Photonics Dictionary

A tool used to remove the outer cladding of an optical fiber without damaging the fiber core.

Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the near-infrared or even mid-infrared regions of the electromagnetic...

A standard for fiber optic telecommunications interfaces, with a 1300-nm data link operating over single-mode fiber at data rates of 52, 155 and 622 Mb/s.

A device for extracting a portion of the optical signal from a fiber.

Protective material surrounding the cladding of an optical fiber that allows the fiber no play within it.

A laser fitted with up to eight optical fibers that transmit the energy to different workstations in turn.

In fiber optic communications, a light source whose beam can be modulated and sent along an optical fiber, and the electronics that support it.

The method used to measure the index profile of an optical fiber by placing it in an interferometer and illuminating the fiber transversely to its axis.

A technique used to measure the mode-field diameter of an optical fiber by scanning one fiber past another at a distance of five microns or less.

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber or preform by illuminating it coherently and transversely to its axis, and examining the far-field radiation pattern.

Ultraviolet (UV) fiber optics refers to optical fibers that are designed and optimized for the transmission of ultraviolet light, which is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than...

A V-shaped channel pressed or etched into a substrate, in which, for example, optical fibers may be placed to create an integrated optical component.

A vortex phase plate is an optical device designed to impart a phase singularity, commonly referred to as a vortex or phase vortex, onto a light beam. This singularity results in a phase profile...

1. A piece of glass with plane parallel surfaces used to admit light into an optical system and to exclude dirt and moisture. 2. A particular region of the electromagnetic spectrum that has been...

In a single-mode optical fiber, the wavelength that causes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion to cancel each other. In a multimode fiber, loose term for the wavelength at which there is a...

A two-fiber optical cable containing two single-fiber cables that are connected by a strip of jacket and that can easily be separated from one another for the installation of optical connectors.

An infrared transmitting material used in the production of fluoride glasses for optical fibers.