Photonics Dictionary: B

A cathode-ray display where information is represented visually as spots. Each spot's location is represented by a horizontal coordinate showing its bearing angle, and a vertical coordinate showing...

Backscatter refers to the phenomenon in which radiation or waves are scattered backward, opposite to the direction of the incident beam. This occurs when the incident radiation encounters a target or...

Fraction of light counter propagating collinear with the incident source. Processes considering backscattering are Raman, Brillouin, Rayleigh and Mie.

An opaque shielding device designed to reduce the effect of stray light on an optical system.

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.

1. A geometrical arrangement of two or more light beams for use in laser shows, object detection or other applications requiring arrayed multiple beams. 2. A mathematical 2 X 2 or 3 X 3 matrix for...

1. That action occurring when light passes through an optical interface at other than normal incidence, i.e., refraction. 2. The curving of a path of light that passes close by a massive object, due...

An instrument for the detection of the energy distribution of b-particles and secondary electrons.

An instrument designed to produce very hard x-rays by the acceleration of electrons in a varying magnetic field.

An imaging technique that labels all gray pixels as either black or white before processing begins.

Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light of different polarizations. In other words, when light passes through a...

Characteristic of a reflector that reflects light along a different line or lines than that of the incident ray.

A ground-based navigation beacon that emits pulsed signals which are picked up by aircraft making an instrument (blind) approach in landing. The signal is transmitted to the aircraft's L-scan...

The loss of focus of a camera sensor because of excessive brightness, characterized by the enlargement of spot size and halation on a cathode-ray tube.

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically between 400 and 500 nanometers. Diode lasers are compact,...

A technique in which a beam of x-rays is directed against a crystal, the atoms of which, because of their lattice arrangement, reflect the ray in the same way as a series of plane surfaces. If the...

The scattering of x-rays by the regularly spaced atoms in a crystal. The angle at which the reflection occurs is known as the Bragg angle.

The law expressing the condition under which a crystal will reflect a beam of x-rays with the greatest amount of distinction or resolution and, at the same time, denoting the angle at which the...

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 manual shifting bias control of a cathode-ray tube that determines both the average brightness and the contrast of a picture.

The degree to which a pixel in a digital image represents the analog brightness of the corresponding point in the original image. It is dependent largely on the number of bits devoted to representing...

A conical or cylindrical package of light rays emanating from a common point on the object.

A convex lens that brings an incident bundle of rays to a focus to produce intense heat at the focus.