Abbreviations/Acronyms: M

mega;magnification -SI metric unit prefix which represents one million, 106, also the standard symbol for the magnification of a given optical system.

megacycles per second — Megacyces per second is an oscillation rate equivalent to one million (or 106) of the standard unit of a single optical period over a second which is an optical cycle.

modulation contrast microscopy; multichip module — modulation contrast microscopy is a unique illumination technique that enhances contrast in an imaging microscope by converting optical gradients into variations in light intensity. Modulation contrast microscopy is found most commonly in live cell imaging, polarization microscopy, phase contrast, and oblique illumination of stained, unstained and birefringent specimens. A multichip module is an electronic packaging system where multiple discrete electronic components (integrated circuits, semiconductor diodes, etc.) are packaged in various ways onto a single substrate.

mercury cadmium telluride — Mercury cadmium teluride (HgCdTe) is a specific alloy combination that allows one to obtain any optical absorption bandgap of the material between 0 and 1.5 electron volts (eV) making it completely transparent at photon energies and wavelengths below the energy gap in the infrared.

metal-dielectric multilayer (MDM) — Periodic nanofilm structures for optical mode confinement and tunneling of resonant surface plasmons.

many-element laser; maximum excess loss (MEL) — the many element laser is a laser unit that consists of N like elements of active materials for support with the mode selection of the laser output. The mode selection properties of a many element laser have been experimentally exploited with as many as 10 like elements. Maximum excess loss is the maximum power lost within a give system (typically a fiber optic communication system) including scattering, dispersion, absorption and coupling loss.

modulation-inducing retrodirective optical system

master oscillation; magneto-optic

micro-optic gyroscope

microwave and optical generation and amplification

magneto-optic Kerr rotation

magneto-optical photonic crystal

magneto-optical trap

mobile optical tracking unit