Photonics Dictionary

An aerial reconnaissance system that can transmit, in near real time, image data recorded by IR and visual-spectrum sensors, providing day, night and foul-weather intelligence.

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...

A physical variable that is proportionally similar to another variable over a specified range. An analog recording contains data that is similar to the source.

Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their physiological or behavioral characteristics. These unique attributes are used to verify or identify individuals, often in...

A breakout cable, also known as a fan-out cable or breakout assembly, is a type of cable that combines multiple individual cables into a single, larger cable. The breakout cable is designed to...

A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film cameras, which use photographic film to capture and store images, digital...

A write-once optical disc storage system in which the optical head reads continuously while writing to check the accuracy of the stored data. Data recorded erroneously are then rewritten at another...

A type of erasable data storage device that uses a medium deposited on the disc in two layers, each dyed to absorb a different wavelength of laser light. To record data, the lower layer is heated by...

Information storage on a dielectric medium that represents the data as those spots on the medium having electrostatic charges, forming an observable record of the data.

Etaloning is an optical phenomenon that occurs in imaging systems, particularly in devices such as spectrometers, interferometers, and cameras. It is characterized by the appearance of interference...

The Faraday effect, named after the English scientist Michael Faraday, is a phenomenon in physics where the polarization plane of light is rotated when the light passes through a transparent medium...

GigE, short for gigabit Ethernet, refers to a standard for high-speed Ethernet communication, capable of transmitting data at rates of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or 1000 megabits per second...

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device designed to capture fast-moving events or phenomena at extremely high frame rates....

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to capture 3D holographic images of objects or scenes. Unlike conventional...

Holographic tomography is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and tomography to provide three-dimensional reconstructions of transparent or weakly scattering objects with high...

Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and diffraction of light. Unlike conventional photography, which records only...

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced imaging technique that captures and processes information from across the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike traditional imaging systems that record only a few...

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and reconstructs microscopic images without the use of traditional lenses. Instead of...

A lock-in amplifier is a specialized electronic instrument used to extract and measure small signals embedded in noise or interference. It is particularly useful in fields such as spectroscopy,...

A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light source, optical lenses to focus and direct the light beam, a pair of...

An instrument used for video or computer data storage in which a laser optical head is used to write digital information onto a tape. Depending on the size of the reel, the tape may be capable of...

An erasable data recording and storage medium that uses a laser to heat the crystalline surface of the disc to a certain temperature, at which it becomes amorphous and records a bit of information;...

A method of producing disks for erasable optical data storage. Information is recorded by a laser beam that generates pits on the surface of the disk while it is being cryogenically cooled. Erasure...

The photographic recording of data, in binary form, for storage in memory. Exposure is achieved by a cathode-ray tube or by modulating a continuous-wave laser beam with a Kerr cell, both relative to...

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to measure and analyze the optical phase information of transparent specimens. Unlike traditional brightfield...

In an optical data storage system, denoting the optical head's ability both to record information and to detect it for playback.

That part of a magnetic or optical tape or disc drive that retrieves data from or records data on the recording media.

1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The scanning takes place inside the television tube as electrons, guided by...

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of biological specimens at resolutions beyond the diffraction limit of conventional...

A pulsed interferometer that permits the continuous quantitative mapping of the surface deformation of an adaptive optical element (e.g., a deformable mirror) and provides the capability for...

1. The term used to describe any of the many instruments used to remotely record physical dimensions, such as strain, temperature or pressure, and transmit this data to a receiving station. 2. A...

The science of sensing and measuring information at some remote location and transmitting the data to a convenient location for reading or recording.

An instrument used to record infrared images of large areas. The recorded data are used to produce maps in false color indicating particular themes such as vegetation, cloud cover, temperature...

The formation and display of three-dimensional images by ultrasonic energy. In one technique, the energy pulses from an ultrasonic transducer scan the object through a liquid medium and, receiving...

A disc whose surface contains recorded digital data at high-packing densities arranged in concentric rings. The data, representing video frames, are both recorded and read by a laser beam.

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for obtaining high-quality diffraction patterns from single crystals. This...

Whole slide imaging (WSI), also known as virtual slide microscopy or digital pathology, is a technology that involves the digitalization of entire glass slides containing histological or cytological...