Photonics Dictionary

Any source that emits radiation of wavelengths between 100 and 300 nm. Instruments used to study these sources must be evacuated, as vacuum ultraviolet does not travel freely in air.

The product of the actual base or baseline of a rangefinder or heightfinder, and the power or magnification of the instrument.

1. An instrument used to determine the visual range in an environment. 2. A type of photometer that artificially reduces an object's visibility to threshold limits and records the quantity of...

An instrument that uses an erbium:glass laser to determine cloud height from the ground.

Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) are specialized optical elements that consist of periodic variations in refractive index throughout the volume of a transparent material, typically a photosensitive glass...

An instrument that measures the wavelengths of an x-ray spectrum by the diffraction of x-rays from a crystal with a given lattice spacing.

An instrument that uses a crystal to diffract x-rays for the measurement of the intensities of the diffracted rays.

An instrument that is used to chart x-ray diffraction patterns, such as an x-ray spectrometer having photographic or other recording implements.

An instrument designed to produce an x-ray spectrum of a material as an aid in identifying it. This technique is particularly useful when the material cannot be broken down physically.

A diagnostic instrument that uses a photocathode design to see a broad range of x-ray radiation by streaking the photographic image continuously in time. It produces time- and space-resolved...

An instrument for eye surgery that directs intense xenon arc light through the transparent cornea lens to the retina where absorption by the pigment epithelium and the choroid produces heat and...

Zerodur is a type of glass ceramic material known for its exceptional thermal and mechanical properties, particularly its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) close to zero. It was developed by...