike the more common PIN photodiodes, which have a P-type and...
multifiber cable
Fiber optic cable bearing many fibers independently sheathed and capable of carrying unrelated signals. They often surround a central strength member, and can be either loose- or tight-buffered. One...
multifibers
An array of optically distinct fibers that are fused into one strand. They are used to keep the resolution efficiency of the smaller, single fibers and eliminate difficulty in handling. Their...
multimode group delay -> differential mode delay
A variation in propagation delay caused by differences in group velocity among modes of an optical fiber. Also called multimode group delay, this effect is commonly due to imperfections or any...
multiplexing
The combination of two or more signals for transmission along a single wire, path or carrier. In most optical communication systems this is referred to as wavelength division multiplexing, in which...
near-field scanning
A measurement technique used to determine the spatial distribution profile of an electrical or optical quantity of interest which is provided by multiple scans within the near-field region of a...
neoprene
A type of thermoset rubber used to jacket fiber optic cables, including those used in outdoor military installations.
Nichols radiometer
An instrument devised by Nichols and Hull for use in the measurement of radiation pressure. The device has two small silvered, glass mirrors that are suspended, in the way of a torsion balance, by a...
noncoherent bundle
An assembly of optical fibers that will not transmit coherent images or information because the relationship of the fibers on either end of the assembly is random; Noncoherent fiber bundles are...
nonlinear optical materials
Nonlinear optical materials are substances that exhibit optical properties that are not linearly proportional to the intensity of incident light. In other words, these materials produce optical...
nonlinear polarization
Nonlinear polarization refers to the phenomenon where the polarization of a material responds nonlinearly to an applied electric field. In linear systems, the polarization of a material is directly...
normalized frequency
Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a dimensionless quantity, denoted by the symbol V, given by: where a is waveguide core radius, l is wavelength in vacuum,...
optical assembly
An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a specific function within an optical system. These components may include lenses,...
optical cements and adhesive
Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical systems. These materials are designed to provide secure and durable bonds...
optical ceramics
Transparent glassy and or crystalline structured materials engineered from inorganic, non-metallic materials via various methods that include heat or specific chemical reactions. Optical ceramics...
optical channel monitor
An optical channel monitor (OCM) is a device used in optical communication systems to monitor and analyze the performance of individual channels within a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)...
optical continuous wave reflectometer
An instrument used to measure backscatter as well as optical return loss and reflectance within an optical fiber system by measuring the reflected light when a continuous wave is transmitted through...
optical fiber optic switches
Optical fiber optic switches are devices used in optical fiber communication systems to selectively route optical signals from one input fiber to one or more output fibers. They play a crucial role...
optical fiber
Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light signals over long distances with minimal loss of signal quality. It serves as a...
optical gate
An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...
optical manufacturing tools and machinery
Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....
optical microphone
Laser-powered telephone device for analog communications that employs a vibrating plastic membrane as a transmitter to modulate laser light piped via optical fibers from a central exchange, omitting...
optical repeater
In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal, converts this optical signal to an electrical signal which is then...
optical strain sensors
Optical strain sensors are devices that utilize optical principles to measure the deformation or strain experienced by a material under mechanical stress. These sensors convert changes in strain into...
optical switching
Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using various techniques to selectively switch or redirect optical paths. This...
optical testing instrument
An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...
optical time-domain reflectometer
An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize and analyze the optical fibers' characteristics, including attenuation,...
optical time-domain reflectometry
A method for characterizing a fiber wherein an optical pulse is transmitted through the fiber, and the resulting light scattered and reflected to the input is measured (by an optical time-domain...
optical waveguide termination
A configuration or device mounted at the end of a fiber or cable that is intended to prevent reflection.
optical wireless -> free-space optics
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...
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and its manifestation as both particle and wave phenomena. It encompasses the...
optoelectronics
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...
output angle -> radiation angle
Half the vertex angle of the cone of light emitted by a fiber.

Photonics Dictionary


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