Live Wednesday: Four exclusive presentations detailing emerging test and measurement protocols
Search
Menu
Lambda Research Optics, Inc. - Mission
Photonics Marketplace
Suppliers Products
Handbook Institutions Dictionary

Show Filters
76 terms

Photonics Dictionary

Clear All Filters xLIBS x
LIBS
laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a sensor or transducer that measures the rate of change of velocity of an object, or in simpler terms, it measures acceleration. Accelerometers are widely used in various...
adiabatic laser colorimetry
Method for studying absorption coefficients of low-loss materials, in which a sample is allowed to come to thermal equilibrium with its surrounding blackened enclosure. The sample is irradiated with...
angle gauge
A glass or metal measurement tool having a precisely calibrated angle between two of its faces.
aptamer
An aptamer is a short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecule that can bind to a specific target molecule with high affinity and specificity. Aptamers are often referred to as chemical antibodies due to...
autocollimator
An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on the principle of autocollimation, where a light source is directed onto a...
averted vision
In astronomy, the method of deliberately viewing objects with peripheral vision to take advantage of the eye's greater sensitivity to faint light a few degrees from the optical center.
blackbody source
A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation incident upon it and emits radiation in a...
calibrated light source
A lamp whose output can be traced to a standard light source.
calibrated wedge
An optical wedge in which transmittance or density is a function of the location of the wedge, relative to a specific optical system.
calibration reference
Any known value derived from standard analysis that serves as a reference to the accuracy of an instrument or process in determining one or more variables.
calorimetry
Calorimetry is a branch of science that involves the measurement of heat flow in physical or chemical processes. It encompasses various techniques and instruments used to quantify heat transfer,...
chromatography
The chemical method of separating compounds dissolved in one phase (usually mobile) through its equilibration with a second phase (usually stationary). The mechanism of separation may involve...
collimating telescope -> collimator
An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e. illuminated slit or retical) at its focal plane. Collimators are used to...
collimator
An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e. illuminated slit or retical) at its focal plane. Collimators are used to...
color filter -> optical filter
An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical filters are used to control the spectral content of light in various...
colorimeter
A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides objective and standardized color information, typically expressed in terms...
companding
A deliberately nonlinear amplitude modulation that strengthens weak signals and reduces strong signals for transmission.
corner cube
A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...
corner-cube prism -> corner cube
A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...
corner-cube reflector -> corner cube
A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...
counting chamber
In microscopy, the chamber that is contained on a microscope slide to hold a certain amount of fluid. It is calibrated accurately to determine the number of cells and other elements while the...
cube-corner prism -> corner cube
A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...
DLL
dynamic link library
ECPR
electrically calibrated pyroelectric radiometer
electron temperature
Approximation of a system of thermal equilibrium formed by the distribution of the kinetic energies of electrons in a gas discharge to which a temperature value is frequently ascribed. The average...
EMD
equilibrium mode distribution
emissometry
The use of a material's emissivity to measure absorption. It is useful as an absorption loss measurement technique, since at thermal equilibrium, emittance is equal to absorptance.
equilibrium length
The length of optical waveguide needed to attain equilibrium mode distribution for a specified excitation condition.
equilibrium mode distribution
The condition in a multimode optical waveguide in which the relative power distribution among the propagating modes is independent of length.
Fermi-Dirac function
The mathematical expression of the probability of any given state of energy being occupied when a semiconductor is in thermal equilibrium.
fiber optic spectrometer
A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to transmit light from a source to a spectrometer unit, where the light is...
galvanometer
A galvanometer is an instrument used for detecting and measuring small electric currents. It typically consists of a coil of wire suspended in a magnetic field, with a pointer attached to the coil....
gray scales
Transparencies that represent progressive steps in the amount of transmitted radiation for administering predetermined amounts of radiation to a radiation-sensitive substance. The steps are...
heterodyne receiver
A type of receiver that uses a local oscillator at a frequency deliberately offset from that of the incoming signal. It is less sensitive than a homodyne receiver, but easier to build because it...
high harmonic generation
High harmonic generation (HHG) refers to a nonlinear optical process in which intense laser light interacts with a gaseous medium, typically an atom or a molecule, to produce harmonics of the...
image jump
In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs in the optical system. This phenomenon is often observed in certain types of...
indent
A flaw deliberately introduced into an optical fiber to prepare it for cleaving.
infrared radiation source
Any object that emits radiation of a wavelength lying between about 0.75 to 1000 µm. A calibrated secondary source usually is a heated cavity (blackbody) or a filament lamp rated in wattage...
international candle
A unit of measurement of luminous intensity based on a physical standard, a set of calibrated carbon filament lamps. The old candle unit was superseded by the new candle or candela.
kinetic cooling
An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2 molecules in the (100) vibrational state are excited to the (001) level, and...
Kirchhoff's law
For any point on a thermal radiator, at thermal equilibrium and for each wavelength, the emissivity in any direction is equal to the absorptance for radiation from the same direction.
lens testing equipment
Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance, quality, and characteristics of lenses. These instruments are essential for...
LIBORS
laser ionization based on resonance saturation
Lorentz oscillator model
The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as an electron) to an oscillating electric field. It is particularly employed...
luminance meter
A type of photometer calibrated in luminance units (candles per square unit, or lamberts). In photography an exposure meter contains a luminance meter to record the average luminance of a scene.
machine vision system
A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and analyze images to perform automated inspection, measurement, and quality...
mask proximity correction
A technique used in photolithography of computer chips to compensate for errors caused by the proximity effect, which results in variations in size between areas of the mask that have many small...
Mb/s
megabits per second — The megabit per second (not to be mixed up with the mbit/s – millibit per second, or Mbitps- megabit picosecond) is a unit of data transfer rate equivalent to one million (or 106) bits per second over a given information network.
melting point
The temperature at which the solid phase of a material is in equilibrium with the liquid phase, or when the material changes from a solid to a liquid.

Photonics Dictionary


Explore Our Content
News
Features
Latest Products
Webinars
White Papers
All Things Photonics Podcast
Videos
Our Summits & Conferences
Industry Events
Bookstore
Join Our Community
Subscribe
Advertise
Become a member
Sign in
Contribute a Feature
Suggest a Webinar
Submit a Press Release
Mobile Apps

About Us
Our Company
Our Publications
Contact Us
Career Opportunities
Teddi C. Laurin Scholarship

Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)



©2024 Photonics Media
100 West St.
Pittsfield, MA, 01201 USA
[email protected]
We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.