Photonics Dictionary

Attosecond-pump attosecond-probe spectroscopy (APAP) is an advanced technique in ultrafast spectroscopy that allows scientists to study the dynamics of electronic processes occurring on extremely...

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...

1. A bundle of light rays that may be parallel, converging or diverging. 2. A concentrated, unidirectional stream of particles. 3. A concentrated, unidirectional flow of electromagnetic waves.

A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or light beam. The goal is to transform the incoming beam into a desired shape...

Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of a series of closely spaced parallel grooves or slits. The blaze height is...

A parallel plate of glass in such a position that the refracted and reflected rays of incident parallel light are mutually perpendicular. In this situation the reflected light is plane polarized, and...

The fringes used in the Jamin interferometer and produced by light that has been internally and externally reflected by two plane-parallel plates, inclined toward each other at a small angle.

The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and that measured by diffuse light, due to scattering effects. This effect is...

The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged conductive surfaces. This force arises from the quantum vacuum fluctuations of the...

A plane mirror mounted on a polar axis that lies parallel to the plane of the mirror. When the mirror is rotated once in 48 hours, celestial objects can be made to appear stationary and are...

Radiation in which every ray from any given object point can be considered to be parallel to every other. This is never completely the case: The light from a star is really diverging, and all...

Concave is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves inward or has a hollow or recessed appearance. In the context of geometry or optics, a concave shape is one that curves or...

Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These mirrors are commonly used in optics for various applications, including...

Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly extending appearance. In the context of geometry or optics, a convex shape is...

A prism formed by dividing a Nicol prism in a plane parallel to the path of vibration of the transmitted light and taking out the wedge-shaped piece. After the pieces are rejoined, the planes of...

A Dammann grating is a type of diffractive optical element (DOE) used to create an array of equally spaced, uniform-intensity spots or beams. It is named after its inventor, Dr. Herbert Dammann. The...

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel grooves or rulings. These rulings act as an array of closely spaced slits...

In spectroscopy, the parallel bands that vary in lightness and darkness or color, and that are formed when light is diffracted by a sample.

A diverging lens is a type of lens that causes parallel rays of light to spread out or diverge. It is thinner in the center than at the edges and is commonly referred to as a concave lens. The most...

A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to the hypotenuse face is reflected internally at that face and emerges...

Process for growth of solar cells that results in rectangular shapes consisting of many interconnected cells in a series or series-parallel arrangement. EFG cells show increased efficiency with...

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and monochromators. It is a narrow opening or aperture through which light...

An etalon is an optical device that consists of two parallel reflecting surfaces separated by a precise and known distance. It operates based on the principle of optical interference and is used to...

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...

A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set parallel to one another by spacers so that lightwaves may bounce back and forth...

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...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or film when the lens is focused at infinity. In simple terms, it is the...

That point on the optical axis of a lens, to which an incident bundle of parallel light rays will converge.

A hologram formed by the recording of a plane object situated in the focal plane of a lens so that each object gives rise to a parallel beam of light incident on the plate. A collimated reference...

A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into multiple beams, often redirecting them at specific angles. It is based on the...

A direct-vision prism made in one piece that can be used only in parallel light.

A computer-generated kinoform used for data processing because of its use of incoherent light and its wide field of view, which facilitates parallel processing of two-dimensional data.

A dark band that may appear in the field of crossed Nicol prisms with a powerful source such as the sun because the light is not strictly parallel and is not extinguished immediately.

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single package. These modules are designed to provide a convenient and efficient...

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by several key properties that distinguish lasers from other light sources. These...

A lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses are commonly used in optical systems, such as cameras, telescopes,...

An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens, and mark the optical center of the lens by an ink dot. When the lens to be...

In optics, a pattern, such as the Buchmann-Meyer pattern, that may be viewed when the record surface is illuminated by a light beam having parallel rays.

Pockels cell or dynamic optical retarder in which the electrical field is applied in a direction parallel to that of light passing through it.

A high-resolution spectroscopic device commonly used in the early 20th century as a component of double-beam interferometers. Light introduced at one end of the plane-parallel glass plate will be...