Photonics Dictionary

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the on-current at each OLED cell or...

A small fiber optic endoscope used in laser surgery.

An infrared detector that achieves a specified sensitivity through the application of certain cryogenic temperatures.

An LED (light-emitting diode) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs are commonly used for lighting, displays, and indicators. A NanoLED is on the...

An OLED display formed by creating an array of OLED pixels connected by intersecting anode and cathode conductors arranged in rows and columns. Electrical power is passed through selected pixels by...

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) technology that utilizes organic compounds to produce light. OLEDs are commonly used in display technologies, such as...

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the on-current at each OLED cell or...

The area of optics in which the wave nature of a particle is exploited to carry out very accurate interferometry and other optical techniques with atoms instead of photons. In this process, particles...

An atomic clock is a highly precise timekeeping device that uses the vibrations or oscillations of atoms as a reference for measuring time. The most common type of atomic clock uses the vibrations of...

A method of designing lasers whereby the laser rod is cut into elliptical discs and cooled by running water over the disc surfaces. The cooling circuit decreases the radial temperature gradients in...

Azadioxatriangulenium is a type of organic compound with a unique triangular molecular structure. It is often abbreviated as ADOTA. This compound belongs to the class of polycyclic aromatic...

A high-frequency pulse-rate laser with an output limited by the heat capacity of the laser medium. Instead of having continuous cooling, the laser operates until the medium reaches a maximum...

A surface heat-treating process that produces a highly stressed surface. In case-hardening of glass, a plate of glass is heated almost to the softening point and then cooled quickly in a blast of...

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment refers to a class of specialized apparatus used in the process of chemical vapor deposition, a technique for depositing thin films of various materials onto...

Cold atoms refer to atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures, typically in the microkelvin (µK) to nanokelvin (nK) range, close to absolute zero (0 Kelvin or -273.15°C). At...

A cryogenically cooled component incorporated into the Dewar of an infrared detector assembly to maintain the sensing elements at the proper temperature (77 K or colder).

A vacuum pump in which pressure is reduced by condensing gases on surfaces cryogenically cooled to about 20 K (liquid hydrogen) or 4 K (liquid helium).

The spectrographic analysis of matter that is in a cooled state. Generally, a mechanical refrigerator is used to lower the temperature of the sample, allowing isolation and study of the sample and...

A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film cameras, which use photographic film to capture and store images, digital...

1. A device generally used in a cathode-ray or camera tube to emit a stream of electrons moving at uniform velocity in a straight line. It consists of an emitting cathode and an anode, with an...

Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of crystalline layers on a substrate material. Epitaxial growth is a critical...

A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable, allowing for unconventional form factors and enhanced portability. Unlike...

A gas laser wherein the gas mixture is not exhausted into the atmosphere but is continually recycled. It is excited in the active region, cooled and re-excited. The GTL requires no constant gas...

An InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) camera is a type of imaging device that utilizes InGaAs sensors to capture images in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum. InGaAs is a semiconductor material that is...

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...

A method of producing high-quality plastic optics in large volumes by injecting the heated, liquified plastic at high pressure into a tooled mold with polished chromium stainless steel inserts to...

A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added impurities and does not have to be cooled to the level of extrinsic material....

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small screen. Unlike traditional displays, microdisplays are typically very compact...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...

A method of producing disks for erasable optical data storage. Information is recorded by a laser beam that generates pits on the surface of the disk while it is being cryogenically cooled. Erasure...

Photoluminescence is a phenomenon in which a material absorbs photons (light) at one wavelength and then re-emits photons at a longer wavelength. This process occurs when electrons in the material...

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....

Quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are semiconductor nanocrystals, to produce vibrant and high-quality images. QLED displays are...

A material that changes color as it is heated or cooled.

A refrigeration method based on the Peltier effect. When an electric current passes through a thermocouple of two dissimilar metals joined in two places, heat is absorbed at the cold junction and...

A display device having a thermoplastic film as the control layer medium. The film, moving from a playoff reel, is scanned by an electron gun and melted by an RF heating unit. Deformation of the film...

A method of cleaning and drying coated optical components. The cooled parts are placed in a container above a boiling solvent, whose vapors condense on the parts. When the parts reach the temperature...