A YAG crystal refers to a solid-state crystal made of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), which is a synthetic crystalline material. YAG crystals are known for their exceptional optical properties, including high transparency over a wide range of...

A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and...

A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing...

The bands of spectral lines representing the electronic transition in a molecule.

Discharge that results when a doped semiconductor crystal with a PN junction is charged with a low-voltage direct current....

Hyperspectral resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in the spectral information captured by a...

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment refers to a class of specialized apparatus used in the process of chemical vapor...

A miniature projecting device designed to enhance and reproduce the image generated by a smaller image-forming instrument....

A simple form of astronomical telescope that uses a fixed objective and a focusable eyepiece. The objective forms an...

The degree to which a pair of fine lines can be aligned to each other. A normal observer will demonstrate an accuracy of 10...

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

An ocular having two planoconvex lenses that are formed from similar glass and that are separated by a space equal to half...

Spectral repeatability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of spectral measurements across multiple trials or...

An instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to sort out the relative masses of atoms and molecules.The same way an...

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by preparing a thin sample that has its faces perpendicular...

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a...

Laser lithotripsy is a medical procedure that uses laser energy to break down or fragment stones in various parts of the...

A coupling unit that enables more than one transmitter to operate at the same time or separately on the same antenna.

A spectrometric instrument that detects radiation simultaneously in multiple channels, sorts it spectrally from the deep...

Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to...

Instantaneous field of view (iFOV) is a term commonly used in the context of remote sensing, imaging systems, and optical...

A variation from standard physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating techniques, magnetron sputtering is a plasma coating...

A telescopic eyepiece comprising five or six simple lenses in the form of three doublets or two doublets and a singlet.

A microscope eyepiece designed for use with apochromatic objectives. Since apochromatic objectives are undercorrected for...

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....

A spectroscopic technique in which an excitation band absorbs laser energy resulting in an electronic transition. The...

Operation in which the dispersion of a pulse limits the distance between repeaters in optical systems. Waveguide and...

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

The third dimension (depth or Z-axis) in an imaging system.

An emulsion in which grains of the photosensitive material silver halide are deposited. Each grain, when exposed to light,...

Hardware installed on fiber cable ends to provide cable attachment to a transmitter, receiver or other cable. Usually a...

Laser marking is a process in which a laser beam is used to mark or engrave a surface by altering its properties or...

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

A device used to transmit and receive images that have been converted to electrical signals over regular telephone lines; it...

In the context of optics and lasers, a transverse mode refers to a specific spatial pattern of the electric field within the...

A camera designed with a telecentric optical system and a narrow field of view; the telecentric optical system (placement of...

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

A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape...

Silicon carbide (SiC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current is...

A scale located on the eyepiece focusing screw and used to measure the amount of defocusing of the eyepiece in diopters. The...

A device composed of dissimilar metals that, when welded together, develop a small voltage dependent upon the relative...

A lens composed of two or more separate elements of optical glass that may or may not be cemented together. The surfaces of...

Simulation of radiative transfer in which each photon is generated by a source and its path through the medium is...

A fluorophore is a molecule or a portion of a molecule that has the ability to emit light upon excitation by an external...

Gram-positive bacteria are a group of bacteria that have a thick cell wall composed primarily of a substance called...

The degree to which a pixel in a digital image represents the analog brightness of the corresponding point in the original...

A lens that is implanted within the eye to replace the eye lens, which has been removed because of cataract or other defect.

A transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a powerful microscopy technique that uses a beam of electrons to create...

The compression and intensification of a laser pulse of a specific width into a smaller pulse width. A spherical cavity, in...

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

An eyepiece having a rotating index or cross wire linked to an external 360° scale to allow measuring of angles in an...

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

The shape of the edge of a concave surface when the depth of the bevel plane to the vertex of the surface is controlled to a...

An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e....

In computerized industrial process control, the element that determines the choice and sequence of operations dependent on...

An acoustic wave that propagates along the surface of a solid and decays exponentially with substrate depth. Also called a...

A laser that emits energy in a series of short bursts or pulses and that remains inactive between each burst or pulse. The...

Fluence is a term used in various scientific and technical disciplines to describe the amount of something per unit area....

An optical instrument used to determine the distance to a target being viewed. Two similar optical systems view the target...

A polishing machine with a lens mounted on a wooden stick, allowing a very wide sweep. It is used to polish hemispherical or...

The field of view seen through some types of coincidence rangefinders. It is formed by the juxtaposition of opposite halves...

A Ti:sapphire laser is a type of solid-state laser that utilizes a titanium-doped sapphire crystal as the gain medium. The...

An optical grating, in the context of optics and physics, refers to a device with a periodic structure of closely spaced,...

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

A fiber optic preform is a cylindrical glass rod or tube used as the starting material for manufacturing optical fibers. It...

A type of x-ray that is capable of deep penetration; its wavelength is about 10-8 cm.

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

Depicting one of the two ends of an axis of rotation.

The number of fields scanned per second in a television system. The US standard is 60. Also called field frequency.

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

The maximum to minimum range of temperature, pressure, humidity, vibration and biological conditions under which an optical...

The direct appreciation of the distance between a given object and the observer, or between the front and back of a solid...

In fiber optics, the condition in which each fiber of a bundle carries a separate channel.

A lens aberration that results in the tangential and sagittal image planes being separated axially.

The gray-colored tones halfway between shadows and highlights in a reproduced image.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) refers to a region in space that is relatively close to Earth's surface, typically characterized by...

A prism used in a photometer for the adjacent comparison of separate luminance.

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images...

Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer...

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

Optical fiber with a large core, often a step-index fiber; "large'' is at times defined as greater than 85 µm.

A device that is used to determine the index of refraction of a gas or liquid through the interference patterns formed by...

Freeform optics refers to the design and fabrication of optical surfaces that do not follow traditional symmetric shapes,...

A positioning drive that rotates a fraction of a 360° turn when the motor coils are activated, resulting in linear or...

Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain accurate three-dimensional measurements of objects and environments through the...

The range of image distances that corresponds to the range of object distances covered by the depth of field.

An electric discharge between two carbon rods that are touched together to start the arc and then separated slightly. The...

Technology that relies on a highly efficient photodetector that can detect incoming light signals at one frequency and...

The measurement of first- and higher order properties of a lens and its formed image, including effective focal length, back...

Spectrophotometry in which radiation of two separate wavelengths, usually one in an absorption band and the other not, pass...

An instrument used to measure the light from a scene to be photographed and to indicate the camera lens and shutter settings...

A framework or latticework having an even arrangement of rods, or any other long narrow objects with interstices between...

An apparatus, designed for use with a camera, that is used to rapidly open the path from lens to film, to maintain the...

Ratio between map or photo linear distance and the actual ground dimensions represented.

A connection, typically made up of one or more cables, between a laser head and a separate power supply. Flexible pipes or...

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic...

A telescopic eyepiece that produces a field of view between 40° and 50°. The eyepiece consists of a single element...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution,...

Single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) is a group of super-resolution microscopy techniques that surpass the...

A structure consisting of a thin film of liquid crystal sandwiched between light-polarizing filters that have received a...

Cathode radiant sensitivity refers to the ability of a photocathode to convert incident radiant energy, typically in the...

A geometric representation of a light path through an optical device; a line normal to the wavefront indicating the...

In optical character recognition, the method of dividing a string of characters into separate, distinct characters.

The radiation spectrum of matter found in condensed states, liquid or solid, that is continuous and not a line spectrum. The...

Whole slide imaging (WSI), also known as virtual slide microscopy or digital pathology, is a technology that involves the...

In optical communication systems, operations in which the amplitude of the pulses, as opposed to their width, determines the...

A circuit whose passive components are deposited on a given substrate by sputtering or vacuum processes.

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

In image processing and elsewhere, generally an adjective to describe an assembly-line arrangement for performing a task....

A device for measuring linear dimensions. The optical caliper generally consists of two circularly mounted mirrors whose...

Correction of an optical system at four separate wavelengths. This correction, longitudinal and lateral, is possible with...

A well-corrected flat-field eyepiece with good eye relief. Similar to a Huygenian.

The point function in a wave equation that represents the amplitude.

The dispersion attributable to the wavelength dependence of the refractive index of the material used in any optical...

The region at the PN junction in a semiconductor radiation detector where the potential energies of the two materials create...

The Fourier series representation of a two-dimensional periodic field, assuming that the original image is periodic both...

Harmonic generation refers to a nonlinear optical process in which incoming photons interact with a material and produce new...

A hydrogel is a three-dimensional network of polymer chains that are hydrophilic, meaning they have a strong affinity for...

Positioning generally refers to the determination or identification of the location or placement of an object, person, or...

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

Nonlinear optical materials are substances that exhibit optical properties that are not linearly proportional to the...

The partial differential equations for the spatial and time dependence of electric and magnetic fields inside a...

The principles and techniques involved in the use of telephotometers to measure atmospheric extinction.

A Risley prism, also known as a Risley prism pair or Risley rotating prism, is an optical device used for controlling the...

In visual perception, the smallest difference in illumination perceived on the average.

An optical clock is a highly precise and advanced timekeeping device that relies on the oscillations of electromagnetic...

A filter that passes a series of wavelength regions that are at equal distances from one another, such that its output...

The separate spectral lines formed by a diffraction grating that are characterized by one wavelength difference in path...

In colorimetry, the phenomenon in which spectrally different radiations produce the same color sensation for a given...

The deposition of a metallic coating, usually nickel, on a component by chemical means rather than by electroplating; the...

Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies...

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

An instrument consisting essentially of a tube 160 mm long, with an objective lens at the distant end and an eyepiece at the...

Successive layering of resistive, dielectric and conductive inks on a substrate by a type of screening process.

In biology, particularly genetics and evolutionary biology, the phenotype refers to the observable characteristics or traits...

Fused quartz and silica are closely related materials, both composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2), but they are...

A device having a pair of decentered lenses, one for each eye, that focuses on a single object as a magnifier. It is often...

A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is...

Sapphire crystal refers to a transparent, single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) known as corundum. It is one of the...

The allowable departure from the given figure or geometrical form. It may be described in terms of fringes or wavelengths.

GigE, short for gigabit Ethernet, refers to a standard for high-speed Ethernet communication, capable of transmitting data...

Basically, a hydrogen atom with two alterations, positronium is the lightest atom in the universe and has an extremely light...

The parameters, relative to polarized light and the Poincaré sphere, that are usually represented as: I, the intensity of...

Inertial fusion energy (IFE) refers to a proposed method of generating electricity by harnessing the energy released from...

The entire range of colors a specific color model can produce, represented as a three-dimensional solid.

Computer output in the form of pictorial representation (graphs, charts, drawings, etc.) that is displayed visually.

Commonly performed in spectroscopy, the optical null process is a method for radiation detection whereby physical detectors...

Production of a repeated image of a transmitted beam through a diffractive optical element such as a holographic card or...

A CRT screen on which two phosphors differing in color and persistence are deposited.

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are substances or compounds used to enhance the thermal conductivity between two surfaces...

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

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method of achieving nuclear fusion, a process where two atomic nuclei combine to...

A detector array refers to a collection of individual detector elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid or matrix format....

In chemistry, a halide refers to a chemical compound containing one or more halogen atoms bonded to another element. The...

Naturally occurring planes in crystalline substances that provide easy points for separation.

Spectral power distribution representing a standard source of illumination, which may be real or hypothetical.

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into...

An exciton is a quasiparticle that represents the bound state of an electron and a hole in a solid-state material, typically...

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

The visual examination by a trained observer of the image of a point source. Any coloring or departure from the Airy disc...

Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production...

The method of disintegrating the substance of the cathode by bombarding it with ions and depositing it on another electrode...

In vivo is a Latin term that translates to "within the living." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and...

A laser that generates a succession of pulses at a high enough repetition rate to appear continuous. The pump source is...

An optical tooling instrument consisting of an objective lens, a focusing lens, an optical micrometer, a reticle and an...

The separation of unpolarized light into two plane-polarized elements by a doubly refracting crystal. When a crystal, such...

Phenomenon caused by an ultrashort and ultra-intense light pulse propagating in a Kerr medium, such as air or water. When...

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

A device used in thin-film deposition; the material to be evaporated is placed in a crucible that is heated inductively by...

With a repetitive object such as a series of equispaced lines, the reciprocal of the line spacing in object or image,...

A digital imaging method whereby the first gray level of each sequential point-by-point sample and its position in the...

An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens,...

A reference sphere used to represent all possible states of polarization. All linear polarizations will lie on the equator...

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

In optical character recognition, an intermediate step between character location and feature extraction.

A device used to take turbidimetric or nephelometric measurements by considering the contrast between a constant brightness...

That portion of physics concerned with motion in the abstract, such as of points or space figures, and separated from its...

The series of equally spaced parallel slits that make up a scanning aperture in place of a single slit, in the scanning of a...

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a technique used in additive manufacturing, specifically in the field of 3D printing. It...

A curve expressing an optical fiber's total transmitted power as a function of its launch angle at the input.

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

The departure of a curved surface from the plane that is tangent to its vertex. See sag.

A device used to detect and measure the quantity of exposure to nuclear or x-ray radiation, and dependent on the fact that...

Separating two or more signals that have been combined into one signal.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard. UAVs are remotely...

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid...

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

With respect to a chromaticity diagram, this is the locus of points that represent the chromaticities of blackbodies...

A network interface card (NIC), also known as a network adapter or LAN adapter, is a hardware component that allows...

A well controlled thin films technique for growing films with good crystal structure in ultra high vacuum environments at...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-21. (z).

Sputtering equipment is machinery used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....

A diagram used to represent the trichromatic variables of the components in a three-color combination.

A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and...

A system of mirrors that can be used to direct light from a single laser source into any one of a number of separate optical...

The curved mark formed when, in the process of generating, a loose or coarse diamond particle from the generating tool...

A profile of an optical component, usually a fiber, in which the core is of uniform refractive index and the cladding or...

A Peltier cooler, also known as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or thermoelectric module, is a solid-state device that uses...

Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, based on the notion that electrons with opposite momentum and spin...

A telescopic system having an eyepiece, a reticle and an objective. The instrument measures wavefront power in diopters.

An optical interference coating, vacuum-deposited on a circular substrate, whose transmission characteristics may be varied...

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

The discernment of depth or apparent difference in distance that causes the object to stand out from its background because...

A femtosecond laser is a type of laser that emits ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of femtoseconds,...

The term perovskite refers to a specific crystal structure commonly found in various materials. Perovskite structures have a...

A frequency comb is a precise and regular series of equally spaced spectral lines, or frequencies, that are generated with...

A prism made of two elements cemented together that, depending on its orientation, inverts or reverts an image. It may be...

An eyepiece consisting of two planoconvex lenses of the same focal length, with facing convex surfaces.

A support for optical parts comprising a solid bed that permits precise longitudinal movement of one component relative to...

Photometry is the branch of science that deals with the measurement of light, particularly in terms of its intensity and the...

A charged elementary particle of an atom; the term is most commonly used in reference to the negatively charged particle...

In surface height measurement of optics with steep slopes, the use of two short visible wavelengths to synthesize a longer,...

A passive infrared system that uses two line-of-sight telescopes to generate both narrow and wide field-of-view images of...

When uncontrolled laser energy leaks from a laser cavity prematurely, it causes serious damage to optical components and...

Phototherapy is a medical treatment that involves the use of light to treat various conditions, particularly those related...

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a...

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

Quantum-enhanced metrology refers to the use of quantum mechanics principles and techniques to enhance the precision and...

Topology is a branch of mathematics that focuses on the properties of space that are preserved under continuous...

The visual perception of contrasting forms is more difficult if the forms have the same luminance but different...

Characteristic of radiation detectors that produce energy that is similar to the energy of superconductive gaps when...

A process of isolation of various atom vapor ions by means of tuning a laser source. For example, laser enrichment is...

A linear positioning stage, also known as a linear stage or translation stage, is a precision mechanical device used to...

A rangefinder similar to a pair of binoculars with a long base, a dot or other wander mark provided in each eyepiece field,...

A Darlington current amplifier consisting of two separate transistors, of which a phototransistor is the input device.

A phage, short for bacteriophage, is a type of virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. Phages are composed of...

Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is a specialized technique in biophysics and molecular...

Instruments used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to study the eye. There are, for instance, the ophthalmoscope to...

A camera used to reduce originals onto film for easy storage. There are two basic types: one in which the film is fixed...

Fiber optic cable bearing many fibers independently sheathed and capable of carrying unrelated signals. They often surround...

Phase distortion refers to a change in the phase relationships between different frequency components of a signal. In the...

Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a dimensionless quantity, denoted by the...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to...

A numerical representation of the rate at which a material will exhibit dimensional changes as a direct result of changes in...

Directional and coherent radiation pulses that result from an ensemble of coherently prepared states in an optical medium.

A glow-discharge tube in which the discharge takes place in the conical or crater-shaped depression at one end of the tube.

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

An accelerometer is a sensor or transducer that measures the rate of change of velocity of an object, or in simpler terms,...

A television system that uses a slow rate of horizontal scanning to increase its reproduction and transmittance accuracy of...

A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than...

A graph of the intersections of a fan of rays with the final image plane, plotted as a function of the positions of the rays...

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates digital information, typically in the form of computer-generated...

The minimum energy required to induce atomic and molecular separation or displacement due to incident intense laser...

That portion of the telecommunications network that runs from a local central telephone to the subscriber premises.

A dark region created by spherical aberration of an eyepiece's exit pupil. Because of the aberration, an observer's eye must...

An array of optically distinct fibers that are fused into one strand. They are used to keep the resolution efficiency of the...

In optics and photonics, "phase" refers to a property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the position...

1. An eyepiece or magnifier with a scale at its image plane. That scale is placed in contact with an object, permitting...

A filtering device that detects what is new in a scene of interest. Often compared to that of a temporal high pass filter,...

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

The array of methods used in the transmission and reception of pictures and images with a three-dimensional appearance.

In optics, an image is the reconstruction of light rays from a source or object when light from that source or object is...

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

An eyepiece or magnifier capable of covering a field of view that is greater than 50°.

A device for projecting either opaque matter or transparent slides onto a screen.

Information storage on a dielectric medium that represents the data as those spots on the medium having electrostatic...

The equation devised by Sir G.B. Airy for the analysis of light diffraction near a caustic surface: (d2f/dz2) - zf = 0 where...

The term that represents the size of one of the many small elements into which a television image is necessarily broken down...

The masking of all openings of an optical transform -- except the hole at the symmetrical center -- with a thin wire gauze...

In optics, "mode beating" refers to an interference phenomenon that can occur in laser systems with multiple longitudinal...

A laser having a lasing material that is a fluorescing organic dye. Depending on the dye used, it can produce emission in...

A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide...

A technique for depositing a material coating on metal, ceramic, semiconductor or polymer substrates. The interaction of...

In computer graphics, the coordinated two-dimensional or three-dimensional area of increased resolution where graphics...

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the...

Fusion ignition refers to the point in a controlled nuclear fusion reaction where the energy released by the fusion...

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

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

A device used for slicing very thin specimens in preparation for mounting on a microscope slide.

The point of a chromaticity diagram that represents the chromaticity of a reference stimulus.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules, typically consisting of about 19 to 24 nucleotides,...

The creation of a diode laser structure by liquid-phase epitaxy over a grooved substrate.

A display standard no longer in use and originally defined for IBM PCs, with 640 3 480 pixels in 16 colors and a 4:3 aspect...

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

The highest frequency at which a laser diode can be driven and still be modulated acceptably that further results in the...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or...

An eyepiece combined with an erecting prism or lens system.

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

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 microdensitometer that contains a scanning stage to provide simultaneous representations of position vs. density.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are ordinary cells that are genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like...

Conceptual formulas that characterize both the transmittance functions of lenses and propagation in the Fresnel zone.

The scale for floating hydrometers used to measure the specific gravity of a polishing suspension. The depth of immersion is...

In optics, an octave typically refers to a range of frequencies or wavelengths that spans a factor of 2. In other words,...

In an optical system, noise created by mode-dependent optical losses and variations in the distribution of radiant power...

Excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) refers to a medical procedure used in the treatment of coronary artery disease....

An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...

A concave surface that has too much negative power; i.e., its radius of curvature is too short. This condition can be...

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a mechanism describing the transfer of energy between two closely spaced...

A molecular motor refers to a nano-sized device composed of organic molecules or other small-scale components that can...

Photoelastic equipment and supplies refer to instruments and materials used in photoelasticity, a technique used to analyze...

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

A thermoplastic, self-extinguishing polymer with excellent high-temperature, low-creep and arc resistance properties.

The law stating that the amount of chemical change produced is proportional to the amount of light absorbed. Actually, the...

In aerial photography, the ratio derived from a stereoscopic pair of photographs that represents the air-base length divided...

In a lens system, a group of elements considered as an entity; either a front or rear member depending on whether it is...

In digital data transmission, the representation of a bit by change in amplitude of the outgoing signal. Amplitude shift...

Computer numerically controlled (CNC) grinding is a manufacturing process that utilizes computerized controls and precision...

The luminous intensity of a source of light expressed in candelas.

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

Embedded vision refers to the integration of computer vision technologies into various embedded systems, devices, or...

1. In optics, the ability of a lens system to reproduce the points, lines and surfaces in an object as separate entities in...

The representation of arbitrary functions as the superposition of sinusoidal functions whereby the representations...

A Dammann grating is a type of diffractive optical element (DOE) used to create an array of equally spaced,...

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

Change of sensitivity of the eye leading to changed color perception.

Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) is a technique that extends traditional Raman spectroscopy by incorporating...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...

An electromagnetic device used to separate isotopes of elements based on their respective masses.

The angle subtended by two points or lines that are just far enough apart to be distinguished as separate. The ability of an...

A type of color-generating cathode-ray tube that uses a shadow mask, a thin perforated electrode, located close to the...

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

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

1. In relation to cathode-ray tube displays, errors in the signal's amplitude, phase or both that result in small, rapid...

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

A device that uses electromagnetic fields to separate electrically charged particles according to their masses. As a beam of...

A broadband filter is an electronic or electromagnetic device designed to pass a range of frequencies or signals within a...

The holographic recording of sequences of high-speed phenomena. With a multiple beam laser, multiple holograms that depict...

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) technology that utilizes organic compounds to...

The observable illustration of an image, scene or data on a screen such as a console or cathode-ray tube, seen as a graph,...

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

The smallest object that may be seen, measured in terms of the angle subtended by the object measured at the eye. Also...

A single number, defined by the computer program or the user that expresses the performance of an optical system. Also known...

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

A well plate, also known as a microplate or microtiter plate, is a flat plate with multiple small wells or depressions...

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

An interferometer constructed to be positioned on a telescope to measure the angular separation of the components of double...

Translucent collector developed to compensate for the partial blocking of a flat surface's collection angle that normally...

A lensless photographic camera that uses a small sharp-edged hole as its aperture. The light passed by this aperture onto...

A vacuum chamber is a sealed enclosure from which air and other gases are removed to create a low-pressure environment,...

The perceptual term for that aspect of color described by words such as red, yellow or blue. Achromatic colors, such as...

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

The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and...

Gain-switching is a technique used in lasers to generate short pulses of light by modulating the gain of the laser medium....

A photographic camera designed to produce reproduction film of visual information (pictures, line drawings, graphs) for...

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

An electronic flash tube capable of repeated operation at hundreds or thousands of flashes per second for long periods.

Linear receive optics typically refers to the optical components and systems used in the reception (detection) of linearly...

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

A laser output that occurs when the cavity resonator Q is first kept very low, using rotating mirrors or saturable...

A direct method of measuring refractive index that works best with flat-surfaced samples (i.e., those that are not dependent...

The spot on the retina where the optic nerve is attached; it is incapable of sensing light because of the absence of light...

Any lamp whose emission of radiant energy is dependent upon the passage of an electrical current through the emissive medium.

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

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

The formation of transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors and other electronic elements directly on a flake of silicon by...

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical...

A chart on paper or glass containing a series of sets of lines at progressively smaller spacing and used to ascertain the...

A CCD device for sensing longer wavelengths, such as NIR and IR, that has a deeper depletion region than would be necessary...

A photoelectrically controlled, alphanumeric reading device that converts characters to audible or sorting signals which can...

The unwanted and unpredictable fluctuations that distort a received signal and hence tend to obscure the desired message....

One eyepiece of a set having equal distances from their mounting interface to their image plane, permitting freedom to...

A type of spectroscopy used extensively in the analysis of biological samples. Because most biologically synthesized...

The generic term describing the class of light particles having no strong interactions.

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a type of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that uses a high-power...

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...

A symbol used to represent the refractive index. It is commonly used with a subscript to represent the wavelength of light.

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

A compound prism consisting of an assembly of small prisms cemented together that is used in a coincidence rangefinder to...

Controlled beam technology that introduces beams of sunlight through holes in a roof that are relayed throughout the...

Characteristic of dissimilar metals in thermoelectric solar cells whereby separate junctions exhibiting distinct...

A plate made up of thousands of glass fibers arranged parallel to one another, i.e., in a coherent bundle, and fused...

Any systemic process that ultimately reassembles all the system's components into their initial alignment, or an arrangement...

The number of bits used to represent a character.

The concept of the de Broglie wavelength exploits the wave-particle duality of quantum physics by associating all matter (of...

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

A laser oscillator in which two mirrors are separated by an amplifying medium with an inverted population, making a...

The time domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to describe signals in terms of their behavior over...

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

A device that is designed to automatically turn electric lamps on and off in a rapidly repeating sequence. The device may...

A memory device consisting of thin disks of a magnetic substance deposited on a nonmagnetic substrate for use in a computer.

Automated optical inspection (AOI) is a technology used in manufacturing processes, particularly in electronics, to...

With respect to display systems, a device that uses an independent light source and a control-layer medium, the active...

A contraction for "texture element." A base unit used in computer graphics that defines the surface of three-dimensional...

A group of related lines that represent transitions between two spectroscopic terms, each of which may be complex. Also in...

Computer vision enables computers to interpret and make decisions based on visual data, such as images and videos. It...

Gamma ray radiation released when matter and antimatter, such as electron and positron, unite and eliminate each other,...

Piezoresistance is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where the electrical resistance of a material changes in...

The property exhibited by certain birefringent crystals in which the degree with which they transmit polarized light is...

A cathode-ray tube that increases the brightness or size of an image or forms a visible image from invisible radiation. The...

A type of eyepiece, or the modification of an eyepiece, in which a small hole, without a lens, functions as the eye lens;...

The method by which photographic film is scanned by an electron beam. One technique uses the uniform light of a television...

Topological photonics is a branch of physics and optics that explores the application of topological concepts to the...

Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) is a semiconductor alloy composed of gallium (Ga), arsenic (As), and phosphorus (P). It...

Also known as f number, lens speed is commonly represented as the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the lens....

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

Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field that involves the manipulation and control of very small fluid volumes, typically...

Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...

A silicon photodiode is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. It is a type of photodetector...

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

A critical image parameter in applications where object position may change dynamically relative to the imager; this is a...

The process whereby white light is separated into its component wavelengths. Light beams of different wavelengths are...

The term half bandwidth (HBW) generally refers to the width of a spectral band or frequency range at half of its maximum...

The prism used in a rangefinder to bend the lines of sight through the instruments into the eyepieces.

A measuring eyepiece with a screw-micrometer-driven crosshair used to measure the size of the image.

An exaggerated depth appearance in stereo photographs caused by the lenses in the camera being farther apart than the eyes...

A method of thin-film deposition in which electrons boiled off a heated cathode are used to melt the coating material. If a...

Two formulas used in diffractometer analysis, the first giving the individual diffraction patterns of each aperture, the...

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device...

Superresolution refers to the enhancement or improvement of the spatial resolution beyond the conventional limits imposed by...

An aptamer is a short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecule that can bind to a specific target molecule with high affinity...

A spheric lens, also known as a spherical lens, is a type of optical lens with at least one surface that is part of a...

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method of secure communication that utilizes principles from quantum mechanics to...

A small half-shade analyzer placed in the eyepiece of a polarimeter to determine the character of the polarized light...

Parallel scanning refers to a method of acquiring data or images simultaneously from multiple sources or in parallel, rather...

A microscope used either to detect selective absorption of various wavelengths by the specimen or to achieve increased...

Standard light source representative of the quality of specified natural or artificial illumination.

1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The...

The subtractive imbibing process of transferring color prints on paper whereby the dyes from three separately prepared...

Gram-negative bacteria are a group of bacteria that possess a cell envelope composed of a thin layer of peptidoglycan...

A vapor-phase oxidation process for fabricating graded-index optical fibers. It differs from outside vapor phase deposition...

The degree to which a predetermined or previous setting of a positioning device can be duplicated by observance of the...

A photomultiplier tube (PMT) is a highly sensitive vacuum tube that detects and amplifies low levels of light. It is widely...

A type of erasable data storage device that uses a medium deposited on the disc in two layers, each dyed to absorb a...

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and digital image processing...

The point spread function (PSF) is a fundamental concept in imaging that describes the response of an imaging system to a...

A flaw deliberately introduced into an optical fiber to prepare it for cleaving.

A laser warning and countermeasure system containing a sensor that indicates the direction of a laser beam, and analytical...

A method used to generate graphics within a computer system. Rather than dots or lines, fractal graphics work with...

Resonance can be defined in various contexts, including physics, chemistry, and music. Here are definitions for resonance in...

A spectrum of component wavelengths whose values are separate from each other.

End-fire coupling refers to a method of coupling energy into or out of a waveguide, transmission line, or antenna, where the...

An optical instrument consisting of an objective lens, a coherent (usually flexible) fiber bundle and an eyepiece to examine...

A form of laser output noise that is caused by thermal, mechanical, or acoustical disturbances of the cavity length. Mode...

Machine learning (ML) is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the development of algorithms and...

A surveying map representing measurement of depth, particularly that of the ocean.

A two-fiber optical cable containing two single-fiber cables that are connected by a strip of jacket and that can easily be...

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

In a telephoto lens, the ratio of the overall length to the focal length of the lens. It is generally about 0.8 to 0.9 in...

Two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) is a nonlinear optical method that allows imaging of biological cells and living...

Also known as ocular. The lens system used between the final real image in a visual optical system and eye. It acts as an...

1. A defect inherent in a multiple-axis positioning system whereby an adjustment of one axis causes an undesired change in...

The ability to perceive binocularly the apparent depth and relative distance of objects.

The ability of a vision system to interpret an image in a short enough time to keep pace with most operations.

A graphic depiction of the loci of all points in space relative to a laser transmitter at a specific altitude.

Laser-mediated gene transfer refers to a technique in molecular biology and genetic engineering that utilizes lasers to...

A photonic crystal that comprises magneto-optical material such that the optical response of the device depends on the...

A process used in the design, repair and customization of integrated circuits. A low-power laser etches a silicon wafer...

An absorption peak refers to a sharp increase or spike in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a particular...

An eyepiece used in a polariscope or polarizing microscope to give a comparison view of the same object under illumination...

A contour mapping technique that uses electronic scanning and sampling techniques instead of a reference grating (see moire...

Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy...

Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded...

The range of angle or solid angle values by which light may enter an optical system.

Micro-robotics refers to the field of robotics that involves the design, development, and application of miniature robotic...

In digital image processing, a method of convolution that reduces random noise by replacing the value of each pixel with the...

A wave of radiant energy in which each point of the wave is repeatedly displaced at equal time intervals.

A spectroradiometer having a means to scan different regions of the light spectrum, providing simultaneous representations...

The letter form used on visual performance test charts. The overall letter height is equal to five times the thickness of...

A method used in integrated optics; formed by growing an epitaxial layer of active material, removing it from its base and...

The deformation of a material at high levels of stress, often associated with elevated temperatures.

Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system...

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become correlated to such an extent...

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

Second-order nonlinear optical properties refer to a class of phenomena exhibited by certain materials in response to...

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

Laser peening is a surface enhancement technique used to improve the mechanical properties of materials, particularly...

A filter that maximizes signal-to-noise ratio so that a waveform of known shape can be separated from random noise.

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment or experience that can be...

Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it...

A telescope so manufactured that the image remains erect and the position of the eyepiece is unchanged as the line of sight...

A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance...

Graphic representation of quantified values of image quality whose points all refer to images that are of a constant...

A tabulation of predicted positions that have been calculated for one or more celestial bodies or orbiting satellites.

The discrepancy between the absolute luminance threshold and the photochromatic threshold.

The distance, on either side of the object plane focused on, through which satisfactory image definition can be obtained....

The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...

Three-photon microscopy is an advanced imaging technique that belongs to the family of multi-photon microscopy methods. It...

A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....

An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines...

A tool used in cutting circular holes around a center. Also, a laser cutter in which the beam moves in relation to the cut...

Laser sintering is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that involves using a laser to selectively fuse...

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

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...

An electric arc that is formed in mercury vapor through which an electric current flows. The intensity of the illumination...

Mode-locking is a technique used in lasers to produce ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of picoseconds,...

The least space between two parallel lines that can be discriminated as a gap to the human eye. It is measured in terms of...

Enhanced picture archiving and communication system (PACS) display (ePAD) is a software tool used in medical imaging to...

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

A dye laser cell configuration in which the dye flows in the direction of the axis of the laser, yielding symmetrical energy...

A factor that, when multiplied by the average candlepower emitted by a light source in a specified angular zone, reveals the...

An emission spectrum is a graphical representation or a characteristic pattern of the wavelengths or frequencies of light...

Category inclusive of all radiation that is incited electronically, except laser radiation, as a function of the application...

A device that accumulates and stores electrical energy to introduce capacitance into a circuit. Basically, it is composed of...

A subtractive colorimeter that expresses a liquid's or object's color as a combination of three colors. These colors are...

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

LiFi, short for light fidelity, is a wireless communication technology that utilizes visible light or infrared light to...

A multidimensional array of values that is commonly used in programming to describe a time series of image data. Each...

A photodetector, also known as a photosensor or photodiode, is a device that detects and converts light into an electrical...

Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...

An accurate metal prism or plane parallel plate that is cemented to an optical element and remains with it during a series...

1. The combination of the effects of two or more stimuli in any given sense to form a single sensation. With respect to...

A monochromator is an optical instrument used to isolate and select a narrow range of wavelengths from a broader spectrum of...

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

In a color cathode-ray tube, a grouping of three color dots (red, blue and green) that represent one pixel in the final...

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...

An assembly of prototype instruments, equipment and/or software designed to perform all the functions of a concept or idea...

The energy analysis of electrons released in a secondary step following initial excitation or ionization.

Free-space optics (FSO), also known as optical wireless communication or optical wireless networking, refers to the...

When a lens system with a circular aperture is free of aberrations, the image of a point object will appear as a disc of...

The portion of a reproduced image having the greatest luminance.

An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration....

Three filters used in making a color print of a color negative, red, green and blue-violet, respectively. Each filter...

Laser active elements typically refers to the substances or materials within a laser system that play a critical role in the...

Often referred to as the geometric center of a given image or image plane, the centroid of an image is a fixed point located...

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller...

A photoreceptor material used in solar cells and in drums for laser printers and high-speed copiers because of its high...

Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) refers to a technology used in the fabrication of integrated circuits,...

A mode of data transmission whereby each bit of information is generated separately, with some stop/start code to indicate...

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

Hydrophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or do not readily interact with water. The word...

Anisotropy refers to the property of exhibiting different values or characteristics when measured in different directions....

The finite amount of electrical charge generated in response to incident radiation and transferred from one storage element...

1. A contour map of a photographic deposit consisting of lines and curves that join points of equal density. 2. The...

Dichroism refers to the property of certain materials to exhibit different colors or absorbance of light depending on the...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or...

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

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

Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines...

A general term referring to the situation in which an image is not a true-to-scale reproduction of an object. The term also...

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

A Huygenian eyepiece containing a pointer at its focal plane that is used -- when viewing an object through the eyepiece --...

The random noise having a spectral density that is substantially independent of the frequency over a specified frequency...

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

A device embodying a microprocessor that converts an image to digital form and then further enhances the image to prepare it...

A colorimetric concept related to the apparent visual color of a source (not its temperature). For a blackbody, the color...

An event-based image sensor, also known as a dynamic vision sensor (DVS), is a type of digital imaging device designed to...

1. The use of an electronic microdensitometer to measure points of equal density on a photographic deposit. 2. A technique...

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

The characteristic of displaying three colors when observed in as many separate directions.

Reactive evaporation refers to a process in thin-film deposition where a material is deposited onto a substrate through...

A technique for improving the structure density of thin-film coatings by bombarding the growing film with accelerated ions...

The clarity of an optically reproduced image. Definition is produced by the combination of resolution and acutance.

A variation of tomography in which several photographs of a patient are taken at different angles, and back-projection of...

That length over which energy in two separate waves remains constant. With respect to a laser, the greatest distance between...

A method used in facsimile scanning that sweeps the elemental area across the copy in a spiral motion as the result of the...

An instrument that uses a beam of light to scan a color transparency, and three differently filtered photosensors to record...

Photobleaching is a phenomenon in which the fluorescence of a fluorophore (a fluorescent molecule or dye) is permanently...

The observation of a reproduced television picture on the face of a cathode-ray tube.

A digitized image consisting of just two brightness levels, as black and white, represented in memory as zeros and ones.

The process of producing a visible two-dimensional image of a scene that is dependent on differences in thermal or infrared...

Deep ultraviolet (DUV or deep-UV) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet light with shorter wavelengths than those in the...

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

A laser-induced scar on experimental bare glass surfaces usually attributable to threshold damage and indicative of isolated...

A surveying device used to measure vertical displacement of target centers of scale lines from a horizontal plane generated...

A far-field pattern holographically reproduced image that is categorically considered with three-dimensional lensless...

An APD detector, or avalanche photodiode detector, is a type of photodetector used to detect light or optical signals by...

The absorption index represents the imaginary component of the complex index of refraction, and not the real component. The...

The application of photography, with the exception of radiography, to obtain pictures of parts or the whole of a patient to...

A calcium indicator is a molecule that is sensitive to changes in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations in biological systems....

A photographic enlarger with a fixed negative plane and a fixed paper plane, often using a roll of paper that is advanced...

A photoconductive cell consisting of a layer of selenium on a substrate whose electrical resistance varies with the...

Laser-powered telephone device for analog communications that employs a vibrating plastic membrane as a transmitter to...

Epitaxial refers to the growth of a crystalline layer on a crystalline substrate in such a way that the orientation of the...

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) refers to a specific range of UV radiation that has disinfectant properties capable of killing...

The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or...

A television receiver that receives the signals generated by a television camera directly, or remotely through a radio...

A tool made by imbedding small particles of diamond in the working edge. In the optical field, the most commonly used...

Instrumentation designed to permit the perception, recording or measurement of scenes under conditions of low incident...

A process by which high-quality fiber optics are made. See axial vapor-phase deposition.

An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for...

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

Photoconductive antenna (PCA) is a semiconductor element that generates or detects high-frequency electromagnetic signals....

Typically represented by the Greek letter μ, magnetic permeability is the measure of a material's ability to generate and...

A measure of the sensitivity of a detector; the reciprocal of noise equivalent power (NEP). See D*.

A photon jet is a narrow, highly collimated beam of light that is formed when light interacts with small dielectric...

Digital signal processing (DSP) refers to the manipulation and analysis of signals, which are representations of physical...

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

The production of rough glass lens blanks that are pressed while red-hot to the approximate size and shape of the finished...

An instrument for determining the sensitivity of a photographic film to light. The film is given either a stepped exposure...

An instrument for detecting and analyzing repetitive signals. Using a fixed time delay or "gate," the input signal...

An array of lines in the infrared region of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Their wave numbers are expressed by...

An optical system having two sets of components separated by an air space, while successive lenses in each set are cemented...

A measurement of the hardness of a material as determined by the penetration depth of a diamond stylus under a specified...

The term light field refers to the spatial distribution of light rays traveling in all directions through a given space. It...

A prefix that is used to represent 109 or 1,000,000,000 in the SI system.

Quantum confinement refers to the phenomenon in quantum mechanics where the motion of charge carriers, such as electrons or...

A Fresnel lens is a type of optical lens that consists of a series of concentric grooves or steps carved into a flat, thin...

A technique whereby the sample is illuminated by a hollow cone of light larger than the acceptance angle of the objective,...

A reticle carrying patterns of various forms that can be rotated in an optical beam to cause variations in the intensity of...

Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in...

A camera with two taking lenses and synchronized shutters. Two images are recorded simultaneously on separate frames,...

High dynamic range (HDR) refers to a technology that allows for a broader and more dynamic range of luminosity in visual...

Microscopy is a scientific technique that involves the use of microscopes to observe and study objects that are too small to...

Heterochromatic photometry that depends on the elimination of chromatic flicker at a lower frequency than luminance flicker.

A graphic representation of a distribution function such as frequency by means of rectangles whose widths represent the...

A defect of a binocular instrument causing two images to be seen separately instead of being fused. It is caused when the...

In data transmission, a self-checking code using a separate bit (the parity bit) to assure that all bytes of transmitted...

The component of a microscope on which the sample or slide to be examined is placed. Depending on the design of the...

Histology is the branch of biology and medicine that involves the study of the microscopic structure of tissues and organs...

The reproduction of a picture or image, produced by scanning the image and converting it into electrical signals that carry...

In a cathode-ray tube, the region wherein a display on the tube keeps 70 percent or more of its luminance at the center of...

A discipline that combines optics and genetics to enable the use of light to stimulate and control cells in living tissue,...

A surface that is swept out by revolving a circle about an axis that lies in the plane of the circle but that does not...

Wide-field fluorescence microscopy uses either naturally occurring structures or staining with fluorescent tags that are...

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

The ratio between the focal length of a lens having a longer focal length than that of the standard lens used with a camera,...

The field of view (FOV) refers to the extent of the observable world or the visible area that can be seen at any given...

Chemical vapor deposition is a process of applying dopants to a glass bait by flame reactions of gaseous compounds. See also...

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...

A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a...

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

A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various...

Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and...

Attosecond-pump attosecond-probe spectroscopy (APAP) is an advanced technique in ultrafast spectroscopy that allows...

Rockwell hardness (Rc) refers to a method for measuring the hardness of a material, primarily metals, using an indentation...

A microcircuit whose passive components consist of a ceramic-metal combination deposited on a given substrate by screening...

Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light...

The imaging of two photographs of a stereo pair, in complementary colors, for the preparation of contour maps.

A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...

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

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

A fiber optic end plate constructed by drawing a bundle of parallel fibers embedded in glass and cutting it into thin...

The frequency domain is a concept used in signal processing and analysis to represent signals and data in terms of their...

Situation in which the observer requires fewer than three independent stimuli to make color matches. Dichromats require only...

To reduce the size of a lens aperture, which increases the depth of field.

The near-point distance of the normal eye. The value of 10 in. or 25 cm is normal. This value is used in evaluating the...

The term delta error (delta-E) generally refers to the difference or change in error between two values or states. The word...

A thermoplastic or thermosetting material used to hold an object fixed and keep it from deterioration. In microcircuitry,...

A machine vision technique of image correlation whereby the correlation kernel (template of the desired image) is...

A step-by-step method of reducing the amount of data in a digital video signal to transmit or store a high-quality image....

A small xenon-filled tube with metal electrodes fused into the ends. The gas flashes brilliantly when a condenser is...

An optical fiber, usually a single-mode fiber, that has an outer cladding with nearly the same index of refraction as the...

A device used to prepare optical fiber end faces; a scribe line made by the cleaver's blade propagates across the fiber,...

An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and...

The study of the optical properties of living tissue. Increased understanding of the behavior of light in this varied,...

The maximum number of users who are using a given communication channel. Typically, the number of users at any given time is...

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

Power modulation refers to the intentional variation of power levels in a signal, often in the context of electronic...

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric)...

1. The focal point. 2. To adjust the eyepiece or objective of a telescope so that the image is clearly seen by the observer....

Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet radiation with shorter wavelengths than those of visible...

In a microscope, the diaphragm located between the Bertrand lens and the eyepiece, which is closed during conoscopic viewing...

The use of a plasma to induce the formation of oxides in the production of graded-index optical fibers.

Bar pattern represented as a sine curve in which the light distribution varies in one direction.

A phase-modulated sensor is a type of sensor that uses modulation of the phase of a signal to measure changes in a physical...

Filoviruses are a family of viruses that are responsible for severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fevers in humans and...

A diagram that uses special symbols called logic symbols to represent the detailed functioning of electronic logic circuits....

An imaging process in which the single opening of a simple pinhole camera is replaced with many openings called,...

That object distance at which a camera must be focused so that the far depth of field just extends to infinity. The near...

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

The coefficient Å in Angstrom's formula for the dispersing coefficient for dust present in the atmosphere. The formula...

Cemented prisms of differing refractive indices which refract incident light and, due to differing refractive indices, will...

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

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

Also known as reversed telephoto lens. A lens consisting of an ordinary objective with a negative component near its front...

A blur circle refers to the out-of-focus region in an image captured by an optical system. When an object in a scene is not...

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

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for...

A refracting telescope that yields an erect image by the use of a positive lens for its objective and a negative lens for...

A measure of the closeness with which an optical image is capable of resembling the original object. The factors that affect...

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

A low-power telescope placed at the eyepiece of an optical system to increase overall magnification. Most often used to...

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

The term "Rydberg atom" refers to an atom in a highly excited state where one or more of its electrons are in a Rydberg...

A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a...

A high-frequency pulse-rate laser with an output limited by the heat capacity of the laser medium. Instead of having...

Flow cytometry is a powerful technique used in biology and medicine for the quantitative analysis of the physical and...

Pixel pitch refers to the distance between the centers of two adjacent pixels on a display screen or imaging sensor. It is...

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

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

Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is...

A laser skin-resurfacing method that creates microscopic thermal wounds referred to as microscopic treatment zones (MTZs),...

Optical fiber channel characterization scheme based on three assumptions; the discrete mode spectrum can be replaced by a...

Equipment for testing an observer's color vision. Some tests require the identification or ordering of colored samples. The...

A mechanical shutter that has had its timing escapement replaced with an electronic timing circuit. This circuit allows a...

1. The angle between two vectors that represent two simple periodic quantities that vary sinusoidally and that have the same...

The separation between the exit pupils of a binocular instrument. This usually is adjustable so that it can be set equal to...

Gallium nitride-based light-emitting diodes (GaN-based LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric...

RGB stands for red, green, blue, which are the primary colors of light used in additive color mixing. The RGB color model is...

The micrometer-size depressions that store data digitally in an optical data storage medium.

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

Concerned with the transmission and reception of both sight and sound. An audiovisual system communicates pictorial images...

A holographic grating is a type of diffraction grating that is produced using holographic recording techniques. It consists...

Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form...

The total optical power loss in a system. The loss budget is often stated in terms of the transmitted power and the power...

In image processing, a method of local smoothing by replacing each pixel with the median gray level of neighboring pixels.

Injecting a gas (usually nitrogen) with a very low moisture content into the body of an optical instrument to create a...

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

A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiode is a type of photodetector that consists of metal electrodes on a semiconductor...

A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing and quantum information...

A representation of the shape of a surface, including any roughness or other irregularities. The profile can be generated by...

1. In visual perception, the minimum value of stimulus that can be perceived on the average. 2. In optical detection...

Multiple, interconnected circuit elements, contained on or in a common substrate, that function as a unit and not separately.

A type of camera that has scales or other arrangements by which successive exposures can be lined up and equally spaced on a...

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

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in...

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

Virtual histology refers to the use of digital technology and computational methods to simulate or recreate histological...

Coating carried out in a sealed chamber evacuated by a mechanical pump in series with an oil diffusion pump to a pressure...

Phase matching is a crucial concept in the field of optics, particularly in nonlinear optics and the generation of coherent...

Pixel binning, also known as pixel merging or pixel combining, is a technique used in digital imaging and camera technology....

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

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

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

A device containing two photocells behind deep red and blue filters to measure color temperatures. The amplifier gain is...

Photolithography is a key process in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and...

Optical fiber that transmits a greater percentage of input light than does high-loss step-index fiber. Low-loss fiber...

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

The interaction of superimposed light from two separate sources that results in a combined intensity that is less than the...

Optical design and engineering services involve the development, customization, and optimization of optical systems and...

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

An accurately produced hole of any size and shape that is used as a masking device in an optical system. Pinhole apertures...

The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...

In digital data transmission, the separation of the two binary states into output at two frequencies.

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

A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into...

Imaging radar that increases the sweep of its along-track (or azimuth) capacity by measuring not only the time delay of the...

Hyperchromic shift refers to an increase in the absorption of light, leading to a higher absorbance, often observed in...

Dewetting is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where a thin film or coating spontaneously undergoes a process of...

The outside or covering layer.

A scintillation crystal, also known simply as a scintillator, is a material that emits light when it interacts with ionizing...

The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial...

A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that forms at temperatures close to absolute zero. It is named after...

Quantum efficiency (QE) is a measure of the effectiveness with which a device or system, typically in the context of...

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

A powerful and flexible machine-learning approach that can be used in machine vision to help solve difficult problems....

Also known as an eyepiece micrometer. A microscope eyepiece that has a finely divided scale ruled or photographed on a...

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic...

An interferometric method for describing the surface shape of large coated or uncoated optical flats. The procedure uses a...

The use of head-mounted displays and body-operated remote actuators to control distant machinery. Provides a virtual...

A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics....

A 3D profile sensor, also known as a 3D profiling sensor or 3D depth sensor, is a technology that is used to capture and...

A reticle, also known as a reticule or graticule, is a pattern or set of markings placed in the focal plane of an optical...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a...

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

Denoting the use of binary notation; i.e., the representation of data by bits (1 or 0).

Piezoelectric motion systems are mechanical systems that utilize piezoelectric materials to generate controlled motion or...

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small...

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

Optical fiber in which the attenuation exceeds the normally acceptable level for long-haul or data communications use.

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

A method of depositing crystalline films one molecular layer at a time, by dipping the substrate into water containing a...

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

An eyepiece having a special prism arrangement linked to a micrometer screw to allow reading of the angular relations...

A device used to measure the opening time of a shutter. The most common devices depend on the charging or discharging of an...

A form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may...

1. A lens situated at or near the plane of an internal image to project the aperture of a previous objective or erector upon...

A recorder that plots, on a chart, the interaction between two variables, not directly representing time.

Fixed-pattern noise is the measure of the static (nontemporal) differences between pixels when the detector is evenly...

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

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

Multi-axis alignment refers to the process of aligning or adjusting components or systems in multiple spatial dimensions or...

A semiconductor laser that operates in the infrared and that is pumped with strong pulses of radiation from a second laser....

Separation of incident laser pulses by several seconds so holographic plates can be changed and sandwiched between the...

A laser crystal, also known as an active medium or gain medium, is a solid-state material used in the construction of...

Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically...

A collection of color samples arranged in charts according to equal visually spaced steps in Munsell hue, value and chroma.

Uniform measure of time based on dynamics law and calculated according to planetary orbital paths; specifically, Earth's...

Histochemical staining is a laboratory technique used in biology and medicine to visualize specific chemical components...

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

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

Carbonization is a process in which organic materials are heated in the absence of air, leading to the decomposition of the...

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that involves the use of artificial neural networks to model and solve complex...

A measure of image quality produced by an optical system. May be specified in terms of cycles per millimeter, referencing a...

An instrument used for video or computer data storage in which a laser optical head is used to write digital information...

The optical element that receives light from the object and forms the first or primary image in telescopes and microscopes....

A camera equipped with angular scales in altitude and azimuth. The scale readings are imprinted on the film when an exposure...

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

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

A scale attached to a microscope eyepiece that is seen superimposed on the image and that is used to measure the dimensions...

The transmission of a color photograph by separating the colors into varying intensities of red, blue and green, and then...

In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit...

Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a technique used in photon counting applications, particularly in the...

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite characterized by its standardized size and modular design. CubeSats are...

A device used to count objects that pass a given point by allowing each object to obstruct a beam of light falling on a...

A concept used for purposes of preliminary calculations and analysis. In theory it is a lens whose axial thickness is zero.

A lumen is a unit of measurement used to quantify the amount of luminous flux, which is the perceived power of light. In...

A nonlinear crystal used to modulate a polarized beam of light by means of the Pockels effect. A Pockels cell is used as a...

1. That branch of optics that illustrates the theory in which q is substituted for sin q in Snell's law. Effective results...

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

In vacuum deposition, a device that removes contaminants from the vacuum chamber.

A reproduction made of an original grating -- usually by casting thermosetting plastics onto the original -- to avoid the...

A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into...

Number of pulses emitted per unit of time by a pulsed laser.

A mathematical transformation used in image and video compression that changes two-dimensional representation of data into...

1. A method of photographing distant objects with a lens of long focal length. 2. The reproduction of photographs over a...

A wave in which energy is focused near a boundary separating materials having different properties. Propagation of the wave...

An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic...

A self-healing, index-matching, nonporous coating for optical components that can eliminate production difficulties and...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture...

A sapphire window refers to a transparent optical component made from sapphire crystal. Sapphire is a single-crystal form of...

A solid-state device similar to an ordinary transistor except that incident light on the PN junctions regulates the response...

A measure of an optical system's ability to produce an image which separates two points or parallel lines on the object. See...

The cause of some forms of laser injury in which tissue absorbs incident laser light and experiences a damaging rise in...

An instrument consisting of a high-voltage vacuum tube used to form hard x-rays or high-speed ion beams. By partitioning the...

Equipment dependent on the effects of a vacuum. The principal applications in optics are in the coating of lenses and...

Technique that provides two stereographic views of an object that are larger than the object itself, by means of mutually...

Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the...

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

The addition to the information signal in communications of redundant bits that enable the originally encoded message to be...

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

For each mode in an optical waveguide, the term used to describe the process by which an electromagnetic signal is distorted...

The color process that is used to form positive color cine films by dye transfer or imbibition, based on the use of separate...

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of seventeen chemical elements found in the Earth's crust, characterized by their...

An equation that uses the wavelength of light passing through a medium, along with a set of coefficients, to calculate the...

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

The optical phenomenon that causes relative motion between two objects when the eyepoint is moved laterally. When parallax...

A breakout cable, also known as a fan-out cable or breakout assembly, is a type of cable that combines multiple individual...

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

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical...

A photoconductive cell having greatest sensitivity in the infrared region. The photosensitive material of the cell is lead...

A dial depth gauge graduated in diopters; a lens measure.

A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable,...

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that builds three-dimensional objects...

Noise over a specified frequency range, in which the spectral density is proportional to the frequency instead of being...

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...

A nitrogen vacancy (NV) refers to a specific type of defect or impurity in a crystal lattice where a nitrogen atom replaces...

Radiation similar in origin to spontaneous emission but determined by the presence of other radiation having the same...

A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a...

Carrier injection refers to the process of introducing charge carriers (either electrons or holes) into a semiconductor...

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state...

A repeater that is designed for digital transmission. Also called a regenerator.

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

The correlation of radiation between the phases of monochromatic radiation emanating from two separate points.

Describing the standard television method of raster scanning in which the image is the product of two fields, each of which...

The radiation emitted from a group of charged particles that does not depend on the temperature of the source in which those...

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

Flow chemistry, also known as continuous-flow chemistry, is a chemical manufacturing process where reactions take place in a...

A chart, either printed on paper or prepared photographically on glass plates or film, that consists of 3-bar resolution...

Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...

A means of determining a prism's index of refraction by placing the prism so that its emergent face is perpendicular to the...

Medical lasers are devices that produce intense beams of light with specific characteristics and properties, which are used...

The use of whiteness formulas to replace visual assessment.

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

Impurity in a semiconductor or any other electroluminescent device capable of inducing hole conduction and accepting a...

A homogeneous solid solution with crystal lattice sites occupied, at random, by the molecules or ions of two or more...

STED microscopy, or stimulated emission depletion microscopy, is a superresolution imaging technique in fluorescence...

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise...

1. An optical distance finder that depends on triangulation of two convergent beams on an object from disparate view points....

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...

An individual circuit component, complete in itself, such as a resistor, diode, capacitor or transistor. It is used as an...

Electronic circuit capable of distinguishing the pulses emitted by separate counters in a given time phase and determining...

A rapid roughing process for the quick removal of glass, the first step in manufacture of a curved lens surface. It is...

Output noise in a laser beam resulting from acoustic disturbances of mirror separation or orientation. Such disturbances may...

A neuromorphic vision sensor is a type of imaging device designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human visual...

Anisotropic is a term used to describe a material or substance that exhibits different properties or behaviors in different...

A group of four cameras loaded with different combinations of filters and film (one is usually an infrared color film) to...

A diffraction pattern sampling unit composed of a 32-element monolithic silicon photodiode array and a readout unit. The...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....

Referred to as SWCNTs, these cylindrical nanostructures composed of a folded sheet of graphene can be used as near-infrared...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal...

A crucible made of electrically resistive material through which a current is passed to heat the material inside, which then...

A projection printer that is capable of reproducing a multiplicity of images from a master transparency on a single support...

A specific, right-angle prism having a transmission grating replicated on its hypotenuse face and used in applications...

Any photographic medium that, when chemically developed, produces an exact photographic reproduction of the original.

The chemical method of separating compounds dissolved in one phase (usually mobile) through its equilibration with a second...

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

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a...

An instrument for eye surgery that directs intense xenon arc light through the transparent cornea lens to the retina where...

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional...

The difference in angular bearing of an object as seen by the two eyes, due to the separation of the visual optical axes.

An atomic clock is a highly precise timekeeping device that uses the vibrations or oscillations of atoms as a reference for...

The process of sealing laser components by means of frit seals, welding or bonding rather than using epoxy.

The study of visual perception by the sense of sight.

A high-frequency approach to the propagation of light in graded-index fibers in which the modal field is represented in...

A detector sensitive only to signals close to or at a particular frequency that is the same as the frequency of a control...

A numerical value representing the degree of contrast in a television picture: the exponent of the power law used to...

When a stereo pair of images is switched so that the right eye sees the left image and the left eye the right, the stereo...

A fiber optic bundle split along its length with the ends of the fibers extending separately to illuminate different points...

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent...

A departure from ideal paraxial imaging behavior. The distortion of an optical field wavefront as it is propagated through...

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

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single...

A coating made up of particular birefringent materials having polarizing properties. It may be used, in some cases, to...

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

An electron tube that is used as a camera tube for a television system. When the picture to be transmitted is focused on a...

The electrical power used to stimulate any light source. Power supplies may be step-up or step-down transformers; rectifiers...

Array used in coded-aperture imaging experiments with two-beam CO2 lasers that provide an artifact-free process, faithful...

Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of...

A PIN photodiode is a type of photodetector or semiconductor device used to convert light signals into electrical signals....

A telephoto lens form noted for its lack of distortion.

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals....

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of...

In a camera or cathode-ray tube, distortion that is designated by a lateral skewing of the reproduced image.

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

The radiation emitted in semiconductors when electrons in the conduction band recombine with holes in the valence band. If...

The term "metaverse" refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical...

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

In analysis, the carbon layer that is evaporation-deposited on a specimen to protect and ready it for study by electron...

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

A phase screen, in the context of optics and wave optics, refers to a surface or medium that introduces a phase delay to an...

A function that quantifies the performance degradation of coherent communications systems, imaging systems and all systems...

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

The recording of three or more separate holograms having a different color on a medium, so that illumination with a tricolor...

The condition in a multimode optical waveguide in which the relative power distribution among the propagating modes is...

An eyepiece consisting of a planoconvex field lens and a cemented doublet as the eye lens.

A method of measuring total hemispherical emissivity of the plane surface of a solid that consists of thermally isolating a...

Transparencies that represent progressive steps in the amount of transmitted radiation for administering predetermined...

Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the...

The departure of an optical surface from its required tolerance or figure.

Any system of time measurement that is based on atomic resonances. The transition times between the hyperfine levels of...

Full width half maximum (FWHM) is a measure of the extent of a function. Given by the difference between the two extreme...

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

A device to modulate spatially a collimated coherent beam of light with input data in optical data processing. It uses a...

The transmission and reception of information by optical devices and sensors.

A laser having a Q-switching method that allows separate parallel volumes of the lasing material to act independently of...

Also duty factor, duty ratio. The product of the pulse duration and the pulse repetition frequency of a wave composed of...

Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from...

A development aimed at extending the life of a tungsten filament. The iodine vapor in the lamp envelope combines with the...

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

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to measure and analyze the optical...

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to...

Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...

Epitaxial deposition is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing and materials science to grow a thin crystalline...

A method of growing single crystals in which atoms and molecules from gaseous organic compounds interact and form a layer on...

Introduced into the laser beam from localized fluctuations in current density within the plasma itself. These fluctuations...

A receiver for optical communications systems consisting of a symmetric binary, pulse-code-modulated transmitter, a...

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

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

A vacuum tube in which a magnetic field is superimposed onto the tube's electrical field. When the two fields are aligned,...

In semiconductor physics, the term bandgap refers to the energy range in a material where no electronic states are allowed....

In a visual optical system, the axial distance from the last mechanical surface of the eyepiece to the exit pupil.

A method for detecting vibration amplitudes analogous to image holography, except that the film emulsion is replaced by a...

An eyepiece similar to the Huygenian eyepiece, but having an eye lens that is a cemented doublet and that provides more...

1. The characteristic of how light propagates through a waveguide that can be designated by a radiation pattern in a plane...

In physics, the law of reversibility is often associated with the concept of reversibility in thermodynamics. The law...

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

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

The perception of depth due to binocular vision.

Abbreviated TEA CO2 laser. A gas laser that provides shorter pulses and higher peak powers than conventional CO2 lasers. The...

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline...

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

A method of producing magnified images by x-rays. The specimen is placed close to a point source of x-rays; the...

An image-forming system having curved mirrors in place of transparent glass components. Mirror lenses are commonly used for...

A panel of photoconductive and electroluminescent layers used as either a positive or negative image intensifier, depending...

In astronomy, the relative brightness of a celestial body. Originally a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 represented the brightest...

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...

1. A device used in chemistry to compare the colors of solutions held in flat-bottomed tubes and viewed along the length of...

A precisely defined series of steps that describes how a computer performs a task.

A pulsed laser that emits a recurring pulsed output. Frequency of the pulses emitted is known as pulsed recurrence frequency...

Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to...

An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2...

A telemicroscope in which a negative eyepiece is used to produce erect images.

A pathogen is a biological agent, such as a virus, bacterium, fungus, protozoan, or parasite, that causes disease in its...

A solar cell that is lightweight and flexible because of its construction by vacuum deposition of a semiconductor material...

A handheld navigational instrument used to measure the elevation angle of celestial bodies such as the sun. An image of the...

A vacuum deposition method in which the coating material (target) is removed from the surface of the coating source...

A disc whose surface contains recorded digital data at high-packing densities arranged in concentric rings. The data,...

Two microscopes that are coupled on a common stand, the two images being projected side by side in the field of view of a...

A filter that separates light into many colors via Bragg's law. Generally refers to a fiber Bragg grating used in optical...

A cathode-ray tube that either splits an electron beam from one source or uses beams from two sources to produce two beams,...

Holographic tomography is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and tomography to provide three-dimensional...

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

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

Oleophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or resist oils. The word oleophobic comes from the...

The number of separate images exposed by a cine camera in a second or the number illuminated by a cine projector in a...

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital...

A cathode-ray display where information is represented visually as spots. Each spot's location is represented by a...

A pair of stars (double star) that can be seen separately with a telescope, generally by setting a filar micrometer for the...

A specific form of phase shifting interferometry - commonly referred to as multiple wavelength phase shifting interferometry...

The base used to hold an astronomical telescope. It may be either altazimuth, with horizontal and vertical axes of rotation,...

A spectrophotometer in which the beam emitted by the radiation source is split into beams that travel through the sample and...

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

A long-pass filter is an optical filter that allows longer wavelengths of light to pass through while blocking or...

A hologram formed by reconstruction of multicolor wavefronts. The system used to produce the hologram is designed to combine...

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

Vision in depth of three dimensions as a result of the spacing of the eyes. This spacing allows the eyes to see objects from...

Factor that relates the pulse spread occurring in a graded-index fiber to that of an equivalent step-index fiber having an...

The observed time dependence of the transmittance of a step of radiation through a given medium.

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut,...

A graphic reproduction of an object formed by a microscope or another optical system. Also an instrument used to make tiny...

Also referred to as differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy; Nomarski microscopy is a unique form of microscopy...

A type of computer in which the electronic circuits, which process data serially, are replaced by photonic circuits capable...

In a lens, the square of the radius of its aperture divided by the product of the focal length and the wavelength. It...

The standards of MIL-O-13830 set by the US government relative to tolerable surface scratches and other such defects in an...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a...

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single,...

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the...

The elimination of magnetic moments and decrease in magnetic susceptibility with a decrease in temperature due to the equal...

A form of binary notation that includes a third code representing a stop between bits.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a laboratory technique used to detect and measure the presence of specific...

An electron tube that employs electromagnetic radiation to produce a visual replica of an image produced on its cathode....

A form of a stereoscopic microscope having paired objectives, prisms and eyepieces, and invented by H. Greenough.

A relay that opens or closes an electrical circuit depending on the intensity of the light incident to a photoelectric...

A small convergent lens, located between the objective and eyepiece of a microscope, that focuses an image of the upper...

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It...

A color space in which equal distances represent equal visually perceived color differences.

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...

An accurate cathode-ray tube display used to provide visual representation stored in a computer for the interpretation and...

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide...

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

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

In a pulsed laser, the pulse energy in joules times the repetition rate in hertz.

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical...

1. A solid figure whose base is a circle and whose sides taper upward evenly to a point or apex. Light rays diverging from...

The lens of an eyepiece nearest the observer's eye.

A type of mirage that creates a distorted vertical image of relatively flat objects so that they appear as mountains,...

A photodiode having a conducting grid that covers the surface of the photodiode junction and intercepts and wastes some of...

An experimental lens used to produce interference fringes. A positive lens is cut into halves along its center, and the...

Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...

The visual perception of motion when fixed stimuli are exposed in rapid temporal and spatial succession.

Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the...

An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...

1. A strainmeter capable of measuring the change in the relationship between two reference points, provided that the points...

A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of...

The grinding and polishing of rock samples, to a thickness of less than 0.05 mm, for study with petrographic microscopes....

A snapshot representation of the final image created by a computer program.

The technique by which an analog image is converted by any of several means into a finite array of points, each represented...

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

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) refers to a set of safety features and technologies designed to assist drivers in...

With relation to the equivalent beam candlepower of a searchlight, the candlepower of a bare source that would produce the...

Laser ablation is a process that involves the removal or erosion of material from a target surface using laser energy. This...

A scanner in which a fiber optic assembly replaces a lens system.

A moving group of fluid-suspended biological species directed through separate channels by which the population is isolated....

A filter designed to decrease the luminosity of the sky without decreasing that of the landscape in the foreground. A filter...

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

See color perception test equipment; eye test apparatus.

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

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a widely used molecular biology technique used to amplify a specific segment of DNA...

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

Hydrophilic is a term used to describe substances or materials that have an affinity for water. The word hydrophilic comes...

The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and...

With respect to the crystal, the decrease in energy that follows the process whereby the ions, separated from each other by...

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes...

Thin-film deposition equipment refers to machinery and tools used in the process of depositing thin layers of material onto...

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

In sensitometric testing, a series of areas progressing by equal density steps (usually the increments between steps are...

A small instrument containing a picture support and a pair of magnifying lenses so arranged that the left eye sees only the...

The smallest linear diameter to which a laser or other beam of radiant energy is capable of being focused, depending on the...

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of...

A mount that uses a floating suspension and a motor-driven gyroscope to keep a motion picture or still camera at a set angle...

The perception of visual stimuli at the left and right outer boundaries of the visual field.

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two...

A nanotube, also known as a nanotubule or simply a tube-like structure, is a nanoscale cylindrical structure composed of...

A transmission interference microscope that produces interference patterns of a sample by using birefringent plates that...

The measure of departure from a flat surface, as applied to lenses; the reciprocal of radius. Applies to any surface,...

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

States that in interferometers in which the separation of the maxima is equal to the half-value width, a slight drop in...

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

The direct influence of light on the magnetic susceptibility of particular materials.

Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of...

One of the two principal types of optical glass, the other being flint glass. Crown glass is harder than flint glass, and...

A semiconductor material in which the dopants create holes as the majority charge carrier. It is formed by doping with...

An optical fiber in which the core is of uniform refractive index.

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and...

In photography, the density gradient across an edge separating light from darkness, a physically measurable quantity that...

A type of laser spectroscopy used to measure short-lived isotopes by observing sudden bursts of fluorescence resulting from...

A compound lens so constructed that its overall length is equal to or less than its effective focal length.

An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...

Quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are semiconductor...

An avalanche photodiode in which the light-absorbing area is a low-bandgap material and the PN junction is placed in an area...

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that belongs to the powder bed...

The fiber optic connector standard for Nippon Telephone & Telegraph (NTT) installations, developed with Nippon Electric...

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

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the...

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

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera,...

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector...

In a microscope, the physical distance between the focal points of the objective lens and the eyepiece. The standard tube...

A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the...

A type of radiation detector that depends on the ionization produced in a gas by the passage of a charged particle through...

The ability of the instrument to separate wavelengths that are close together, numerically equal to the ratio of the shorter...

Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry...

In the context of electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, a wafer refers to a thin, flat disk or substrate made of a...

A group of adjacent pixels in an image representing the same value, as all black in a binary image.

In an optical waveguide,- typically a multimode fiber - the distortion resulting from differential mode delay, i.e. axial...

Similar to LASCR, except that all four regions are available.

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized...

Common name for a variety of adhesives used for lens bonding, fiber optic splicing and other photonics applications. The...

In computer imaging, a value representing opacity.

A step before fusion splicing that involves cleaning the fiber end with low-current electricity.

A calorimetric calculation from which the temperature vs. time dependence of any point on a sample can be determined,...

An amorphous film in which cylindrical bubbles of reverse magnetization can be formed to follow circuit paths usually made...

A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its...

Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by the presence of suspended particles. These...

Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the...

In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal,...

A microscope designed with two eyepieces (oculars), permitting the use of both eyes when viewing through the instrument.

A method of coding information in a communications system where the shift in the phase of an electromagnetic wave represents...

The mounting of a concave diffraction grating and a plate holder at the ends of a rigid bar. The ends follow separate...

The mean square difference in refractive index for two separate points in space.

Holographic recording whereby the object is illuminated by two pulses, separated by a time interval, from a Q-switched laser...

Ion-beam sputtering (IBS) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for depositing thin films onto substrates. It...

A display format consisting of small light-emitting elements arranged as a two-dimensional array. Various elements are...

A spatial light modulator consisting of a metallized polymer film stretched over an array of metal-oxide semiconductor...

A form of liquid crystal widely used in displays, achieved by sandwiching a liquid crystal material between two substrates...

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

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

Plasma-enriched deposition or planar magnetic sputtering that offers increased deposition rates in optical thin-film...

The ability of the two eyes to see an object from two slightly different points of view. This difference allows an...

The function that characterizes the quality of an optical system by denoting the modulation and spatial phase shift of the...

The law stating that the just-perceptible increment of stimulus is a constant fraction of the stimulus.