Photonics Dictionary

A beamsplitter is an optical device used to divide a beam of light into two or more separate beams, typically by reflecting a portion of the incident light while transmitting the remainder....

A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation incident upon it and emits radiation in a...

An edge-emitting light-emitting diode is a type of LED structure where light emission occurs primarily along the edge of the semiconductor chip rather than from the surface. Edge-emitting LEDs are...

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as erbium, ytterbium, or neodymium. Fiber lasers generate coherent light through...

An image-forming instrument in which a strong electrostatic field causes cold emission of electrons from a sharply rounded point or from an object that is located on that point. The electrons are...

A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a beam of accelerated electrons as the lasing medium. Unlike traditional...

Hyperspectral resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in the spectral information captured by a hyperspectral imaging system. In hyperspectral imaging, the electromagnetic spectrum is...

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized electronic device used to amplify low-light-level images to make them visible to...

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. These detectors are utilized in various applications,...

The ejecting of ions from the surface of a material.

In a sequence of laser pulse emissions, the intitial pulse that often helps initiate a reaction at the target surface, whereas the trailing edge maintains the reaction.

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape and...

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle detection, imaging, spectroscopy, and night vision technology. It consists of a...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

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...

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and its manifestation as both particle and wave phenomena. It encompasses the...

Photocathodes are specialized materials or surfaces that exhibit the photoelectric effect, wherein the absorption of photons leads to the emission of electrons. When photons with sufficient energy...

The emission of an electron from a surface that occurs when a photon impinges upon the surface and is absorbed. This effect is the means by which photons may be detected.

The electron emission from a substance or instrument whose surface has been bombarded by a suitable amount of radiation.

Surface analysis by means of photon induced electron emission. PEM methods provide high lateral resolution of the observed sample.For surface material sciences PEM allows the investigation of...

A photomultiplier tube (PMT) is a highly sensitive vacuum tube that detects and amplifies low levels of light. It is widely used in various applications where high sensitivity, fast response times,...

A photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) refers to a type of laser diode that emits light from its surface rather than from the edges. Photonic crystals are periodic nanostructures that...

A means of high resolution study through the application of soft and hard x-rays onto a sample surface in order to obtain image information from 1-10 nm layers and surfaces. The x-ray source emission...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the surfaces of solid specimens. SEM achieves this by...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera, to detect and visualize the infrared radiation emitted by objects. This...

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) refers to a technology that converts heat energy into electricity using the principles of thermophotovoltaics. In a thermophotovoltaic system, thermal radiation from a heat...

The greatest wavelength of radiation for a specified surface for the emission of electrons.

A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is established in a vertical direction with respect to the plane of the active region.

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...