Photonics Dictionary: I

The tendency to adjust an instrument such as a microscope so that the viewed image appears much closer than infinity.

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

An instrument in which an object's image, produced by a lens of known focal length, is used to determine the object's distance from the instrument when its size is known, or the object's size if the...

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 photometric instrument used to measure the illumination falling on a surface. It may be photoelectric or visual.

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...

A type of refractometer designed to measure the refractive indices of liquids. A section of the instrument is immersed into the sample being measured.

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...

An instrument, similar in design to regular binoculars, that can transmit and enlarge infrared images.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The separation between the exit pupils of a binocular instrument. This usually is adjustable so that it can be set equal to the observer's interocular distance, a normal range being from 55 to 75 mm.

A material often used in the construction of optical instruments because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion (0.9 x 10-6/ °C).

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...