Photonics Dictionary

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 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...

Equipment for testing an observer's color vision. Some tests require the identification or ordering of colored samples. The commercially available examples include: the Ishihara plates, on which...

A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or applications. These optics can include lenses, mirrors, prisms, filters, or...

Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to assist clients in various aspects of product development, system design, or...

A digital twin refers to a virtual representation or digital counterpart of a physical object, system, or process. This digital replica is created using real-time data and simulation models, allowing...

Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau interferometer is named after the French physicist Armand Fizeau, who...

Agents used for testing light sources and natural daylight with visual and instrumental assessment using a set of white metameric pairs.

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....

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the infrared radiation emitted by objects, revealing temperature variations across...

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 lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single, compact chip. Also known as microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems are...

The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing damage. It is a critical parameter in laser applications and is...

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...

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of light. It is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder, who...

Machine learning (ML) is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the development of algorithms and statistical models that enable computers to improve their performance on a specific...

Metrology is the science and practice of measurement. It encompasses the theoretical and practical aspects of measurement, including the development of measurement standards, techniques, and...

Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field that involves the manipulation and control of very small fluid volumes, typically in the microliter (10-6 liters) to picoliter (10-12 liters) range, within...

The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The process generally is done before coating so as not to damage the delicate coated...

An optical interference technique widely utilized as a method of nondestructive testing when determining the ray deflection and the modulation transfer function (MTF) of an optical system associated...

An array of refractive microlenses that are round, square and hexagonal and as small as 15 µm. They are used for Hartmann testing, laser diode collimation and other applications that require...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path difference to create interference between split optical wavefronts. The...

The measurement of first- and higher order properties of a lens and its formed image, including effective focal length, back focal length, f number, aberrations, blur patterns, magnification and...

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a specific function within an optical system. These components may include lenses,...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and components to meet specific performance requirements and application needs....

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or systems to specialized manufacturing firms. Photonics involves the...

Phototoxicity refers to the harmful effects caused by exposure to light, particularly intense or ultraviolet (UV) light, on living cells or organisms. This phenomenon is often associated with the...

Piezoelectricity is a property exhibited by certain materials in which they generate an electric charge in response to mechanical stress or deformation, and conversely, undergo mechanical deformation...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a widely used molecular biology technique used to amplify a specific segment of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) through a series of temperature-controlled cycles....

A probe card is a testing device used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry to evaluate and test the electrical characteristics of integrated circuits (ICs) on a wafer. Its primary function is...

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene. It involves tracing the path of rays of light as they travel through a...

A test method for determining high-reflectivity levels by monitoring cavity decay within a resonant cavity formed by two mirrors under test.

Rockwell hardness (Rc) refers to a method for measuring the hardness of a material, primarily metals, using an indentation test. It is named after the Rockwell scale, which was developed by Stanley...

A transparent plate ruled with black lines and equal, clear spaces. It is used as a multiple knife-edge for testing a concave mirror.

A test chart whose luminance changes uniformly in one direction according to a sinusoidal rule. These charts carry groups of black lines on a white ground, the intensity profile across the lines...

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for testing and research purposes. Solar simulators are employed in various...

The visual examination by a trained observer of the image of a point source. Any coloring or departure from the Airy disc rings indicates the presence of aberrations in the lens forming that image.

A terahertz spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to measure and analyze the properties of materials in the terahertz frequency range, typically spanning from about 0.1 to 10 terahertz (THz),...

Terahertz (THz) refers to a unit of frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum, denoting waves with frequencies between 0.1 and 10 terahertz. One terahertz is equivalent to one trillion hertz, or...

In laser damage testing, the exposure of many sites of a sample to different intensities of laser irradiation to discover the point at which the laser induces failure of the material.

Ultrasonic refers to sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing, typically above 20,000 Hz. These waves are termed ultrasonic because they are beyond the range...

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...

A nondestructive testing method for very large scale integration circuits, using a scanning electron microscope to monitor changes in the electronic state of the chip as it is fed test voltages while...

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...