Photonics Dictionary: N

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a high-resolution, high-throughput process that involves the mechanical...

Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer scale. This technology enables the positioning of objects with extremely high...

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum to study the absorption of light by molecules in a sample....

State typically studied in liquid crystals in which the dielectric coefficient parallel to the director is less than the dielectric coefficient perpendicular to the director.

A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick specimens with polarized light. During this phase, the molecules of the...

A Nernst glower, also known simply as a Nernst lamp or Nernst filament, is a type of incandescent lamp or radiant heater based on the Nernst effect. It was invented by the German physicist and...

A coating applied to a neutral density glass that is designed to reduce the amount of light evenly across the transmitted light spectrum with no color distortion. These coatings are designed to...

A bench with instrumentation including a collimator, a microscope, positioners and a nodal slide used to rotate a lens about its second nodal point. The nodal bench is used to determine the cardinal...

The measurement of first- and higher order properties of a lens and its formed image, including effective focal length, back focal length, f number, aberrations, blur patterns, magnification and...

An assembly of optical fibers that will not transmit coherent images or information because the relationship of the fibers on either end of the assembly is random; Noncoherent fiber bundles are...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a material and induces nonlinear responses. In contrast to linear optics, where...

Nonlinear polarization refers to the phenomenon where the polarization of a material responds nonlinearly to an applied electric field. In linear systems, the polarization of a material is directly...

A radiometric device or system having uniform responsivity relative to all of the radiation parameters, or relative to one or more specified parameters, throughout all parameter intervals in which...

A phenomenon, exploited for medical imaging, in which the nuclei of material placed in a strong magnetic field will absorb radio waves supplied by a transmitter at particular frequencies. The energy...

A chemical detection technique used to measure molecules that have a magnetic dipole moment. The analysis is directed to nucleuses which have a quadrupole moment which leads to an asymmetric electric...

The sine of the vertex angle of the largest cone of meridional rays that can enter or leave an optical system or element, multiplied by the refractive index of the medium in which the vertex of the...