Photonics Dictionary: V

An aerial photograph produced when the optical axis of the camera is perpendicular to the surface below.

With respect to a television system, a pulse transmitted at the end of each field to break off the cathode-ray beam as it begins the next field.

A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser resonator. VECSELs can be electrically or optically pumped. The extended...

The difference in base up or down prism power at corresponding points located on the two lenses of a pair of spectacles.

With respect to microscopy, light that is directed down through the objective onto the specimen and then returned by reflection.

A two-sided mirror suspended by a pendulum mechanism. An autocollimator set normal to such a mirror surface will, by definition, have its optical axis set horizontal.

In television system specifications, the number of parallel horizontal black and white lines of equal thickness, that can be resolved from top to bottom of the raster. (One line equals either a black...

With respect to television, the returning direction of the electron beam during the vertical blanking period.

With respect to microscopy, light that is directed through the specimen by a substage condenser.

A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is established in a vertical direction with respect to the plane of the active region.

Two electrodes that shift the electron beam vertically on a cathode-ray tube screen using electrostatic deflection.

An image with variations in density due to the differential scattering ability of microscopic bubbles in a transparent layer.

Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) is a spectroscopic technique used to probe the chiral properties of molecules. It measures differences in the absorption of left- and right-circularly polarized...

A type of change in the energy levels of molecules in a laser that results in lasing action. Vibronic transitions are those between one electronic level and another.

A test similar to the Knoop hardness test, but used for fractured material. The indenter is a square-based pyramid-shaped diamond.

A display standard no longer in use and originally defined for IBM PCs, with 640 3 480 pixels in 16 colors and a 4:3 aspect ratio. There is also a text mode with 720 3 400 pixels. The standard has...

The observation of specimens by a microscope linked to a television camera and an image processor.

A small television tube originally developed for closed-circuit television. It is about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long. Its controls are relatively simple and can be operated by unskilled...

An electric cell having two electrodes of unlike metals immersed in a solution that chemically affects one or both of them, thus producing an electromotive force.

Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of space. Unlike traditional two-dimensional (2D) imaging, which provides...

A multilayer antireflective thin-film coating, so called because its reflectance rises steeply at wavelengths above and below a narrow band at zero. The v-coat is particularly useful in high-power...

A V-shaped channel pressed or etched into a substrate, in which, for example, optical fibers may be placed to create an integrated optical component.

In an ionic crystal, the region in the crystal lattice where the ion, predicted to be present, is absent.

In optics, the term vacuum typically refers to a space devoid of matter, including air and other gases. However, in practical terms, achieving a perfect vacuum, where there is absolutely no matter...

Equipment dependent on the effects of a vacuum. The principal applications in optics are in the coating of lenses and substrates and the fabrication of multilayer interference filters.

A vacuum chamber is a sealed enclosure from which air and other gases are removed to create a low-pressure environment, typically close to or at a complete vacuum. These chambers are often...

Also known as cathodic etching. Surface etching achieved by bombarding an evacuated surface with gas ions.

A phototube that functions within a vacuum and thus eliminates the effects of gaseous ionization on its electrical properties.

A device that serves to detect the presence of vacuum ultraviolet radiation. It may be photographic film, a thermopile, ion chamber, vacuum photodiode, photomultiplier or channel electron multiplier.

Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from fluctuations in electron distribution. These forces are relatively weak...

Lasers based on neodymium-doped yttrium or gadolinium vanadate crystals. These include yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO4), gadolinium vanadate (Nd:GdVO4), and lutetium vanadate (Nd:LuVO4). Vanadate lasers...

A method of cleaning and drying coated optical components. The cooled parts are placed in a container above a boiling solvent, whose vapors condense on the parts. When the parts reach the temperature...

A process by which high-quality fiber optics are made. See axial vapor-phase deposition.

A semiconductor diode that exhibits change in capacitance with a change in applied voltage; used as a voltage-variable capacitor.

An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements so that it emerges from the fixed lens as a large-diameter parallel bundle....

A scanning technique in which the optical density of the film being scanned controls the speed of deflection of the scanning beam.

A machine vision technique of image correlation whereby the correlation kernel (template of the desired image) is transformed into a group of vectors, each representing a specific feature of the...

Diffuse stray light at the image plane of an optical system that results in reduced contrast and resolution.

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent materials in a magnetic field. Therefore, in the equation: where a...

The angular relation between two light rays that originated at the same object point. Sometimes used to indicate the angle between the visual axes of the eyes.

The degree to which a pair of fine lines can be aligned to each other. A normal observer will demonstrate an accuracy of 10 arc seconds and a repeatability of 5 arc seconds.