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Photonics Dictionary: M

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Mach-Zehnder interferometer
A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of light. It is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder, who...
machine vision lens
A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated inspection, measurement, and quality control in industrial applications....
machine vision system
A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and analyze images to perform automated inspection, measurement, and quality...
magnetic bubble film
An amorphous film in which cylindrical bubbles of reverse magnetization can be formed to follow circuit paths usually made by depositing magnetic metal strips on the film surface. It is used in...
magneto-optic readout device
A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light source, optical lenses to focus and direct the light beam, a pair of...
magneto-optic shutter
A type of high-speed photographic shutter that uses Faraday rotation to produce exposure times as fast as 1 microsecond. It consists of two polarizers, set with their planes of polarization at right...
magneto-optics
Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic radiation). This field of physics explores how the properties of light, such...
magnetorheological finishing
Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...
marcuse loss theory
A theoretical analysis of radiation loss from planar optical waveguides due to scattering by surface irregularities/surface roughness of the walls of the waveguide.
Martens wedge
A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane polarized light. A Martens wedge can also be used in combination with other...
masks for evaporation/deposition
In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit material onto substrates, creating patterns or structures with precise...
mass spectroscope
An instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to sort out the relative masses of atoms and molecules.The same way an optical spectroscope uses a prism to separate light into its various wavelengths,...
massive optics
Optical components exceeding 24 in. in diameter. The components are usually glass, acrylic or polystyrene and are used for virtual image systems in simulators and collimators.
MCM
modulation contrast microscopy; multichip module — modulation contrast microscopy is a unique illumination technique that enhances contrast in an imaging microscope by converting optical gradients into variations in light intensity. Modulation contrast microscopy is found most commonly in live cell imaging, polarization microscopy, phase contrast, and oblique illumination of stained, unstained and birefringent specimens. A multichip module is an electronic packaging system where multiple discrete electronic components (integrated circuits, semiconductor diodes, etc.) are packaged in various ways onto a single substrate.
measuring wedge
A wedge in a rangefinder or heightfinder used to displace the image produced by one telescope so that it coincides with that produced by the other telescope, thus affording a measurement of the...
MEMS fiber optic switch
A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals between multiple fiber optic channels. These switches utilize miniature...
meso form
A form of an element that cannot demonstrate optical activity as a result of dextrogyrate and levogyrate effects that are balanced contrary to each other in a structure. In essence, meso form...
mesoscope
In the field of optics and imaging, a mesoscope refers to an optical instrument that is designed to observe and capture images at intermediate scales, falling between microscopic and macroscopic...
meta-optics
Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication, and utilization of artificial structures called metasurfaces to control and...
metalens
A metalens, short for "metasurface lens," is a type of optical lens that uses nanostructured materials to manipulate light at a subwavelength scale. Unlike traditional lenses made of glass or other...
metamaterial
Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring substances. These materials are designed to manipulate electromagnetic waves in ways that are not...
metasurfaces
Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or meta-elements, arranged in a specific pattern to manipulate the propagation of...
Michelson-Morley experiment
An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by physicists to explain how light could travel in a wave motion through...
micro-optics
Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level. These components are miniaturized optical elements that manipulate light at a...
micro-ring resonator
A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped waveguide structure to selectively enhance or filter certain wavelengths of...
microbubble resonator
A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It consists of a micro-sized, gas-filled spherical cavity (the "microbubble")...
microcircuit manufacturing
The formation of transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors and other electronic elements directly on a flake of silicon by etching and selective absorption of doping elements. A circuit diagram...
microcomb
A microcomb, short for microresonator frequency comb, is a novel photonic device that generates a precise series of evenly spaced optical frequencies, akin to the teeth of a comb, across a broad...
microdisplay
A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small screen. Unlike traditional displays, microdisplays are typically very compact...
microenvironmental control system
Equipment that supports microscopic live-cell imaging by managing the gas, media perfusion, temperature and other factors to which a sample is exposed. While reducing the negative impacts these...
microresonator frequency comb -> microcomb
A microcomb, short for microresonator frequency comb, is a novel photonic device that generates a precise series of evenly spaced optical frequencies, akin to the teeth of a comb, across a broad...
microwave mapping
The pattern of microwave field intensity that can be obtained by detecting the minute expansion of a microwave absorber slab when heated by the microwave field, accompanied by moiré interference of a...
Mie scattering
Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as light) by spherical particles. Unlike Rayleigh scattering, which is...
minimum object distance
Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system is capable of producing a sharp and focused image. In photography, this term...
minimum spot size
The smallest linear diameter to which a laser or other beam of radiant energy is capable of being focused, depending on the quality of the focusing optics, aperture and focal length, beam irradiance...
MIROS
modulation-inducing retrodirective optical system
mirror blank
A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...
mirror coating
One or more thin-film layers of optical material deposited on a mirror blank/substrate in order to enhance the way that substrate reflects light. For example of optical materials/optical coatings...
mirror mount
A mirror mount is a mechanical device used to secure and precisely position mirrors in optical systems. Mirrors are essential components in optical setups for reflecting light or redirecting laser...
mirror substrate -> mirror blank
A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...
mirror testing
The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The process generally is done before coating so as not to damage the delicate coated...
mist -> hackle
A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, defined as multiple surface irregularities across the fiber surface. A less serious imperfection of the same nature is known as mist.
mode beating
In optics, "mode beating" refers to an interference phenomenon that can occur in laser systems with multiple longitudinal modes. Longitudinal modes are specific electromagnetic field patterns that...
mode distortion -> multimode distortion
In an optical waveguide,- typically a multimode fiber - the distortion resulting from differential mode delay, i.e. axial rays (modes), with the shortest path length, will have the shortest...
mode hopping
Mode hopping in the context of lasers refers to a phenomenon where a laser system abruptly switches from one longitudinal mode to another. In a laser, different longitudinal modes represent distinct...
mode-locked lasers
Mode-locking is a technique used in lasers to produce ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of picoseconds, femtoseconds, or even attoseconds. This method synchronizes the phases of...
modified chemical vapor deposition
Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that is employed to produce...
modulation transfer function analysis/measurement equipment
MTF analysis/measurement equipment refers to instruments and tools used to measure and analyze the modulation transfer function (MTF) of optical systems. The MTF is a quantitative measure of the...
modulator
A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a communication channel. The process of modulating involves varying one or...
moiré deflectometry
An optical interference technique widely utilized as a method of nondestructive testing when determining the ray deflection and the modulation transfer function (MTF) of an optical system associated...

Photonics DictionaryM

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