Photonics Dictionary: I

Also called calcite. A natural hexagonal crystal of calcium carbonate. It cleaves readily into rhomboids useful in the study of polarized light.

An instrument in which an object's image, produced by a lens of known focal length, is used to determine the object's distance from the instrument when its size is known, or the object's size if the...

A camera tube that employs a high-velocity electron beam to scan a photoemissive mosaic and to store electrical charge patterns.

A system that transmits and receives identification codes to facilitate the discrimination between enemy and friend in a tactical situation.

Pertaining to the possession of photoelectric characteristics as a result of the properties of the true crystal and not of foreign materials.

A camera tube similar in design to the iconoscope. However, the image formed in the image iconoscope is projected on a photocathode that emits photoelectrons to be focused on a material, forming the...

Any form of lens, optical system (camera, telescope, microscope, etc.), or opto-electronics utilized for the purpose of producing an image of a given object.

A camera tube widely used in television broadcasting. It consists of three sections within a single vacuum envelope. 1. A photosensitive film sometimes called the photocathode. The scene to be...

Photogrammetric compensation for incidental camera movement (which prevents attainment of true vertical photographs) whereby the imagery is copied in an oblique plane camera system.

A shutter in which the opening and closing times for a large aperture setting occupy a substantial fraction of the total exposure time so that apertures and time pair readings from an exposure meter...

A thermal infrared imaging procedure developed for quality control of printed circuit boards. The thermogram of each board under test is compared with a standard thermal profile and then with a...

A type of microscope that uses radiation in the infrared region to illuminate objects that are opaque to visible radiation. The microscope consists of two illumination systems (transmitted and...

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies beyond the visible spectrum. These components are crucial for various...

The range of materials that, unlike glass, may be used in the infrared. Water-soluble salts, such as cesium iodide, and other substances such as arsenic sulfide, selenium, thallium bromide-iodide and...

Photographic recording that uses infrared radiation as the light source to form an image of a microscopic object and a system of lenses and objectives that are transparent to the radiation. The image...

A vidicon that has a photoconductive surface that can be excited by infrared radiation.

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between optoelectronic devices and providing signal processing functions.

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The...

A set of international standards by which a single telecommunications channel is used to transmit voice and data simultaneously.

An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an image intensifier and a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor to achieve...

A CCD image sensor that uses a proximity-focused image intensifier to provide greater sensitivity at low light levels.

A standard direct-readout vidicon tube linked by fiber optics to an intensifier for increased sensitivity.

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in completely transparent objects and specimen. The object is placed in one beam...

Heat measurement method in which the sample is made part of the interferometer and the temperature increase is determined by measuring the change in optical pathlength through the material. By moving...

Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) is a type of display technology used in electronic devices, known for its energy efficiency and ability to produce high-quality reflective color displays....

The creation of free electrons within a solid by the absorption of a sufficient amount of photons. The effect produces an increase in the conductivity of the solid.

Measures the refractive indices axially from the fiber profile. Microscopy technique provides an interferogram with high contrast with demonstrated improvements in relation to the Pluta two-beam...

Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in real-time. Unlike traditional microscopy, which involves the examination of...

A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added impurities and does not have to be cooled to the level of extrinsic material....

Loss intrinsic to the fiber caused by parameter (core dimension, profile parameter) mismatches when two nonidentical fibers are joined.

The absorption of a photon raising an electron across the forbidden gap from valence to conduction band of the semiconductor where conductivity is increased and incident radiation may be measured.

The photoemission that would occur if a crystal were pure and its structure perfect.

The changing of the kinetic energy of a mobile electron into radiant energy, as in formation of x-rays.

The resulting contraction or expansion of a piezoelectric crystal along an electric axis when the crystal is under the influence of an electric field in the same direction.

A microscope designed so that the specimen is located face down above the objective.

Also known as gas focusing. The introduction of an inert gas into a cathode-ray tube for the concentration of the electron beam. The gas molecules are ionized by the electrons, producing a core of...

Having the same chromaticity or color.

1. Lines of the same color. 2. A term used in photoelastic stress analysis to refer to the interference fringes produced in birefringent materials.

With respect to the effect of crystals on lightwaves, the family of curves having constant direction of polarization.

Free of coma.

A spectroscopic technique in which an excitation band absorbs laser energy resulting in an electronic transition. The isotopic species may then be measured using a time of flight mass spectrometer....

That property of a material that determines that velocity of propagation within the material is the same for all directions.