Photonics Dictionary: G

A prefix that is used to represent 109 or 1,000,000,000 in the SI system.

GigE, short for gigabit Ethernet, refers to a standard for high-speed Ethernet communication, capable of transmitting data at rates of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or 1000 megabits per second...

An optical mounting device that permits adjustment around two perpendicular and intersecting axes of rotation.

An interferometer similar in construction to a Fabry-Perot interferometer but having a rear mirror with high reflectivity, allowing light to escape only at the partially reflective front mirror.

The Golgi staining technique (also called the black reaction) makes it possible to look at the nervous system by rendering neurons visible under light microscopy. After a long process involving...

A process used to detect minute gravitational fields and to display images from objects by means of radiated gravitational imagery.

Descriptive of an optical fiber having a core refractive index that decreases almost parabolically and radially outward toward the cladding. This type of fiber combines high bandwidth with moderately...

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is composed of layers of gallium, aluminum, and arsenic, hence...

A laser diode in which the beam is confined to the region of the active layer with gain high enough to accomplish such confinement without a built-in refractive index profile. That region generally...

Gain-switching is a technique used in lasers to generate short pulses of light by modulating the gain of the laser medium. This method is distinct from Q-switching and mode-locking, two other common...

A refracting telescope that yields an erect image by the use of a positive lens for its objective and a negative lens for its eyepiece.

Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) is a semiconductor alloy composed of gallium (Ga), arsenic (As), and phosphorus (P). It is commonly used in the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, particularly...

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound made up of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). It is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material that exhibits unique electrical and optical properties. Gallium nitride is...

A galvanometric scanner, also known as a galvanometer scanner or galvo scanner, is a type of optical scanning device used to rapidly and precisely direct a laser beam or other light source to...

A numerical value representing the degree of contrast in a television picture: the exponent of the power law used to approximate the curve of output magnitude vs. input magnitude over the region of...

GaN (gallium nitride) distributed feedback (DFB) lasers refer to a specific type of semiconductor laser based on Gallium Nitride materials and designed with a distributed feedback structure. These...

Gallium nitride-based light-emitting diodes (GaN-based LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current passes through them. These LEDs are constructed using gallium nitride...

A display device that contains an inert gas that gives off orange light when a high voltage is applied to ionize the gas.

One of the first lasers to find practical application. Generally, the pumping mechanism is an electric discharge, although some high-power forms employ chemical reaction or gas compression and...

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...

A telescope objective with excellent spherochromatic correction, consisting of a meniscus crown and a meniscus flint, both convex to the long conjugate.

An intensity distribution (intensity as a function of radial distance from the beam center) which is given by the Gaussian function: where: I0 is the intensity at the beam center r is the radial...

A photometer used to measure sky brightness and polarization associated with zodiacal light, background starlight, F-region airglow and spacecraft corona.

Trade name referring to an instrument that determines surface distances by measuring the length of time it takes for a modulated lightwave to reach a mirror and be reflected to its point of origin.

A field of physics that deals with light as if it truly were composed of rays diverging in various directions from the source and abruptly bent by refraction or turned by reflection into paths...

The area of optics in which the propagation of light is described by geometrical lines (or rays) governed by Fermat's Principle. Geometrical optics is useful as long as the objects in which the light...

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor commonly used in various electronic and optical applications. Germanium crystals...

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) refers to a specific range of UV radiation that has disinfectant properties capable of killing or inactivating microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The...

A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or phosphoric oxides. Common window or bottle glass is a mixture of soda,...

A thermal radiation detector consisting of a small cell with a blackened plastic front face that bulges slightly when heat is received by it. The bulging tilts a small mirror, which, in turn, varies...

The term gradient-index profile refers to a specific type of refractive index distribution within an optical material. In optics, the refractive index of a material describes how much the speed of...

Gram-negative bacteria are a group of bacteria that possess a cell envelope composed of a thin layer of peptidoglycan surrounded by an outer membrane. This outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharides...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice pattern. It is the basic building block of other carbon-based materials...

A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into multiple beams, often redirecting them at specific angles. It is based on the...