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

A closed vessel with electrodes of different potentials that is used to determine how much ionization took place in a gas...

An arc flash is a sudden release of electrical energy due to an electric arc — a continuous, high-current discharge of...

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

With respect to color photography, the measurement of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical...

A grinding process that employs fine emery.

In image acquisition (and sampling theory), the postulate that the pickup sampling frequency must be a minimum of twice as...

The ratio of the first focal length of a lens to the refractive index of the medium containing the incident light; the ratio...

The law given by the formula: that is, the frequency of radiation emitted or absorbed by a system when E2 and E1...

A unit of pressure, one-thousandth of a bar, equivalent to 100 Pascal and 0.75 torr. One atmosphere equals 1013 mbar.

A heterochromatic photometric process using successive comparison of similar chromaticities and the calculation of relative...

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

A constant equal to the universal gas constant divided by the Avogadro number. It is approximately equal to 1.38 x 10-23 J/K...

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

Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or...

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

The image distortion produced by a panoramic camera with a swinging lens or a swinging mirror in front of a fixed lens. The...

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

The error inherent in spectral energy or spectrophotometric quantity due to the finite dimension of the entrance and exit...

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

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

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

A computer architecture used in parallel processing whereby all the processing elements are operating under their own local...

A small convergent lens, located between the objective and eyepiece of a microscope, that focuses an image of the upper...

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

Component that is externally controlled via electronic or photon signal.

A device that enlarges and strengthens a signal's output without significantly distorting its original waveshape. There are...

A phosphor, such as sulfide or selenide, that can be excited to luminescence by incident infrared radiation simultaneous to...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera,...

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

An electrical or optical device used to convert color coordinates.

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

The intensity distribution seen when scanning the image of a line, in the direction perpendicular to that line.

The broadening of a laser's line width in a way that affects every atom (or molecule), and thus the whole system, in the...

SI unit of luminous incidence or illuminance, equal to 1 lumen per square meter.

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs...

An amplifying device with a wide tuning range in which an electron gun sends a beam of electrons into a slow-wave structure....

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

A finite version of Shannon's sampling theorem that states that a class of functions can be reconstructed exactly by a...

An experimental lens used to produce interference fringes. A positive lens is cut into halves along its center, and the...

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

In image processing and machine vision, the process in which an initial measurement pattern or some subsequence of...

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

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

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

A highly stable heavy-metal fluoride glass made from the fluorides of zirconium, barium, lanthanum, aluminum and sodium.

In positioning, rotation about the line of sight or direction of travel.

A type of streak camera that uses film wrapped around a drum, which moves at a constant speed to record the changing shape...

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

The length of the small space within which the atmosphere exhibits coherence, particularly in relation to an observer on...

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

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

The ongoing expansion of the universe based on observations of the recession of distant galaxies from each other as...

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

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

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

A photographic or electronic recording of an optical interference pattern.

Unit of luminance equal to 1/p candela per square foot. (fl).

The use of photographic emulsions to detect and determine the amounts of ionizing radiation, such as x-rays and gamma rays,...

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

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two...

A two- or three-dimensional space grating formed when ultrasonic beams with varied paths of propagation intersect.

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

Abbreviated SoC. A single chip containing all the electronic circuits required for a complete, working product. SoCs are...

Techniques used in biology to produce microradiographs of cells, tissues or small organisms.

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

Flux incident per unit area of a surface.

In an image, the orientation and magnitude of the rate of change in intensity at any point.

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a spectroscopic technique that involves using a laser to excite molecules or atoms,...

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

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that belongs to the powder bed...

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

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials...

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

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

The study of the celestial bodies, relative to x-ray emission. Satellites launched to study x-ray sources have revealed many...

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

Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but...

The process of subjecting glass to temperature cycling to produce physico-chemical reactions that alter its properties....

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

Also known as radiation thermometer. A pyrometer in which the radiant intensity from the source to be measured is used to...

A traveling wave tube (TWT) containing a photocathode and window that, receiving a laser beam, produces a modified...

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

Pertaining to optics and the phenomena of light.

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

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

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

The smallest linear diameter to which a laser or other beam of radiant energy is capable of being focused, depending on the...

In a lens, the square of the radius of its aperture divided by the product of the focal length and the wavelength. It...

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

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

A magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of a magnetic field. It can detect...

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

A unit of energy equal to the amount of energy absorbed by one molecule of material undergoing a photochemical reaction, as...

The probability that an atom in one state will move spontaneously to a lower state within a given unit of time.

Generally, any radiation that can form ions, either directly or indirectly, while traveling through a substance.

In target tracking, a technique for speeding up the image processing by removing bunches of pixels that are outside the area...

1. A generic term for detector. 2. A complete optical/mechanical/electronic system that contains some form of radiation...

Optical aberration such that image magnification varies with ray distance from the optical axis in a radial distortion.

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

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

A technique used in photolithography of computer chips to compensate for errors caused by the proximity effect, which...

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

A linear computation or algorithm performed on a selected series in the form of an input signal that produces a new series...

The efficiency of scattering by an atom in a particular direction, expressed as: where AA is the amplitude of the wave from...

Motion of a fiber into and out of the ferrule. This effect is often caused by changes in temperature.

A measurement of the spatial resolution of a line or area array in an optical character recognition scanning device.

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

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

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...

An aberration that remains after primary color is corrected. Primary color causes the back focus of a lens to vary with...

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

A scientific CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) camera is a type of digital camera specifically designed for...

The apparent difference in brightness between light and dark areas of an image. For a light target against a dark...

Luminous flux incident per unit area of a surface; luminous incidence. (The use of the term "illumination" for...

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

In physics, momentum transfer is the amount of momentum transferred from one particle to another during particle collision...

The transition cross section constant coefficient which defines the transition probability of absorption from ground to a...

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

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

The SI unit of temperature equal to 1°C. See absolute temperature scale.

With respect to color photography, the measurement, at a given wavelength, of the way the color film modulates the radiant...

An image that is not immediately recognizable but scrambled.

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

A type of photometer calibrated in luminance units (candles per square unit, or lamberts). In photography an exposure meter...

A type of electroluminescent display that will record and maintain an irradiated image on its phosphor screen, provided a DC...

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

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

The smallest area of uniform brightness that can be seen by the eye. It is measured in terms of the solid angle subtended by...

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

Epitaxial deposition is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing and materials science to grow a thin crystalline...

A low-power (2x to 10x) magnifier consisting of a single positive lens assembly.

An instrument designed to calculate the amplitude and phase of the different harmonic elements of a radiation wave utilizing...

A coherent fiber optic bundle made from fibers whose diameter changes gradually along its length. Used to magnify or reduce...

In an optical waveguide, a mode whose field decays monotonically for a finite distance in the transverse direction but which...

In optical communications, the translation of optical signals into radio signals, lowering their frequency in detection from...

Any isolated wave that propagates without dispersion of energy. Specifically to photonics, an ultrashort pulse of laser...

Radiant power emitted into a full sphere (4p steradians) by a unit area of a source; expressed in watts per square meter.

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

The adjustable membrane located just in front of the crystalline lens within the eye. The iris gives the eye its color. See...

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

Essentially, noise that cannot be predicted. Therefore, even if the magnitude of sound or oscillation in a system is known...

A system incorporated into fiber optic data communications characterized by several spatially distributed terminals that are...

An interference pattern that is recorded on a high-resolution plate, the two interfering beams formed by a coherent beam...

An electronic device consisting of a semiconductor material, generally germanium or silicon, and used for rectification,...

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

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

Employ a Stirling engine for cryogenic cooling.

Micro-optical coherence tomography (micro-OCT) is an imaging technique that is an adaptation of optical coherence tomography...

1. A constituent part. It may consist of two or more parts cemented together, or with near and approximately matching...

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

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

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

A circuit that permits feedback in an electronic device.

An optical coupling device that uses light to bridge the gap between incompatible wire communications systems. It contains...

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

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...

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

A dark red opaque material that is transparent to the infrared beyond 1 µm.

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

In an optical waveguide, a mode whose field decays monotonically in the transverse direction everywhere external to the core...

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

The condition in which there are more atomic systems in the upper of two energy levels than in the lower, so stimulated...

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

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

A device used to view microfilmed documents where the image on film is projected, in magnified form, onto a rear projection...

1. With respect to angular subtense, a source of light, such as a star, that is very small. In a lab, a point source may be...

Radiant flux incident per unit area of a surface. Also called radiant flux density.

A slab-shaped, very low profile package for electronic components; often used when printed circuit boards must be closely...

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

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

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

A film applied to a coated or uncoated optical surface primarily for protecting this surface from mechanical abrasion, from...

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

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

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

Ablation applied to polymers and chemical solids. Process of material removal that minimizes edge damage but will not heat...

A crystalline semiconductor alloy used as the light confinement layer in both single- and double-heterostructure diode...

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

A method used to produce precision spherical and aspheric molded glass lenses without grinding or polishing.

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

In avalanche photodiodes, the point at which an increase in the reverse bias voltage causes the current gain to approach...

A device used in broadcast CCD cameras to improve definition in heavily saturated colors by band-limiting the color...

The inverse peak voltage that produces ionization in a gas tube.

A measurement in optical thin-film coating processes whereby the gases remaining in the vacuum chamber after coating are...

The holographic recording of the pattern formed by two sets of coherent microwaves that interfere at a scanning plane. A...

The simplest lens in which all primary aberrations may be corrected. It consists of two positive crown elements on either...

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

A photocathode having a P-type semiconductor with a work function less than its bandgap. The photocathode can release a...

A technique for reducing data processing requirements by electronically defining only a small portion of the image to be...

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

A class of optical phenomena that can be viewed only with nearly monochromatic, directional beams of light, such as those...

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

Directed energy refers to a type of energy that is emitted and transferred in a controlled direction. The term is often...

A set of algorithms used to study the structural and spatial characteristics of objects in a digitized image for...

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

A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates...

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

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent...

In semiconductor physics, the term bandgap refers to the energy range in a material where no electronic states are allowed....

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

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

The induction of an electric field in a semiconductor by an incident laser beam. The technique has rapid response time at...

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

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

A device for obtaining very low crosstalk in a crosspoint by arranging two simple switches along different arms of a passive...

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

That state determining that two waves of like frequency will travel through their maximum and minimum values of the same...

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

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

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

In image processing, a device that transforms the digital data into an analog video image that can be viewed on a monitor or...

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

A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in...

The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes...

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

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

A technique proposed for studying the atomic structure of crystals by measuring the interference pattern generated when the...

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

Any integrated circuit that also makes use of one or more discrete components; frequently used to describe circuits that...

In a general sense, any one of a class of instruments used to disperse radiation, visible or invisible, into its component...

A close-up lens, semicircular in shape, that is mounted in front of a conventional lens focused at infinity. The result is...

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

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

In a thermal imaging system, the smallest change in blackbody equivalent temperature that can be detected clearly by the...

A photocell having an alloy junction formed by combining an indium disc with a thin wafer of N-type germanium.

With respect to television, the returning direction of the electron beam during the vertical blanking period.

The use of a computer to generate a series of interrelated images so that the images give the illusion of movement in space...

A measure of the optical path length for light traveling from the sun or other celestial source through Earth's atmosphere...

Scanning characterized by the generation of a plane or right circular cone with a vertex angle of about 180° by the...

Pertaining to the measurement of the intensity of light.

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

A small optical polishing machine intended for polishing the surface of a metal specimen before etching for examination...

A metalens, short for "metasurface lens," is a type of optical lens that uses nanostructured materials to manipulate light...

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

A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is...

The fiber optic connector standard for Nippon Telephone & Telegraph (NTT) installations, developed with Nippon Electric...

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

The value of the distance of distinct vision, minimum focusing distance or near point, divided by the focal length of the...

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

In the SI system, prefix meaning one-millionth, 10-6. Abbreviated µ.

A mechanical fixture, generally a rigid tube, used to confine the stripped end of a fiber or a fiber bundle.

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

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric...

A physical constraint, often a lens retainer, that limits the diameter of the axial light bundle allowed to pass through a...

A polariton is a quasiparticle resulting from the strong coupling between photons (light particles) and certain types of...

A technique used for noncontact inspection of semiconductor wafers. The material is illuminated by an excitation source that...

An atomic force microscope (AFM) is a high-resolution imaging and measurement instrument used in nanotechnology, materials...

Pertaining to radiation or particle emission, whereby the emission is produced with minimal energy spread.

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

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

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 phase conjugation or other methods to increase the power density of a laser beam under adverse atmospheric...

A photon sieve is an optical device used in the field of optics and imaging. It's designed to focus and shape light,...

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

A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a...

An antigen is any substance that is capable of triggering an immune response in an organism. Antigens are typically proteins...

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

Any form of lens, optical system (camera, telescope, microscope, etc.), or opto-electronics utilized for the purpose of...

In optical character recognition systems, the identification of a character facilitated by means of known factors governing...

A small instrument containing a picture support and a pair of magnifying lenses so arranged that the left eye sees only the...

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

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

A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its...

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

High-precision motorized positioning device, often linked to computer control equipment.

Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring substances. These...

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

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

A process by which the ionizing capabilities of a laser beam are used to break initiate conduction between pairs of...

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

In dry etching, a method of characterizing the composition of solid materials such as metal. Atoms in the OES technique are...

A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material...

Selection of specific brightness values or minimum threshold levels as contingencies for the display of digital data.

The ability of an optical system to make an object appear larger. An optical element or optical system causing an object to...

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

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...

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

An optical fiber in which the core is of uniform refractive index.

A type of change in the energy levels of molecules in a laser that results in lasing action. Vibronic transitions are those...

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

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

A cable assembly containing both optical fibers and copper electrical conductors in the same jacket.

The combination of the organic dye in a stained specimen and the antibodies produced that is detected by exposure to light.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and...

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

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical...

The introduction of a filter into an imaging system to implement a phase contrast for an intensity mapping of a pure phase...

A device that is used to produce or analyze plane-polarized light. It may be a Nicol prism or some other form of calcite...

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

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

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

Device that uses a coherent reference wave to record the interference patterns produced by incident ultrasonic waves on an...

The study of the transmission of radiant energy through crystals, especially anisotropic crystals, and their effects on...

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is an international standard for medical imaging created by both the...

The science and technology applied to the creation of low temperatures (i.e., approaching absolute zero).

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

Piezoelectric transducers are devices that utilize the piezoelectric effect to convert electrical energy into mechanical...

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...

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

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

Sl prefix meaning one tenth, 10-1.

Technique that defocuses activity from surrounding planes by means of the relative motions at the point of interest.

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

One of the four functions that allows the computation of a transparent medium's index of refraction, provided the index has...

A camera containing an electronic image sensor that converts the image to an electronic signal suitable for television...

A unit of frequency that equals 1000 cps. Abbreviated kHz.

In optics, the process of combining two lenses having equal and opposite powers to produce a result having no power.

An observed effect of the ability of certain atomic particles to pass through a barrier that they cannot pass over because...

A conical or cylindrical package of light rays emanating from a common point on the object.

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

In cosmology, a star that exhibits a rapid increase in the magnitude of light, which is followed by a slow decrease in...

Material used to integrate photoconductors into electro-optical systems. It should provide low resistance to the flow of...

A lamp that emits light as the result of the passage of an electrical current through ionized cesium vapor.

Technique using a fiber optic assembly to illuminate an opaque object and transmit an image back from it without a lens...

The amount of energy required for a particular kind of atom to remove an electron to infinite distance. The ionization...

Secondary aberrations remaining after the primary (Seidel) aberrations have been corrected.

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

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

A technique in photometry that uses an oxyhydrogen or oxyacetylene flame to optically excite a solution containing the...

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

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

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

A scanning laser radar system applied to transmission and concentration analysis in three dimensions of clouds as well as...

An inspection device in which the profile of a mechanical part is projected onto a ground-glass screen at a precisely known...

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

A device that permits the adjustment of facsimile transmitters and recorders so that their scanning lines stop and start at...

A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola....

A still camera with a shutter capable of opening for a time as short as a fraction of a microsecond. An electronically...

A nonradiative transition refers to a process in which an electron or an atom undergoes a change in its energy state without...

Mechanical device intended for the translation (rotational and linear) using high precision control from electronically...

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

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through...

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

In the SI system, prefix meaning one hundredth, 10-2.

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

Flux per unit area measured normal to the direction of propagation of the flux.

Pertaining to electromagnetic radiation as perceived by the eye; that is, with the contributions as wavelengths in the...

The dielectric coefficient parallel to the director in a liquid crystal display (LCD), rather than perpendicular to the...

Designating any instrument in which both eyes can be used to view the image to achieve a stereoscopic effect, or merely to...

Referring to the bandwidth and spectrum location of the signal produced by television or radar scanning.

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

An arc discharge tube having a grid that is used to start the discharge through an atmosphere of inert gas or vapor at low...

A television format with enhanced vertical resolution (400 lines as compared with the standard 330) that, unlike...

Contour mapping technique that involves positioning a grating close to an object and observing its shadow on the object...

A sensitometer that utilizes an electronic flashtube or a photoflash lamp as both the light source and the shutter for...

In chemistry, a device in which a chemical reaction takes place. In electronics, a device that introduces reactance into a...

An LED (light-emitting diode) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs...

The image of a point source that appears as a circle of finite diameter because of defocusing or the aberrations inherent in...

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

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

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

Observed phenomenon in laser pulses in which a large number of excited electrons are created and in which multiphoton...

An arc lamp that has its cavity filled with krypton to produce a light source with unique characteristics.

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

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

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

The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive...

SI prefix meaning ten, 101.

An infrared transmitting material used in the production of fluoride glasses for optical fibers.

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

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

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...

Electromagnetic energy that is capable of producing photochemical activity.

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

A semiconductor laser diode that emits light perpendicular to the active region. The output radiation is taken through the...

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

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

A machine vision technique that compares a template of the desired image (the correlation kernel) with the actual camera...

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

An assembly of multiple prisms that disperses incident light into its spectral components without deviating light at the...

Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry...

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

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

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

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

Irradiation of a cylindrical crystal with an x-ray beam resulting in Bragg diffraction that produces a slightly enlarged...

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

A unit of energy or work in the MKS system of units. One joule is equal to 107 ergs.

A small low-power microscope or magnifier with a scale that is used to measure the exit pupil diameter and eye relief on...

The formation of a fan of light or energy rays in a beam as the beam passes through an extremely narrow aperture.

The initiation of the beam in a cathode-ray tube.

Phototoxicity refers to the harmful effects caused by exposure to light, particularly intense or ultraviolet (UV) light, on...

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

A lamp in which the ionization of the inert gas contained in it produces a glow in the space close to the negative electrode.

A negative lens used to increase the effective focal length of a telescope objective.

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-12.

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

Effect whereby two electrons lose synchronism with the accelerating field and are lost during synchronous radiation. The...

An instrument in which an image of the sun is scanned by the entrance slit of a monochromator, the exit slit simultaneously...

Output noise in a laser beam resulting from acoustic disturbances of mirror separation or orientation. Such disturbances may...

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

A telescope objective with excellent spherochromatic correction, consisting of a meniscus crown and a meniscus flint, both...

Holographic tomography is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and tomography to provide three-dimensional...

The unusual and anisotropic diamagnetic quality observed in particular crystals such as those composed of bismuth.

A method of storing digital data using techniques that consume less memory space than basic methods do. See differential...

A technique developed to measure the molecular weight of macromolecules by analyzing the spontaneous fluctuations that occur...

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

A hologram having an image scale that is orders of magnitude smaller than microfiche images.

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

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

A motion-picture camera that can be advanced one frame at a time, either randomly or at set intervals. Used in animation and...

A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It...

The process of grinding the concave surface of a single-vision spherical lens.

The ionization that occurs in gas affected by the action of radiation quanta.

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

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

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

A small television tube originally developed for closed-circuit television. It is about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches...

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the...

A circuit that uses feedback to synchronize the phase of a voltage-controlled oscillator with the phase of an incoming or...

A group of photosensors arranged in a grid-like pattern covering the entire field of view, enabling them to record it all at...

Any known value derived from standard analysis that serves as a reference to the accuracy of an instrument or process in...

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

In coherence theory, an optical law put forth by physicist Emil Wolf that explains the behavior of light as it travels away...

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

A lens consisting of two or more elements, usually of crown and flint glass, that has been corrected for chromatic...

An imaging device originally created to image whole mouse brain volumes at microscopic resolution. The main component of the...

A microscope that allows examination of a small crystal and conveniently provides linearly polarized object and reference...

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

A test chart whose luminance changes uniformly in one direction according to a sinusoidal rule. These charts carry groups of...

A closed-loop system that is constantly adjusted in response to input signals generated within the system.

The use of variations in the power supplied to a laser to change the shape of the output pulse. The technique is used in...

1. A stereoscope that has adjustable scales to allow the determination of distances and dimensions from stereoscopic...

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

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

A unit of length in the metric system equal to one millionth of a meter (10-6 m). Also called micrometer. Abbreviated...

Developed for use in military reconnaissance systems, it consists of a polygonal mirror, drive motor, interface between...

The science of all complex elements of atomic and molecular spectra, and the interaction of radiation and matter.

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

A technique whereby two laser beams, one at an excitation wavelength and the second at a wavelength that produces Stokes...

Two simple meniscus lenses arranged symmetrically on either side of the aperture stop, providing reduced coma, lateral color...

The use of a material's emissivity to measure absorption. It is useful as an absorption loss measurement technique, since at...

A process and method by which manipulation and orientation of a given number of directed laser beams decreases the motion of...

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

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

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

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-24. (y).

A precision positioning device used to produce rotary motion.

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

A thin-film photoconductive cell that is sensitive to the infrared region. The photosensitive material of the cell is...

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

A mirror composed of liquid, taking advantage of the parabolic shape of a spinning liquid and the fact that the mirror's...

Loss intrinsic to the fiber caused by parameter (core dimension, profile parameter) mismatches when two nonidentical fibers...

A type of internal photonic connection in an integrated circuit in which a holographic grating is used to focus light at...

A phase-shift interferometer used to detect the relative angular speeds or positions of two concentric rotors.

A technique used in holography that involves the mixing of lasers of different wavelengths to produce a beam of shorter...

The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained with a Fourier transform spectrometer when detector noise prevails, which exceeds...

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

In morphological image processing, a series of erosions followed by the same number of dilations.

An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by...

An infrared imaging device composed of a detector array and readout electronics. It may include a cryogenic cooling system....

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

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

A factor, F, indicating the increase in shot noise in an avalanche photodiode as compared with the ideal multiplier, which...

The optical diffraction spectra formed, or the method that produces them, when a light beam is transmitted through a...

Diffuse light emitted by the atmosphere due to the excitation of particles of atmospheric gas. These excited particles...

A method of fabricating a graded-index optical waveguide by means of an ion exchange process.

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

The method by which Thomas Young in 1802 disproved Newton's corpuscular theory of light by the formation of interference...

A category of systems designed to communicate a photo taken from the air (e.g., aircraft, balloon, satellite) to a ground...

Also called proximity focus image intensifier. A compact image intensifier that utilizes a microchannel plate...

Irradiance per unit wavelength interval at a given wavelength, expressed in watts per unit area per unit wavelength interval.

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

A thin-film device that integrates optics and electronics on a single chip to provide a passive-ring resonator gyroscope...

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide...

The utilization of photometric measurement to determine the relative magnitudes of the heavenly bodies.

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

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

A compound lens so constructed that its overall length is equal to or less than its effective focal length.

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

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

A photomicrographic recording technique that utilizes dark-field illumination to render an image of an object having a...

The arc formed when the rare gas xenon is excited electrically and emits a brilliant white light. Xenon is used to fill...

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

In communcations and video signals, the portion of a composite signal between the leading edge of the horizontal blanking...

Popular process for silicon and polycrystalline production that consists of an alteration of the original state of a...

In the SI system, prefix meaning one hundred, 102.

In interferometry, the result of superimposing two wavefronts of identical shape, yielding a uniform intensity interference...

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

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

A photodetector composed of a semiconductor material whose responsive properties can be altered by the addition of...

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

Referring to compound semiconductor materials combining one element with two valence electrons and one or more with six....

In a communications network, a point at which data are received or from which they are sent. Though the term often is used...

The cutting of pitch tooling surfaces by an optical technician to permit polishing compounds to flow across the surface of...

Fluorescein is a synthetic organic compound extensively used as a fluorescent tracer in various applications, particularly...

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

1. The variation in intensity of a light beam as it travels through the atmosphere. 2. In radiation physics, a light flash...

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

A transducer is a device or component that converts one form of energy into another. It is commonly used in various fields,...

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

The area of optics that deals with the propagation of Gaussian laser beams in free space, or any general medium - i.e....

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

An eyepiece consisting of a planoconvex field lens and a cemented doublet as the eye lens.

A unit of luminance that is equal to one candela/cm2. (sb).

An optically bistable device used for photonic switching, constructed of a multiple quantum well biased by an external...

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

A bench with instrumentation including a collimator, a microscope, positioners and a nodal slide used to rotate a lens about...

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

An instrument providing a continuous measure of color.

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

A prism formed by dividing a Nicol prism in a plane parallel to the path of vibration of the transmitted light and taking...

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

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

A type of computer in which the electronic circuits, which process data serially, are replaced by photonic circuits capable...

An electronic display in which a flat screen is formed by an orthogonal array of display devices, such as electroluminescent...

Azadioxatriangulenium is a type of organic compound with a unique triangular molecular structure. It is often abbreviated as...

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

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

That process by which radiation spontaneously emitted by a volume of optical materials is resonantly reabsorbed within the...

A Q-switch method that can result in extreme pulse shortening.

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

An experimental research technique by which absorbed or unabsorbed radiation is analyzed in order to characterize and...

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

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

An electric or electronic device that regulates the voltage going to a light source as a means of varying the intensity of...

Ultrasound used in the cleaning of metal and optical parts by virtue of its vibration rates. Large acoustic forces break off...

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

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

A piece of glass, quartz or other transparent material formed roughly by molding or cutting into the approximate shape and...

A device that combines electronic and optical techniques to form a monitored infrared signal between 1 and 14 µm. It...

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

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

iris or adjustable radially symmetric opening used for allowing the passage of useful light

In fiber optics, a device used to polish a biconic plug to a specified length and surface finish. Also called a polishing...

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

The process in which the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube varies in intensity in accordance with the magnitude of the...

A signal, generated by an oscillator, that provides the means of synchronization of operations in a data communications...

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

Pertaining to the possession of photoelectric characteristics as a result of the properties of the true crystal and not of...

A technique for creating optimal performance in a system by producing a specific beam irradiance distribution, usually...

A doubly refracting mineral used to produce polarizing prisms. It is uniaxial negative and in the trigonal division of the...

A spectrometer or autocollimator used to measure prism angles.

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

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

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

The luminescence of a substance resulting from its exposure to ultrasonic waves.

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

A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be...

The simplest, most inexpensive type of camera, which is shaped as an oblong or square box, containing the simplest lens,...

Also known as single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), this process was designed for imaging of sensitive samples and...

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

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

The halo phenomenon of a brightly colored arc having the colors of the rainbow and lying parallel to the horizon.

Although low in sensitivity (approximately 10-7 m for helium-neon lasers), this holographic technique permits quantitative...

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

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

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

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

1. Synonymous with radioactivity. The intensity of a radioactive source illustrated as the number of atoms disintegrating in...

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

A telescope stand equipped with a polar axis that can be set parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation and a declination axis...

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

In image processing, methods of reducing image defects that result from false data. Techniques include sampling, linear...

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

The behavior of microscopic solid particles suspended in a fluid, first observed by botanist Robert Brown in 1827 as a...

A term referring to various processes for forming visible images outside of a camera to be photographed on ordinary film....

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

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

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...

A lock-in amplifier is a specialized electronic instrument used to extract and measure small signals embedded in noise or...

An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other...

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

Also termed eye distance. The distance between the vertex of the last optical surface of a visual optical system and the...

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...

Broadening of a laser's spectral linewidth when the resonance frequencies of the atoms (or molecules) of the medium are not...

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

A technique used to create a series of interrelated holographic images that give an appearance of motion when projected in...

The interaction between electrical and mechanical stress-strain factors in a material. When piezoelectric crystal is...

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

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

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two...

Class of organic dyes that emit coherent radiation over a wide spectral range.

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

An optical channel monitor (OCM) is a device used in optical communication systems to monitor and analyze the performance of...

A type of filter consisting of a series of birefringent crystals and polarizers invented by French astronomer Bernard Lyot...

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

An optogenetic technique that embeds genetically-engineered proteins to the heart to aid in terminating arrhythmias. After...

A photodiode detector is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. It operates based on the...

A term variously applied to remote sensing techniques that essentially refers to all parametric conditions that influence...

Electronic circuit capable of distinguishing the pulses emitted by separate counters in a given time phase and determining...

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

A small card (10 x 15 cm) that has been treated with a photographic emulsion to record and store the microimages of...

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

A photometer having a pair of Nicol prisms introduced into the beam from the brighter of two sources to be compared. Turning...

The communications network between nodes of a data transmission system.

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

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

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

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

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...

The angle formed between a ray of light striking a surface and the normal to that surface at the point of incidence.

A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser...

Ratio of the radiant flux at a particular wavelength lm to that at any other wavelength l, such that both radiations produce...

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

In interlaced television scanning, an effect in which the lines of one field fail to fall exactly within the lines of the...

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

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

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

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

Fluid used to aid in examination of semifinished blanks.

An analytical technique used to determine, identify and localize impending malfunctions. It is based upon quantitative and...

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

In optical character recognition, the mechanical or electronic transducer used to detect the level of illumination present...

The incident ray, the normal to the refracting surface at the point of incidence of the ray at the surface, and the...

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

A technique for measuring the concentration of any gases. Identical infrared beams are alternately chopped, one passing...

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

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

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving...

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

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

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

Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a...

An instrument similar to the spectroheliograph, but having a scanning method that is performed by a pair of rapidly...

The technique of producing spectrograms in wavelengths beyond 120 nm by the use of a diffraction grating and a Schumann...

An optical diffuser is an optical component or material designed to scatter or diffuse light that passes through it. It is...

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

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

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

A device that measures the intensity of photochemically active radiation, particularly from the sun. One form of this...

Noise generated within an optical communications system link that has both internal (dark current) and external (background...

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

An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives...

A unit of energy absorbed from ionizing radiation, equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

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

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

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

1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit....

The process of determining, with the aid of plane-polarized light, the stress distribution in materials under complex...

A device, such as a thermionic or crystal diode, that is introduced into the vision channel of a television receiver to...

A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added...

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

Also known as HCS, an analytical method designed to collect statistically relevant amounts of quantitative data on many...

An instrumental technique that utilizes the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles as recorded from a mass spectrometer...

The chromatic resolving power of a prism is invariably stated for the case in which parallel rays of light are incident on...

The superimposition of a pilot object on each hologram. The fixed relative position of the scanning and pilot beam during...

The spectrographic analysis of matter that is in a cooled state. Generally, a mechanical refrigerator is used to lower the...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...

A thermal infrared imaging procedure developed for quality control of printed circuit boards. The thermogram of each board...

A device used to measure the intensity of radiant energy.

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

The scientific observation of celestial radiation that has reached the vicinity of Earth, and the interpretation of these...

A device used to lock the internal synchronization generator of a television camera to an external source.

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

An electronic tube instrument in which the anode current varies with the intensity of light incident on the cathode.

A unit of length in the metric system equal to 10-9 meters. It formerly was called a millimicron.

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

A doubly refracting crystal having a single axis along which there is an absence of double refraction.

A type of ultrasensitive laser spectroscopy that can detect quantities as small as a single atom of some substances and that...

The range of frequencies over which a particular instrument is designed to function within specified limits. See also fiber...

A microscope design that involves apertures inserted in conjugate plane positions inside the microscope, with one aperture...

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

A document-transmitting process that uses a cylinder that rotates the document to be scanned and detected by a photoelectric...

A technique used in radiography to obtain an unblurred image of a moving object by the use of very short x-ray exposures,...

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

1. The decrease of the absorption (or gain) coefficient of a medium near some transition frequency when the power of the...

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

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

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

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

The process whereby a rotating wheel carries grains of an abrasive, suspended in a vehicle, across the surface of the...

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

A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams...

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

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

The technique of generating ultrashort -- down to subpicosecond -- pulses by pumping a dye laser with mode-locked laser...

A multiline laser system refers to a type of laser that is capable of emitting multiple discrete wavelengths or spectral...

In a lens or lens system, that surface at which the projections of an entering and exiting ray intersect. Also known as the...

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

A detector and signal demodulator used in optical communications systems to receive a signal and often to translate it into...

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

A low-power magnifier that usually has a large diameter.

A form of liquid crystal in which flow does not take place in the usual manner. When examined with polarized light, the...

A coating having pigments that change color when exposed to heat. This effect has been widely used to monitor hot spots in...

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

The maximum rate at which temporally disjunct optical signals can be produced or detected.

In a laser, the voltage necessary to sustain a constant operating current, somewhat less than that needed for start-up.

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

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

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

An optical device, such as a Nicol prism, capable of producing plane-polarized light, and used for detecting the effect of...

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

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

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

Glass containing small quantities of neodymium oxide that is used as a filter plate in color television or as a lasing...

Mount attached to a camera or camcorder which allows the user to attach a microphone or flash unit.

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

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

A unit of luminance equal to 1/p candela per square centimeter. (l).

The method of acquiring characteristic x-ray spectra from microscopic samples by use of the combination of a scanning...

In a mechanical system, any lost motion between driving and driven elements due to clearance between parts.

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

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector...

A shutter actuated by means other than mechanical springs for timings on the order of nanoseconds. The shutter is used in...

A formed piece of glass, one surface of which has been ground and polished to the required curvatures.

Radiation that does not produce free electrons and ions, or electrically charged particles.

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

Consisting of, containing, pertaining to or yielding carbon.

A gas, such as oxygen, that improves the speed and efficiency of a laser cutter or welder when applied to the work surface,...

A technique for measuring fiber attenuation or distortion by performing two transmission measurements. One is at the output...

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

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

Pertaining to the human eye.

Functional materials refer to materials that possess specific properties or functionalities that make them suitable for...

A type of glass containing barium oxide, which is added to increase the refractive index while maintaining a relatively low...

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

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

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

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

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

A type of mosaic detector array that combines features of scanning and staring sensors by using a small rapid scanning...

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

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

Image of a uniform source through the sample of a microscope image system. Light from the sample plane is reimaged by the...

In laser welding or heat treating, the instantaneous laser beam power per unit area. This parameter is key in determining...

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

The maintenance of the same scanning relationship between the transmitting scanning spot and receiving scanning spot for...

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

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

Made up of four elements; for instance, gadolinium, scandium, gallium and garnet (GSGG).

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

The minimum electrical current input needed to initiate lasing.

The material lost during a laser cutting or machining operation.

Refers to the transistors in which the working current flows through only one type of semiconductor material, either P-type...

In an ionic crystal, the region in the crystal lattice where the ion, predicted to be present, is absent.

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

A unit of luminance equal to 1/p candela per square meter.

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1015.

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

Scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) refers to a type of image sensor technology specifically designed...

A lens assembly made up of three lens elements that may or may not be cemented.

A method of measuring total hemispherical emissivity of the plane surface of a solid that consists of thermally isolating a...

A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the...

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

Operation in which the minimum detectable signal has its limits set by the thermal noise of the detector, the load...

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

A photomask, also known simply as a mask or reticle, is a key component in the photolithography process used in...

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

An instrument used to measure the duration of fluorescence emanating from a biological sample to monitor and evaluate its...

Device in which contact ionization of atomic particles and thermionic electron emission are used to produce magnetically...

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

A lens having one or more toric surfaces. A toric surface is one having a maximum power in one meridian and a minimum power...

Spectroscopy characterized by the Mossbauer effect - recoilless emission and absorption of nuclear gamma radiation- which...

Pyramid error in optics refers to an aberration in the shape of an optical surface, particularly in the context of mirrors....

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

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

An alexandrite laser is a solid-state laser that utilizes a synthetic crystal made from the rare earth element alexandrite...

The darkening of the laser facet of a semiconductor laser diode. It can be prevented by placing the component in a...

In optics, the Pockels effect refers to the phenomenon where the refractive index of a material changes in response to an...

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

Potential hazards to a system's application and installation, including temperature variations, chemical reactivity,...

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

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

A three-terminal semiconductor having only one PN junction and a stable, open-circuit, negative-resistance property.

A reagent is a substance or compound that is used in a chemical reaction to bring about a specific transformation or to...

Metrology is the science and practice of measurement. It encompasses the theoretical and practical aspects of measurement,...

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

The minimum driving current corresponding to lasing threshold at a specified temperature. (Ith).

1. The basic unit of length in the metric system, equal to 39.37 in. or 3.28 ft. 2. Any device or instrument used for...

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

The generic term applied to all sources of visible radiation from burning matter to ionized vapors and lasers, regardless of...

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

The Foucault test is performed by moving a knife edge laterally into the image of a small point source. The eye, or a...

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

An advanced technique that allows the detection of one molecule within a crystal or a cell through optical excitation....

A simple electrostatic lens with a focus controlled by a single potential difference.

1. A measure of absorbed dose, equal to the energy imparted by ionizing radiation to a mass of matter corresponding to 1 J...

A sensor module used in advanced pattern recognition systems, containing signal-processing integrated circuits stacked and...

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

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

An afocal optical device made up of lenses or mirrors, usually with a magnification greater than unity, that renders distant...

A group of energy levels to which ions in the ground state are initially excited when pumping radiation is applied to a...

The standard unit used to express gain or loss and relative power levels. The decibel (dB) = 10 log (P2/P1).

A broadband continuum resonator that confines a wide range of wavelengths. From the optical confinement a single wavelength...

The negative distortion that causes a square grid pattern to be imaged as barrel-shaped.

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

The decrease in the refractive index at the center of a fiber's core, caused by certain fabrication techniques. Also called...

A system for fabricating optical fiber, consisting of a furnace that heats the materials, a polymer coating stage, a...

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

A method of coding image data by storing in memory only differences in brightness of each pixel from that of its nearest...

A light-harvesting protein found in the purple membrane of a micro-organism called Halobacterium halobium. The protein...

The process of mapping the infrared emittance of an area through the use of an infrared detector and related scanning...

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

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

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized...

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

Array used in coded-aperture imaging experiments with two-beam CO2 lasers that provide an artifact-free process, faithful...

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

Of all the rays passing through a lens from an off-axis object point to its corresponding image point, there is always one...

A meniscus that is often fitted before a camera lens to permit focusing on near objects.

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

A camera equipped with a lens and a long length of perforated film, the latter being moved intermittently between exposures...

In image processing, the assigning of certain portions (or pixels) of an image a constant value of either 0 (black) or 1...

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

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

A plasma produced by the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a material surface. Production of ionized particle with...

The underexposure caused by the diffraction of light passing through small openings spaced closely together in masks used in...

The technique of making motion pictures.

A term pertaining to devices (generally optical) designed for use with both eyes viewing through a single exit pupil. The...

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

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

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

An instrument that measures several optical parameters, such as optical power and wavelength, with a single measurement...

Cold atoms refer to atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures, typically in the microkelvin (µK) to...

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

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

A rotating disc that holds several lenses of differing focal length about a diameter. Used to switch lenses in a system...

The ability of a machine to perform certain complex functions normally associated with human intelligence, such as judgment,...

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

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

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

A technique for obtaining improved resolution of images produced by large telescopes and distorted by the effects of...

Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from...

The ray that has an isotropic speed and maintains a uniform polarization in all propagation directions when traveling in a...

A type of tubing used to protect optical fiber cables, consisting of a wire spiral of aluminum, galvanized steel or...

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

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

Optical glass containing zirconium fluoride that results in special characteristics such as improved transmission.

Spectra can be conveniently recorded on photographic film or plates. The portions that are occupied by regions of the...

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

A matrix of miniature lenses, molded or formed onto a common base.

In a single element, any lack of coincidence between the optical and the mechanical axes. In a lens system, any lack of...

Means of determining the relative motion of a (seismic) mass or acceleration body from a stable laser operated system.

A paraboloidal surface on which the image is located when there is no astigmatism.

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic...

A term applied to the recording of video images by means of magnetic tape or disc, so that the image's record can be played...

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

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

Mathematical compensation for the nonhydrogenic behavior of recombination radiation levels of gases, based on the quantum...

A photodetector mounted in the same package as a laser diode that is positioned to monitor the output from the rear facet of...

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

As a wavefront of light passes by an opaque edge or through an opening, secondary weaker wavefronts are generated,...

Any optical transmission channel used in telecommunications designed to connect two end terminals or to be connected in...

A method in optical character recognition in which a mobile light beam scans the outlines of characters for subsequent...

A device, consisting of a diode activated by an interference pulse, that is designed to minimize the white spots on a...

A double block formed by placing two adjoining, equally thick sections of quartz, one being dextrorotary, the other...

The angular width of a radiation beam. With respect to a conical beam of light, it is the vertex angle of the cone. The...

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

A fiber optic connector or splice that mates two multifiber cables, optically aligning all of the individual fibers...

With respect to microscopy, also called dispersive staining, optical staining the projection of colors through areas of a...

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

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

An inorganic compound, yellow to orange in color, that fluoresces strongly enough when bombarded by a high-current-density...

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

The technique that uses light to detect and analyze the antibodies produced by a specimen stained with an organic dye.

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

The number of times per second that the frame of a television system is completely scanned. In the United States, 30 per...

A filter that polarizes light passing through it. It is possible to fabricate sheets of plastic or gelatin that contain...

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

A uniaxial, birefringent crystal having an ordinary ray with a higher velocity than the extraordinary ray.

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

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

A prism resembling a Nicol prism but having faces normal to the axis and the two parts divided by a glycerine film. Also...

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

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...

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

Image distortion that occurs when the axes of the original image are not perpendicular in the resulting image, making the...

The minimum value of luminance for vision. The value may vary with age as well as dark adaption period. (Measured range...

A negative powered lens with one surface convex and the other concave, the latter having the greater curvature. It also is...

A microscope designed with two eyepieces (oculars), permitting the use of both eyes when viewing through the instrument.

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals....

The radiant flux per unit area emitted from a surface.

A phototube that functions within a vacuum and thus eliminates the effects of gaseous ionization on its electrical...

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

With respect to a lens, the reciprocal of its focal length. The term power, as applied to a telescope or microscope, often...

A cine camera that exposes a series of individual frames to record the changes in a subject that slowly alters with time....

A system of modular mechanical components for building precision optical systems. The basic equipment includes a variety of...

A channel for communication with the source in an otherwise unidirectional network, such as a channel that provides...

A robotic process commonly employed by automakers that enables high-speed and flexible production throughput by using...

A technique for polishing silicon in which an alkaline suspension containing silicon dioxide particles creates a soft layer...

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

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

A monolithic device containing both photonic and electronic sources, detectors, modulators, etc., on a single semiconductor...

A Nernst glower, also known simply as a Nernst lamp or Nernst filament, is a type of incandescent lamp or radiant heater...

A signal-averaging technique that improves signal-to-noise ratio by comparing a sampled signal with a reference signal...

A high-quality, narrow-angle lens of high aperture designed for low magnification in the recording of cathode-ray tube...

A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...

An image-enhancement technique in which each pixel is subjected to a mathematical operation that groups it with its nearest...

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

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

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

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

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

A series of flanges or other conducting surfaces, usually metal, attached to an electronic device to transmit and dissipate...

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle...

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

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

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...

A variable focal length lens system that retains the object in focus as one or more lenses move as a unit along its optical...

With respect to a traveling plane wave at a known frequency, the space rate of decrease of phase of a field component in the...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free...

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

Time-lapse optical coherence tomography (OCT) refers to a medical imaging technique that captures a series of sequential OCT...

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to...

The use of miniature scanners to project raster-scanned video images directly onto the surface of the human retina,...

Medical lasers are devices that produce intense beams of light with specific characteristics and properties, which are used...

An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.

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

A uniaxial, birefringent crystal such as calcite or ruby in which the velocity of the extraordinary ray surpasses that of...

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

A mechanism or device, especially a coating with a refractive index equal to or slightly greater than that of an optical...

The triangle in a chromaticity diagram joining the chromaticities of the NTSC phosphors, and containing all chromaticities...

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

A lens having an extremely high aperture and used in the recording of x-ray fluorescent screen images. It often is specially...

A hologram facet illumination technique in which the illuminating beam is twice the size of the hologram facet so that full...

A single-particle scattering technique in which an incident laser beam is tightly focused by means of lenses to yield a...

Camera Link HS (high speed) is a standard developed for high-speed digital data transmission in machine vision and...

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

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with...

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

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

A series of permanent holograms in dichromated gelatin formed by opening total page-composer apertures and setting a point...

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

The product of the actual base or baseline of a rangefinder or heightfinder, and the power or magnification of the...

The plot that expresses a reaction rate vs. the reciprocal of absolute temperature. Often used to describe the thermal...

Thin-film deposition equipment refers to machinery and tools used in the process of depositing thin layers of material onto...

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at...

A standard source of high-charge-state ions for accelerators that has an external magnetic field oriented perpendicularly to...

The creation of a chemical reaction in a substance when radiation is directed to it.

A straight line, real or imaginary, passing through a body and indicating its center; a line so positioned that various...

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

1. A bundle of light rays that may be parallel, converging or diverging. 2. A concentrated, unidirectional stream of...

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

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

A filter possessing one transmission band that extends from a cutoff frequency other than zero to frequency at infinity.

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

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

With respect to the crystal, the decrease in energy that follows the process whereby the ions, separated from each other by...

A device through which scintillations are observed or counted through a magnifying lens system.

The Golgi staining technique (also called the black reaction) makes it possible to look at the nervous system by rendering...

An instrument using a Michelson interferometer, a beamsplitter, two plane mirrors and a detector to give Fourier analysis of...

The positioning of two Nicol prisms so that their axes are at right angles to each other. With this arrangement, light...

In micropositioning systems, motion (most frequently undesired) about the Z-axis.

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

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

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

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

An obsolete term once used to describe a unit of radiation dosage.

A solar cell that is lightweight and flexible because of its construction by vacuum deposition of a semiconductor material...

The coupling of laser or light beams via nonlinear optical techniques such as four-wave mixing to achieve spatial variation...

The constant equal to the unit stress divided by unit deformation, relative to all values and a substance's proportional...

Unit of illuminance equal to one lumen per square foot. (fc).

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

A polishing machine in which the rouge slurry is contained in a bowl and is constantly diverted mechanically so that it...

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

A laser that uses a substance in the liquid state, such as an organic dye, as the active lasing medium.

The pattern used as a probe in morphological image processing to manipulate the size and shape of objects in an image.

A pathogen is a biological agent, such as a virus, bacterium, fungus, protozoan, or parasite, that causes disease in its...

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

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

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

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

A magnifying lens fitted with a battery-operated lamp by which an object can be conveniently illuminated during observation.

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

A unit of metric measurement, equal to 0.001 m. 25.4 mm equal 1 inch.

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

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...

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

A temperature radiator whose spectral emissivity at all wavelengths is in constant ratio (less than unity) to that of a...

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

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

Photon-rich typically refers to an environment or situation where there is an abundance of photons present. In the context...

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

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

An infrared light source is a device that emits light in the infrared spectrum, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of...

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

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

Also known as constant angle or constant deviation fringes. The interference fringes observed with dense flat plates near...

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

A cathode-ray tube combined with an electrostatic storage unit that is used to introduce, store and retrieve information...

An anastigmatic lens with a thick meniscus construction that flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical...

A form of infrared CCD that utilizes internal photoemission as a photodetection mechanism.

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

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

The process of defining a specific intensity level for determining which of two values will be assigned to each pixel in...

Combining light beams, usually of unlike frequencies, to form a single beam with a frequency that is equal to the frequency...

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

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1018. (E).

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

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

Optical fiber optic switches are devices used in optical fiber communication systems to selectively route optical signals...

Radiance per unit wavelength interval at a given wavelength, expressed in watts per steradian per unit area per wavelength...

(SALI) A type of spectroscopy in which neutral atoms or molecules are ionized by an excimer laser beam and then measured by...

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the...

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

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

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or...

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

That branch of science involved in the study and utilization of the motion, emissions and behaviors of currents of...

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

A technique used to generate a phase shift between reference and sample light beams. The phase shift can be performed...

An oscilloscope used to survey the waveform of a video signal.

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state...

A type of piezoelectric translator that uses two thin strips of piezoelectric material, one expanding while the other...

Also referred to as differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy; Nomarski microscopy is a unique form of microscopy...

A method of producing an essentially constant output signal from an electronic circuit despite variations in the strength of...

The radiant energy emitted within a time period per unit solid angle, usually measured in watts per steradian.

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

In general, changes in one oscillation signal caused by another, such as amplitude or frequency modulation in radio which...

A law that uses the square of the cosine between the plane of polarization of a beam of plane-polarized light and the plane...

A lens with one surface convex and the other concave, the latter having the greater curvature. It also is known as a...

An evacuated bulb containing a tungsten filament that is heated by passing an electric current through it. In domestic light...

A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is...

The circle of confusion is a defocused or aberrated image of a point. Focus is generally set where the diameter of this...

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

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

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

A two-dimensional scanning process, in which a slow sector scan, propagated in one direction, is superimposed at right...

A technique used in astronomy that requires a radio telescope to be directed at a point in the sky west of the object under...

Optical surface damage due to abrasive rubbing. Abrasion damage affects are less than the thickness of the optical coating...

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

Founded by professor Albert Munsell. In the field of colorimetry, the Munsell color system is a color space that identifies...

An ultrafast pulsed laser is a type of laser that emits extremely short pulses of light with durations typically on the...

The region of a ferroelectric crystal where spontaneous polarization is uniformly directed.

A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30°...

Literally, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet. A cylindrical rod of yttrium-aluminum-garnet doped with neodymium that is the...

A small opening or slit in a mask.

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

In positioning, in-plane rotation about the vertical axis. Also known as azimuth.

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

A molecule that has the ability to chemically combine with other molecules to form a polymer, hence being capable of being...

Laser texturing is a manufacturing process that involves using a laser beam to selectively modify the surface of a material,...

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

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

A high-speed, narrow-field lens consisting of two achromats spaced about the aperture stop. Its uses include portrait...

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

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

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

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

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

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

A term used to describe a spectacle lens or blank with one surface totally finished.

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

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

A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...

A common technique in microscopy, oblique illumination is one in which the object is illuminated by a light source that is...

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

RTSP, or real-time streaming protocol, is a network control protocol designed for controlling streaming media servers. It is...

A nondestructive testing method for very large scale integration circuits, using a scanning electron microscope to monitor...

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

The use of photoetching techniques to produce small tools, parts and dies from sheet metal.

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

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

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

In image processing, generating a color image from monochrome data by assigning a color to each of the gray levels.

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...

An unbounded quantity, an indefinitely large number. Infinity is commonly expressed by the symbol ∞.

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

This type of miniaturized system, referred to as CMOS qPCR, combines microfluidic technology with an ultralow-light CMOS...

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses...

An approach to character recognition based on the structure of the character to be identified (number of straight lines,...

Of or pertaining to the methods of the French philosopher Rene Descartes. Refers to the standard orthogonal X-Y-Z coordinate...

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

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...

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of...

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

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

An imaging technique that labels all gray pixels as either black or white before processing begins.

A device composed of a light source and phototube used to scan a moving strip of material in photoelectric side-register...

An optical system with object and image points at infinity. Literally, "without a focal length."

Process of analysis in which the analyte substance is distributed in a matrix before laser desorption. This method avoids...

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

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

A small object that behaves as a whole unit or entity in terms of it's transport and it's properties, as opposed to an...

A unit of frequency equivalent to one cycle per second.

Operation in which the minimum detectable signal is set because of variations in the average signal current; e.g., quantum...

A cathode-ray tube having a screen that is coated on the back with a thin film of aluminum, which serves to intensify the...

An instrument consisting essentially of a photoelectric cell filtered to respond to a specified wavelength region, an...

In the region of a Gaussian beam focus by a diffraction-limited lens, it is the axial distance from the point of minimum...

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

Any testing method for materials and components that does not damage or destroy the test sample. Some of the methods used...

An instrument designed to produce an x-ray spectrum of a material as an aid in identifying it. This technique is...

The total radiation, both solar and diffuse sky, that is incident to a unit's horizontal surface.

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

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

A large-scale, precise drawing of the contours of a perfect mechanical part, often with plus and minus tolerances drawn or...

Micro-LED (micro-light-emitting diode) refers to a technology that involves the use of very small light-emitting diodes to...

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

An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics...

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

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

An optical recording technique that uses light source(s), a beamsplitting cube, light detector(s) and an optical fiber...

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

Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...

The number of channels per unit bandwidth handled by a single optical fiber.

The logarithmic method of determining emulsion speeds developed by the German standards organization, Deutscher...

When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered...

In digital image processing, a unit equal to 16 bits.

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

A microlens array is a grid-like structure composed of numerous small lenses, typically arranged in a regular pattern. Each...

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

The collection and detection of x-rays by virtue of their ionizing properties. The ionization may be perceived directly by a...

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

The technique for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by scanning the entrance face with the vertex of a high...

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

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

gas laser using ionized argon as the active medium and applying electronic excitation in order to produce the laser light

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

The use of computer systems for monitoring and controlling industrial production.

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

The properties of certain materials that cause them to have relative permeabilities that exceed unity. This permeability...

The spot illuminated on a cathode-ray tube by the initial impact of the scanning ray and the screen.

A thermoplastic or optically transmitting hard plastic produced by applying polymerization initiator and heat to a monomer.

Solar radiation intensity existing in free space at the mean solar distance of the Earth. Commonly expressed in g cal...

An instrument used for viewing in low levels of illumination by means of infrared radiation. A high-aperture lens forms an...

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

In a fiber optic cable, the longitudinal length required for the transmission media, wrapped around a central member, to...

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

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful analytical technique that enhances the Raman scattering signal of...

A natural or mechanical system adversely affected by the influence of laser radiation. During laser damage the common effect...

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

The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and...

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

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

A combination 80-column computer card containing a 35-mm microfilm frame. Reference data can be punched onto the card to...

The use of atoms, molecules and molecular-scale structures to enhance existing technology and develop new materials and...

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

A microscope that has an annular stop in the lower focal plane of the condenser, and a quarter-wave retarding and absorbing...

A surface imperfection caused by a polisher running dry too long. It occurs with felt or plastic polishers, and may appear...

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

Transparent glassy and or crystalline structured materials engineered from inorganic, non-metallic materials via various...

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

An imaging technique used in radiology that is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to produce...

In the context of materials science and semiconductor physics, doping refers to the intentional introduction of impurities...

Trade name for a type of borosilicate glass manufactured by Corning Glass Works, noted for its low coefficient of thermal...

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

The time rate of flow of radiant energy, expressed in watts (W), and carries the units of Joule per second (J/s). The prefix...

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

An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to...

An x-ray or radium photograph illustrating the nonuniform density of the structure that the rays penetrate.

Also known as electronic photometer. A photometer with a photocell, phototransistor or phototube for measuring the intensity...

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

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

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

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

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

An electric discharge in a low-pressure gas having a low-current density and a space potential near the cathode that is much...

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

A pump-probe technique whereby a single wavelength source may be used in order to excite a given sample to determine...

A technique for detecting and measuring atmospheric pollution, in which an oscillating mirror directs half the incoming...

In astronomy, the relative brightness of a celestial body. Originally a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 represented the brightest...

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

Charged frozen pellets that are rapidly bombarded with a focused high-power laser to form a dense plasma that can be heated...

A hologram formed when the light of the illuminating beam is absorbed in correspondence with the recording exposure. In...

A unit of measurement in a rangefinder corresponding to 12 s of arc in the apparent field.

1. The process of aligning the optical axes of optical systems to the reference mechanical axes or surfaces of an...

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

A flowmeter is a device used to measure the flow rate or quantity of a fluid passing through a particular point in a system....

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...

Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or...

Abbreviated TEA CO2 laser. A gas laser that provides shorter pulses and higher peak powers than conventional CO2 lasers. The...

Optimization method used in optical design computer programs that employs a variable-by-variable approach to construct new...

Unit of measurement of brightness (luminance) equal to one candela per square meter.

A lens with a surface that is a cone instead of the usual sphere.

The energy in a medium per unit volume.

Combining adjacent pixels into one larger pixel, resulting in increased sensitivity and lower resolution, or, in image...

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

Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...

1. In the eye, the opening in the iris that permits light to pass and be focused on the retina. 2. In a lens, the image of...

In fiber optic communications systems, generally one that operates between 1000 and 1700 nm.

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

The universal constant h that has a value of 6.6260693 x 10-34 Js. A quantum of energy is equal to the product of the...

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

The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other...

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

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of...

Light consisting of a single wavelength or a very narrow band of wavelengths.

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

Technique in which the polarization rotation of light, and its relationship to the magnetic field strength can be analyzed...

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

The code used to describe the United States system of color telecasting.

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

A mechanical or electrical-electromagnetic device for periodically interrupting or blocking abeam of light for a brief known...

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

SI unit of quantity of light.

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

A lens with one concave surface and one convex surface; synonymous with meniscus.

A device incorporating a spatial light modulator and a reference filter; used for matching an input optical waveform or...

A rangefinder on a camera that is integrated with the focusing mechanism so that when an object's range is determined, the...

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

A visual system including a tiny television tube and imaging optics, all contained in a helmet to be worn by pilots in...

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

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

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

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

SI unit of luminous intensity. It is defined as one sixtieth the normal intensity of one square centimeter of a blackbody at...

The distance from the final optic within a system to the rear image point of the system. See focal length.

1. The branch of physics that deals with the use of electrical energy to create or manipulate light waves, generally by...

A gauge designed to measure high degrees of vacuum. It consists of a glass bulb attached to the vacuum vessel, the...

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

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

The successive analysis or synthesizing of the light values or other similar characteristics of the components of a picture...

On a display monitor, a small, mobile rectangle, cross-hair or pointer that locates a feature in an image that is the object...

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

A diode electron tube that contains a heated cathode.

Calculation of the probability of an interaction between two types of particles, such as light absorption, excitation or...

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

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

An extremely short, high intensity electronic flash of light, having a duration of about 1 x 10-6 s, used in photographing...

A transparent crystalline substance that is anisotropic relative to the velocity of light.

The point at which short-wavelength transmission is cut off.

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

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

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

A short focal length (less than five inches) positive lens used to produce a magnified image of the object being viewed....

A method used in surface quality testing for accurate positioning and rotation of metal spheres about an axis or fixed point...

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

Thermal emission caused by the unity in absorption bands that must be discriminated when calculating radiation intensity of...

That point in a Gaussian beam where the wavefront has a curvature of zero and the beam diameter is a minimum.

An electromagnon is a quasiparticle excitation that combines aspects of both magnetism and electric polarization in a...

The combination of two or more signals for transmission along a single wire, path or carrier. In most optical communication...

Also known as RAMP microscopy, random access multiphoton microscopy is a microscopic technique that uses multiple...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1012. (T).

A technique used to store wavefront information on thin polarization information-recordable materials by controlling the...

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

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

The variation of the electronically detected signal with respect to the scaled version of the classical optical signal...

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

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

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

A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing...

A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.

Technique using functional optical microscope with the addition of a coherent source collinear with the image path. The...

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

Least value of color value combinations which gives white light; minimum purity as determined to be white.

When splitting the output of a single optical fiber into two or more fibers, the difference in the maximum loss between any...

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) is a phenomenon observed in certain organic molecules containing...

A term applied to an electric charge image in a camera tube that remains for a period of a few frames after its initial...

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects...

An LED, or light emitting diode, is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs...

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

The process of lapping a thin edge of metal over the bevelled edge of a lens to maintain it within its cell.

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

A photovoltaic device that consists of multiple p-n junctions to produce a greater efficiency when in use than that of...

Luminous flux emitted from a surface per unit solid angle per unit of area, projected onto a plane normal to the direction...

A package for electronic components that is suited for automated assembly into printed circuit boards. The DIP is...

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

Radiographic recording and enhancement of the micoscopic details within the structure of thin specimens at a high...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 10-18.

A contraction of binary digit; the fundamental unit of digital computing, a bit is either 1 or 0, expressing the binary...

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

A measure of the dispersive properties of a glass. The relative dispersion is defined as: where C, D, and F refer to the...

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

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

Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of...

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°...

An optical test table made up of two outer layers or "skins'' bonded to either side of a honeycomblike core, usually of...

The reversal of a developed image due to the exposure of the partially developed image to actinic light.

Loss mechanisms that degrade the performance of all thin-film optical devices by removing radiant flux out of the specular...

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

A fiber optic bundle split along its length with the ends of the fibers extending separately to illuminate different points...

In a laser, the voltage necessary to initiate electrical discharge, somewhat higher than that needed to sustain it.

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

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

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

An opening or hole through which radiation or matter may pass.

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

Oleophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or resist oils. The word oleophobic comes from the...

A frame taken with a CCD camera of a surface that is evenly illuminated by diffuse light. This frame shows irregularities in...

With respect to pictorial displays, the ratio of the width to the height. The television standard in the US is 4:3....

The conductivity increase exhibited by some nonmetallic materials, resulting from the free carriers generated when photon...

A region far from an aperture or source where the diffraction pattern is essentially the same as that at infinity. Changes...

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

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

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

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

The vertical or horizontal distance between two addressable points on a display screen; indicates the basic resolution...

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or...

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

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

A chemical detection technique used to measure molecules that have a magnetic dipole moment. The analysis is directed to...

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

An infrared device used in satellites and rockets to determine a heat horizon for the Earth at altitudes (above 200 miles)...

Transparencies that represent progressive steps in the amount of transmitted radiation for administering predetermined...

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

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

Mod Method of obtaining precise temporal mode characteristics.

A device used to evaluate the luminance of a surface by determining the number of photons emitted from a sample surface area.

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

The sine of the vertex angle of the largest cone of meridional rays that can enter or leave an optical system or element,...

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

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

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...

Consists of a pair of radio telescopes concentrated on a single celestial object. This technique creates a single radio...

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

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...

In photography, the technique of taking multiple pictures of the same subject at different exposures to compensate for...

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

A sequential scanning device, utilizing a revolving lens, in which the cathode-ray tube image is transformed into a circle...

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

A manufacturing process used to construct substrates for large optical components. Used with IR materials, planform bonding...

A machining process that uses a laser to cut three-dimensional molds or models.

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

A broken circle used as the test object in distinguishing visual acuity. The width of the gap in the circle is equal to the...

The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an...

Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the...

The use of an electric field or signal to couple a lightwave from one dielectric waveguide into another dielectric waveguide.

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

The scanning of a region in a given sequence of slender, straight parallel strips.

A method of producing disks for erasable optical data storage. Information is recorded by a laser beam that generates pits...

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

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

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

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

A change in the refractive index of an optical fiber caused by variation in the length of the fiber core in response to...

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

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna...

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

A piece of glass, pyrex or quartz having one or both surfaces carefully ground and polished plano, generally flat to less...

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

A cryogenic cooler device that is an intermittent Joule-Thomson refrigerator with a passive radiator serving as the...

A unit of metric measure equivalent to 1 thousandth (or 10-3 ) of the standard unit of optical power which is the diopter (1...

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

See periscopic lens; rapid rectilinear lens.

In a fiber optic communications network, a circuit that connects two switching centers and does not branch off to terminal...

A method of spectral analysis using wavelengths between 100 and 300 nm that utilizes both emission and absorption techniques.

Technique that uses high-pass filtering to reduce the local average to zero for all regions of the picture and then applies...

Base area of a laser unit.

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

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

A test used to measure the degree of fading of different colored materials, especially those involving organic dyes, which...

In detectors, the ability to switch on and off electronically, thus producing the effect of a mechanical shutter.

Technique for the precision evaluation of coincidence of a laser beam's center with the edge of the object under study and...

A vacuum gauge designed to measure very high degrees of vacuum by thermal conduction.

A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are...

A telescope that is fixed or has a limited degree of movement in a vertical plane; primarily used to determine the position...

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

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

Pertaining to a device that responds to optical power, emits or modifies optical radiation, or utilizes optical radiation...

A semiconductor material that is used as an infrared detector for light up to 5 µm in wavelength.

Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of...

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

A form of lens assembly used in a projection system to maximize efficiency and assure uniform illumination of the object...

The unit solid angle subtended at the center of a sphere by an area on its surface equivalent to the square of the radius;...

In positioning, the friction that prevents immediate motion when force is first applied to a body or surface at rest.

In a visual optical system, the axial distance from the last mechanical surface of the eyepiece to the exit pupil.

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

In coherent optical communications systems, a laser used at the receiving end to produce a steady wave that is combined with...

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

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

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

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

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

An interferometric technique for the generation of precision gratings that allows for sequential exposure of small segments...

An optical device used to monitor movement of the human eye.

A fluoroscope equipped with a magnified, fine-grained fluorescent screen to determine the fluorescence emitted by a...

Metal used in components of the crystalline semiconductor alloys indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), indium gallium arsenide...

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

A strip or annulus of glass coated with a semitransparent material such as inconel. The coating thickness, and as a result...

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

An optical correlator incorporating a binary phase-only spatial light modulator made from an iron garnet magneto-optic solid...

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

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

A thin film or coating that forms on various finished surfaces. On optical surfaces it usually denotes aging.

A pollution-measuring device used to detect the presence of nitric oxide regardless of other gases present. It utilizes the...

The normal condition of vision where an object at infinity is in sharp focus with the eye lens in a neutral or relaxed state.

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

A dark band that may appear in the field of crossed Nicol prisms with a powerful source such as the sun because the light is...

A kinescope used to survey the details of television video transmission.

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

Deformation of a material caused by mechanical factors, especially constant pressure, and not attributable to thermal...

A vacuum pump in which pressure is reduced by condensing gases on surfaces cryogenically cooled to about 20 K (liquid...

The total range of wavelengths, extending from the shortest to the longest wavelength or conversely, that can be generated...

A device designed to decrease flux density or power per unit area of a light beam through absorption and scattering of the...

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

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

The magnitude, expressed in cycles per second, of the alteration of the wave frequency observed as a result of the Doppler...

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

A method of determining the abrasion resistance of very hard materials by passing a weighted wiper blade across them in a...

Flux per unit solid angle leaving a surface in any direction is proportional to the cosine of the angle between that...

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

The distortion that is the result of viewing a print from a point other than the center of perspective. The center of...

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

Oscilloscope electronic circuit that produces an output pulse whose pulse width is determined by the time that the output...

A ghost image that has the reverse lightness relations of the original image. This phenomenon is a common optical illusion...

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...

A high-brightness, short-duration source in which low-pressure gas initiates the discharge to vaporize material from the...

A lens similar to the Cooke triplet anastigmat, with the rear crown achromatized for improved coverage and definition. It is...

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

Raster scanning process like that of television: each line is scanned successively.

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

The criterion maintaining that if light follows a specific path through an optical system, it will, if reversed, traverse...

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

A small bulb containing a conducting gas, an arc being formed between a metal ring and a tiny zirconium electrode near the...

In a laser diode, the photocurrent produced by a photodiode that detects the emission from the rear facet of the...

A fish-eye lens designed to photograph cloud formations over the entire visible sky.

A window made of glass containing a high percentage of lead or other dense material known to absorb x-rays readily.

A lens aberration that causes a flat object surface to be imaged onto a curved surface rather than a plane.

Denoting a finished circular edge. A decentered lens is adjusted on a centering chuck so that its image runs true, and the...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by...

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

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

A scanning technique in which the object is illuminated the entire time, and in which picture elements of the object are...

A light, radar or electron beam used to scan according to a particular method.

The emissivity of a body times the emissive power of a blackbody at the same temperature. For a blackbody, it is the total...

The emission of free electrons by a rise in temperature of the cathode alone.

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

A means of determining a prism's index of refraction by placing the prism so that its emergent face is perpendicular to the...

Also referred to as fundus photography, ophthalmoscopy is the dioptrical study of the various interior components of the eye...

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

The permanent uniting of two glass pieces by high-temperature heating.

With respect to a crystal, a monoclinic crystal consists of three unequal axes, two of which intersect each other obliquely...

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

A system designed to control the output quantity of a device by returning a portion of its output signal to its input. This...

An ideal body that completely absorbs all radiant energy striking it and, therefore, appears perfectly black at all...

A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.

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

Common name for a variety of adhesives used for lens bonding, fiber optic splicing and other photonics applications. The...

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

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

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

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

1. In raster scan television, one of the two scans that are interlaced to make up a frame. 2. See field of view.

A ruticon is an opto-electronic device in which light going through it can be modulated by an electric field. The...

The process of applying a film of aluminum to a surface, usually by evaporation in a vacuum.

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

The process whereby a quantum mechanical system alters from one energy level to another. During this process, energy is...

A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution...

Magnification that is above the level of maximum useful magnification and does not contribute useful resolving power. In a...

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

A visual defect that produces a disparity in the sizes of the images formed by the two eyes.

A term describing lenses with both surfaces finished but not yet cut to any form.

A measure of the transmittance through an optical medium. Optical density equals the log to the base 10 of the reciprocal of...

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

A unit of energy or work that is equal to 1000 (103) joules. Abbreviated kJ.

A visible laser beam generated coaxially with an infrared or other invisible laser beam to aid in its positioning.

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

The mechanical centerline through the core of an optical fiber.

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

The pattern of lines traced by rectilinear scanning in display systems.

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

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

Also called Geiger-Müller counter. An instrument designed to detect and measure radioactivity through the use of a...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...

The refraction that would take place in an idealized atmosphere where the refractive index is reduced uniformly with height...

Exhibiting the characteristic of materials that are electrical insulators or in which an electric field can be sustained...

In a sequence of laser pulse emissions, the intitial pulse that often helps initiate a reaction at the target surface,...

An instrument used to recognize and identify incident radiation by the ionizing or stimulating properties of the radiation.

A pulse having extremely short duration, about 10-13 to 10-10 s, that is produced by mode locking of wide-bandwidth lasers,...

Westinghouse trade name for an alloy of iron, nickel and cobalt, which has the same thermal expansion as glass and therefore...

A unit of pressure of 1 mm Hg, equivalent to 133 P. One atmosphere = 760 torr. (t).

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

A method used to approximate the values of the homogeneous second derivatives at each iteration in the course of lens design...

A coarse diffraction grating that is used to form a scale of intensities to determine the relative magnitudes of stars. The...

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

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

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

Noise created by patterns imaged on a CCD surface. Pixel sensitivity is altered by responsivity during illumination.

The spectroscopic analysis of optical line shapes and frequency shifts, using the technique of light beating; i.e., the...

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

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

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

A computer hardware unit that generates required functional information on the screen by controlling CRT beam movements or...

The bands found by Vegard in the spectrum of the aurora borealis and by Kaplan in the nitrogen afterglow. They are formed by...

A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light...

Glass that has been treated by the case-hardening process.

A convex lens that brings an incident bundle of rays to a focus to produce intense heat at the focus.

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

A term applied to rays that possess the same focal point, which may be infinity, thereby meaning that the rays are parallel.

A common aberration in lenses covering large fields of view; it results in images of objects near the edge of the field...

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

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

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

Multispectral imaging is a technique that involves capturing and analyzing images at multiple discrete spectral bands within...

A communications system that can transmit in only a single direction at a time. See duplex.

An emulsion in which grains of the photosensitive material silver halide are deposited. Each grain, when exposed to 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 unit of frequency equivalent to 1012 cps. Named for Augustin Jean Fresnel, a French physicist known for his work in light...

An infrared detector in which radiation passes through a doped germanium crystal, creating a voltage drop that can be...

An electronic device that minimizes short-term drift effects and random measurement error inherent in alternate...

In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some...

A method of scanning in which a frame transfer device produces a continuous video image of a moving object by means of a...

A disc contained within an electronic cell counter for regulating light transmission.

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from...

A lamp that uses the transmission of an electric current through a gas or vapor to produce illumination. Neon, mercury and...

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

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

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

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

A type of multiple-pass amplifier in which no optical leakage is allowed until a finite number of passes has occurred; at...

A device consisting of a microammeter, a photovoltaic cell and a battery. It is used for the measurement of scene brightness...

Theoretical calculation of the cross section for a nuclear reaction given in the vicinity of a single resonance level in the...

In an interlaced scanning electro-optical system such as television, the system resolution will be less than the number of...

When a block of glass (prism, window, filter, etc.) is placed into a converging light bundle, it increases the physical...

In television, the number of individual pixels that can be distinguished in a horizontal scanning line; also called...

An image processing device that displays pseudocolor images by assigning colors to the gray scales according to look-up...

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

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

A ray that has a nonisotropic speed in a doubly refracting crystal. It does not necessarily obey Snell's law upon refraction...

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

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

A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...

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

Heatless light emissions from living organisms caused by the combination of oxygen and pigments such as luciferin.

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

The process of grinding the convex surface of a convexo-concave meniscus.

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

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

Radiant power per unit source area per unit solid angle. Usually it is expressed in watts/m2/steradian.

Unlike the thermocouple or bolometer, the pyroelectric infrared detector is a current source with an output proportional to...

A blank area (caused by insufficient inking of the paper) that falls within the range of an intended character stroke in an...

An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2...

The picture area scanned per second.

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...

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

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

A copolymer of styrene and acrylic used in molded optical components; it has a high refractive index and a low coefficient...

A metabolite is any small molecule that is a product of metabolism, the chemical processes that occur within living...

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

A terahertz spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to measure and analyze the properties of materials in the terahertz...

A metal device of convex or concave curvature to which lens castings or semifinished lenses are cemented with only their...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1021. (Z).

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the...

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

A precision-engineered microminiature light source that is safe for darkroom use, yet emits a beam of light bright enough to...

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

In a local area network, a unique signal that travels from one node or station to another, providing them serially with...

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

A semiconductor made up of two or more elements, in contrast to those composed of a single element such as germanium or...

Spectroscopy used to study the concentration, diffusion and Brownian motion of small particles suspended in a fluid by...

A measure of the time-integrated amount of flux. It has units of lumen-seconds and might be used to describe such things as...

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

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent...

A contour mapping technique that involves projection of a grating onto an object to produce a shadow grating that is...

A method of fabricating an optical waveguide by melting the core and clad glasses in two suitably joined concentric...

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field,...

The use of narrow bandpass filters and special photographic emulsions to discern features of a surface that would not be...

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

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

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

The organ of vision or light sensitivity.

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

A term that describes an incomplete polish.

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

In image processing, the memory that stores the values for the point processes. Input pixel values are those for the...

A device used to determine the location and attitude with respect to the Earth of orbiting spacecraft by detecting the...

A type of photoconductive detector in which germanium, usually doped with boron, gallium and indium, serves as a...

A particular type of phototube having increased sensitivity as a result of the glow initiated by light incident to the...

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

With reference to electromagnetic radiation, the number of crests of waves that pass a fixed point in a given unit of time,...

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter...

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

Transmission accompanied by diffusion or scatter to the extent that there is no regular or direct transmission.

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

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

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

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

In optics, the production of maxima and minima by the superimposition of two sets of interference fringes from light of two...

1. The process by which an atom acquires energy sufficient to raise it to a quantum state higher than its ground state. 2....

That branch of metallurgy that uses electron microscopic techniques in the examination of the nature of metals.

A whole-flow-field technique providing instantaneous velocity vector measurements in a cross-section of a flow that is...

A sensing or image-forming detector that serves to convert infrared rays into visible signals for communication purposes....

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 corrective lens system that is placed near the focal plane of a Newtonian telescope to increase its effective field of...

Anisotropic is a term used to describe a material or substance that exhibits different properties or behaviors in different...

A unit that converts images to the standard NTSC format for use with video recorders, projectors and discs.

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

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

A wireless stereo imaging device used in conjunction with a monitor to produce a virtual interactive environment. Liquid...

A scanning device used to cyclically tune through a given frequency range to determine the amplitude-frequency distribution...

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

A light source that emits an uneven distribution of radiant energy through the visible range.

A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal...

In various fields such as fluid dynamics, microfluidics, and biotechnology, a flow channel refers to a defined pathway...

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from...

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

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

A system by which consumer products are assigned a bar code that is read by a scanner at a cash register, enabling...

Describing the standard television method of raster scanning in which the image is the product of two fields, each of which...

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

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...

The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and...

In micropositioning, a remote positioning device in which an electric current drives a movable armature mounted on an...

A technique, involving spectrophotometry in the ultraviolet, that is designed to determine the colors of thin-layer...

An excited energy state of an atom or atomic system that has a longer lifetime than the ordinary excited state and typically...

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

A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or...

With respect to a unit cell in a crystal structure, the property defining an atom located at the center of each face.

A microscope that can be used to observe and magnify microscope specimens while they are being centrifuged. The objective...

Used in halftone screens to change the fundamental sampled spatial frequency of the halftoned picture, as well as varying...

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

An instrument that can preselect intervals, often in increments of 1, 10 or 100 ns, for the generation of electronic pulses...

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

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

A loss of resolution or detail in a television signal caused by the size of the electron scanning beam.

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

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

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

The rule stating that positive uniaxial crystals have greater absorption with respect to the extraordinary component of...

A material in which the refractive index varies according to changes in the light to which it is exposed. Lithium niobate is...

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

Ratiometry is a technique used in various scientific fields, particularly in analytical chemistry and biochemistry, to...

Pushbroom scanning is a technique used in remote sensing and imaging systems, particularly in satellite and aerial sensors,...

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

A laser with a gain medium consisting of an organic dye, which is carbon-based. The dye is mixed with a solvent, allowing...

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

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

The transfer of energy lost by radiation to the body, relative to the loss of energy per unit of path traveled.

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

The space between diffracting centers of an ultrasonic wave that is forming certain light diffraction spectra.

An infrared detector that achieves a specified sensitivity through the application of certain cryogenic temperatures.

One lumen-second, the SI unit of the quantity of light.

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

A testing device that provides a contour map of the emergent wavefront for the observer in terms of the given wavelength of...

The bending of x-rays by the regular layers of molecules in a crystal acting like a very small diffraction grating. The...

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

The active control of various aspects (optical element position, airspace thickness, etc.) of an optical system that...

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...

Long-wave infrared (LWIR) refers to a specific range of the infrared spectrum. Infrared radiation is divided into three main...

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

Glass designed to absorb most infrared and ultraviolet radiation while transmitting most of the visible region.

Molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid or tube. Also called buckyballs....

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

A term used to denote a difference in magnification along mutually perpendicular meridians. Anamorphic systems are basically...

A computer architecture used in parallel processing whereby the processing elements are directed by a single, central...

An optical instrument used to isolate a narrow bandwidth of optical radiation using a diffraction grating as the dispersive...

The code signifying the location of the information being sought on a CD-ROM.

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It...

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

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

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

An optical source that has a luminous distribution that is uniform for all directions.

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

A plate containing a uniform pattern of transparent holes in an opaque background, the clear area being nearly equal to the...

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

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

A set of rays through a lens originating at a common point and contained in one plane.

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

A spectroscope having a diffraction grating for the resolution of light of various wavelengths.

A prism produced by severing a Nicol prism and reconstructing the polarization angles of the two halves so that they are...

The mechanical modification of the shape of the cornea to correct a vision defect.

A scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused...

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

That part of the science involved in the study of the theory and interpretation of spectra that uses the unique...

A technique used in radiography to determine a crystal's structure by obtaining radiographs of it in powder form, normally...

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

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a...

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

A measuring instrument composed of a microscope and reticle, and mounted on a calibrated slide mechanism. May be used...

The digitization process by which an image is manipulated to increase the amount of information perceivable by the human eye.

A piezoelectric transducer made of a thin strip of piezoelectric material bonded to a strip of metal.

A rotating plate containing two or more lenses to provide a rapid interchange.

A spectroscopic technique used to display the intensity of an optical pulse as functions of time and frequency...

A measure of the total light passed by a shutter during an exposure, compared with the light that could be passed by an...

Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images and recording them in a digital format. It involves the use of...

Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the...

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

A display device having a thermoplastic film as the control layer medium. The film, moving from a playoff reel, is scanned...

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

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

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

A radiometric device or system having uniform responsivity relative to all of the radiation parameters, or relative to one...

A vortex phase plate is an optical device designed to impart a phase singularity, commonly referred to as a vortex or phase...

The principle that electronic energy transitions occur at such speeds that the nuclei of the atoms in the molecular system...

Agents used for testing light sources and natural daylight with visual and instrumental assessment using a set of white...

Refers to the characteristic hue of the ocean according to the presence and concentration of specific minerals or...

A narrow channel created by cleaving a crystal made of alternating layers of gallium arsenide and aluminum gallium arsenide,...

Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is a medical treatment approach that combines elements of phototherapy and immunotherapy to target...

A general-purpose lens, also known as the Celor lens, used widely in photography and commercial processing; it has the form...

That image remaining on the detector after the primary stimulus has been removed. In the visual system, the after-image...

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

An extremely powerful microscope that renders individual ionized atoms visible by using an electric field to propel the ions...

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

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

Unit of mass in the SI system.

A photographic objective that uses the thick meniscus principle to obtain its power. It is designed to photograph small...

In imaging technology, assigning color to black and white images to differentiate features or convey information. Also...

A phase screen, in the context of optics and wave optics, refers to a surface or medium that introduces a phase delay to an...

An immersion liquid used to treat polarizing filters to eliminate the effects of surface variations and to minimize the...

An aerial reconnaissance system that can transmit, in near real time, image data recorded by IR and visual-spectrum sensors,...

A high-contrast transparency of the gas sought, or an array of exit slits that correlates with some features of the...

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

In optics, the total radiant energy incident on a surface-per-unit area. It is equal to the integral over time of the...

An electro-optic deflector is a device that can change the direction of light beams using an electric field. It operates...

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

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

The prevailing temperature in the immediate vicinity of the object; the temperature of its environment.

The computer module whose circuitry interprets instructions and guides the actions of the peripherals. Also known as the...

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a nonlinear optical process that occurs when two photons with the same frequency combine...

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

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

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

Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as...

The application of observed operational processes of sophisticated living organisms to mechanical and electrical systems in...

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

A binary semiconductor compound used as a substrate or active layer for diode lasers.

Mathematical definition for the changes that occur between potential and kinetic energy. These formulas express wave motion.

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

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

A gauge designed to measure the degree of vacuum in an evacuated vessel. A simple U-tube containing mercury is adequate for...

The optical phenomenon in which white light dispersed by small particles in suspension appears blue when viewed through a...

A laser with output over a wide range of wavelengths spanning the far-infrared region of the spectrum (30 to 1000 µm);...

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

Diffraction efficiency is a measure of how effectively a diffractive optical element (DOE) or diffraction grating directs...

Cresyl violet, also known as cresyl violet acetate or cresyl echt violet, is a synthetic organic compound belonging to the...

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

A single housing that includes means of recording an image photographically and electronically.

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

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

Pertaining to or as a function of wavelength. Spectral quantities are evaluated at a single wavelength.

A large table with an accurately designed plane surface used to test other surfaces, or to provide a true surface for...

The manifestation of light from scatterers outside the plane of the object in coherent light systems. The output of these...

An astronomical scanning technique for capturing images of stars without moving the sensor. To perform a drift scan, a CCD...

A device, either visual or electronic, that emits signals to identify set positions for use in the navigation of aircraft...

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical...

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

A transparent block shaped accurately to reverse curvatures of the components it is used to test. By contacting an...

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

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

The ratio between the object distance and the image distance measured along the principal axis of a lens or mirror. An...

Increase in the diameter of an initially collimated beam, as measured in milliradians (mrad) at specified points; i.e.,...

A frame taken to identify electronic noise in a CCD imaging device. A dark frame is recorded without exposing the CCD to any...

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1024. (Y).

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

Edge enhancement technique that accentuates all edge details in an image without discriminating as to spatial orientation.

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

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