The determination of distance based upon the known size of an object and the size of its image at the image plane of an...

Photovoltaic (PV) refers to a technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductors. The term...

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique that combines the principles of Raman spectroscopy...

A bundle of optical fibers arranged randomly for the purpose of transmitting energy, not an image.

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

The optical process, following grinding, that puts a highly finished, smooth and apparently amorphous surface on a lens or a...

Refers to a notation system using a base of 3 and the numerical characters 0, 1 and 2.

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it....

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

A charge-injection device (CID) refers to a class of devices that manipulate and detect electrical charge within a...

An acronym for radioactive detection, identification and computation. The term refers to the detection and measurement of...

The average intensity of a light source measured over all directions.

A two-electrode, radiation-sensitive junction formed in a semiconductor material in which the reverse current varies with...

The movement of particles or ions in a solution toward the electrode having the opposite sign because of the application of...

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

Electromagnetic radiation with frequencies between 300 GHz and 10 THz, and existing between regions of the electromagnetic...

A moving group of fluid-suspended biological species directed through separate channels by which the population is isolated....

In a lens or other optical system, the image of the aperture stop as seen from image space.

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

In fiber optics, the use of a detector to study the range of refractive indices achieved at various wavelengths. This...

The function that characterizes the quality of an optical system by denoting the modulation and spatial phase shift of the...

The study and photographing of microscope specimens in ultraviolet light; using an optical microscope containing fluorite...

In photography, the density gradient across an edge separating light from darkness, a physically measurable quantity that...

A technique for measuring the energy spectrum of electrons emitted during the absorption of ultraviolet radiation. This...

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

The physical distance, measured along the optical axis, from the object to the image. Also called overall length.

A birefringent crystal having two axes along which there is an absence of double refraction. Mica, sulphur and turquoise are...

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

A technique used in photogrammetry to ensure parallelism during projection printing. Failure to do this will change a...

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

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

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a laboratory technique used to detect and measure the presence of specific...

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

The physical area containing an assembly of computer graphics equipment for presenting generated images and allowing...

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

An optically pumped solid-state laser in which the active medium is a neodymium ion in a glass rod host. Abbreviated...

The direct cladding used for fused silica cores to create large numerical aperture fibers and used as overcoats to...

A vacuum tube in which a magnetic field is superimposed onto the tube's electrical field. When the two fields are aligned,...

The transform defining that, if a reference beam is a divergent spherical wavefront, then the reconstructed image will be...

The layer of material in a laser diode from which the optical radiation is emitted; light producing region

Discipline within optical physics that addresses sound vibration, phonon effects and their influencing behavior within...

Handheld optical laser device containing a semiconductor or DPSS source. The output is corrected via internal collimating...

A precise telescope set on a pair of rotation axes, the horizontal and vertical axes equipped with two divided circles. One...

A process that employs heat to remove polyimide plastic coatings from silica optical fibers and capillary tubing.

A long-pass filter is an optical filter that allows longer wavelengths of light to pass through while blocking or...

A statistical method of dealing with a series of values where each value is squared, the mean of these squares is...

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

1. A geometrical arrangement of two or more light beams for use in laser shows, object detection or other applications...

A waveguide made up of a dielectric material, such as plastic or mica, in a cylindrical form, through which the waves travel.

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

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

A mid-infrared camera is a type of imaging device designed to capture images in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral range,...

A photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) refers to a type of laser diode that emits light from its surface rather...

Medical diagnostic (x-ray) imaging using laser printers to produce high-resolution digital hard copy instead of film exposed...

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

A contraction of quasi stellar. An astronomical object that appears to be a star but has a different, larger redshift.

A measurement technique used to determine the spatial distribution profile of an electrical or optical quantity of interest...

Hypothetical observer having standard color vision as described by standard color-matching properties.

Autofluorescence refers to the natural emission of fluorescence exhibited by certain biological structures or molecules when...

A neuromorphic vision sensor is a type of imaging device designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human visual...

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

The maximum aperture of a lens at which it will still give a sharp image, even though its physical aperture may be larger.

A photodiode having a conducting grid that covers the surface of the photodiode junction and intercepts and wastes some of...

Raman spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry and physics to study vibrational, rotational, and other...

In optics, the mechanical tension, compression or shear in optical glass due to internal stress caused by improper cooling...

The term "excimer," strictly used, refers to excited species made by combination of two identical moieties, atoms...

Lasers based on neodymium-doped yttrium or gadolinium vanadate crystals. These include yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO4),...

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

The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single...

Characterizes the significant solar radiation at the surface of the earth, so named because its spectral range extends only...

Spherical or chromatic aberration in a lens having a wide aperture. It is present because the refracting power varies for...

A receiver for optical communications systems consisting of a symmetric binary, pulse-code-modulated transmitter, a...

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

Optical elements that use diffraction to control wavefronts. Diffractive optical elements include diffraction gratings,...

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

Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine that focuses on the anatomy, physiology, and diseases of the eyes and visual system....

The condition in which the index of refraction in an optical fiber varies as a parabolic function of the radius.

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

Carrier injection refers to the process of introducing charge carriers (either electrons or holes) into a semiconductor...

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

Also known as aplanatic lens. A lens corrected for spherical aberration and coma.

In the optical shop, the process of positioning and marking a blank or lens before surfacing, cutting and edging.

A thick meniscus lens arranged concentric with the center of curvature of a spherical mirror to produce an image free of...

That plane in an optical system containing its optical axis and the chief ray. Also called the tangential plane.

Optical components exceeding 24 in. in diameter. The components are usually glass, acrylic or polystyrene and are used for...

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

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

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

1. The photosensitive membrane on the inside of the human eye. 2. A scanning mechanism in optical character generation.

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

A memory system composed of a stack of holographic plates, a mode-locked laser and a rapid detector array. Ultrashort laser...

A casting consisting of an optical material molded into the desired geometry for grinding, polishing or, in the case of...

Also known as an anticathode. An electrode or electrode section that is focused upon by an electron beam and that emits...

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

GaN (gallium nitride) distributed feedback (DFB) lasers refer to a specific type of semiconductor laser based on Gallium...

I/O stands for input/output. In computing, it refers to the communication between a computer system or program and its...

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

Optical glasses containing the oxides of rare earths such as lanthanum to impart a very high refractive index combined with...

A semispherical or conical lens created directly on the core of an optical fiber to focus light from a laser into the fiber...

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

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

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

The image error that results from astigmatism, coma, oblique spherical aberration, lateral color and distortion.

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

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

The binding of gas to a surface or in matter by chemical activity.

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

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital...

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

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

The term gradient-index profile refers to a specific type of refractive index distribution within an optical material. In...

A form of high-power microscope objective where the space between the object and the first element is filled with an oil...

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

An acronym for communications intelligence, referring to the collection of communications signals in the VHF and UHF...

The use of the photographic process to produce precision copies of an original image that are many times smaller in size....

A standard for fiber optic telecommunications interfaces, with a 1300-nm data link operating over single-mode fiber at data...

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

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

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

The fraction of incident light power in an optical modulator that is available to the output beam.

An imaging device whose technology contributes three specific advantages: ability to study large solid specimens that...

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

A family of semiconductor switching devices of which the silicon-controlled rectifier and the triac are most commonly used....

In electrical equipment, power variations that are temporary (as opposed to the permanent, cumulative effects of drift).

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

Pertaining to optics and the phenomena of light.

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...

A furnace used to heat glass materials. It may be a small laboratory-type furnace for small-scale experiments or large...

Sets of lenses (positive, negative and cylindrical) usually mounted in circular rims suitable for slipping into trial...

A device used for measuring the height of clouds from a position on the ground. Measurement technique uses a vertically...

An optical element that measures the phase difference between two components of elliptically polarized light to correct for...

A type of geometrical distortion that brings about a trapezoidal display of a nominally rectangular picture. Usually...

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

A cryogenically cooled component incorporated into the Dewar of an infrared detector assembly to maintain the sensing...

The region of the cathode-ray tube phosphor screen restricted by the tube and instrument specification.

A technique of optical storage whereby information is encoded by molecular alterations in the interaction between the...

An arrangement of optical fibers in a bundle whereby the geometric configuration of the input end differs from that of the...

The study of chemical reactions stimulated by the properties of light.

A fiber optic communications system that works on the principles of homodyning or heterodyning. The transmitting laser...

To control, by magnifying or reducing, the size of a televised image, either electronically or optically.

The radius of curvature that an optical fiber can bend without breaking.

A coating that is capable of stopping the condensation of moisture on an optical surface.

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video...

A crystal that is characterized by its relatively poor electrical conductance.

Holmium lasers are a type of medical laser that utilizes holmium-doped crystals as the gain medium. The term holmium laser...

A type of comparator with a telescope equipped with a cross wire mounted on a vertical sliding column. It is used to measure...

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

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between...

Laser drift typically refers to a phenomenon where the frequency or wavelength of a laser source gradually changes over...

The physical length of the light path in a substance divided by the refractive index of that substance. See also equivalent...

Characterizes an Earth-orbiting satellite whose orbit plane is near polar and positioned at an altitude that allows it to...

A type of matched filter that responds only to the phase of incoming light; the output has a much greater intensity than...

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...

The production of a block by attaching the optical elements to a plate by means of individual buttons of pitch or other...

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

The length of optical waveguide needed to attain equilibrium mode distribution for a specified excitation condition.

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

A high-power riflescope specifically intended for sighting and shooting distant targets.

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

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

Wide-field, low-magnification device that consists of two compound microscopes focused on a single object, producing an...

That wavelength at which the absorption of a given element or system begins to demonstrate an inconstant value.

1. The negative electrode of a device in an electrical circuit. 2. The positive electrode of a primary cell or storage...

The term photochemical pertains to chemical processes or reactions that are initiated or influenced by the absorption of...

The process of making an abrupt break in a spherical surface on a spectacle lens so that a new center of curvature is set...

The lowest frequency at which the magnitude of the fiber transfer function decreases to a specified fraction of the zero...

The exact mathematical description of the interactions of matter and intense electromagnetic fields, such as those that...

A laser or laser system positioned within an enclosure to prevent dangerous optical radiation from leaving the enclosure.

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 crystal consisting of a substance that has the ability to become electrically polarized and has strong piezoelectric...

A monatomic, chemically inert gas such as argon, neon, krypton and xenon.

The position and shape of the image of a point source, as predicted by geometric optics alone. The geometric image is to be...

Radiation emitted when a quantum mechanical system drops spontaneously from an excited level to a lower level. This...

In the context of electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, a wafer refers to a thin, flat disk or substrate made of a...

A semiconductor platelet laser that emits a coherent image by means of plane optical pumping over the platelet surface, and...

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

A type of radiation detector designed to recognize nonlinear optical effects, such as the Raman effect, by means of a...

The area closest to an aperture or source where the diffraction pattern differs substantially from that observed at an...

The radiation emitted in semiconductors when electrons in the conduction band recombine with holes in the valence band. If...

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

A device for extracting a portion of the optical signal from a fiber.

A very hard, highly transparent coating based on forms of carbon, used to protect optical components from abrasion 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...

The number of molecules in one gram mole of a substance, numerically approximated by 6.02 x 1023.

A camera system that uses a fine powder to diffract x-rays from the specimen. A beam of monochromatic x-rays passes through...

A threadlike inclusion within a blank of optical glass. Rarely found in quality optical materials.

Flow chemistry, also known as continuous-flow chemistry, is a chemical manufacturing process where reactions take place in a...

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

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

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

A computing paradigm that attempts to process information in a manner similar to that of the brain; it differs from...

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

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

The lens located at the object end of a microscope tube. A wide range of objectives is available, including simple...

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound made up of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). It is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material...

A lens made up of a dielectric material that is capable of influencing radio waves much in the same way an optical lens...

A spectrograph in which the flux density transmitted through the entrance aperture is regulated by an optical wedge or...

An adhesive used to hold optical components in their mounts. It may be a thermoplastic or chemical-hardening substance.

A device that couples a light source to an optical fiber by projecting an image of the source and the fiber core onto a...

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

Azimuthal polarization refers to a specific polarization state of light where the electric field vector of the...

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

The study of and classification of rocks.

The area of optics in which the wave nature of a particle is exploited to carry out very accurate interferometry and other...

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

The optically pumped, solid-state laser that uses sapphire as the host lattice and chromium as the active ion. The emission...

The size of the field of view in the object space of an optical system as differentiated from that in the image space...

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using...

A type of optical microscope that allows the specimen being viewed to be irradiated by ultraviolet, violet and occasionally...

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

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

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

1. Calculated distance between two exactly opposed points on a beam at a chosen fraction of peak power (typically 1/e2). 2....

Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the...

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

The physical thickness times the refractive index.

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

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

The study of chemical changes produced by radiation.

Laser ablation is a process that involves the removal or erosion of material from a target surface using laser energy. This...

In optical character recognition, a feature at the boundary of a character.

An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...

A large telescope mirror fabricated from several smaller sections.

A laser having a rod that is a stacked array of discs immersed in a transparent flowing coolant fluid. In this way, the...

A device used to scan, with a small, intensely bright spot, portions of a picture surface and to transform the original...

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

See Faraday rotation; optoisolator.

The technique by which an analog image is converted by any of several means into a finite array of points, each represented...

A permanent joint whose purpose is to couple optical power among two or more ports. Also, a device whose purpose is to...

A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a...

Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a...

A cold-cathode tube containing neon and designed to visually determine a potential difference or field.

A tiny lens (as small as 100 µm in diameter) used to focus light on charge-coupled devices, formed by heating a...

The effect produced by electrical charges or fields alone, without interaction with magnetic influence.

An angstrom, symbolized by the Ångström or Å, is a unit of length used to express atomic and molecular...

Derived from "self-focusing,'' Nippon Sheet Glass Co. (NSG) of Japan's trade name for graded-index fiber rods with parabolic...

A laser fitted with up to eight optical fibers that transmit the energy to different workstations in turn.

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

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

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional...

Application of radiation to an object.

Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative...

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) is a type of gyroscope that uses laser light to detect and measure changes in orientation. It...

An optical system that rapidly alternates two similar pictures or scenes to permit the detection of small dissimilarities...

The process of removing some of the constituents of a glass surface by chemical action.

A saturated compound of carbon and hydrogen used as a liquid coating material for optical components in high-power laser...

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

A two-mirror corrector for a parabolic primary mirror that provides anastigmatic performance for large astronomical...

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

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

The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a...

A densitometer having a receiver that indicates when a desired radiation level has been attained.

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

An instrument usually consisting of a very long interferometer, 3 to 800 m, and a laser light source for the study and...

A function that quantifies the performance degradation of coherent communications systems, imaging systems and all systems...

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

A spectrum that displays the distribution in mass or in mass-to-charge ratio of ionized atoms, molecules or molecular parts....

Device in which the various circuit elements are fabricated in different substrate materials and then appropriately joined...

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

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to measure and analyze the optical...

A lens that is symmetrical and designed to work between 1:1 and about 4:1. It covers a field of about ±20° at f/8...

Referred to as SWCNTs, these cylindrical nanostructures composed of a folded sheet of graphene can be used as near-infrared...

A complicated constant linked with the electron theory of the Faraday and Kerr effect. It demonstrates a specific value for...

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

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

The finishing of the edge of an optical element by grinding.

A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used...

The numerical definition of the ability of an observer to perceive fine detail. The average value may be taken as one...

A porous ceramic substance that is ground to a given optical form and on which a polished plate of glass is sagged by heat...

The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal...

Numerical scale of chroma devised by A.H. Munsell and exhibited in the Munsell Book of Color.

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline...

A combination of a polarizer and an analyzer that is used to detect birefringence or rotation of the plane of polarization...

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

An atomic clock is a highly precise timekeeping device that uses the vibrations or oscillations of atoms as a reference for...

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

A nanotube, also known as a nanotubule or simply a tube-like structure, is a nanoscale cylindrical structure composed of...

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...

Optical tweezers refer to a scientific instrument that uses the pressure of laser light to trap and manipulate microscopic...

A property of optical fiber that results from thermal stresses during manufacturing and is defined as the amount of...

A chamfer ground on the edge of a lens or prism. Bevels are used to prevent chipping or to achieve a mechanical fit.

A two-sided mirror suspended by a pendulum mechanism. An autocollimator set normal to such a mirror surface will, by...

A flat cylindrical device generally used to polish terminated ends in fiber optic connections.

A device that responds to incident light but does not generate light.

The unit angle, within an arc of a circle, equal to the radius of the circle (180/p°, numerically).

A fiber optic imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each...

An instrument incorporating an infrared detector assembly, used to analyze carbon dioxide gases and in medical applications...

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

Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the...

A laser whose pulses are expanded, using gratings and optical fibers, before amplification and compressed to increase beam...

A null optic in the form of a concave spherical mirror; used for the test and evaluation of a hyperboloidal aspheric surface.

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

Lenses that have identical flange focal distances and can be interchanged.

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

A physical stop that is conjugate to the entrance pupil and is used primarily to reduce diffraction effects at longer...

A lens, usually having one or more cylindrical surfaces, used to produce distorted images and later to restore them to true...

A device used to rapidly change the Q of an optical resonator. It is used in the optical resonator of a laser to prevent...

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

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

A method of designing lasers whereby the laser rod is cut into elliptical discs and cooled by running water over the disc...

The application of aerial photographs as a means of measurement in map making and surveying.

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

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

A part of the spectrochemical analysis of a sample that deals with the excitation of that sample by flame analysis.

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

1. The SI unit of length equal to 10-6 m. Also called micron. 2. A screw thread device used to make accurate physical linear...

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

The chemical method of separating compounds dissolved in one phase (usually mobile) through its equilibration with a second...

A device that measures the spatial distribution of energy perpendicular to the propagation path of a radiant beam. An energy...

The principle that states that optical instrumentation cannot increase the radiance of a source; the radiance of an image...

An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter...

An optical wedge of very small angles that admits light while sealing out moisture and dirt and that may be rotated to...

A fast, wide-angle lens used in television and photographic cameras, with excellent overall correction, but subject to...

A parabolic, elliptical, hyperbolic or circular section created when a solid cone is intersected by a plane.

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

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

An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements...

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

Calculates the exponential growth of the least stable spatial frequency in a laser beam, and is the numerical equivalent of...

A system used to measure very small displacement by electrical means.

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

An edge-emitting light-emitting diode is a type of LED structure where light emission occurs primarily along the edge of the...

A state in which an image is distorted by an optical system.

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

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

Also known as the Wiener spectrum or the noise power spectrum, the optical power spectrum is a fundamental quantity in...

That property of a substance that determines that all components of volume are the same in composition and optical...

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

Conventional coordinates for optical system analysis, the X-axis being the horizontal, the Y-axis the vertical and the...

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

A device used to delay transmission of a signal for functions such as memory loops, sequential processing or built-in...

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

1. Mounting a lens or mirror so that its optical axis is coincident with the optical or mechanical axes of other portions of...

A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or...

A light therapy that utilizes nonionizing light sources, including lasers, LEDs, and broadband light, in the visible and...

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

Amplification; the result of the excess of stimulated radiation over absorbed radiation.

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

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

Computerized lens design algorithm that permits the lens MTF characteristic to be included and controlled during the...

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

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

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

Ultrasonic refers to sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing, typically above...

A device used to measure the focal length of an optical system or lens.

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

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

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

CoaXPress (CoaXPress or CXP) is a standardized digital interface and communication protocol used primarily in machine vision...

A spectroscopic technique used in the detection of free radicals by virtue of their electronic spectra. In this method, an...

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the...

Certain color centers in the alkali halides have been optically pumped to produce efficient tunable pulsed and...

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

Intense scattering in the region of the liquid-gas critical point. At this point the gas will strongly scatter all light to...

The collection and analysis of data relevant to monitoring the rate and quality of industrial production, either...

In a single-mode optical fiber, the wavelength that causes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion to cancel each...

A flexible fiber cable with a small diameter that transports light from the excitation laser to the target. Used in Raman...

A transparent lead-lanthanum zirconate titanate ceramic with optical qualities that can be controlled by applying voltages...

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

A low-power telescope with a wide field of view, typically attached to a higher power telescope with a narrower field of...

Any of a number of instruments that uses a flame to vaporize a solution of the chemical being analyzed so that light may be...

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

A device using a parametric amplifier inside a resonant optical cavity to generate a frequency-tunable coherent beam of...

Also referred to as image visibility, the contrast of an image is the variation in the intensity of an image formed by an...

A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber...

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

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

The optical energy transfer between ions of differing atoms.

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

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

A photosensitive device used to optically scan and read character data (numbers, letters etc.) and input this data into a...

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

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

A time-to-amplitude converter (TAC) is an electronic circuit that converts a time interval between two events into an...

A strong, heat-resistant glass that contains a minimum of 5 percent boric oxide.

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

A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of...

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

An organizational method used in optical design computer programs. The technique produces one number (merit function) to...

An optical fiber in which ions of a rare-earth element, such as neodymium, erbium or holmium, have been incorporated into...

Brightfield refers to a type of microscopy and imaging technique in which the specimen is illuminated with a white light...

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

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

A defect on or in an optical element that does not appreciably impair the function of the surface.

Simulation of atmospheric turbulence for laboratory experimentation purposes, achieved by creating an unstable vertical...

Near the boundary or edge of the field of an optical system; the outer fringe.

The effect that the optical losses in a medium can grow when the medium is irradiated with light at certain wavelengths.

Observed lengthening in wavelengths of the optical absorption edge of a semiconductor with the application of an electric...

The process of grinding the concave surface of a sphero-cylindrical lens.

Abbreviated PAI. An imaging modality with a hybrid technique based on the acoustic detection of optical absorption from...

Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems...

An intensity distribution (intensity as a function of radial distance from the beam center) which is given by the Gaussian...

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

A compact optical projection system, mounted on or built into a helmet, and used to project data or a scene directly into...

Any noise with a power spectral density that is the inverse of the signal's frequency and is therefore most significant for...

Nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy is a microscopy technique that combines the principles of photonic...

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

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

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

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

An image affixed to a transparent photographic film or plate by photographic, printing or chemical methods. It may be viewed...

A defect in an optical system that prevents rays from reaching their intended destination; it can be caused by an undersized...

That characteristic which makes a weapon system less visible to radar, optical, acousto-optic, infrared and other military...

Text or images printed on paper or another tangible medium, as opposed to those viewed electronically on a cathode-ray-tube...

The angle between a light ray emerging from an optical system and the optical axis of that system.

A phenomenon in which high optical power, encountering an imperfection in an optical fiber, destroys the fiber's core and...

Inactive optically, but having the capacity for resolution into forms of opposed optical activity. The term is derived from...

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

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

A type of distortion in which the magnification varies in different orientations, the directions of maximum and minimum...

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in...

A disc composed of a series of holographic optical elements that diffract light at various angles. When spinning, a raster...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or...

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

Geometrical partition possible with a sphere that can be four, six, eight, 12 or 20 solid-angle wedges. Each platonic mass...

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

A photoanalytical instrument for analysis of jaundice conditions in infants that measures bilirubin (a breakdown product of...

The unit of the dose of any radiation that produces the same biological effect as one roentgen of x-ray.

The pattern of physical or chemical changes that has taken place in a photographic emulsion, by its exposure to light, that...

An optical element having plane-inclined surfaces. Usually the faces are inclined toward one another at very small angles....

Sets of paired lines carefully designed to give the most accurate pointing possible for various lengths of sight.

In data communications, the simultaneous operation of a circuit in both directions is known as full duplex; if only one...

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

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

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

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

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

The emission of radiant energy produced by the passage of an electrical current through an appropriate electrolyte in which...

In an optical data storage system, denoting the optical head's ability both to record information and to detect it for...

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

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

Coded image obtained optically with a nonredundant pinhole array imaging aperture.

The property exhibited by a substance having electrical conductivity that decreases as the intensity of the incident visible...

An optical system used to collect infrared energy from a scene using scanning optics with a point or line detector, as...

The control of free electron movement through the use of electrical or magnetic fields, and use of this electron movement in...

Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the...

A pulsed interferometer that permits the continuous quantitative mapping of the surface deformation of an adaptive optical...

A Pockels cell, also known as an electro-optic modulator, is an optical device used to control the polarization of light by...

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

Fluorescent proteins are proteins that exhibit the property of fluorescence, which is the ability to absorb light at a...

The minimum electrical current input needed to initiate lasing.

A type of interferometer noted for producing narrow multiple-beam interference fringes. As a result, when compared with the...

A spectroradiometer is a device used to measure the intensity of light at different wavelengths across the electromagnetic...

Calculation of peak and average transmission power at a given point along an optical fiber or cable.

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

A laser, usually employing helium-neon or other gases as the active medium, used for alignment in industrial applications.

A filter that separates light into many colors via Bragg's law. Generally refers to a fiber Bragg grating used in optical...

Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a...

The transmission and reception of information by optical devices and sensors.

A wave in the electromagnetic spectrum that has both electrical and magnetic field vectors in the direction of propagation.

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

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

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

In physics, the law of reversibility is often associated with the concept of reversibility in thermodynamics. The law...

The intermolecular attraction between two surfaces, as between a substrate and a coating; it is an important factor in the...

Used for high-resolution surface study with subnanometer resolution. XRIM uses interfacial phase contrast with application...

The term applied to the geometrical structure of radiometry or of the propagation of any quantity that is conversed and that...

1. In color development, the chemical that combines with certain by-products of the development procedure to form a dye. 2....

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

One optical element of a multielement lens. See optical element.

A system for automatic industrial process control or measurement, consisting of an optical module for image acquisition, a...

A laser that relies on chemical activity instead of electrical energy to produce the pumping action necessary to form pulses...

An image intensifier that uses electrostatics to amplify and focus the electronic image.

A device utilizing an electron beam for the observation and recording of submicroscopic samples with the aid of photographic...

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

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

A PIN photodiode is a type of photodetector or semiconductor device used to convert light signals into electrical signals....

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

Any material that derives its energy from chemically or electrically induced reactions; isotope or radium excitation is used...

In microscopy, a calibrated scale on a slide that may be viewed to determine the exact magnification factor of the...

A dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) refers to a type of optical fiber designed to minimize the effects of chromatic dispersion,...

In a perfectly centered lens, the mechanical axis (defined by the ground outside the diameter of the lens) is made to be...

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

A standard for fiber optic data transmission systems being developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and...

An image that is formed when rays emerging from an optical system all converge to a point on the optical axis. A real image...

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

The process by which laser emission is used in measuring fluid velocity and, more specifically, the detection of air and...

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

That part of a magnetic or optical tape or disc drive that retrieves data from or records data on the recording media.

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

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

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

The methods and techniques used to obtain medical photographs of the human eye. To photograph the exterior of the eye,...

A write-once optical disc storage system in which the optical head reads continuously while writing to check the accuracy of...

A statistical analysis of facts obtained when the intensity of x-ray diffraction is calculated at different angles. In this...

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization...

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

The alteration and reduction of color with the addition of white light. The perceived color shift that occurs as the...

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

A very high bandwidth communication line often used in fiber optics.

A mechanical or electronic device used to control the amount of time that a light-sensitive material is exposed to radiation.

Characteristic of optical analyses that are limited to infinitesimally small apertures. Also called first-order or Gaussian...

Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is an advanced imaging technique that provides information about the lifetime of...

The intensification of a latent image, because of exposure to light to which the emulsion is otherwise insensitive.

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

The acoustical holographic process in which the hologram consists of slight elevations in a liquid surface, in the areas of...

In an optical waveguide,- typically a multimode fiber - the distortion resulting from differential mode delay, i.e. axial...

A statistical method of dealing with a series of values where each value is squared, the sum of these squares is calculated...

A circular lamp or bundles of optical fibers placed around the perimeter of an objective lens to illuminate the object field...

A probe card is a testing device used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry to evaluate and test the electrical...

The increase in current of a phototube as a result of the gas in the tube becoming ionized.

In a microscope, a space reserved to accommodate an optical filter or polarizer.

The study of crystal growth from the molten stage utilizing a holographic system wherein interferometric techniques record...

A scale on an optical instrument that indicates the condition of focus. May indicate the distance to the object or diopter...

1. A term used to describe the clouded appearance of an incompletely polished surface that scatters light. 2. The...

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

The maximum variation in thickness of a lens as measured around a diameter centered on the optical axis. The ETD divided by...

The observation and measurement of the flatness of a mirror surface by contacting an optical flat with the mirror. The...

A medical technology that uses lasers or other light sources in combination with photosensitizing drugs to treat cancerous...

An optical instrument designed for the visual examination of the inside of the stomach.

A plastic used in molded optical components. Styrene elements can be combined with acrylic elements to produce achromatic...

A type of mirage that creates a distorted vertical image of relatively flat objects so that they appear as mountains,...

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

The liquid used in microscopy to fill the space between the high-power objective lens and the microscope slide in order to...

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

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

Phase contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy technique that enhances the contrast of transparent and colorless...

The pattern of microwave field intensity that can be obtained by detecting the minute expansion of a microwave absorber slab...

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

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

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

Participates in a reaction only in the presence of light and radiant energy. Besides 3D printing, photoreactive agents also...

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

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

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

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

A technology that uses electrically activated holograms stored within specially developed crystals to route information in...

A method of measuring microbending losses in optical fiber by sandwiching a length of fiber between two parallel plates,...

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

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the...

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

A straight line connecting the curvature centers of the refracting lens surfaces. In a mechanical sense, a line joining the...

1. An optical distance finder that depends on triangulation of two convergent beams on an object from disparate view points....

Modulator/demodulator. An electronic device that modulates and demodulates signals transmitted over communications lines.

A device that uses nematic liquid crystals sandwiched between fused silica substrates to change the phase of polarized...

A wedge in a rangefinder or heightfinder used to displace the image produced by one telescope so that it coincides with that...

A filter that creates spherical aberration resulting in an image with a soft outline.

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 variation in attenuation among the propagating modes of an optical fiber.

A mechanical, electrical, thermal or optical detector designed to identify and measure ultrasonic radiation.

Device used to measure the numerical aperture of a microscope, composed of a 14-mm-thick glass block with numerical aperture...

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

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

An optical medical instrument that uses an intense, precisely focused beam of light to stop weakened blood vessels from...

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

The modification of the spherical surfaces in an optical system to correct for spherical aberration.

A semiconductor is a type of material that has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. In...

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber in which the surface changes abruptly.

In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal,...

A piece of uniform birefringent material placed at a 45° angle to the plane of polarization in a polarizing microscope...

1.) Generally, the electromagnetic spectrum within the wavelength region extending from the vacuum ultraviolet at 40 nm to...

Calorimetry is a branch of science that involves the measurement of heat flow in physical or chemical processes. It...

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

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

A thin film of absorbing or nonabsorbing layers in which the absorption of radiation at any point is directly proportional...

In optical emission spectroscopy, the reduction in radiant power in the central portion of spectral lines arising from the...

The operation of a laser diode or other component prior to its use in its intended application, as a means of testing and...

A nitrogen vacancy (NV) refers to a specific type of defect or impurity in a crystal lattice where a nitrogen atom replaces...

The maximum level of laser radiation that a person may be exposed to without adverse biological effects.

Plates of glass containing as many heavy metal oxides as can be dissolved in the glass without causing devitrification. The...

In optical fiber, sharp but microscopic curvatures that create local axial displacements of a few microns and spatial...

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

In data communications, the instrumentation connecting two stations: transmitters, receivers and the cable that runs between...

A device, also called a fluorescence lifetime instrument, that measures decay curves of fluorescing samples. It generally...

An otoscope is a medical device used by healthcare professionals, particularly ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists,...

A material's ability to undergo plastic deformation, specifically elongation, without fracturing.

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

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

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

A semiconductor device with the property of conducting current more easily in one direction than the other. It has two...

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

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

An electrical problem that occurs when voltage is not the same with respect to ground at every node of a system, causing...

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and...

An OLED display formed by creating an array of OLED pixels connected by intersecting anode and cathode conductors arranged...

The point on an elliptical orbit about the Earth that is the farthest distance from the Earth.

Rolling shutter artifacts are distortions or visual anomalies that can occur in images or videos captured by cameras with...

The phenomenon that makes nonlinear the mathematical expression for the electrical polarization of a medium through which...

A process, either naturally occurring or mechanically induced, whereby water is changed from its liquid state into a vapor.

An electronic transducer, either fixed or adjustable, that reduces the amplitude of a wave without causing significant...

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

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

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

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

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

Blocking by means of a pitch ring, pitch button or a totally pitched block. Pitch, containing a soft filter, may be used...

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

Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to...

A tough, durable, heat- and cold-resistant optical quality plastic used in injection-molded items such as streetlight...

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut,...

E.I. duPont's trade name for a polyester film. The most practical beamsplitter for use beyond the 15-µm wavelength...

A lens aberration, resulting from different magnifications in the various lens zones, that occurs in that part of the image...

A gas lamp used in the early 1900s as a physical standard for measurement of luminous intensity. The Hefner unit was...

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

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

A camera that permits adjustments in the perspective of an image; this is accomplished by the camera design, which permits...

A laser radar application in which a sequence of direct measurements of target position is fed into a tracking filter to...

The physical center of the lens; it is on the axis of the lens, halfway between the front and rear vertex. It is sometimes...

Electromagnetic radiation detectable by the eye, ranging in wavelength from about 400 to 750 nm. In photonic applications...

Short-lived molecular or atomic particles, with an unpaired electron, that play an important part in many photochemical...

A solution containing colloidal silica particles.

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

A device used to control or block a light beam by means of the Kerr electro-optical effect.

The communications network between nodes of a data transmission system.

An electroluminescent semiconductor that emits low intensity radiation in the green or red regions. Used as an indicator...

A vibrational transition refers to a change in the vibrational energy of a molecule. Molecules consist of atoms that are...

A reflecting or refracting surface contained within an optical system.

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

A catadioptric lens assembly consisting of a Maksutov corrector and a spherical primary mirror.

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

Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by the presence of suspended particles. These...

A device that provides means for accurately moving minuscule tools over the surface of a microscopic object. The motion...

A crystal having identical lattice points.

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

Any photographic medium that, when chemically developed, produces an exact photographic reproduction of the original.

Qualitatively, the inverse of the amount of velocity produced by the application of a sinusoidal force to a system;...

Method of disk rotation used for optical disk drives, in which the spindle motor decreases the speed of the disk's rotation...

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

A method that embraces the classical approach to image restoration and attempts to minimize the mean square difference...

A high-intensity source of incoherent white light in which a capacitor is discharged through a tube of xenon gas; often used...

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

The inherent laser amplitude noise relative to the average optical power produced by the laser; the RIN decreases rapidly as...

The ability of the instrument to separate wavelengths that are close together, numerically equal to the ratio of the shorter...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a widely used molecular biology technique used to amplify a specific segment of DNA...

The recording of the information contained in a modulated electron beam onto photographic or silicon resin-coated materials....

An optical compensator similar to the Babinet compensator, but which produces a phase-change consistent throughout its...

The minimum amount of strength characteristic of an optical fiber, as determined by proof stressing; expressed in thousands...

Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) is a powerful technique that combines Raman spectroscopy with the enhanced spatial...

Prediction based on observations of nuclear masses in the valley of stability that indicates the maximum number of electrons...

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

An optical image having a brightly lit background.

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

A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped...

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

MTF analysis/measurement equipment refers to instruments and tools used to measure and analyze the modulation transfer...

The condition of the numerical aperture or beam diameter of the laser, LED, or other optical source being larger than the...

The tendency of charge carriers to spiral about an axis in a direction identical to that of an applied magnetic field that...

The distance between the center of the two concentric circles of an optical fiber that designate the diameter of the...

1. A piece of glass with plane parallel surfaces used to admit light into an optical system and to exclude dirt and...

A device, optical or electronic, that may be joined to a camera so that the operator may perceive the scene as the camera...

Also called DLIP, a high-speed, high-resolution processing technique that uses high-power, pulsed laser systems to directly...

A condenser that forms a hollow cone-shaped beam of light with its focal point in the plane of the specimen. If it is used...

A device that converts stored electrical energy into light by means of a sudden electrical discharge.

Collaborative Robot (Cobot): Unlike traditional autonomous robots, which usually work by themselves, a collaborative robot...

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

The optical reconstruction of image information contained in a sound field. First the diffraction pattern, formed by an...

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

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor...

An optical system with different focal lengths or magnification levels in perpendicular planes to the optical axis.

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and...

In television system specifications, the number of parallel horizontal black and white lines of equal thickness, that can be...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications...

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

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

A type of glass optical fiber that provides low pulse dispersion over a broad portion of the light spectrum and as a result...

Image displacement by a decentered lens, rotated on a chuck whose axis of rotation passes through the geometrical center of...

A near-infrared (NIR) camera is an imaging device designed to capture images in the near-infrared region of the...

A contraction of "excited dimer." The term refers to an excited species made by combination of two identical atoms...

An optical device that produces a line image lying along the axis from a point source of light; therefore, it has no...

Optical glass that possesses a refractive index equal to or less than 1.5, and an Abbe number that ranges from 62 to about...

The loss of optical power in an optical fiber because radiation escapes through its bends. The radiation loss caused by...

A lens or lens system used to transfer a real image from one point within an optical system to another, with or without...

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

A quantum dot is a nanoscale semiconductor structure, typically composed of materials like cadmium selenide or indium...

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

Optical fiber capable of operating at both a shorter and a longer wavelength.

Any ray through an optical system that is not a meridional ray. The plane created by a refracted skew ray does not contain...

A device that determines the lens shape in the cutting or edging phase of fabrication. It also is used to denote the...

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

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...

A laser having a material, such as ruby, that has an energy state structure of three levels: the ground state (1) wherein...

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

Photogrammetric compensation for incidental camera movement (which prevents attainment of true vertical photographs) whereby...

An alteration in magnification from the center of the field to any point in the field, measured in a radial direction from...

The analysis and measurement of the fluorescence emitted by a source. Fluorometric processes are more sensitive than light...

1. That action occurring when light passes through an optical interface at other than normal incidence, i.e., refraction. 2....

The unit generally used to express distances within the solar system, and sometimes to measure interstellar distances....

Optical elements arranged with no spaces between, so that the light travels only through glass, not air.

Older fiber optic cable that may not be suitable for state-of-the-art applications and that is difficult for suppliers to...

One of the first lasers to find practical application. Generally, the pumping mechanism is an electric discharge, although...

A linear or two-dimensional matrix of individual detector elements, typically used at the focus of an imaging system.

A chemical substance that exhibits fluorescence when excited by ultraviolet radiation, x-rays or an electron beam. The...

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...

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

The decrease in power that occurs when an optical beam or signal is transmitted through a system.

That property of a material indicating that it will react when exposed to light energy.

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

In a medium of constant refractive index, the product of the geometrical distance and the refractive index.

In the context of imaging, particularly digital imaging and printing, "orange peel" refers to a texture or visual distortion...

A technique that combines two or more imaging processes in order to minimize the disadvantages within each of the...

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

A pair of waveguides with axes normal to the plane and that guide uniform cylindrical waves.

A numerical value representing the degree of contrast in a television picture: the exponent of the power law used to...

The action of a biological system responding to a single or multiple coherent particles of light produced from a laser...

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

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or...

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

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

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

Indication of emission brightness with degree of emission from an optical source.

Broadband radiation emitted by a laser that does not transmit through the optical element. It can be removed by filtering.

the photography of very close, and typically small objects with a magnification of approximately 1:1

An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs...

The force that stimulates the emission of an electrical current when photovoltaic action creates a potential difference...

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

Intensity distribution in the image of an edge. The gradient of the edge-response curve is a measure of the image quality of...

In vitro is a Latin term that translates to "in glass." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and medicine, it...

A defect on a polished optical surface whose length is many times its width. Block reek is a chainlike scratch formed in...

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

An electrical or optical device used to convert color coordinates.

A term referring to an optical force field used to trap and stabilize particles acted upon by a force such as laser light.

A continuous-wave dye laser that uses a circulation pump and nozzle to provide an optically flat stream of dye across the...

An analytical technique used to determine the nature of extremely small samples by forming the x-ray spectrum of the samples...

The physical adaption of the eye lens, by means of ciliary muscle contraction, in order to maintain a clear, in focus image...

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

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

The alignment process that makes the optical axes of two related systems parallel to each other. Also, making the optical...

A spectroscopic technique that combines the high chemical specificity of Raman scattering and signal sensitivity provided by...

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

Extremely small organic and inorganic systems of molecules within a substance. In general, systems are colloidal size in...

A chart, either printed on paper or prepared photographically on glass plates or film, that consists of 3-bar resolution...

The occurrence of very large rotations in transparent materials at weak magnetic fields as predicted in the classical...

Powder used to produce a smooth optical surface through abrasive polishing. Compounds may produce a surface finish specified...

A light beam whose electric vectors are broken into two elements of unlike amplitudes that are perpendicular to each other...

A type of optical fiber in which a silica core is surrounded by a hard polymer or similar material much stronger than the...

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, defined as multiple surface irregularities across the fiber surface. A...

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

Characteristic of optical correlators in which invariance to more than one distortion parameter per axis of the processor is...

A convention that defines specific dimensions of an optical system, such as the image distance or radius of curvature of a...

The mathematical evaluation of an optical system to determine and quantify its basic optical properties and image quality...

A single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is a specialized type of photodetector designed to detect extremely weak optical...

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the electrodes used to focus the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube. As the electrode's voltage is changed, its...

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

A technique for confining atoms, molecules or small particles within one or more laser beams. This can be accomplished...

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

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

The formation of a block by attaching optical elements to a plate with a ring of pitch or other thermoplastic material.

The process of heating and slowly cooling a solid material, like glass or metal, to stabilize its thermal, electrical or...

An aberration occurring in a lens system when one or more of the centers of curvature of the optical surfaces do not...

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

Laser annealing is a process that involves using a laser beam to heat and modify the microstructure of a material, typically...

The study of the reversible conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. Electroplating is an electrochemical...

A method of determining prism power at any point on a lens. Prism power equals the product of the dioptric power and the...

The range of materials that, unlike glass, may be used in the infrared. Water-soluble salts, such as cesium iodide, and...

A fiber splice accomplished by fixtures or materials, rather than by thermal fusion. Index matching material may be applied...

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate...

An instrument capable of precise measurements of the Earth's gravity. This permits the detection of small changes in local...

The transport of molecules in a cell which requires the use of a cell's internal energy. The energy used in the cell may be...

A shaft, spindle or any object generally passed through a workpiece to hold, support or shape a particular piece during its...

A bandpass filter with piezoelectric crystal components for the passage or impedance of electrical signals of various...

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

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

A number that indicates the magnitude of the shift in a solid of positive and negative charges in opposite directions when a...

The end of an optical fiber farthest from the source of illumination.

An expression of the tolerance of decentration of a laser diode from the optical axis: the region around the axis in the...

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

A microcomb, short for microresonator frequency comb, is a novel photonic device that generates a precise series of evenly...

The total optical power loss caused by the insertion of an optical component such as a connector, splice or coupler into a...

1. The process of following an object's movement; accomplished by focusing a radar beam on the reticle of an optical system...

The formation of a dark-colored film on a metal surface by chemical activity.

An optical system that superimposes a synthetic display providing navigational or weapon-aiming information on a pilot's or...

The surface of an optical fiber that is used as a reference when joining optical fibers. Although the outermost cladding is...

A thermal-infrared camera, often referred to simply as a thermal camera, is a type of imaging device that detects infrared...

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

A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers...

A pattern on an oscilloscope display that consists of a string of shapes that resemble eyes. Because the pattern becomes...

The point on a cutting line that will become the geometrical center of the cut lens.

The name of the mixture of liquid and grinding or polishing compounds used in processing optical materials.

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

A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick...

A camera lens, used in macrophotography, that is designed and corrected to produce optimum definition of a nearby object...

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

In a lens or other optical system, the image of the aperture stop as seen from object space.

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

Not spherical; an optical element having one or more surfaces that are not spherical. The spherical surface of a lens may be...

In photolithography, an opaque material used in masks that has a lower optical density and grainier composition than chrome.

In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the refractive index varies along the direction of light propagation,...

An electro-optic system using, in general form, an evacuated glass envelope with a semitransparent photocathode at one end...

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

A method of growing single crystals in which atoms and molecules from gaseous organic compounds interact and form a layer on...

A two-stage illuminating system for a microscope in which the source is imaged in the aperture of the substage condenser by...

Photochromic refers to a property exhibited by certain materials, typically organic compounds or dyes, which undergo...

The mechanical centerline through the core of an optical fiber.

A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane...

A light-sensitive detector having a chemical compound that reacts when exposed to light. It is used in photochemistry and...

Plastic in which the polymer chains become irreversibly joined during molding. The cross-linking can be achieved by heating,...

A color center, in the context of materials science and condensed matter physics, refers to a specific type of...

Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) refers to the portion of the infrared spectrum that encompasses wavelengths roughly between...

A method of erasable optical data storage in which information is stored by visible light, then read by illumination with an...

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

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

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

A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary...

The recording and mathematical analysis of all spectral intervals of the spectrometer simultaneously.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a method for detecting antigens or haptens in cells of a tissue section by using labeled...

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

A technique of using dyes during endoscopy to improve tissue differentiation. Dyes such as methylene blue, Toluidine blue...

A substance that transmits the infrared, but which is too delicate or fragile to be used in the form of a single crystal....

An endoscopic surgical instrument that includes a channel for the introduction of supplementary instruments.

An instrument used to record rapidly varying currents or voltages. An oscillograph may consist of a cathode-ray tube...

A type of adsorption in which the adsorbed layer is attached to the adsorbent surface by an attractive force between the...

A layer of material applied to a coated surface to protect it from physical or chemical action.

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

A physical variable that is proportionally similar to another variable over a specified range. An analog recording contains...

Generic term for read-only optical data storage, source of the Philips-Sony term CD-ROM.

Data communications network in a clearly defined geographical location, and extending no more than a few miles in length. It...

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

That point in the electromagnetic spectrum at which an optical system focuses the most chemically effective rays.

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

A term for thermoplastic optical materials; that is, those in which the polymer chains remain linear after heating and...

Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its...

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) refers to a technology that converts heat energy into electricity using the principles of...

An optical fiber's absorption of electromagnetic waves due to hydroxyl ions remaining after contact with water.

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of...

The study concerned with the stimulation of chemical activity by laser light as a result of the absorption of photons by a...

Mathematical compensation for the nonhydrogenic behavior of recombination radiation levels of gases, based on the quantum...

A device used to compare the luminous intensities of two sources by locating a point between the two light sources where the...

The amplitude modulation through the application of modulating voltage to the cathode circuit.

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

Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or...

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

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

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...

In positioning, in-plane rotation about the vertical axis. Also known as azimuth.

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

Laboratory experiments that focus on demonstrating new capabilities of a certain technology or device, usually without...

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

The small central portion of the human retina that is responsible for providing the clearest, and most distinct aspects of...

Energy loss encountered at connectors in optical fiber transmission systems. The major contributors are mutual core...

A device that utilizes avalanche multiplication of photocurrent by means of hole-electrons created by absorbed photons. When...

A multilayered thin-film device used to modulate transmitted light in integrated photonic circuits.

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

A homogeneous optical medium or coating that transmits only in particular regions of the spectrum. It is used to change or...

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

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

A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized...

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

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

A filter designed to decrease the luminosity of the sky without decreasing that of the landscape in the foreground. A filter...

A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable...

An instrument that transforms heat energy into electrical energy.

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

A cooling system used to attain and maintain desired low temperatures in infrared systems. The Stirling type is a mechanical...

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

An optical matrix that does not require perfection in both states of the crosspoint, so that all the optical switches can be...

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

Nondestructive measurement of the delta and alpha of clad optical fibers that involves interferometry with the fiber...

Pushbroom scanning is a technique used in remote sensing and imaging systems, particularly in satellite and aerial sensors,...

A dispersion relation defined in order to value the reciprocal amount of dispersion. It is defined as the refractivity over...

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

A thermometric instrument used for the detection and measurement of radiant energy. Its essential component is a short...

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

The change in refractive index that occurs as acoustic vibrations are transmitted through an optical material.The index...

A photographic recording instrument that measures deviation from the vertical of a drilled well or mine.

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

The holographic recording of a microscopic specimen whereby magnification is achieved by alteration in a wavelength or...

The radiography of small objects having detail too fine to be seen by the unaided eye. The resulting negative, when...

The linear relationship between input and output optical fields for a given optical system or application that allows the...

An assembly of optical fibers that will not transmit coherent images or information because the relationship of the fibers...

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

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic...

Fluorescence lifetime refers to the average time it takes for a fluorophore, a molecule that absorbs light at one wavelength...

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

A technique for determining the nonlinear optical properties of a sample material by moving the sample through a focused...

Quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are semiconductor...

A crystalline ferroelectric material used primarily as a substrate and an active medium for thin-film optical modulators and...

The process whereby the shape of an optical surface is altered by polishing.

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

An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.

The specification of allowable flaws in a surface by comparison to reference standards of quality. Two graded sets of...

A bundle of rays that originates from an object point on the optical axis of a lens system.

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...

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

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

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

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...

The application of reversible writing with a laser beam on particular storage materials. In one method, an amorphous film is...

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

An experimental model of an electrical circuit or complex assembly; a prototype.

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

The removal of a sharp edge on an optical element by grinding, to prevent accidental chipping of that edge during subsequent...

In a fiber optic transmission system, the conversion of received optical pulses directly to an electrical signal.

With respect to a television system, a pulse transmitted at the end of each field to break off the cathode-ray beam as it...

A device employed to identify toxic agents lingering on the ground or in the air from up to three miles away, by using laser...

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

Directed energy refers to a type of energy that is emitted and transferred in a controlled direction. The term is often...

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

The product of the actual base or baseline of a rangefinder or heightfinder, and the power or magnification of the...

The process whereby a quantum mechanical system alters from one energy level to another. During this process, energy is...

An excited energy state of an atom or atomic system that has a longer lifetime than the ordinary excited state and typically...

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

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

The application of coating without heating of the substrates.

A telescope similar to the customary Cassegrain telescope, but having a primary mirror that is ellipsoidal and a secondary...

A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and...

A semitransparent mirror in an optical system that combines two or more output beams into a single coaxial beam.

An instrument used to detect and measure radiant energy by the formation of a chemical reaction.

In the context of materials science and semiconductor physics, doping refers to the intentional introduction of impurities...

An array or mosaic of optical surfaces. May be a number of lenses closely packed to form multiple images or many parallel...

The number of bound modes that an optical waveguide is capable of supporting.

1. The process of aligning the optical axes of optical systems to the reference mechanical axes or surfaces of an...

1. An instrument used to measure the opacity or density of dyes, pigments or dispersed particles that form an image in or on...

A series of solar cells arranged to collect solar radiation and to generate a given amount of electrical energy.

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

A type of high-speed cine camera that uses different image paths and a Kerr cell to produce a series of successive images at...

A cathode-ray display where information is represented visually as spots. Each spot's location is represented by a...

A device used to control or block a light beam by means of the Kerr electro-optical effect, and other electro-optic devices...

A coating having pigments that change color when exposed to heat. This effect has been widely used to monitor hot spots in...

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

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

A manufacturing process used to construct substrates for large optical components. Used with IR materials, planform bonding...

The part of an electrical circuit in which the electrons leave (a cathode-ray tube) or enter (an electrolytic cell) a unit...

Standard maintained by the International Commission on Radiological Units as a unit of radioactivity defined as the quantity...

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through...

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It...

Pyramid error in optics refers to an aberration in the shape of an optical surface, particularly in the context of mirrors....

A method that produces low-loss optical fibers. A glass tube rotates while reactants pass through the tube and heat is...

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide...

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

A controlled random search process, such as generalized simulated annealing, that has been incorporated into many optical...

An image, real or virtual, whose spatial orientation is identical to that of the object. The image obtained at the retina...

A system that satisfies the Abbe sine condition, and is free from spherical aberration and coma.

With respect to television, the returning direction of the electron beam during the vertical blanking period.

1. A group of optical fibers that are fused and then treated to produce a vacuum-tight optical fiber cone or plate. 2. An...

A plate of electro-optical material that serves to rotate the plane of polarization of a light beam.

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

The mathematical set of equations showing the relationship between oscillating electric and magnetic fields that are...

In optical fiber, bends that are larger than microbends (see microbending), being visible. Generally they are caused by...

Light diffracted by a solid (usually quartz in crystal or fused form) traversed by acoustic waves. If the ultrasonic...

1. A device used in chemistry to compare the colors of solutions held in flat-bottomed tubes and viewed along the length of...

A protective jacket added to an optical fiber to facilitate use in harsh environments. Armor usually consists of steel or...

A surgical procedure for correcting vision by reshaping the outer surface of the cornea through the use of a laser system.

A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to...

A medical imaging device that uses a ring of crystal/photomultiplier tube assemblies encircling the patient to detect gamma...

That process by which radiation spontaneously emitted by a volume of optical materials is resonantly reabsorbed within the...

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

A material often used in the construction of optical instruments because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion (0.9 x...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...

The process by which an atomic system changes from one energy level to another by either the emission or absorption of...

A measure of the optical path length for light traveling from the sun or other celestial source through Earth's atmosphere...

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...

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

An electrically conductive layer for carrying off static charges that might accumulate on a surface.

1. A thin parallel plate of material that transmits in the infrared region. See infrared optical material. 2. A spectral...

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

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...

An instrument used to determine the absolute or relative scatter levels of optical surfaces.

With respect to color photography, the measurement of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical...

A communications system that can transmit in only a single direction at a time. See duplex.

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...

In optical communications, the translation of optical signals into radio signals, lowering their frequency in detection from...

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

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

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

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

A strand of aramid yarn, steel or fiberglass in an optical cable intended to prevent bending or stretching that would damage...

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

In a fiber optic communications network, a circuit that connects two switching centers and does not branch off to terminal...

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

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

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

In a laser, the voltage necessary to initiate electrical discharge, somewhat higher than that needed to sustain it.

In optical character recognition systems, the identification of a character facilitated by means of known factors governing...

A transparent crystalline substance that displays the same optical properties (i.e. refractive index) in all directions such...

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

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

A photographic or electronic recording of an optical interference pattern.

Description of an optical system in which all the elements are aligned on the same axis.

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

A method of polishing an aspheric surface by mechanically distorting the optic while polishing the surface to a perfect...

That branch of science involved in the study and utilization of the motion, emissions and behaviors of currents of...

With respect to color photography, the measurement, at a given wavelength, of the way the color film modulates the radiant...

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

A term used to denote a difference in magnification along mutually perpendicular meridians. Anamorphic systems are basically...

A variation in propagation delay caused by differences in group velocity among modes of an optical fiber. Also called...

A highly flame-retardant material used to jacket fiber optic cables, especially on shipboard applications.

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

The process whereby the number of atoms or atomic systems in a set of energy levels is changed by the absorption of light...

A technique used to measure the mode-field diameter of an optical fiber by scanning one fiber past another at a distance of...

A technique developed by British Telecom in which the viscous drag of air is used to install optical fibers in narrow...

The disordered, glassy solid state of a substance, as distinguished from the highly ordered crystalline solid state....

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

The apparent luminance of the image as seen through an optical system. This brightness of the image is determined by the...

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

Diffraction efficiency is a measure of how effectively a diffractive optical element (DOE) or diffraction grating directs...

In an optical system, the space between the object being viewed and the system entrance pupil.

A medical imaging method in which gamma camera heads rotate about the patient to detect radionuclides, enabling physicians...

A photorefractive material used in image processing, holography and optical switching.

An electrically excited laser having carbon monoxide as the lasing material and in which lasing occurs in a partial...

An instrument used to measure the duration of fluorescence emanating from a biological sample to monitor and evaluate its...

The graphic recording of physical changes vs. time, in electrical quantities, using an oscilloscope.

A device used to determine the location and attitude with respect to the Earth of orbiting spacecraft by detecting the...

An infrared transmitting material used in the production of fluoride glasses for optical fibers.

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

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

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...

An optical system that is corrected chromatically for three colors simultaneously.

Optical source intended to reduce bleeding as well as to abet wound or vessel healing through cauterization, used in eye...

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

An instrument designed to measure the numerical aperture of an objective.

A photomask, also known simply as a mask or reticle, is a key component in the photolithography process used in...

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

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

A type of paper chromatography that produces a chromatogram that is horizontal instead of vertical.

The use of photonic devices rather than electronic devices to make connections within and between integrated circuits.

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

SI unit of luminous intensity. It is defined as one sixtieth the normal intensity of one square centimeter of a blackbody at...

The combination of two or more signals for transmission along a single wire, path or carrier. In most optical communication...

The fraction of available output from a radiant source that is coupled and transmitted by an optical fiber.

Scalar diffraction theory is a simplified approach used to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves, particularly...

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

A compound lens consisting of two negative lenses of flint glass. A double-convex lens of crown glass is cemented between...

A high-resolution imaging instrument that can detect and measure the positions of individual atoms on the surface of a...

A type of birefringent filter, similar in principle to the Lyot filter, consisting of many identical birefringent elements,...

A method of producing large volumes of plastic optical components in which powdered or sheet plastic is pressed between...

A conical or cylindrical package of light rays emanating from a common point on the object.

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

A composite derived from aluminum alloy powder and silicon carbide, used as an optical substrate in air- and spacecraft...

The use of mathematical analysis to derive solutions in the science of photogrammetry.

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

The measurable leakage of optical energy from one optical conductor to another. Also known as optical coupling.

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

An instrument that photographs the spectra of an extraterrestrial object.

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

The physical limit of an optical fiber or cable to withstand an applied force or weight perpendicular to the axis of the...

The application of a constant stress to an optical fiber.

Abbreviated TEA CO2 laser. A gas laser that provides shorter pulses and higher peak powers than conventional CO2 lasers. The...

A change in the refractive index of an optical fiber caused by variation in the length of the fiber core in response to...

An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other...

Protective material surrounding the cladding of an optical fiber that allows the fiber no play within it.

A method of focusing an optical system by moving the front component (the lens closest to the subject) to change the...

An optical channel monitor (OCM) is a device used in optical communication systems to monitor and analyze the performance of...

A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical...

The current that flows in a photodetector when there is no optical radiation incident on the detector and operating voltages...

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of...

An infrared-transmitting optical fiber with a hollow core; it can be square, round or rectangular in cross section. Capable...

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

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

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

The electrical distribution that serves to influence an electron beam in the same way that an optical lens affects a light...

A type of holographic film widely used for industrial applications because it is inexpensive and erasable.

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

A ground-based navigation beacon that emits pulsed signals which are picked up by aircraft making an instrument (blind)...

Electromagnetic energy that is capable of producing photochemical activity.

The distance between the object and the cornea, or the first surface of the objective in an optical device.

A thermal source that emits less radiation than a blackbody under identical temperature conditions.

A form of an element that cannot demonstrate optical activity as a result of dextrogyrate and levogyrate effects that are...

Having a longer axis that is relatively vertical.

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...

A reagent is a substance or compound that is used in a chemical reaction to bring about a specific transformation or to...

A copolymer of styrene and acrylic used in molded optical components; it has a high refractive index and a low coefficient...

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

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

The mathematical expression of the probability of any given state of energy being occupied when a semiconductor is in...

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

A type of interferometer in which two coils of optical fiber are arranged so that light from a single source travels...

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

Describes incident radiation propagating parallel to an externally applied magnetic field in magneto-optical experimentation.

Term used to describe an optical surface that contacts the test glass only at its edges.

A theoretical, ideal lens capable of producing perfect images. Used as a lens design and analysis tool to image collimated...

The collection and detection of x-rays by virtue of their ionizing properties. The ionization may be perceived directly by a...

A ray that behaves according to paraxial equations; one that lies close to and almost parallel to the optical axis.

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

A gelatinous fluid that can be used as a porous thin-film coating for optical components, including laser beam collimators,...

The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against...

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

A class of optical phenomena that can be viewed only with nearly monochromatic, directional beams of light, such as those...

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

In a communications network, a point at which data are received or from which they are sent. Though the term often is used...

A lens that exhibits spherical aberration when used at large aperture settings, and that forms an image with a slightly...

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

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

An inspection device in which the profile of a mechanical part is projected onto a ground-glass screen at a precisely known...

A laser with output over a wide range of wavelengths spanning the far-infrared region of the spectrum (30 to 1000 µm);...

The optical power loss caused by a space between axially aligned fibers.

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

A passive coupler that distributes signals from one or several inputs among a larger number of output waveguides arranged...

Also called proximity focus image intensifier. A compact image intensifier that utilizes a microchannel plate...

A source made to glow by electrons that are produced either electrically or by isotopes of various elements.

A piece of glass, pyrex or quartz having one or both surfaces carefully ground and polished plano, generally flat to less...

Also known as TEA laser. A coherent optical source with a wide wavelength range in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet...

The relative path difference (or phase shift) traveled between two rays that pass through different mediums from the same...

An instrument designed to give a visual indication to the pilot when the plane has strayed from a specific flight path.

An aerial photograph produced when the optical axis of the camera is perpendicular to the surface below.

A cosmic phenomenon in which the mass and density of a star pass a critical point so that the escape velocity matches the...

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

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

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

A special evacuated camera equipped with means for holding a specimen and bombarding it with a sharply focused beam of...

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

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

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

Also termed eye distance. The distance between the vertex of the last optical surface of a visual optical system and the...

A method of producing magnified images by x-rays. The specimen is placed close to a point source of x-rays; the...

Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or...

A mode possessing components of both electrical and magnetic field vectors in the direction of propagation.

An optical storage product that can be used for playback only.

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

The mechanical modification of the shape of the cornea to correct a vision defect.

With respect to a crystal, the characteristic of possessing two ends symmetrical with each other.

Also known as ground level. The lowest energy level of an atom or atomic system. A material in the ground state is not...

A method of fabricating a graded-index optical waveguide by means of an ion exchange process.

Radiographic recording and enhancement of the micoscopic details within the structure of thin specimens at a high...

A precision lens designed to convert the plane wavefront output of an interferometer to a spherical wavefront for the...

coma, fifth order aberration with on-axis focal point variation with incident off axis ray height position

In optics, the double refraction that is produced when stress is applied to a transparent material. Plastics, which are...

An amorphous film in which cylindrical bubbles of reverse magnetization can be formed to follow circuit paths usually made...

An optical material used in place of crown glass to produce lenses with extraordinary correction of chromatic aberrations....

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

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

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

A YAG crystal refers to a solid-state crystal made of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), which is a synthetic crystalline...

1. The grinding or edging of a lens so that the geometrical center and optical center do not coincide. 2. The shifting of an...

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

A lamp designed to emit a large amount of infrared radiation; used in applications requiring heat.

A camera that uses an image converter tube in such a way that voltage waveforms applied to internal electrodes cause the...

A cylindrical lens that may be rotated to distort a bundle of light originating at a point source, to form a line image.

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

The total scattering attributable to the intrinsic properties of the materials through which an optical wave is propagating.

An image that is formed when rays emerging from an optical system are diverging from the optical axis. The virtual image is...

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

Measure of the interference fringe pattern produced by the forward scattering of light by an optical fiber; the fringe...

In gradient index optics, a gradient profile in which the refractive index varies symmetrically about a point.

A permanent, transparent, and highly transmissive adhesive capable of withstanding extreme temperatures that is applied to...

The horizontal distance between the 90° meridian of a bifocal lens and the geometrical center of the segment.

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

The ability of an electrical current to destroy superconductivity by means of the magnetic field generated by the current....

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

Anisotropic is a term used to describe a material or substance that exhibits different properties or behaviors in different...

Neuromorphic refers to the design and development of computing systems or devices that are inspired by the structure and...

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

An impurity-doped silicon detector array sensitive to long infrared wavelengths, installed in optical collecting systems...

1. A mechanism that permits the focusing of an optical system.2. A means of obtaining the sharpest image from a cathode-ray...

Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the...

A device designed to measure electromotive force or electrical difference potential.

The ratio of the size of the image of an object to that of the object. The ratio of the linear size of the image to that of...

The curved boundary between two optical media of different refractive indices, which causes convergence.

In an optical waveguide, the refractive index as a function of radius.

Literally, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet. A cylindrical rod of yttrium-aluminum-garnet doped with neodymium that is the...

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical...

In a lens, the square of the radius of its aperture divided by the product of the focal length and the wavelength. It...

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

The mechanical structure that holds a number of individual lens elements.

An anastigmatic lens with a thick meniscus construction that flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical...

A mechanical fixture, generally a rigid tube, used to confine the stripped end of a fiber or a fiber bundle.

In an interlaced scanning electro-optical system such as television, the system resolution will be less than the number of...

A solid-state device, composed of silicon, that is used to convert radiation into electrical energy.

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such...

1. In optics, one of the exterior faces of an optical element. 2. The process of grinding or generating the face of an...

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

The method used to measure the index profile of an optical fiber by placing it in an interferometer and illuminating the...

A method of studying the chemical and physical properties of atoms and molecules (typically living tissue and chemical...

Magnification that is above the level of maximum useful magnification and does not contribute useful resolving power. In a...

An electromagnon is a quasiparticle excitation that combines aspects of both magnetism and electric polarization in a...

The application of ultraviolet, x-ray, infrared and conventional photography to law enforcement.

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

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

A blank area (caused by insufficient inking of the paper) that falls within the range of an intended character stroke in an...

A coherent optical fiber bundle in which the configuration is flat rather than round, giving an output in a line.

An instrument that uses optical filtration in order to measure the transmittance for a discrete range or specific number of...

A technique for detecting free radicals by their electronic spectra. The material to be studied is placed in a...

A variable focal length lens system that retains the object in focus as one or more lenses move as a unit along its optical...

A camera mounted on an optical bench with an easel to hold the material to be copied. Magnification can be varied over a...

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

Any optical transmission channel used in telecommunications designed to connect two end terminals or to be connected in...

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image...

A method of analysis in which a pulsed laser beam is used to heat a particle, producing a plasma, or laser spark. As the...

With respect to microscopy, also called dispersive staining, optical staining the projection of colors through areas of a...

A small erect-image telescope for use as a sighting device on a rifle. The chief requirement is a long eye relief to avoid...

In interlaced television scanning, an effect in which the lines of one field fail to fall exactly within the lines of the...

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from...

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

The theoretical explanation and analysis of the interactions between electron waves and crystals used in studying electron...

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

An intermolecular substance that serves to hold materials together. Two types are used in the optical industry: one, which...

Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry...

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

A calculated measure of the ability of an incident force to cause an object to spin. The spin speed of any given object is a...

See optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR).

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

Having properties resembling those of light- waves; e.g., the propagation of waves in the television spectrum.

Angular deviation from the optimum alignment of source to optical waveguide, waveguide to waveguide, or waveguide to...

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

Ability of a laser to resist variations in output power caused when it is slowly rotated about its optical or symmetrical...

A theoretical instrument conceived of as a box that receives a beam of radiation of any arbitrary polarization angle and...

A test for spherical aberration, coma or astigmatism in which incident rays from a point source are isolated by small holes...

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

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

Also referred to as fundus photography, ophthalmoscopy is the dioptrical study of the various interior components of the eye...

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

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

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

A relay that opens or closes an electrical circuit depending on the intensity of the light incident to a photoelectric...

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

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera,...

A device that is designed to modulate a beam of light, usually from a laser source, by acting upon the beam directly. The...

A device consisting of an airtight quartz tube that holds the material to be analyzed. When a high-frequency electrostatic...

Used in computer design for optical systems with common parts and different applications.

Surface analysis by means of photon induced electron emission. PEM methods provide high lateral resolution of the observed...

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

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

A method of producing x-ray exposures as short as 0.03 µs; the primary application is in ballistic radiography.

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

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

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

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

The spectral transmission window in silica-based fibers between 830 and 850 nm.

A microscopic crystal found in an intricately crystallized substance that is only visible under a microscope.

A wave that is guided by the interface between two different media or by a refractive index gradient in the medium. The...

The use of light to initiate the lasing process. See optical pumping.

A type of additive color photography using a lenticular structure impressed on a film base and a camera lens with a filter...

A chemical used in the developing of positive photographs that incites oxidation and thereby dissolves the negative silver...

A spectroscopic technique used to display the intensity of an optical pulse as functions of time and frequency...

The term "metaverse" refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical...

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

The average luminous intensity of a point light source measured over all directions.

An optical correlator incorporating a binary phase-only spatial light modulator made from an iron garnet magneto-optic solid...

A laser device used to establish a location or target usually for detection by an impact source e.g. missiles and guided...

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or...

The formation of microimages for microreduction. The technique is used, for example, in the production of precision reticles...

An array of refractive microlenses that are round, square and hexagonal and as small as 15 µm. They are used for...

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

Cold atoms refer to atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures, typically in the microkelvin (µK) to...

The use of photographs taken from specially placed cameras, to develop, through computation, a spatial solution of the...

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

Mathematically defined as the product of etendue (or throughput) and the square of the refractive index, the optical extent...

The ratio of emitted optical power of a source to the input electrical power.

A very uncommon lamp in which a tungsten electrode is heated to incandescence by a radio-frequency electrical current.

Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but...

A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess...

A scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused...

A method of coding information in a communications system where the shift in the phase of an electromagnetic wave represents...

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

A fluorescent screen refers to a phosphorescent or fluorescent-coated surface that emits visible light when exposed to other...

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

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

A wave that is polarized elliptically or circularly polarized and in which the electric field vector — observed while...

In an optical waveguide, the exchange of power/energy among modes.

A unit of optical measurement that expresses the refractive power of a lens or prism. In a lens or lens system, it is the...

The process of adjusting input pixel by pixel at the filter plane to adapt to nondeal phase behavior in an optical...

The removal of optical elements from a block.

Two simple meniscus lenses arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture stop, providing reduced coma, lateral color...

A technique for polishing silicon in which an alkaline suspension containing silicon dioxide particles creates a soft layer...

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

The fundamental tool of microdensitometry, the microdensitometer is an instrument used for the precise measurement of...

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

A lens with a surface that is a cone instead of the usual sphere.

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

The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive...

A phototube that functions within a vacuum and thus eliminates the effects of gaseous ionization on its electrical...

In an optical waveguide, that loss attributable to macrobending. Macrobending usually causes little or no radiative loss.

The use of photoetching techniques to produce small tools, parts and dies from sheet metal.

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

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

An optical element having two principal axes, slow and fast, that resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually...

Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of...

A lens system made up of two sets of similar lenses, each of which compensates for many of the aberrations produced by the...

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

Refers to a variety of methods and tools used to determine the surface contour and performance of optical components and...

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

Irradiation of a cylindrical crystal with an x-ray beam resulting in Bragg diffraction that produces a slightly enlarged...

The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves...

This type of miniaturized system, referred to as CMOS qPCR, combines microfluidic technology with an ultralow-light CMOS...

One of the two major types of optical glass, the other being crown glass. Flint glass is softer than crown glass, has a...

An acronym of gamma ray amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. It is a gamma ray laser that operates between...

In an optical system having astigmatism, the distance between the tangential and sagittal image planes.

The limited light-gathering area of an optical system. The area is normally restricted to an edge or outer surface of an...

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

An astronomical body that emits radiation concentrated by a strong magnetic field into two beams that rotate, giving a...

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

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

Laser texturing is a manufacturing process that involves using a laser beam to selectively modify the surface of a material,...

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

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

Adhering material used to glue optical components that transmit in the infrared. It is easily dissolved by acetone.

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

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals....

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

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

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

Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images and recording them in a digital format. It involves the use of...

A wide-field camera based on the classic Schmidt optical system used to photograph Earth-orbiting satellites.

A device used to project a small area of light on a screen for indication.

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

In Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS), an incident photon (usually laser light) interacts with acoustic phonons in a...

A device that holds a number of filters and allows the filter with the desired characteristics to be rotated into an optical...

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

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

1. The process by which an atom acquires energy sufficient to raise it to a quantum state higher than its ground state. 2....

The rotation of an instrument (or the line of sight of an optical system) in a horizontal plane; transverse.

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

The condition in which two or more energy states are identical.

STED microscopy, or stimulated emission depletion microscopy, is a superresolution imaging technique in fluorescence...

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector...

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

Equipment used for chemical analysis by investigation of the spectra formed and observed in chemical activity. Of particular...

An optical coupling device that uses light to bridge the gap between incompatible wire communications systems. It contains...

The photochemical reaction of light present in the decomposition of a substance.

An observed effect of the ability of certain atomic particles to pass through a barrier that they cannot pass over because...

The interaction between two oscillations of unlike frequencies that forms other oscillations, specifically those with a...

In a mechanical system, any lost motion between driving and driven elements due to clearance between parts.

A microlens array is a grid-like structure composed of numerous small lenses, typically arranged in a regular pattern. Each...

The plot that expresses a reaction rate vs. the reciprocal of absolute temperature. Often used to describe the thermal...

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

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

Theoretical calculation of the cross section for a nuclear reaction given in the vicinity of a single resonance level in the...

An adhesive used to affix optical elements to an approximately shaped body -- usually of cast iron.

A crucible made of electrically resistive material through which a current is passed to heat the material inside, which then...

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

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber or preform by illuminating it coherently and transversely to...

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

In the spectral sense, an optical source that emits one or more spectrally narrow lines as opposed to a continuous spectrum....

A graphical device used to measure prism power.

A shift in the apparent position of an object when an optical element is added or removed.

Modulation transfer function of an optical element when used for transporting images from a lambertian source such as...

An optical waveguide in which only the lowest order bound mode, which may consist of a pair of orthogonally polarized...

Alphanumerical description of color according to Munsell hue, value and chroma.

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

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is an advanced optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the...

The maximum rate at which temporally disjunct optical signals can be produced or detected.

Device that operates by interaction of incident radiation with semiconductor based material in order to produce an...

The use of photoelectric sensors to detect and measure the intensity of a light source. This application, as compared to...

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

An optical instrument that uses a yellow light of varying intensity with red and blue lights of fixed intensity to test for...

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

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

Trade name for a type of borosilicate glass manufactured by Corning Glass Works, noted for its low coefficient of thermal...

The angular relation between two light rays that originated at the same object point. Sometimes used to indicate the angle...

A photographic emulsion of the silver-halide type that is used to record the path of a charged traveling particle. The...

The value of the distance of distinct vision, minimum focusing distance or near point, divided by the focal length of the...

A mechanism or device, especially a coating with a refractive index equal to or slightly greater than that of an optical...

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

Abbreviation of "synchronization.'' In television, the timing signals used to drive the scanning process. Horizontal...

Means of amplifying optical waves whereby an intense coherent pump wave is made to interact with a nonlinear optical crystal...

A scientific CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) camera is a type of digital camera specifically designed for...

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

A method of graphical ray tracing through a boundary surface dividing two media of differing indices of refraction.

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

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or...

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...

A sensing or image-forming detector that serves to convert infrared rays into visible signals for communication purposes....

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

The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as...

An electron tube whose electrical characteristics will not be affected by gaseous ionization because of its high degree of...

In rangefinders and height finders, a rotatable or sliding wedge-shaped element used to divert the line of sight precisely...

The use of photographs -- motion picture or still -- to establish if a particular event exists.

Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is a medical treatment approach that combines elements of phototherapy and immunotherapy to target...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....

A television camera tube in which a low-velocity electron beam scans a photoactive mosaic that has been created by an...

A circular optical wedge (prism of small refracting angle) mounted to be rotated in the path of light rays to divert the...

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

A channel for communication with the source in an otherwise unidirectional network, such as a channel that provides...

In aerial photography, the geometric method of indicating the three-dimensional location of ground points from a pair of...

The removal of material from an optical system to decrease the weight and sometimes the bulk of the system. See coring;...

An optical system with object and image points at infinity. Literally, "without a focal length."

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

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

The optical phenomenon in which white light dispersed by small particles in suspension appears blue when viewed through a...

An accelerator at the Argonne National Laboratory, providing powerful x-ray beams for materials research applications.

A type of glass used in near-infrared optical components, in which germanium is used as a cation instead of silicon.

The determination of what, how much and in what proportions chemicals must be combined to produce the desired reactions and...

The general term for the application of light to a subject. It should not be used in place of the specific quantity...

Generation of an acoustical signal by a sample exposed to modulated light.

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

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving...

An immersion liquid used to treat polarizing filters to eliminate the effects of surface variations and to minimize the...

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

Ion-beam sputtering (IBS) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for depositing thin films onto substrates. It...

1. A prism used in some instruments to bend light 90° before it enters the objective. 2. A dispersing prism located in...

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to...

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

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

Molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid or tube. Also called buckyballs....

A rapid change, as opposed to a long-term drift, of the emission wavelength of an optical source. Chirping is most often...

A device that detects radiation by utilizing the influence of light in forming an electrical signal. It may be a phototube;...

The properties exhibited by a semiconductor as the result of its modification by imperfections and impurities in the crystal.

Expression of the length of a transmission medium in terms of wavelengths of the propagating wavelength. In general,...

Noise generated within an optical communications system link that has both internal (dark current) and external (background...

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs...

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 multiple-pass amplifier in which no optical leakage is allowed until a finite number of passes has occurred; at...

An instrument for measuring the vertical angle of an object. It usually contains an accurately made protractor, a sensitive...

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

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

The process in which the normal rate of fluorescent emission from a substance is enhanced by virtue of the optical gain of...

Relative to a light source, the frequency at which the source appears to fluctuate in light intensity half the time and...

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

The adhesion of two sufficiently clean and close-fitting surfaces without the use of cement or glue. The optically contacted...

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

Transparent glassy and or crystalline structured materials engineered from inorganic, non-metallic materials via various...

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise...

The processing of an image or portion of an image by transform coding and analysis. Fourier, Hadamand, Kronecker and...

A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing...

An optical device used to monitor movement of the human eye.

A relatively hard crystal, highly resistant to excessive energy radiation, that is frequently used for optical windows,...

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

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

A document-transmitting process that uses a cylinder that rotates the document to be scanned and detected by a photoelectric...

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

A system that transmits and receives identification codes to facilitate the discrimination between enemy and friend in a...

A film or plate that is usually coated on both sides with a very fast emulsion that is sensitive to x-rays, and used to...

The image distortion produced by a panoramic camera with a swinging lens or a swinging mirror in front of a fixed lens. The...

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

A biomarker, short for biological marker, refers to a measurable and quantifiable indicator of a biological condition,...

An image-enhancement technique in which each pixel is subjected to a mathematical operation that groups it with its nearest...

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

A high-contrast transparency of the gas sought, or an array of exit slits that correlates with some features of the...

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

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

A technique used to suppress extreme noise amplification during digital image reconstruction that relies on smoothing and...

The departure of an optical surface from its required tolerance or figure.

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

The system of color classification and description produced by Wilhelm Ostwald.

Technique in which the polarization rotation of light, and its relationship to the magnetic field strength can be analyzed...

The light spectrum formed by an explosive reaction or by the electrical explosion of a metallic wire by a strong current.

Radiation used to excite an optical or laser material to a higher energy level. See optical pumping.

In image processing, the mathematical relationships that link pixel brightnesses of input images to those of output images...

A laser in which stimulated emission is triggered by the absorption by electrons of light from an auxiliary source such as a...

The determination of the temperature of a source by the detection of its incandescent brightness.

The degree to which the surface of a lens causes an incident ray of light to bend, or the amount of convergence or...

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

Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the...

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

Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as...

A departure from ideal paraxial imaging behavior. The distortion of an optical field wavefront as it is propagated through...

Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of...

An instrument designed to analyze the optical effects of color.

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

A camera that records its images electrostatically on plastic tape; used in situations where radiation would have an adverse...

Irregularities and disturbances in the atmosphere that are of particular interest because they induce random temporal and...

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

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

The ability of an optical system to make an object appear larger. An optical element or optical system causing an object to...

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a...

Transmission loss in optical fibers caused by packaging processes; it is considered a power-coupling effect from the guided...

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 natural or mechanical system adversely affected by the influence of laser radiation. During laser damage the common effect...

Radiation emitted from vibrating charged particles. A combination of oscillating electrical and magnetic fields that...

An optical filter so constructed that the density increases progressively from one end to the other, or angularly around a...

The control of an instrument or electrical circuit by the current produced by varying radiation incident to a photoelectric...

Continuous wave (CW) refers to a type of signal or transmission where the signal is constant and does not vary with time. In...

A still camera with a shutter capable of opening for a time as short as a fraction of a microsecond. An electronically...

An optical device, such as a Nicol prism, capable of producing plane-polarized light, and used for detecting the effect of...

An instrumental technique that utilizes the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles as recorded from a mass spectrometer...

The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and...

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

Also known as HCS, an analytical method designed to collect statistically relevant amounts of quantitative data on many...

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

A molecule that is the mirror image of another molecule. The two mirror-image molecules have the same chemical properties;...

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

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

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

The natural log of the ratio of absorbed intensity over the total intensity which gives a constant value assuming a stable...

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

An optically bistable device used for photonic switching, constructed of a multiple quantum well biased by an external...

In fiber optic communications, a light source whose beam can be modulated and sent along an optical fiber, and the...

A component used to modify light rays by diffraction; the HOE is produced by recording the interference pattern of two laser...

A theoretical analysis of radiation loss from planar optical waveguides due to scattering by surface irregularities/surface...

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

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

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

One of a class of crystalline substances belonging to triclinic, monoclinic and orthorhombic systems that have two optic...

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

An optical fiber in which the core is of uniform refractive index.

The capacity of a chiral substance such as a crystal or molecule to rotate the plane of polarized light that is transmitted...

Any irregular motion, variation in intensity or change in color that arises because of atmospheric turbulence during the...

A panel of photoconductive and electroluminescent layers used as either a positive or negative image intensifier, depending...

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

A traveling wave tube (TWT) containing a photocathode and window that, receiving a laser beam, produces a modified...

In a cylindrical lens, the meridian parallel to the generating lines of the cylindrical surface. In a toric lens, the...

A physical source of radiation, as contrasted to illuminant. See illuminant.

The photographic recording of an image formed by the alteration in electrical properties of the sensitive materials and...

The production of holograms initially from either conventional photographs or incoherent optical equipment.

That layer in a semiconductor injection laser or light-emitting diode that provides optical gain.

In chemistry, a device in which a chemical reaction takes place. In electronics, a device that introduces reactance into a...

Refers to micron-size complex machines that have physical dimensions suitable for the fabrication of optical switches for...

The field of microscopy as applied to chemical problems and analysis.

A plane-parallel interferometer that yields extremely high contrast over a wide range of finesse values without...

An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...

A ray that lies in the meridional plane; a ray that lies in the plane that contains the optical axis. A tangential ray.

The process of linking optical fiber end to end.

An operational mode for radiometers that analogs the method of operation of an angstrom pyrheliometer. In this mode, the...

A method of predicting the nonlinear optical effects exhibited by different molecules without synthesizing the molecules...

A means of testing optical fiber for macrobending losses by wrapping the fiber once at very low tension around a mandrel,...

A radiation source that, unlike the point source, can be resolved by the naked eye into a geometrical image.

The procedure by which the similarity of an optical signal or waveform to a reference-stored signal or waveform is...

In a fiber optic cable, the longitudinal length required for the transmission media, wrapped around a central member, to...

A fiber optic connector or splice that mates two multifiber cables, optically aligning all of the individual fibers...

Devices in which the lasing medium is a vapor of metal atoms or ions, sometimes mixed with another gas. Metal vapor lasers...

Numerical scale of lightness devised by A.H. Munsell and exhibited in the Munsell Book of Color.

Scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) refers to a type of image sensor technology specifically designed...

1. A localized fracture at the end of a cleaved optical fiber or on a glass surface. 2. An integrated circuit.

An astronomical scanning technique for capturing images of stars without moving the sensor. To perform a drift scan, a CCD...

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

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

Reciprocal of the dispersive power of an optical material. See Abbe constant.

An optical pyrometer that is equipped with a narrow bandpass filter to transmit a limited number of wavelengths to the...

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

A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser...

The criterion maintaining that if light follows a specific path through an optical system, it will, if reversed, traverse...

A system incorporated into fiber optic data communications characterized by several spatially distributed terminals that are...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the...

An optical system that uses refraction to form an image.

An abundant material found in the form of quartz and agate and as one of the major constituents of sand. The silicates of...

A beam of light whose electrical field amplitude distribution is Gaussian. When such a beam is circular in cross section,...

A mode in an optical waveguide whose fields are transversely oscillatory everywhere external to the waveguide. It exists...

The image of a point source that appears as a circle of finite diameter because of defocusing or the aberrations inherent in...

A bench with instrumentation including a collimator, a microscope, positioners and a nodal slide used to rotate a lens about...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by...

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

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

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

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

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

The measured planar or solid angle of related aspects of an optical system with respect to an optical axis.

The recorded interference pattern formed by the interference of two sound beams.

The numerical aperture of an optical system used to couple (launch) power into an optical waveguide.

The optical diffraction spectra formed, or the method that produces them, when a light beam is transmitted through a...

The use of phase conjugation or other methods to increase the power density of a laser beam under adverse atmospheric...

A term pertaining to devices (generally optical) designed for use with both eyes viewing through a single exit pupil. The...

An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an...

The use of optical or electronic recording systems to extract information from the terrain, while aloft, for reconnaissance...

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

A means of adjusting the sharpness of an image automatically, with a sensor for estimating distance or contrast and a drive...

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

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

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the...

Noise generated in the flow of current in the photomultiplier, produced by the intentional or controlled application of...

An optical switch that controls conduction paths into and out of a junction in fiber optic and integrated optical circuits.

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

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical...

A mechanical device designed to smoothly vary the effective diameter of a lens, thereby controlling the amount of light...

A device used to accelerate the electrons in a free-electron laser by supplying electrical energy to the electron beam...

An optical diffuser is an optical component or material designed to scatter or diffuse light that passes through it. It is...

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

Q-switched operation, or q-switching, is a technique used in lasers to produce short and intense pulses of light. The term...

Potential hazards to a system's application and installation, including temperature variations, chemical reactivity,...

The arrangement of two Porro prisms so that the inverted image formed by certain types of optical instruments is the same as...

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

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

In a symmetrical optical system this is a measure of the influence of the system upon the focus of a pencil of rays passing...

A unit of energy equal to the amount of energy absorbed by one molecule of material undergoing a photochemical reaction, as...

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

The arc formed when the rare gas xenon is excited electrically and emits a brilliant white light. Xenon is used to fill...

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

A light source made up of silicon carbide or carborundum. It is resistant to the negative temperature coefficient and...

A mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO) is a type of electronic test instrument that combines the capabilities of both a...

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

A transmission interference microscope that produces interference patterns of a sample by using birefringent plates that...

An optical data storage device that permits the user to store data (write) and play it back (read), but not to erase or...

An electronic device consisting of a semiconductor material, generally germanium or silicon, and used for rectification,...

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

A photographic recording of interference patterns between a plane wave and a spherical wave on a high-resolution...

In semiconductor physics, the term bandgap refers to the energy range in a material where no electronic states are allowed....

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...

In the optical field, a tube to which a lens is fastened for centering.

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

The interaction between electrical and mechanical stress-strain factors in a material. When piezoelectric crystal is...

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is a molecular biology technique used to rapidly amplify specific DNA or RNA...

1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit....

An optical device capable of transforming unpolarized or natural light into polarized light, usually by selective...

Holographic tomography is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and tomography to provide three-dimensional...

Small tungsten lamp used in surgical instruments such as cystoscopes, and for other purposes where space is limited.

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

In a straight line. When applied to a lens, it indicates that images of straight lines formed by the lens are not distorted.

A formulaic description of the linear change of the reciprocal optical dielectric tensor with either stress or strain.

A device similar to the ordinary spectrophotometer but containing particular modifications to provide for the comparison of...

See optical spectrum; visible spectrum.

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

A ferroelectric polycrystalline ceramic material used in optical memories for computers and as a piezoelectric transducer.

In a single element, any lack of coincidence between the optical and the mechanical axes. In a lens system, any lack of...

A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a...

A large-scale, precise drawing of the contours of a perfect mechanical part, often with plus and minus tolerances drawn or...

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

Optical glass containing zirconium fluoride that results in special characteristics such as improved transmission.

A microscope objective designed to be used without liquid between the cover glass and the objective, or, in the case of...

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

An optical-quality polymer used in birefringent retarders.

The ability of a conductor to store an electrical charge; its value is given in farads as the ratio of the stored charge on...

A dome-shaped structure used for some optical instruments in place of a flat window. The transparent material should be of...

With respect to microscopy, light that is directed through the specimen by a substage condenser.

The spectrographic analysis of matter that is in a cooled state. Generally, a mechanical refrigerator is used to lower the...

Property of a substance whose volume elements differ in composition and optical properties.

A vacuum pump in which pressure is reduced by condensing gases on surfaces cryogenically cooled to about 20 K (liquid...

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

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

The change in the refractive index of a material under the influence of an electrical field.

A system of modular mechanical components for building precision optical systems. The basic equipment includes a variety of...

The study of x-rays, their biological effects and technology. Named for W.C. Roentgen, who discovered x-rays in 1895.

The spectroscopic analysis of optical line shapes and frequency shifts, using the technique of light beating; i.e., the...

Also known as light beating. The mixing of two narrowband optical components to produce an AC component in the photocurrent...

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

The mathematical formula that proves that any linear operator for which the impulse is known can be wholly characterized...

A cosmetic defect on the surface of an optical element. A dig is nearly equal in terms of its length and width. The size is...

An aerial reconnaissance system that can transmit, in near real time, image data recorded by IR and visual-spectrum sensors,...

A polymer produced as a result of photochemical processes.

A tool used to remove the outer cladding of an optical fiber without damaging the fiber core.

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

The use of a surgical laser instead of sutures or staples to close a wound or rejoin severed blood vessels.

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

Fluorescence is a type of luminescence, which is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other...

An optical illusion in which distant objects are lighter in tone and less distinct in outline than those closer to the...

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

A device in which the functions of optical detector and emitter are combined.

Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...

A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be...

A fundamental law of wave scattering theory that connects the extinction cross section of a scatterer to the real part of...

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

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

A coarse diffraction grating that is used to form a scale of intensities to determine the relative magnitudes of stars. The...

A paraxial light ray that extends from an object point on the optical axis.

A method of producing high-quality plastic optics in large volumes by injecting the heated, liquified plastic at high...

Terahertz (THz) refers to a unit of frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum, denoting waves with frequencies between 0.1...

An optical instrument containing a gimballed sighting telescope, used to measure angular relationships in horizontal and...

Ferroelectric materials are a type of dielectric materials that exhibit spontaneous electric polarization, meaning they...

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

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna...

An instrument designed to produce an x-ray spectrum of a material as an aid in identifying it. This technique is...

A straight line, real or imaginary, passing through a body and indicating its center; a line so positioned that various...

A display that allows the observation and measurement of the altitude and range of airborne objects.

The element that resembles a lightweight metal, but when very pure, has a very high electrical resistance and is transparent...

A means of testing the strength of optical fibers to ensure reliability, by applying stress to the fiber so that any flaws...

The law stating that the critical fusion frequency is approximately proportional to the logarithm of the luminance and the...

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials...

A nonlinear label-free imaging technique commonly used during surgical procedures for the visualization of collagen fibers...

The base used to hold an astronomical telescope. It may be either altazimuth, with horizontal and vertical axes of rotation,...

An opaque shielding device designed to reduce the effect of stray light on an optical system.

The angle measured between the focal surface containing the image and a plane normal to the optical axis.

That voltage required across a Pockels, Kerr or other electro-optic light modulator to retard one polarization electrical...

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from...

Optimization method used in optical design computer programs that employs a variable-by-variable approach to construct new...

An optical waveguide having a silica core and a plastic cladding.

A cine camera that exposes a series of individual frames to record the changes in a subject that slowly alters with time....

An instrument for eye surgery that directs intense xenon arc light through the transparent cornea lens to the retina where...

A mold for glass or plastics often made of stainless steel to prevent pitting or oxidation in service. It is polished to the...

Phototoxicity refers to the harmful effects caused by exposure to light, particularly intense or ultraviolet (UV) light, on...

A fiber optic device that uses a HeNe laser, beamsplitter, monochromator and photomultiplier to detect trace levels of...

A method of optical fiber coupling in which the fibers are ground down to expose their cores and placed together to allow...

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

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

An oven or furnace that possesses the design requirements and heat control necessary to anneal glass for the optical...

A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light...

Measurement of a translation stage's deviation from absolute straightness, that is, its angular motion in both the vertical...

In spectroscopy, the false images arranged symmetrically on both sides of the true line and caused by irregularities in the...

Diffuse stray light at the image plane of an optical system that results in reduced contrast and resolution.

Visible laser radiation, often optically expanded and collimated, used to induced temporary blindness from within a walking...

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

The central hole running the full length of a laser capillary tube, in which electrical discharge and laser action take...

Micro-optical coherence tomography (micro-OCT) is an imaging technique that is an adaptation of optical coherence tomography...

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

An optical system that records inhomogeneities within a medium by detecting the energy refracted by that portion of the...

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

A cryogenic cooler device that is an intermittent Joule-Thomson refrigerator with a passive radiator serving as the...

An isotope of cesium that emits negative beta particles and has a half-life of 2.19 years; its applications include...

A method used to produce precision spherical and aspheric molded glass lenses without grinding or polishing.

The electrical arc formed between metal rods that emits the spectrum of the metal itself. Commonly used in the chemical...

In a laser, the series resistance necessary for a stable electrical discharge.

A gyroscope is a mechanical device consisting of a spinning disk or wheel mounted on a spinning axis in such a way that its...

The use of an applied electrical field to focus a cathode-ray tube's electron beam.

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

That property of certain optical devices, e.g., a penta prism, that maintains the angular relationship between the entering...

A chemical placed in a solution that will indicate when an excess of a substance or ion has been reached by coloring the...

Multispectral imaging is a technique that involves capturing and analyzing images at multiple discrete spectral bands within...

A device used to produce numerical integrations for colorimetry.

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

An optical instrument used to track and image a test vehicle (target) throughout its flight. The cinesextant frequently...

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

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...

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

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

A thin film or coating that forms on various finished surfaces. On optical surfaces it usually denotes aging.

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

An artificial material, engineered to have a negative refractive index value, such that light or any other form of...

A molecule that has the ability to chemically combine with other molecules to form a polymer, hence being capable of being...

A rigid or flexible, concentrated assembly of glass or plastic fibers used to transmit optical images or light. See aligned...

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...

In interferometry, the result of superimposing two wavefronts of identical shape, yielding a uniform intensity interference...

A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or...

Pockels cell or dynamic optical retarder in which the electrical field is applied in a direction parallel to that of light...

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

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects...

A method of cleaning and drying coated optical components. The cooled parts are placed in a container above a boiling...

The law stating that the brightness of an object that is examined through a slotted disc, rotating over a critical...

A ghost image that has the reverse lightness relations of the original image. This phenomenon is a common optical illusion...

Ratio of the luminous flux in a beam of radiation to the spectral radiant flux in the same beam at a given wavelength.

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

Optical fibers fused together to form a solid, vacuum-tight assembly in the form of a slab or rod. Discs or rectangular...

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

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...