Photonics Dictionary: A

Image of a uniform source through the sample of a microscope image system. Light from the sample plane is reimaged by the objective into the image plane.

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image the wavefront to the CCD image plane. Live feedback may be applied through...

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the on-current at each OLED cell or...

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the on-current at each OLED cell or...

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) refers to a set of safety features and technologies designed to assist drivers in the driving process and enhance overall vehicle safety. These systems use...

The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other types of map making and surveying. The data can be photographic, electronic...

An optical system with object and image points at infinity. Literally, "without a focal length."

Agri-photonics refers to the application of photonics technologies in agriculture. Photonics involves the generation, manipulation, and detection of light and other forms of radiant energy whose...

An old name for the rotating arm moving about an axis of rotation over a divided circle used to measure angles. Now the term refers to a small stadia telescope mounted over a ruler for use in...

An optical device, such as a Nicol prism, capable of producing plane-polarized light, and used for detecting the effect of the object on plane-polarized light produced by the polarizer.

An optical system with different focal lengths or magnification levels in perpendicular planes to the optical axis.

A compound lens combination whose astigmatic difference is zero for one or more off-axis zones in the image plane. In such a lens the other aberrations are sufficiently well-corrected to yield...

The angle formed between the normal to a surface and the reflected ray. This angle lies in a common plane with the angle of incidence and is equal to it.

The angle formed between a refracted ray and the normal to the surface. This angle lies in a common plane with the angle of incidence. See also Snell's law of refraction.

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and simulate the propagation of optical waves, particularly in the context of wave...

An antigen is any substance that is capable of triggering an immune response in an organism. Antigens are typically proteins or large polysaccharides, although other types of molecules can also act...

An APD detector, or avalanche photodiode detector, is a type of photodetector used to detect light or optical signals by converting incoming photons into electrical current. It operates based on the...

Also known as aplanatic lens. A lens corrected for spherical aberration and coma.

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or coma, are minimized or eliminated. In an optical system, aberrations are...

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and coma. Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays...

The ability of a machine to perform certain complex functions normally associated with human intelligence, such as judgment, pattern recognition, understanding, learning, planning, and problem...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical lenses, which have a constant curvature across their surfaces, aspheric lenses...

An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It serves as the primary optical element responsible for gathering and...

An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial objects for observation and analysis. It typically consists of two main optical...

Azimuthal polarization refers to a specific polarization state of light where the electric field vector of the electromagnetic wave points along the azimuthal direction (around the propagation axis)....