Definitions

The photoemission that would occur if a crystal were pure and its structure perfect.

The resulting contraction or expansion of a piezoelectric crystal along an electric axis when the crystal is under the influence of an electric field in the same direction.

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...

The adjustable membrane located just in front of the crystalline lens within the eye. The iris gives the eye its color. See also iris diaphragm.

With respect to the effect of crystals on lightwaves, the family of curves having constant direction of polarization.

A design for bent crystal monochromators in which spacing is constant along any circular arc terminating at the two foci and with equally spaced Bragg planes curved about only one axis.

A semiconductor device with the property of conducting current more easily in one direction than the other. It has two terminals containing a single crystal of semiconducting material that ranges...

An array of spectral lines formed when a beam of electrons, striking a crystalline solid, is scattered. It is used in the analysis of the crystal structure.

Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or identify specific components or entities. In various scientific and...

A method of depositing crystalline films one molecular layer at a time, by dipping the substrate into water containing a polymer that forms a single layer of molecular chains on the surface. This...

Laser annealing is a process that involves using a laser beam to heat and modify the microstructure of a material, typically a thin film or surface layer, with the objective of improving its...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or nanoscopic scale. These optical lattices can be created using various techniques...

A length that denotes the size of the unit cell in a crystal lattice. With respect to the cubic crystal, this is the length of the side of the unit cell. However, a simple definition of the term is...

With respect to the crystal, the decrease in energy that follows the process whereby the ions, separated from each other by an infinite distance, are brought to their locations in the stable lattice....

The photographic record of the diffracted beams formed when heterogeneous x-rays emerging from a pinhole or slit impinge upon one crystal.

A ferroelectric polycrystalline ceramic material used in optical memories for computers and as a piezoelectric transducer.

A crystal often used for windows and refracting components in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared. Characteristically, this form has excellent transmission from 0.14 to 6.0 µm.

A crystalline ferroelectric material used primarily as a substrate and an active medium for thin-film optical modulators and switches. It possesses very high electro-optic and piezoelectric...

A type of filter consisting of a series of birefringent crystals and polarizers invented by French astronomer Bernard Lyot for isolating and observing significant wavelengths of solar light.

A colorless, crystalline compound whose low refractive index (n = 1.38) makes it effective as a lens antireflection coating when deposited by thermal evaporation in a near vacuum. This process...

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective excitation of the spins of electrons in a magnetic solid, analogous to the...

A method of growing single crystals in which atoms and molecules from gaseous organic compounds interact and form a layer on a single-crystal substrate.

A device to modulate spatially a collimated coherent beam of light with input data in optical data processing. It uses a photocathode mounted on a microchannel plate, which amplifies an electron...

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small screen. Unlike traditional displays, microdisplays are typically very compact...

An instrument that produces an intense, tightly focused beam of ions to stimulate emissions from a minute section of a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis. The ion beams found in microprobes are...

With respect to a crystal, a monoclinic crystal consists of three unequal axes, two of which intersect each other obliquely and yet still form right angles to the third.

In a crystal, its subdivision into polyhedral blocks of macroscopic sizes, with discontinuities contained in the lattice formation between them.

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at dimensions smaller than the wavelength of light. It involves the study and...

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. This type of laser emits light at a wavelength of 1064 nm in the...

State typically studied in liquid crystals in which the dielectric coefficient parallel to the director is less than the dielectric coefficient perpendicular to the director.

A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick specimens with polarized light. During this phase, the molecules of the...

A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68° between one vertical side and the end surface. The prism is cut diagonally...

A nitrogen vacancy (NV) refers to a specific type of defect or impurity in a crystal lattice where a nitrogen atom replaces a carbon atom adjacent to a vacancy (an empty lattice site) in the diamond...

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...

The capacity of a chiral substance such as a crystal or molecule to rotate the plane of polarized light that is transmitted through it. Any substance that cannot be superimposed onto it's mirror...

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...

A periodic structure formed by intersecting or superimposed laser beams. These beams can trap atoms in low-potential regions, forming a pattern of atoms resembling the structure of a crystal.

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...

A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates coherent light whose output can be tuned continuously over a variety of infrared...

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 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...

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...

The ray that has an isotropic speed and maintains a uniform polarization in all propagation directions when traveling in a doubly refracting (birefringent) crystal. It obeys Snell's law upon...

Means of amplifying optical waves whereby an intense coherent pump wave is made to interact with a nonlinear optical crystal to produce amplification at two other optical wavelengths. See parametric...

The term perovskite refers to a specific crystal structure commonly found in various materials. Perovskite structures have a cubic arrangement of oxygen ions, forming a framework within which other...