A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and focused beams of light through the process of optical amplification based on the principles of quantum mechanics. Key...

The area of optics in which the propagation of light is described by geometrical lines (or rays) governed by Fermat's...

An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It...

A transmission or reflecting grating with a flat or plane surface requiring a lens or concave mirror to focus the spectrum.

The simultaneous occurrence of specular and diffuse reflection.

Transparent matter that usually is drawn into a cylindrical, pyramidical or conical shape through which light is channeled...

The angle formed between the normal to a surface and the reflected ray. This angle lies in a common plane with the angle of...

A spectrograph using a prism that has an internally reflecting surface and that serves as a constant deviation prism.

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain...

In compact disc and CD-ROM technology, the portion of the drive that projects the laser light onto the surface of the media...

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and...

A television camera tube that preceded the development of the vidicon tube and incorporated a method to separate reflected...

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry to obtain IR spectra of samples....

Machine vision lighting refers to the use of specific lighting techniques and equipment in the field of machine vision,...

The deflection of an electron beam by the action of an electrostatic field that has a component perpendicular to the...

A two-flux theory in which the radiation is assumed to be composed of two oppositely directed radiation fluxes through a...

A device consisting of a disc with a spiral arrangement of holes that is used to convert visible patterns into electrical...

A quantum well is a structure in quantum mechanics that confines particles, such as electrons or holes, in one spatial...

A small mass spectrometer used to find leaks in a vacuum system by detecting the presence of helium. Using a magnetic...

For light incident on a plane boundary between two regions having different refractive indices, the angle of incidence at...

A method for obtaining the optical absorption spectra of solids, semisolids, liquids and gases. PAS is inherently...

A light absorbing material applied to ground optical surfaces during the process of making that surface non reflective. Such...

A plane mirror mounted on a polar axis that lies parallel to the plane of the mirror. When the mirror is rotated once in 48...

The adjustment of the eyepiece of an instrument to provide accommodation for the eyesight differences of individual...

Solid-state laser geometry in which the standard rod is replaced by a slab of laser material. Often called...

A rotating mirror coupled with a distant mirror and used in a system by Foucault to compute the velocity of light. Light...

A beamsplitter is an optical device for dividing a beam into two or more separate beams. A simple beamsplitter may be a very...

A telescope that uses a reflecting objective to focus an image of a distant object at a focal point.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that uses the near-infrared region of the...

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel...

(TOF) The length of time needed for a signal to arrive at and be reflected from the target. The basis of an active...

A filter that allows heat radiation from an incident beam to pass without absorption or reflection.

A means of high resolution study through the application of soft and hard x-rays onto a sample surface in order to obtain...

Refers to the variety of techniques that use the interference pattern produced by laser light diffusely reflected by an...

Directing an optical beam in varying directions by varying reflection, refraction, focusing and diffraction methods.

The ratio of the radiant power transmitted to the second surface of a medium to the corresponding radiant power that has...

A retroreflector that can focus a beam of light, with one planar reflective surface, one spherical and a third that is...

A type of birefringent polarizing prism that transmits the extraordinary ray and removes the ordinary ray through total...

A system mounted a few inches above a moving plane that consists of a light source, lenses and one or more phototubes. In...

A near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer is an analytical instrument used to measure the absorption, transmission, or reflection...

The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing...

In a reflecting telescope, the obstruction of the primary mirror by a secondary mirror which blocks a small amount of the...

The series of rings or bands formed when light beams reflected from two polished, adjacent surfaces, placed together with a...

The distortion of an object's true image as the result of abnormal atmospheric disturbances along the path traveled by the...

The term reflective is an adjective that describes the ability of a surface or material to reflect light or other forms of...

Sparkling granular pattern that is observed when an object diffusely reflects coincident laser light. Speckle appears as an...

A microscope that uses a reflecting objective; often used with ultraviolet or infrared radiation.

A prism is a geometric optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It is typically a solid, transparent...

Zone of laser operation in which the direct, reflected or scattered light exceeds the laser's MPE and (by ANSI standards)...

The detection and analysis of the transmission and reflection properties of objects and photographic images.

A system that determines whether an image is in or out of focus by means of a source of illumination at the conjugate focal...

A subsurface imaging technique based upon the polarization of light reflected off an object. The polarization of reflected...

A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all...

The projection of the image beam by a cathode-ray tube through a mask, where it is deflected through the suitable character...

One or more thin-film layers of optical material deposited on a mirror blank/substrate in order to enhance the way that...

Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the...

Light generated along the interface when light is incident in the neighborhood of the total internal reflection angle.

A caustic formed by reflection.

A technique that uses a solid-state laser and a detector to determine an object's relative distance to the system. The laser...

The study of the quality of the image formed on the retina by the measurement of the flux reflected from the eye when the...

Use of a laser to solder joints by melting the solder coatings on the mating components.

Return of radiation by a surface, without change in wavelength. The reflection may be specular, from a smooth surface;...

An interference microscope that uses a light beam originating from a low-coherence light source. The sample is placed in one...

Ratio of the radiance of the specimen to that of a perfect reflecting or transmitting diffuser identically irradiated.

A complete unit containing a light source, globe, reflector, housing, socket and other necessary components for lighting.

A lamp used in projection that is made with a reflector built into the bulb, normally by coating a portion of its interior...

A reflecting or refracting surface contained within an optical system.

Metabolic imaging refers to the visualization and quantification of metabolic processes within living organisms, tissues, or...

Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves...

Technology that corrects the shape of reflective optics; primarily applied in large telescope systems, in order to...

A nonoptical surface, within lenses and lens mounts, that contributes largely to flare by reflecting light into the image...

An interferometer similar in construction to a Fabry-Perot interferometer but having a rear mirror with high reflectivity,...

For an optical table, the amount of displacement that occurs when a heavy load is placed or moved on the surface. To measure...

A type of electromodulation that measures changes in spectral reflectance.

A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set...

A cylindrical convex viewing mirror used for viewing distorted pictures formed by photographing the reflections of the...

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene....

A small handheld instrument consisting of a slit and collimator that feeds light into a small direct-vision dispersing...

The light wavelength for which the direction of reflectance from the groove face is identical to the angle of diffraction...

A glass substrate that has its rear surface coated with a reflective coating. Also known as a back-surface mirror.

A spectrophotometer specially designed to measure spectral reflectance.

Backscatter refers to the phenomenon in which radiation or waves are scattered backward, opposite to the direction of the...

Sometimes referred to as the surface normal or 'surface norm'; the normal is an axis that forms right angles with a surface...

Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other...

A galvanometer having a small mirror that is mounted on a moving element and that reflects a light beam onto a scale.

A means of illumination from which the infrared component has been removed by absorption or reflection filters within the...

A smooth, highly polished surface, for reflecting light, that may be plane or curved if wanting to focus and or magnify the...

Mode hopping in the context of lasers refers to a phenomenon where a laser system abruptly switches from one longitudinal...

An optical lens manufactured to control the transmission of light over a specified wavelength range. Low absorption lenses...

A nondestructive test, also referred to as LASAT, that uses a high-energy laser pulse that is targeted on an adhesively...

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of...

A reflector that exhibits specular reflectance, producing a direct image of its source. Also known as regular reflectance.

1. A device generally used in a cathode-ray or camera tube to emit a stream of electrons moving at uniform velocity in a...

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that measures changes in hemoglobin...

A group of lenses, or any combination of lenses, mirrors and prisms, so constructed as to refract or reflect light to...

Analysis of the reflection spectrum that allows the determination of the experimental dielectric function.

The instrument used to collect thermal radiation information on an object by scanning. It consists basically of a detector,...

Optoacoustic, or photoacoustic, refers to a phenomenon and related techniques that involve the generation of acoustic waves...

A device for measuring diffraction grating efficiency at any angle of incidence, consisting of a reflectometer wherein the...

Also known as OCT-A, optical coherence tomography angiography is an imaging technique that uses light waves to measure...

Characteristic of a reflector that reflects light along a different line or lines than that of the incident ray.

The angle through which a ray of light is deviated by a refracting or reflecting surface, or a prism; the angle between an...

A metal coil or coils wrapped around the outside of the neck of a cathode-ray tube. Current passing through the coils...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...

An electro-optical infrared tracker consisting of a beamsplitter, an illuminating source, an image dissector tube and an...

A mirror that supplies equal reflectance for both the S-polarization and the P-polarization of a laser for a defined angle...

Nonimage-forming light, concentrated or diffuse, that is transmitted through the lens to the image. It is frequently the...

A multilayer coating that manifests both a low radiant reflectance and radiant absorption.

The study of the reflection or transmission properties of specimens as a function of wavelength after they have been excited...

Light leakage at a total reflecting interface when another highly refractive medium is brought close to it.

The constant outward flow of weakly magnetized plasma from the sun that is deflected by the magnetic field of the earth and,...

The dispersion of a light ray striking the surface of a biaxial crystal, in which the resulting rays are reflected in a...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...

A distributed feedback laser (DFB laser) is a type of semiconductor laser diode designed to emit coherent, narrow-bandwidth...

A prism having several plane polished surfaces, some to transmit light, some to reflect light, and some to serve both...

A nonabsorbing, multireflecting device, similar in design to the Fabry-Perot interferometer, that serves as a multilayer,...

An electron instrument used to reflect an electron beam totally.

A technique used in integrated optics where a groove is cut on a substrate surface and covered by a thin film to facilitate...

A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to...

The interferometric analysis of a complex object by utilizing the three-dimensional hologram. By causing a laser beam to...

A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.

Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser...

Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their physiological or behavioral characteristics....

A configuration or device mounted at the end of a fiber or cable that is intended to prevent reflection.

A type of optical modulator with potential application in optical switching and displays, in which applied voltage causes a...

A magnetic-deflection mass spectrometer that has an electrostatic field placed perpendicularly to its magnetic field,...

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...

Trade name referring to an instrument that determines surface distances by measuring the length of time it takes for a...

A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.

Study of the reflection or transmission properties of specimens as a function of wavelength.

Cyan, magenta and yellow. They are called subtractive because they each subtract one color by absorbtion and reflect the two...

Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) is a type of display technology used in electronic devices, known for its energy...

Measure of the amount of light that is transmitted, relative to the amount lost by absorption or reflection.

A color-television viewing system with three kinescopes, three lenses and three deflection yokes used to form the red, green...

Contains the light or beam path within a laser device. The oscillator uses reflective optical components that are oriented...

A material, often a liquid or cement, whose refractive index is nearly equal to the fiber's core index, used to reduce...

A method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by measuring the reflectance as a function of position on the...

A sensor generally used for infrared imaging. It consists of two chambers separated by a thin, blackened membrane. An...

The circuit that regulates an electron beam's deflection in a cathode-ray tube.

A solar spectrograph that uses long focus concave mirrors as its collimator and camera element.

A hologram that is illuminated by a source from the viewer's side.

The ratio of reflected flux to incident flux. Unless otherwise specified, the total reflectance is meant; it is sometimes...

The projection of a plane or grid pattern of light onto an object. It can be used for the determination of three-dimensional...

An imaging system designed to highlight small deviations in a planar reflective object such as a mirror. The system can be...

Opsins are a group of light-sensitive proteins found primarily in the retinas of vertebrate and invertebrate eyes, as well...

A digital twin refers to a virtual representation or digital counterpart of a physical object, system, or process. This...

A mirror mount is a mechanical device used to secure and precisely position mirrors in optical systems. Mirrors are...

Optical elements that have been coated with one or more layers of dielectric, or metallic material. These coatings serve to...

An instrument that spectrally analyzes the flux reflected from a material. The reflected flux may be total, diffuse or...

A high-reflectance coating consisting of alternating layers of quarter-wave film of a higher refractive index and lower...

Optical elements, often created by micromachining, lithography or vacuum deposition, that rely on diffraction of the...

1. The direct storage of data as bits in memory using optical systems and properties. The memory makes use of a laser beam...

A 45-90-45° reflecting prism whose surfaces form the 90° angle reflecting the light beam through a total angle of 180°. The...

A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based...

An exposure meter that indicates the amount of light reflected from the subject of interest.

Ultraviolet (UV) fiber optics refers to optical fibers that are designed and optimized for the transmission of ultraviolet...

Property of a surface which, because of directional reflection, is responsible for the degree to which reflected highlights...

Method of preserving the measured color value and color information as it is translated from differing devices. For example...

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their...

A device in which slab geometry internally compensates for thermal-optic distortion; the solid host material -- glass or...

The law stating that the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, the incident ray, reflected ray and normal...

A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and...

The fringes used in the Jamin interferometer and produced by light that has been internally and externally reflected by two...

See optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR).

Unified notation for specification of reflectance in terms of both incident- and reflected-beam geometry; i.e., the ratio of...

A surface that obeys Lambert's cosine law and has a reflectance of unity.

A flanged or plain ring with a restricted aperture, located in an optical system at any of several points, that cuts off...

A cathode-ray tube that serves as a picture tube in a television receiver. The signal representing the picture intensity is...

The deflection of a beam of electrons, at regular intervals, across a cathode-ray tube screen, according to a definite...

The process of attaching a device to the end of a fiber cable to enable the beam to be transmitted farther, to pass to...

A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens...

A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that uses magnetic fields to steer charged particles, typically electrons or...

A photometer for measuring gloss by comparing the specular reflectance to that from a perfect specular reflector.

Optical components, usually reflectors, produced using proprietary techniques that transfer the precision of a master to a...

An electrowetting display (EWD) is a type of electronic display technology that utilizes the principles of electrowetting to...

A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly...

Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic...

In an optical waveguide, a ray for which geometric optics would predict total internal reflection at the core boundary, but...

In a cathode-ray tube, the visible line or lines formed on the screen by the deflection of the electron stream.

A device used to measure the masses and relative concentrations of atoms and molecules. It utilizes the Lorentz force...

A specific type of filter designed to reduce the amount of light scattered by reflections from the edges of optical...

A parallel plate of glass in such a position that the refracted and reflected rays of incident parallel light are mutually...

Describing a surface that is coated with a film of metal of such thickness that it transmits about one-half of the incident...

A device having a plane mirror so mounted that it can be set to reflect sunlight into a piece of laboratory equipment. It is...

A system that uses a continuous-wave laser to measure the velocity of an object by focusing the laser beam on the object,...

A coating made up of many layers of material having alternating high and low refractive index. In this way, it is possible...

A laser system consisting of a planar PN junction within a single crystal of gallium arsenide. The pair of parallel,...

An optical element designed to correct each zone of a reflector or refractor for spherical aberration.

A device used in the sputtering of thin films, in which a magnet system on the back of the cathode deflects the electrons,...

A point cloud is a set of data points in a three-dimensional coordinate system, where each point represents a specific...

A telescope with an ellipsoidal secondary concave mirror that reflects rays from a parabolic primary mirror through an...

In the context of electronics and optics, an isolator refers to a device that allows the transmission of signals in one...

The diagnostic procedure that uses ultrasonic energy to probe the body and, with the help of laser beams, a reflecting...

A condenser composed of a paraboloidal reflector and used for dark-field illumination.

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced imaging technique that captures and processes information from across the...

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and...

A device designed to concentrate and direct a light source by enclosing the source in it and using a concave reflector to...

A device used to measure the speed of light by adjusting the rotation of a toothed wheel so that light passing through one...

A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light...

A telescope lens is a primary optical component of a telescope system that gathers and focuses light to form an image. It is...

A material, such as gold black and carbon black, that is used as a solar absorber because of its high absorptance and low...

An InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) camera is a type of imaging device that utilizes InGaAs sensors to capture images in the...

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...

An arranged series of coils, magnets or electromagnets disposed in such a way that the resulting magnetic fields generate a...

An infrared light-emitting diode (IR LED) is a semiconductor device that emits infrared light when an electric current...

The resulting interference pattern generated from moiré deflectometry, the moiré pattern is a pattern...

An optical system having one or more lens or mirror components that have nonspherical surfaces. These surfaces, whether...

The large, usually flat surface onto which an image is projected for viewing. May be reflecting or transmitting (rear...

A screen with a reflected or transmitted light beam that is confined to a much smaller bundle than was received by the...

An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on...

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of optical filter that is inscribed or "written" into the core of an optical fiber. It...

A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated...

The angle through which a beam is deflected.

A doped or absorbing transparent medium cut or molded into a wedge in order to measure the real and imaginary components of...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light...

A viewfinder whose optical system forms a direct image of a subject, as opposed to those systems that use reflectance in the...

The distortion of an image formed by a cathode-ray tube, caused by unbalanced deflection voltages or deflection voltages...

The graphed curve illustrating the directional reflectance of a sample for different angles of collection.

The light ray leaving a reflecting surface, indicating the path of light after reflection.

An instrument that uses a blackened silver-disc reflector with a shutter to create temperature fluctuations that are...

A disc, having opaque and transparent sectors or sectors with unlike reflectances, that is rotated at a specific rate to...

Characteristic of deflected light power defined as the quadratic invariant function of the video signal amplitude.

For a Fabry-Perot interferometer or etalon, a value for the transmission bandwidth which can be calculated as the ratio of...

A device similar to distributed feedback lasers in construction and operation, but in which the period grating that produces...

Ink used for writing on glass, and also for blackening the edges of lenses to prevent reflection. In the latter case, the...

A prism with curved faces that collimates, reflects and refracts incident light. Often used in the production of...

The total luminous flux given out per unit area; i.e., the sum of the luminous emittance and any radiation that is reflected...

A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to...

1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the...

Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These...

An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to...

A reflection grating is an optical component that consists of a series of closely spaced, parallel reflecting surfaces or...

The effect whereby a light beam is deflected by a birefringent prism when its polarization is changed by voltage applied to...

A reflecting grating ruled on a concave spherical surface that not only disperses the light but focuses the spectrum. The...

A thin layer of a substance deposited on an insulating base in a vacuum by a microelectronic process. Thin films are most...

The effect discovered by Faraday in 1845 whereby nonoptically active materials or substances become capable of rotating the...

In the context of optical materials, the term "impurity level" refers to the presence of foreign atoms or molecules within...

A multilayer antireflective thin-film coating, so called because its reflectance rises steeply at wavelengths above and...

A bench photometer that depends on the inability of the eye to distinguish color in brief flashes of light. Any difference...

The output of spectral channels written as an integral function of known solar irradiance, atmospheric transmittance and...

An instrument used to measure backscatter as well as optical return loss and reflectance within an optical fiber system by...

A laser rangefinder is a device that uses laser technology to measure the distance between the device and a target. It...

The technology of manipulating light on a micro scale. In optical communications, this is usually accomplished using two or...

A method for characterizing a fiber wherein an optical pulse is transmitted through the fiber, and the resulting light...

A scanning technique in which the optical density of the film being scanned controls the speed of deflection of the scanning...

A thin layer of metal deposited on the surface of a substrate. The film may serve as a reflector, beamsplitter, neutral...

Refers to a display or screen that is illuminated from behind; the light is transmitted as opposed to reflected.

A reflection hologram using multiple color lasers that integrates various graphical techniques to allow the display of...

The angle at which photoelectric sensors are aligned to prevent light from being reflected back to the sensor from the...

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as...

A collector for photovoltaic power generation that consists of a thin plate that strongly absorbs sunlight striking its...

Also known as UV-VIS spectrometer, a device that measures the absorbance, reflectance or transmittance of light in the...

Reflectance spectroscopy is a technique used to analyze the reflective properties of materials across various wavelengths of...

A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the...

A narrow linewidth optically transmissive or reflective component intended for use with a highly monochromatic or single...

The rainbow exhibition of colors, usually caused by interference of light of different wavelengths reflected from...

An acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is a device that utilizes the interaction between sound waves and light waves to modulate...

An optical component coated to reflect infrared radiation. Gold, silver and aluminum are typical coating materials.

Also known as amplification. 1. The increase in a signal that is transmitted from one point to another through an amplifier....

A plane that lies at right angles to the tube axis that has the deflection center.

A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism...

A grazing incidence mirror telescope with concentric conic surfaces having a single common point: a paraboloid-hyperboloid...

A thin, stretched plastic membrane cemented to a rigid supporting ring. It may be coated to act as a beamsplitter, for...

A device used in solar systems to direct mirror-reflected sunlight to a heat absorber and heat-driven engine, which turns a...

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical technique used to detect changes in blood volume in tissues. It...

A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...

Parametric measurement for elliptical fiber and cable expressed as a ratio of the two-directional flow of power through the...

The law expressing the condition under which a crystal will reflect a beam of x-rays with the greatest amount of distinction...

An instrument used to measure the luminance (brightness) of a distant object. The object is viewed through a small...

A system that uses both reflection and refraction to achieve its focal power. While the relative powers of the lenses and...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...

Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly...

A test method for determining high-reflectivity levels by monitoring cavity decay within a resonant cavity formed by two...

A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which...

A field of physics that deals with light as if it truly were composed of rays diverging in various directions from the...

Die bonding is a critical process in semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics assembly, where a semiconductor die or...

The equivalent f number of a fictitious lens that has a circular opening and 100 percent transmittance, which would give the...

A grating that serves to provide higher resolution and dispersion than the average grating, and still has a greater free...

Laser light show effects equipment including optics and mechanical devices that reflect, position or distort the laser beam,...

Family of deterministic models of plant canopy reflectance that provides deterministic formulation for each necessary...

A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals...

A 2D profile sensor is a type of sensor used in various industrial and technological applications to measure and capture...

The series of processes used to identify and evaluate crystal structure by using crystalline solids to diffract x-rays. In...

A nonmagnetic instrument utilizing an electrofocus and deflection tube with a photocathode for imaging purposes. The optical...

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...

A portable instrument that uses a four-sided reflecting prism or set of mirrors to create a duplicate image of an object on...

A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides...

A lens used in the optical testing of an aspheric surface. It converts a spherical wavefront into one that precisely matches...

A crystal that is devoid of any mosaic structure and that can reflect x-rays, relative to the Darwin-Ewald-Prins law.

A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated...

The reflection that occurs within a substance because the angle of incidence of light striking the boundary surface is in...

An etalon is an optical device that consists of two parallel reflecting surfaces separated by a precise and known distance....

Spots in a polished glass surface that are opaque and have a silvery, metallic reflection.

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) refers to a phenomenon in wave physics, particularly in optics, where waves, such as light or...

An aspheric plate placed at, or near, the center of curvature of a spherical reflector and used to correct for spherical...

A filter exhibiting transparency, absorption or reflectance characteristics specifically for spectral control of wavelengths...

An echelon in which the dihedral angle between the faces of the groove is 90°.

Also known as Fresnel reflection. That portion of the incident radiation that is reflected from the surface of a refractive...

A type of quarter-wave retarder in the form of a glass rhomb; light entering the retarder undergoes two total internal...

A reflecting prism that inverts the image. The image is reflected four times internally and emitted laterally. The prism is...

Two plane mirrors that are not wholly located in the same plane. When light from a point source or slit reflects from the...

FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of...

A term describing an antireflection coating that may be applied to optics that cannot tolerate the high temperatures usually...

Oscillator device composed of a semiconducting diode in a coaxial resonating cavity. When the biasing current is applied to...

The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged...

With respect to microscopy, light that is directed down through the objective onto the specimen and then returned by...

The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The...

A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68°...

Fluorescence imaging technique in which the excitation light from the objective is directed into the sample producing...

A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent...

Two electrodes that shift the electron beam vertically on a cathode-ray tube screen using electrostatic deflection.

The ratio of radiant energy reflected from a rough surface to that incident on it. Usually, the radiant energy is total...

A camera tube widely used in television broadcasting. It consists of three sections within a single vacuum envelope. 1. A...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light...

An electron-beam tube in which the current to an output electrode is regulated by the transverse motion of the tube's...

A rigid medium, generally a polycarbonate substrate coated with a reflective aluminum layer, that stores information (such...

Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau...

An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize...

The figure of merit of a resonator, defined as (2p) x (average energy stored in the resonator)/(energy dissipated per...

A high-resolution spectroscopic device commonly used in the early 20th century as a component of double-beam...

Also referred to as the opposition surge, the opposition effect is a photometric phenomenon in which a rough retroreflective...

A device used to detect and measure small amounts of rotation. The rotating object contains a reflecting surface from which...

A device used to measure directional reflectance, with light collection restricted to a narrow range of angles of which the...

Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly...

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) refers to a specific range of electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum....

The principle that a light ray extending from one point to another will, after any number of reflections and refractions,...

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for high-resolution, in vivo imaging...

A defect in infrared systems that appears as a dark circular area on a displayed image, caused by radiation reflecting into...

A measurement method for reflectance by gas ionization in which light passes through a vapor before and after reflection....

A type of conducting surface or material used to reflect radiant energy.

The technology that deals with the interaction of organic materials with light and other forms of radiant energy whose...

An optical system that is designed to produce a high temperature in a specified area by the optical direction and...

The frequency space between consecutive transmission peaks in the transmission spectrum of a Fabry-Perot interferometer or...

A weight reducing method whereby material from the rear of a reflector is removed leaving a pattern of ribs normal to the...

A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light....

1. The additive process whereby the amplitudes of two or more overlapping waves are systematically attenuated and...

An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find...

A reflector having a surface that has been superpolished to reduce residual sleeks and scratches and microroughness so that...

Fresnel reflection refers to the reflection of light at the interface between two different media with different refractive...

The use of a reflective device, which can be fashioned from a variety of materials including gases, solids, dyes, aerosols,...

A helium-neon (HeNe) laser is a type of gas laser that emits visible red light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. It operates...

The light from a nonselective diffuse reflector due to the standard illumination of the scene to be televised.

3D Laser Triangulation - A technology that allows sensors to probe the surroundings. Laser triangulation systems have an...

Ratio of diffusely reflected flux to incident flux.

A mass-relieving method whereby material is removed through the sides of a reflector in a direction parallel to the surface....

Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical...

An infrared source combined with reflecting projection optics to illuminate a target making it visible when observed through...

Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of...

A dichroic coating, also known as a dichroic filter or dichroic mirror, is an optical coating designed to selectively...

The use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one...

The multiple beam form of Brewster's fringes formed when the two plane-parallel plates have high-reflecting surfaces.

A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into...

Also known as an optical diode, an optical isolator is a device that utilizes the Faraday effect to suppress or redirect...

1. A flaw in a blank caused by folding the blank's surface during its formation. 2. The change in the direction of a...

The use of retroreflective projection technology (RPT) to project a background image onto a masked object, such as a vehicle...

A highly reflective mirror that is usually flat on one surface and curved on the other, and that has silver, gold or...

A ray that travels from one point to another without being reflected or refracted.

An optical barcode reader, commonly known as a barcode scanner, is a device that uses optical technology to capture and...

An interference filter in which a very thin metal foil with a periodic array of square holes (inductive mesh) or a thin...

The partially reflective mirror at the end of the laser cavity that is the source of the beam. It controls the coupling...

Custom lapping and polishing services involve specialized processes used to improve the surface finish and dimensional...

A superthin, highly reflective mirror.

The unchanging nature of spectral reflectance as vegetational density increases to the point where additional increases in...

An electrochemical process of metal fabrication using an electrolyte, an anode to supply the metal, and a control of the...

The eye's involuntary reaction in the process of accommodation. This reflex is most dramatic in response to looking at a...

A Michelson-type interference microscope used to produce interference patterns of reflective specimens through the...

The vertical deflection of an image on a cathode-ray tube screen.

An image-forming system that uses mirrors rather than lenses. Such objectives are frequently used for astronomical...

A galvanometric scanner, also known as a galvanometer scanner or galvo scanner, is a type of optical scanning device used to...

A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical,...

A lamp, usually incandescent, that has a very compact filament, permitting a greater concentration of emitted light, aided...

A polygonal mirror, also known as a multifaceted mirror or facet mirror, is a type of optical component used in various...

Two flat parallel electrodes that are vertically mounted alongside each other in a cathode-ray tube and produce horizontal...

Thin-film coatings are layers of material applied to the surface of an object or substrate, typically to modify its optical,...

The phenomenon that can render an optical resonator the equivalent of a semiconductor flip-flop. A bistable device will...

1. Generally, an emulsion mask having a clean annular region in an otherwise opaque region. It is designed to eliminate...

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter...

The greatest luminous reflectance possible for a specified chromaticity.

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by...

Remote sensing is a method of data collection and observation where information about objects, areas, or phenomena on...

The storage of information via optical means, primarily employing a low-power laser to inscribe data on a photosensitive...

Also referred to as a funduscope, an ophthalmoscope is a specialized instrument used by ophthalmologists for observing and...

In a cathode-ray tube, the deflection of the beam of the tube over an angle that surpasses the angle that subtends the...

Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in...

Broadband dielectric mirrors, also known as broadband mirrors, are optical coatings designed to efficiently reflect or...

A multifaceted holographic disc that is rotated by a motor to deflect incident light to a scanning system's lens.

A method of sensing by transmitting energy from the sensor and detecting the energy after it has been reflected by the...

A measuring instrument used for surface profiling and quantifying the roughness of a material. The stylus is placed on the...

1. One of the plane-reflecting surfaces on a multisurfaced polygon. 2. The cleaved end mirror of a laser diode's active...

Nonspecular reflection from a rough surface.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain...

A gas laser equipped with Brewster windows and concave mirrors (having unlike reflective properties) at each end of the tube...

The measurement of the ability of matter to absorb, transmit or reflect infrared radiation and the relating of the resultant...

A noncontact form of electromodulation in which modulation of the electric field is caused by photo-excited electron-hole...

The ratio of the intensity of the total radiation reflected from a surface to the total incident on that surface.

The least angle of incidence at which total internal reflection takes place. The angle of incidence in a denser medium, at...

A method of applying antireflection coatings to optics that avoids the elevated temperatures normally used. A cold coating...

A mirror employed with a very high incidence angle to form a pair of coherent light sources by reflection, and therefore...

A photographic method used to obtain an image of a subject by means of its reflectance of incident ultraviolet radiation. An...

The scattering of x-rays by the regularly spaced atoms in a crystal. The angle at which the reflection occurs is known as...

Pertaining to materials having the property of reflecting a part and transmitting a part of the incident radiation.

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to...

The specular reflection of individual parts of a surface.

The capability of the spatial distributions of incident and reflected flux to interchange completely without alteration of...

A corner reflector that provides an increase in the range of angles over which it may be used.

A camera that uses a rotating mirror to project sequential images onto lenses that are arranged in an arc. The reflected...

A flat plate having its surface formed into a random pattern by abrasives. Radiation wavelengths that are longer than the...

A waveguide is a physical structure or device that is designed to confine and guide electromagnetic waves, such as radio...

Etaloning is an optical phenomenon that occurs in imaging systems, particularly in devices such as spectrometers,...

A method of spectral analysis in which some property of the sample is varied and the corresponding change is measured. The...

A beamsplitting mirror that reflects as a function of wavelength.

Light that is directed or focused by means of curved reflective surfaces.

MWIR stands for mid-wave infrared, referring to a specific range of wavelengths within the infrared spectrum. Infrared...

A hollow sphere coated internally with a white diffusing material and provided with openings for incident beam, specimen and...

A polarizing prism formed from calcite that is like the Nicol prism but has the two parts divided by a thin air-film and cut...

1. A faint second image caused by reflection that is sometimes seen when observing through an optical instrument. 2. With...

A type of modulation spectroscopy that measures spectral reflectance or transmittance changes induced by applying a...

A colorless, crystalline compound whose low refractive index (n = 1.38) makes it effective as a lens antireflection coating...

A reflecting surface that scatters radiation that is incident on it, thus producing diffuse reflection.

Also known as corner-cube reflector or retrodirective reflector. Three reflecting surfaces, perpendicular to each other,...

Two lenses, separated by a distance equal to the sum of their focal lengths, and retroreflecting mirror assemblies, one of...

Any bending of a wave of radiation away from its expected path, as, for example, by diffraction or by a magnetic field.

The spatial distribution of incident and collected flux contained in the analysis of reflectance, transmittance or densities.

Technique of projecting an illuminated target at infinity and receiving the target image after reflection from a flat mirror...

The use of a specialized optical microscope designed to provide a more three-dimensional view of a sample. Stereomicroscopy...

A mirror whose percent reflectance varies as a function of position on the mirror surface.

A photoelectric photometer used to measure the reflectance of a surface.

A perfect diffuser that exists only as a concept, or a white with known spectral characteristics used as a reference in...

The progressive defocusing of a cathode-ray tube display image that occurs when the deflected electron beam impinges on the...

The substrate upon which a diffraction grating will be ruled. It must be dimensionally stable, and the surface must be...

In a laser, the optical resonator formed by two coaxial mirrors, one totally and one partially reflective, positioned so...

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms,...

An instrument that reads alphabetic, numerical and special characters by means of a photosensor that measures the varying...

Ratio of the luminance of a specimen to that of a perfect reflecting or transmitting diffuser identically illuminated.

A self-interference effect that generates random patterns; secondary speckle pattern (SSP) typically occurs in diffuse...

A dichroic mirror, also known as a dichroic beamsplitter or interference filter beamsplitter, is an optical device that...

An instrument devised by Nichols and Hull for use in the measurement of radiation pressure. The device has two small...

A microscope equipped with a polarizer, an analyzer and a Bertrand lens to focus on the upper focal plane of the objective....

The angular change of an incident beam due to vibrational induced refractive index changes within a crystal.

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...

A coating applied to a neutral density glass that is designed to reduce the amount of light evenly across the transmitted...

A hologram having an object wave that has been transmitted through the transparent object media to a mirror, reflected again...

An instrument in which visible light beyond the critical angle from a metallurgical microscope is focused on a reference...

A system designed with a laser as a light source and a means for producing sound waves extending beyond 100 MHz to deflect...

A grating that specularly reflects the specified long radiation wavelengths and diffracts the shorter wavelengths off in...

Ultraviolet reflectance refers to the ability of a material or surface to reflect UV light. Ultraviolet light is...

A telescope with a concave paraboloidal objective mirror and a small plane (diagonal) mirror that reflects rays from the...

Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly...

An instrument capable of measuring the transmitted or reflected luminance from a very small area seen under a microscope....

Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long...

In a CD-ROM disc, the reflective area between nonreflective pits representing a binary-language "off'' as opposed to...

Photocells of various kinds used to measure photometric quantities; i.e., intensity, luminance and illuminance. Meter...

Concave is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves inward or has a hollow or recessed appearance. In...

A ray that is reflected into the core of an optical fiber from the outer surface of the cladding.

A technique in which a beam of x-rays is directed against a crystal, the atoms of which, because of their lattice...

An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...

Use of a photoelectric receiver to sense an object's presence by detecting a small amount of the emitter's light that is...

The area of optics that deals with the interaction of light with a given material. The optical properties of material are...

The detection and measurement of spectral reflectance, spectral transmittance or relative spectral emittance, relative to...

An optical interference technique widely utilized as a method of nondestructive testing when determining the ray deflection...

A system in which a supplied signal causes the deflection of the electron beam in a cathode-ray tube, thus forming a visible...

Plastic optical fiber (POF) is a type of optical fiber made from transparent plastic, typically polymethylmethacrylate...

Microscopy technique to convert the phase structure of the wave transmitted or reflected by the specimen into a...

An instrument used to record the emittance or reflectance of an object by scanning with discrete spectral resolution over a...

The light formed by visible radiation that, in traveling from light source to object, undergoes one or more reflections. In...

The thin, transparent film made up of specific substances applied to glass-air surfaces for the purpose of decreasing the...

The reflection in different amounts as a function of wavelength, as a result of absorption and scattering, leading to color...

Technology that uses data from an array of sensors, one of which is commonly lidar, to solve the problem of creating a map...

A spectral signature, in the context of remote sensing and spectroscopy, refers to the unique pattern or characteristic...

A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces;...

A grating used as a reflectance filter, particularly in the far-infrared. Small plane gratings, blazed for the wavelength of...

A special-purpose camera used by ophthalmologists to photograph the retina of the eye. The optical system operates through...

Any device that is used to sense and measure light. See exposure meter; photoelectric exposure meter; photoelectric...

A microscope in which laser light is delivered through single-mode fibers that replace the pinhole usually used in confocal...

An optical scanning device designed to read information printed in the form of bars of different size by detection and...

A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator...

An instrument for measuring reflectance.

A transmission line having no wave reflection along its path.

A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...

The law stating that when light strikes a surface at such an angle that the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular...

Pertaining to the manner in which light is reflected, as by a mirror or speculum.

FMCW lidar stands for frequency-modulated continuous wave lidar. It is a type of lidar (light detection and ranging)...

A lens assembly containing several movable elements to permit changing of the effective focal length (EFL). Unlike a zoom...

An optical reflector with the reflective coating applied to the front surface of the substrate. This eliminates the ghost...

A photonic cavity, also known as an optical cavity, is a structure that confines electromagnetic radiation within a certain...

Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a...

The formation and display of three-dimensional images by ultrasonic energy. In one technique, the energy pulses from an...

Light produced by visible radiation that moves from the light source to the object without reflection. With respect to...

A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It...

A mirror with a coating that reflects infrared radiation and transmits visible light.

A reflecting optic whose reflectivity is a function of the radial distance from the optic axis; can be used to convert a...

Reflection losses incurred at input and output of optical elements because of the difference in refractive index between...

A type of microscope that uses radiation in the infrared region to illuminate objects that are opaque to visible radiation....

Ratio of the directionally reflected flux to that reflected in the same direction by a perfect reflecting diffuser...

Freeform mirrors refer to reflective optical components that deviate from traditional symmetric or rotationally symmetric...

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to investigate the optical properties...

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is an advanced fluorescence microscopy technique that leverages the...

A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart...

An erasable data recording and storage medium that uses a laser to heat the crystalline surface of the disc to a certain...

A mirror coated to reflect cold (white) light while transmitting hot (infrared) energy.

1. In astronomy, the angle measured clockwise (eastward) in a horizontal plane, usually from north (true north, Y-north,...

Computation of tristimulus values by integrating or summing, over the visible wavelength region, the product of the relative...

Thin-film coating, single or multilayer, that is applied to a substrate to increase its reflectance over a specified range...

A small television monitor that replaces the reflex viewfinder in a television camera.

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible...

A compound prism composed of two 30° prisms, one of which is partially coated with a suitable opaque metal of high...

Also known as the Bragg spectrometer. A system used for the x-ray analysis of crystal structure. In the instrument, a...

An excimer laser is a type of ultraviolet laser that emits short pulses of light in the ultraviolet spectrum. The term...

The removal of the zero-order component of the Fourier spectrum distribution of an object with a small, opaque absorber or...

A device that obliterates the polarization of a polarized beam by reflecting the beam in all directions at right angles to...

A type of fiber optic sensor that detects alteration in position, distance, pressure, liquid level or temperature by...

Reflectance in a specified direction, for a specified direction of incident illumination.

A phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density...