Photonics Dictionary

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...

Formulas designating the relationships between image distance, object distance, focal length, refractive index, etc., of a thin lens.

Thin-film coatings are layers of material applied to the surface of an object or substrate, typically to modify its optical, electrical, or mechanical properties. These coatings are composed of thin...

Thin-film deposition equipment refers to machinery and tools used in the process of depositing thin layers of material onto a substrate surface. This technique is commonly employed in various...

A semiconductor formed by applying a particular single-crystal layer to the specific insulator.

The time domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to describe signals in terms of their behavior over time. In the time domain, signals are represented as functions of time, showing...

Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a technique used in photon counting applications, particularly in the field of experimental physics, biophysics, and fluorescence lifetime imaging...

A time-to-amplitude converter (TAC) is an electronic circuit that converts a time interval between two events into an amplitude or voltage signal. TACs are commonly used in various scientific and...

Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) is a powerful technique that combines Raman spectroscopy with the enhanced spatial resolution provided by a sharp metallic or dielectric tip. TERS allows...

The determination of the degree to which a manufactured component can deviate from its ideal specifications of material and geometry without impairing its performance.

Topological photonics is a branch of physics and optics that explores the application of topological concepts to the behavior of light in photonic systems. Drawing inspiration from the field of...

Topology is a branch of mathematics that focuses on the properties of space that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, crumpling, and bending, but not tearing or gluing....

In a cathode-ray tube, the visible line or lines formed on the screen by the deflection of the electron stream.

A transducer is a device or component that converts one form of energy into another. It is commonly used in various fields, including electronics, acoustics, and instrumentation, to facilitate the...

The process whereby a quantum mechanical system alters from one energy level to another. During this process, energy is emitted or absorbed, and it usually takes the form of photons, phonons, or...

A transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a powerful microscopy technique that uses a beam of electrons to create high-resolution images of extremely thin samples. In a TEM, electrons are...

A restricting wavelength above or below which a specified form of radiation is totally almost absorbed by a specified medium.

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber or preform by illuminating it coherently and transversely to its axis, and examining the far-field radiation pattern.

The distortion of an image formed by a cathode-ray tube, caused by unbalanced deflection voltages or deflection voltages that are not symmetrically aligned with the resultant anode potential.

A color-television viewing system with three kinescopes, three lenses and three deflection yokes used to form the red, green and blue images required for a tricolor television projection.

The process by which a surface is made to conform accurately to a given curvature.

Any form of laser; e.g., a dye laser, having an output that can be adjusted over a wide range of wavelengths. Normally the range is about 70 nm wide.

Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by the presence of suspended particles. These particles can include sediment, silt, clay, plankton, and other microscopic...

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) is a phenomenon observed in certain organic molecules containing electron-donor and electron-acceptor groups that are linked together within the same...

A form of liquid crystal widely used in displays, achieved by sandwiching a liquid crystal material between two substrates whose inside surfaces have been prepared with a special coating that aligns...

The form taken by scattered light, as a result of the Tyndall effect.

A form of microfiche that has an information reduction ratio that is greater than 100 to 1.

A dark-field microscope used to view extremely small objects. These objects are suspended in a gas or liquid in an enclosure having a black background. A convergent pencil of bright light enters from...

A highly accurate cathode-ray tube used to display information with the utmost efficient stability and resolution. The information is viewed as a series of points, particularly suited for...

A two- or three-dimensional space grating formed when ultrasonic beams with varied paths of propagation intersect.

The space between diffracting centers of an ultrasonic wave that is forming certain light diffraction spectra.

The formation and display of three-dimensional images by ultrasonic energy. In one technique, the energy pulses from an ultrasonic transducer scan the object through a liquid medium and, receiving...

The optical diffraction spectra formed, or the method that produces them, when a light beam is transmitted through a longitudinal sound field.

The photographic recording that uses ultraviolet radiation to irradiate the microscope sample being examined and to form an image of the object on a photographic medium. The components of the...

Ultraviolet reflectance refers to the ability of a material or surface to reflect UV light. Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than those of visible light,...

A term describing lenses with both surfaces finished but not yet cut to any form.

In interferometry, the result of superimposing two wavefronts of identical shape, yielding a uniform intensity interference pattern with no bands.

A vacuum chamber is a sealed enclosure from which air and other gases are removed to create a low-pressure environment, typically close to or at a complete vacuum. These chambers are often...

Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from fluctuations in electron distribution. These forces are relatively weak...

A machine vision technique of image correlation whereby the correlation kernel (template of the desired image) is transformed into a group of vectors, each representing a specific feature of the...

The bands found by Vegard in the spectrum of the aurora borealis and by Kaplan in the nitrogen afterglow. They are formed by the effect of metastable nitrogen molecules.

A vibrational transition refers to a change in the vibrational energy of a molecule. Molecules consist of atoms that are connected by chemical bonds, and these atoms are not stationary but are in...