Photonics Dictionary

Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to assist clients in various aspects of product development, system design, or...

A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable diffraction grating.

A laser device used to establish a location or target usually for detection by an impact source e.g. missiles and guided munitions. Laser designation sources utilize a system configuration which is...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and components to meet specific performance requirements and application needs....

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to simulate, model, analyze, and optimize the performance of optical systems and...

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that builds three-dimensional objects layer by layer from a digital model. This technology allows the creation of...

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image the wavefront to the CCD image plane. Live feedback may be applied through...

An accelerometer is a sensor or transducer that measures the rate of change of velocity of an object, or in simpler terms, it measures acceleration. Accelerometers are widely used in various...

An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon where different colors of light...

Use of achromatic design; the correction of chromatic aberration; without color or hue (grey, black and white)

A system designed with a laser as a light source and a means for producing sound waves extending beyond 100 MHz to deflect light efficiently.

An acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is a device that utilizes the interaction between sound waves and light waves to modulate or control the intensity, frequency, phase, or direction of laser beams. It...

Glass designed to absorb most infrared and ultraviolet radiation while transmitting most of the visible region.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional objects by adding material layer by layer. This is in contrast to...

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) refers to a set of safety features and technologies designed to assist drivers in the driving process and enhance overall vehicle safety. These systems use...

Camera designed for the imaging of the earth's surface in order to obtain high quality aerial images

Film designed especially for the needs and conditions encountered in aerial photography. It is produced in a variety of widths, lengths and emulsions.

An instrument designed to measure angles in azimuth; used in general topographic work and military gunnery.

A category of systems designed to communicate a photo taken from the air (e.g., aircraft, balloon, satellite) to a ground station. It can be done by direct television transmission of the photo, or by...

Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long reflecting face of a right-angle prism. Used as an erecting system in elbow and...

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and simulate the propagation of optical waves, particularly in the context of wave...

Anisotropic is a term used to describe a material or substance that exhibits different properties or behaviors in different directions. In other words, the physical or mechanical characteristics of...

Anisotropy refers to the property of exhibiting different values or characteristics when measured in different directions. In various fields, including physics, materials science, and geology,...

An oven or furnace that possesses the design requirements and heat control necessary to anneal glass for the optical industry.

An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to minimize unwanted reflections and increase the transmission of light...

An APD detector, or avalanche photodiode detector, is a type of photodetector used to detect light or optical signals by converting incoming photons into electrical current. It operates based on the...

An instrument designed to measure the numerical aperture of an objective.

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or coma, are minimized or eliminated. In an optical system, aberrations are...

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and coma. Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays...

An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to minimize chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration occurs when different...

An aptamer is a short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecule that can bind to a specific target molecule with high affinity and specificity. Aptamers are often referred to as chemical antibodies due to...

In image processing, a specially designed programmable computer peripheral that attaches to the host system for the purpose of more rapid arithmetical calculations than the latter can supply. The...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical lenses, which have a constant curvature across their surfaces, aspheric lenses...

An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical surface profile. Unlike traditional spherical mirrors, which have a curved...

A camera designed to record astronomical objects (e.g., stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies) and their spectra.

A facility designed for the observation and recording of astronomical phenomena.

An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial objects for observation and analysis. It typically consists of two main optical...

Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it propagates through a medium or travels over a distance. This concept is prevalent...

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...

A photovoltaic cell designed so that light travels through the front electrode and a semiconductor before it comes to the barrier layer.

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

In semiconductor physics, the term bandgap refers to the energy range in a material where no electronic states are allowed. It represents the energy difference between the valence band, which is the...

The range of frequencies over which a particular instrument is designed to function within specified limits. See also fiber bandwidth.

An optical scanning device designed to read information printed in the form of bars of different size by detection and processing of the varying reflectivity of light in the barcode.

A coupling mechanism designed to quickly lock a connector into an adaptor or a lens into a lens mount. Typically coupling is accomplished by less than a quarter turn of the component being mounted.

A device designed to decrease flux density or power per unit area of a light beam through absorption and scattering of the beam.

A system of optical components designed to increase the diameter of a radiation beam. Usually an afocal system.

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...

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

Designating any instrument in which both eyes can be used to view the image to achieve a stereoscopic effect, or merely to facilitate observation. See also prism binoculars.