Photonics Dictionary: T

1. The anode or anticathode of an x-ray tube that emits x-rays when bombarded by electrons. 2. The screen in a television imaging tube that is scanned by an electron beam to determine the...

A characteristic of laser output, calculated by dividing the speed of light by the linewidth of the laser beam. The temporal coherence length of different lasers thus varies from a few centimeters to...

The process of attaching a device to the end of a fiber cable to enable the beam to be transmitted farther, to pass to another device and to avoid reflection.

The effect that characterizes an intense laser beam that is passed through an absorbing medium, causing the absorbed energy to produce density changes that can alter the intensity distribution of the...

Distortion of an optical component as a result of heat, which can influence the divergence and the mode quality of a beam passing through the component.

A thin layer of a substance deposited on an insulating base in a vacuum by a microelectronic process. Thin films are most commonly used for antireflection, achromatic beamsplitters, color filters,...

1. The process of following an object's movement; accomplished by focusing a radar beam on the reticle of an optical system on the object and plotting its bearing and distance at specific intervals....

A transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a powerful microscopy technique that uses a beam of electrons to create high-resolution images of extremely thin samples. In a TEM, electrons are...

The decrease in power that occurs when an optical beam or signal is transmitted through a system.

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

A Pockels cell in which electrical current is applied in a direction orthogonally to that of the light beam.

In the context of optics and lasers, a transverse mode refers to a specific spatial pattern of the electric field within the cross-section of a laser beam. These modes represent the different...

A traveling wave tube (TWT) containing a photocathode and window that, receiving a laser beam, produces a modified photoelectric current that is accelerated and propagated into its helical frame.

A tool used in cutting circular holes around a center. Also, a laser cutter in which the beam moves in relation to the cut surface.

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a technique used in additive manufacturing, specifically in the field of 3D printing. It involves using a focused laser to polymerize a photosensitive material in a...

The effect by which sufficiently small particles will scatter blue light at right angles to the incident beam. This scattered light is completely linearly polarized.