Photonics Dictionary

Piezoelectric motion systems are mechanical systems that utilize piezoelectric materials to generate controlled motion or displacement. Piezoelectric materials exhibit the piezoelectric effect, which...

A short length of optical fiber permanently fixed to a component and used to couple power between it and the transmission fiber.

A manufacturing process used to construct substrates for large optical components. Used with IR materials, planform bonding permits the joining of several smaller pieces to be used in place of a...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically,...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to traditional optical components made from glass or other materials. Plastic...

Pluggable optics, also known as pluggable transceivers or optical transceivers, are modular devices used in optical communication systems to transmit and receive data over optical fibers. They are...

A polariton is a quasiparticle resulting from the strong coupling between photons (light particles) and certain types of excitations in a material, such as electronic excitations (electrons and...

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the difference between the maximum and minimum loss in decibels.

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...

A plastic used in molded optical components. Styrene elements can be combined with acrylic elements to produce achromatic lenses.

When uncontrolled laser energy leaks from a laser cavity prematurely, it causes serious damage to optical components and significant downtime for repair.

A prism is a geometric optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It is typically a solid, transparent object with at least two flat surfaces that are inclined relative to each...

A probe card is a testing device used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry to evaluate and test the electrical characteristics of integrated circuits (ICs) on a wafer. Its primary function is...

For an electromagnetic field mode varying sinusoidally with time at a given frequency, the logarithmic rate of change, with respect to distance in a given direction, of the complex amplitude of any...

Noise generated within an optical communications system link that has both internal (dark current) and external (background noise, or noise in signal) components.

A quantum well is a structure in quantum mechanics that confines particles, such as electrons or holes, in one spatial dimension. This confinement leads to quantized energy levels, creating a...

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally introduced into the crystal lattice of a material to modify its properties....

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of seventeen chemical elements found in the Earth's crust, characterized by their unique properties and scarcity relative to other elements. Despite their name,...

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...

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller than the wavelength of the light. It is named after the British scientist...

The transparent component of an optical reader that transmits the image rays of the characters to be read.

A reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) is a key component in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical communication networks. It allows for flexible and dynamic routing of...

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 reflection grating is an optical component that consists of a series of closely spaced, parallel reflecting surfaces or grooves. These grooves are typically ruled or etched onto a flat substrate or...

Reflectance spectroscopy is a technique used to analyze the reflective properties of materials across various wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. By measuring the reflectance of light from a...

Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or systems from a distance, typically using remote sensing technologies and...

Optical components, usually reflectors, produced using proprietary techniques that transfer the precision of a master to a number of elements.

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or stimulus is applied at a specific frequency, causing the system to oscillate...

Also known as reversed telephoto lens. A lens consisting of an ordinary objective with a negative component near its front focal point. Thus, the back focus is large, relative to its focal length....

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their source, regardless of the direction from which the light approaches. Unlike...

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) is a type of gyroscope that uses laser light to detect and measure changes in orientation. It operates based on the Sagnac effect, which is a fundamental principle of...

Robotic arms, also known as robot arms or manipulator arms, are mechanical devices designed to mimic and perform the functions of human arms. They consist of multiple articulated segments, joints,...

RTSP, or real-time streaming protocol, is a network control protocol designed for controlling streaming media servers. It is used for establishing and controlling media sessions between endpoints....

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...

A sapphire window refers to a transparent optical component made from sapphire crystal. Sapphire is a single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is highly prized for its exceptional optical...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications due to its exceptional optical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Sapphire...

A saturable absorber is a type of optical device that exhibits variable absorption properties depending on the intensity of incident light. In essence, it becomes less absorbent as the light...

The successive analysis or synthesizing of the light values or other similar characteristics of the components of a picture area, following a given method.

A specific type of filter designed to reduce the amount of light scattered by reflections from the edges of optical components or mounts, or from irregularities on the optical surfaces.

A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays, x-rays, or charged particles. It consists...

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that belongs to the powder bed fusion category. SLM is primarily used for metal additive manufacturing, where...