Photonics Dictionary: P

For an electromagnetic field mode varying sinusoidally with time at a given frequency, the logarithmic rate of change, with respect to distance in a given direction, of the complex amplitude of any...

With respect to a traveling plane wave at a known frequency, the space rate of decrease of phase of a field component in the direction of propagation, measured in radians per unit length.

The propagation or hindrance of waves reaching each aperture of the interferometer because of atmospheric turbulence.

The term applied to the geometrical structure of radiometry or of the propagation of any quantity that is conversed and that travels in straight lines at velocities characteristic of the medium.

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline lattice. In simpler terms, phonons are quanta of lattice vibrations in a solid...

A quantum of electromagnetic energy of a single mode; i.e., a single wavelength, direction and polarization. As a unit of energy, each photon equals hn, h being Planck's constant and n, the frequency...

A photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) refers to a type of laser diode that emits light from its surface rather than from the edges. Photonic crystals are periodic nanostructures that...

Photonic crystals are artificial structures or materials designed to manipulate and control the flow of light in a manner analogous to how semiconductors control the flow of electrons. Photonic...

The branch of science that treats light as a wave phenomenon wherein light propagation is studied by wavefronts rather than rays, as in geometric optics.

A wave whose surfaces of constant phase are infinite parallel planes normal to the direction of propagation.

Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other electromagnetic waves. In simpler terms, it describes the direction in which...

Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its length. Also called polarization-maintaining fiber. The polarization is...

In remote sensing technology, this represents the intensity of energy flow in the direction of wave propagation.

Variations in a signal passing through an optical fiber caused by the effect on the pulse of the fiber's material and mode propagation characteristics.