Photonics Dictionary: I

A radiation detector with its active medium mounted within a lens that focuses the radiation signal. The improvement in detector performance is a function of the indices of refraction of the lens...

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. These detectors are utilized in various applications,...

An impurity-doped silicon detector array sensitive to long infrared wavelengths, installed in optical collecting systems capable of detecting the presence of infrared-emitting objects at extensive...

Used to detect radiation from the infrared region. The functional process includes absorption of infrared radiation, which causes a temperature change, consequently altering the physical properties...

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 method of fabricating a graded-index optical waveguide by means of an ion exchange process.

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from group III and group V of the periodic table. More specifically, these...

Often referred to as the geometric center of a given image or image plane, the centroid of an image is a fixed point located at the intersection of all of the hyperplanes of symmetry within that...

A method used in imaging to detect subtle differences between two apparently similar pictures. It can be achieved by superimposing the negative of one photograph over a contact print of another, by...

A machine vision technique that compares a template of the desired image (the correlation kernel) with the actual camera image of an object and generates a new image (the correlation image) that...

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized electronic device used to amplify low-light-level images to make them visible to...

Photon flow created by imaging of light into a detector array; IPD is the electrical signal used by the image processor in a laser radar angular tracking system.

The technique that uses light to detect and analyze the antibodies produced by a specimen stained with an organic dye.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a method for detecting antigens or haptens in cells of a tissue section by using labeled antibodies to bind specifically to their antigens. IHC is used for disease...

The decrease in the refractive index at the center of a fiber's core, caused by certain fabrication techniques. Also called profile dip.

A semiconductor material that is used as an infrared detector for light up to 5 µm in wavelength.

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...

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the III-V group of semiconductors, where elements from groups III and V of the...

A system that uses infrared detectors and related instrumentation to determine when abnormal amounts of infrared radiation, usually in the form of heat, are present in an area; used for the detection...

A superconducting bolometer, operating at very low temperatures, that is used to detect infrared radiation.

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...

Any of the photoelectric and thermal detectors, spectrographs and monochromators, thermographs, scanners, amplifier tubes, snooperscopes and related equipment developed for use with infrared...

A countermeasure used against heat seeking missiles to reduce their effectiveness. Normally it involves the emittance of infrared radiation at a level that will overload the missiles' detectors.

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating infrared (IR) radiation within the infrared spectrum. These lenses are used in...

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...

An infrared light-emitting diode (IR LED) is a semiconductor device that emits infrared light when an electric current passes through it. Similar to standard LEDs that emit visible light, IR LEDs are...

The process of mapping the infrared emittance of an area through the use of an infrared detector and related scanning instrumentation to produce thermal images that are then recorded on photographic...

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...

An optical system used to collect infrared energy from a scene using scanning optics with a point or line detector, as compared with a fixed optical system with a full two-dimensional detector array.

A device that combines electronic and optical techniques to form a monitored infrared signal between 1 and 14 µm. It contains an internal modulator to amplitude-modulate the output signal, an...

A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It usually consists of a radiation source such as a Nernst glower, a monochromator,...

Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of microwaves. The infrared spectrum spans wavelengths...

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a combination of indium (In), gallium (Ga), and arsenic (As). The term InGaAs...

Instantaneous field of view (iFOV) is a term commonly used in the context of remote sensing, imaging systems, and optical instruments. It refers to the specific portion of a scene that an optical...

A reflection hologram using multiple color lasers that integrates various graphical techniques to allow the display of three-dimensional images of live objects in motion, as well as outdoor scenes,...

An infrared detector mounted directly on the cold finger of the Dewar cooler rather than at the interface of Dewar and cooler, resulting in decreased size and power consumption and greater...

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The...

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...

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a sensor collects and accumulates incoming light or signal. It is a crucial...

An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an image intensifier and a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor to achieve...

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector outputs. With an intensity interferometer, the primary collectors need not be...

Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) is a type of display technology used in electronic devices, known for its energy efficiency and ability to produce high-quality reflective color displays....

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects embedded with sensors, actuators, software, and network connectivity....

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...

Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in real-time. Unlike traditional microscopy, which involves the examination of...