Photonics Dictionary: I

A camera tube that employs a high-velocity electron beam to scan a photoemissive mosaic and to store electrical charge patterns.

A theoretical instrument conceived of as a box that receives a beam of radiation of any arbitrary polarization angle and produces a new beam, coaxial with the incident beam, having a specified new...

A television camera tube that preceded the development of the vidicon tube and incorporated a method to separate reflected and scattered portions of the return beam so that only the scattered...

A camera tube widely used in television broadcasting. It consists of three sections within a single vacuum envelope. 1. A photosensitive film sometimes called the photocathode. The scene to be...

The formation of a hologram by single reference-beam interferences with waves that are diffracted or scattered from a small object.

A laser diode with an output beam contained in the active layer by means of a built-in refractive index profile formed in that layer or in the adjacent cladding layers or both.

A device used to accelerate the electrons in a free-electron laser by supplying electrical energy to the electron beam through a series of transformers.

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method of achieving nuclear fusion, a process where two atomic nuclei combine to release energy. In the case of inertial confinement fusion, the fusion reaction...

Inertial fusion energy (IFE) refers to a proposed method of generating electricity by harnessing the energy released from the fusion of light atomic nuclei, typically isotopes of hydrogen, through a...

An infrared light source is a device that emits light in the infrared spectrum, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. Infrared light has longer wavelengths than visible light and is...

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies beyond the visible spectrum. These components are crucial for various...

A hollow sphere coated internally with a white diffusing material and provided with openings for incident beam, specimen and detector used for measuring the diffuse reflectance or transmittance of...

The process in which the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube varies in intensity in accordance with the magnitude of the signals it receives.

1. The additive process whereby the amplitudes of two or more overlapping waves are systematically attenuated and reinforced. 2. The process whereby a given wave is split into two or more waves by,...

Color resulting from the interference between two light beams.

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in completely transparent objects and specimen. The object is placed in one beam...

An instrument that employs the interference of lightwaves to measure the accuracy of optical surfaces; it can measure a length in terms of the length of a wave of light by using interference...

Heat measurement method in which the sample is made part of the interferometer and the temperature increase is determined by measuring the change in optical pathlength through the material. By moving...

Measures the refractive indices axially from the fiber profile. Microscopy technique provides an interferogram with high contrast with demonstrated improvements in relation to the Pluta two-beam...

With respect to laser radiation, the subjection of the human eye to all or a portion of the laser beam.

Ion-beam sputtering (IBS) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for depositing thin films onto substrates. It involves bombarding a target material with a beam of energetic ions,...

Also known as gas focusing. The introduction of an inert gas into a cathode-ray tube for the concentration of the electron beam. The gas molecules are ionized by the electrons, producing a core of...

Also known as the Bragg spectrometer. A system used for the x-ray analysis of crystal structure. In the instrument, a homogeneous beam of x-rays is directed on the known face of a crystal and the...

Lines of equal atmospheric attenuation in a laser beam.