A ratio expressing the difference in power between the output fibers of a coupler or splitter.

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

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

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

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

A statistical means of characterizing the failure of a fiber or device as related to strain or time. Results are plotted on...

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

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

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

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with...

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

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

A method of cleaning and drying coated optical components. The cooled parts are placed in a container above a boiling...

Observed phenomenon of a small developed image with higher density than a larger image because of variation in photographic...

An intensified charge-coupled device that uses a large negative charge at the grid to switch off the flow of electrons at...

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

Microscopic investigation of two-dimensional areas of a three-dimensional object that can be quantitatively evaluated by...

A fundamental law of quantum theory which states that the discrete quanta of energy transfers associated with...

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

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

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

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

The simplest method of transmission on a local area network. The entire bandwidth of the cable is used to transmit a single...

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

A fiber optic transmission system in which data can go in only a single direction.

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

A matrix-controlled display that has no information storage at the display surface.

A device that uses four electrodes set in an alternating positive-negative polarity series to focus the beams of charged...

An ideal body that completely absorbs all radiant energy striking it and, therefore, appears perfectly black at all...

In image processing, a specially designed programmable computer peripheral that attaches to the host system for the purpose...

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

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

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

A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized...

The auxiliary electrode in a photomultiplier that gives rise to secondary emission and amplification when bombarded by...

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

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

The combination of two or more signals for transmission along a single wire, path or carrier. In most optical communication...

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

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

Method for reducing laser speckle in which the object field comes from a real diffuse object or the reconstructed object...

An aperture consisting of a semitransparent central region whose amplitude transmittance only is varied, and the relative...

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

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

Employ a Stirling engine for cryogenic cooling.

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

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

Fine lines, wires or threads used in the focal plane of many optical instruments to point out and locate particular objects...

Double-clad fiber (DCF) is a specialized optical fiber that features two concentric cladding layers surrounding a core. The...

A large-scale, precise drawing of the contours of a perfect mechanical part, often with plus and minus tolerances drawn or...

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

A camera system used for microphotography in which the document to be recorded is on a flat bed, perpendicular to the lens...

A system that allows the transmission of more than one signal over a common path, by assigning each signal a different...

Multiple scattering method used in biological analysis in which approximations yield simple, explicit solutions, at least...

Focal, nodal or principal points of a lens. If the respective distances of the object and image are measured from the...

An instrument that is used to detect high-energy particles by the pulse of the current formed when a particle passes through...

A metabolite is any small molecule that is a product of metabolism, the chemical processes that occur within living...

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

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

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

The plot that expresses a reaction rate vs. the reciprocal of absolute temperature. Often used to describe the thermal...

A partially filled or empty energy band through which electrons can move easily. The material can therefore carry an...

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

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

A color filter, generally used in photography, to emphasize certain color tones and to modify others in a picture for a more...

A process used to control thickness and parallelism precisely during the production of plane-parallel plates. Elements are...

The vertical or horizontal distance between two addressable points on a display screen; indicates the basic resolution...

A microscope that has been modified to permit the quantitative analysis of dust samples.

A technique based on the principles of laser trapping and used to manipulate the position of small particles by gradually...

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a nonlinear optical process that occurs when two photons with the same frequency combine...

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

Diffuse stray light at the image plane of an optical system that results in reduced contrast and resolution.

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

The vertical angular disparity between the lines of sight of the left and right systems in a binocular instrument....

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of...

Calculations of lens aberrations whereby the first two terms of the series expansion are the only ones employed....

The complex function, H(f), equal to the ratio of the output to input of the device as a function of frequency. The...

1. In optics, the housing, usually cylindrical, that contains the lenses and iris diaphragm of a camera. 2. In fiber optics,...

A device used to evaluate the quality of fiber optic splices made in the field by injecting light into the cladding of the...

One area of image enhancement, accomplished by spatial filtering schemes, that usually involves attenuation of phase changes...

The processing of an image or portion of an image by transform coding and analysis. Fourier, Hadamand, Kronecker and...

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

A microspectroscope equipped with a sensing and recording device, such as a camera, to measure the spectrum formed by...

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

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

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

An image converter that produces a visible image based on the infrared emittance of the object. The infrared energy is...

An analysis used for problems of wave propagation. The principle notes that each point of an advancing wavefront is the...

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

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

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

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

This results from the simultaneous absorption of two photons, each having half the energy needed for excitation and...

A resampling and interpolation method that uses only the value of the nearest neighbor pixel, while not considering values...

A type of motor that acts as the control element in a servomechanism. It is powered by an amplifier circuit and drives the...

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

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

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

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

An adhesive used to hold optical elements to blocking tools. It is usually a thermoplastic substance such as resin, beeswax,...

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

A still or motion-picture camera designed to photograph through a microscope. Photomicrographic equipment usually contains a...

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

A material having refractive indices that can be altered by an applied electric field.

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

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

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

The photographic recording of a subject that exhibits luminescence only for an extremely short time (10-8 s) after the...

A highly flame-retardant material used to jacket fiber optic cables, especially on shipboard applications.

In image processing, the location of edges by employing templates that respond to the first or second derivative of...

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

A term that describes an incomplete polish.

In a diode laser, a mode in the plane of the active layer that is perpendicular to the direction of the emitted beam.

The temperature of a complete radiator that has a total radiant emittance identical to that of an unknown resource.

High-voltage, fast-discharge circuit named after its inventor, Erwin Marx. Its capacitors are charged in parallel and...

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

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

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

Charged frozen pellets that are rapidly bombarded with a focused high-power laser to form a dense plasma that can be heated...

A crystal defect that is a combination of a vacancy and an interstitial created by the removal of an ion from a lattice and...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A calorimetric calculation from which the temperature vs. time dependence of any point on a sample can be determined,...

A technique for detecting and measuring atmospheric pollution, in which an oscillating mirror directs half the incoming...

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

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

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

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

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

A term used to describe a nondirectionally diffusing surface that, when illuminated, appears equally bright from all angles....

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

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

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

The face of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that has a fiber optic sheet attached to its surface. The sheet's fibers are at right...

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

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

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

A handheld, light-sensitive device that is used with a display console to directly change, measure or erase the visual...

The coherent wave used to play back a recorded hologram. It is identical to the reference wave used in the generation of the...

A microlens array is a grid-like structure composed of numerous small lenses, typically arranged in a regular pattern. Each...

The application of a constant stress to an optical fiber.

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

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

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

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

A radioactive element that is placed or injected into a system to obtain an autoradiogram of the system. It is used in a...

High power laser ablation device that by pulsed operation produces holes of controllable dimension on the scale of microns....

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is a molecular biology technique used to rapidly amplify specific DNA or RNA...

Phrase applied to any noise of extraterrestrial origin, named for the engineer who discovered the phenomenon.

A display format consisting of small light-emitting elements arranged as a two-dimensional array. Various elements are...

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...

1. The characteristic of how light propagates through a waveguide that can be designated by a radiation pattern in a plane...

In polarization-preserving optical fibers, the element used to induce birefringence. The SAP is highly doped to provide a...

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

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

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

The electric field associated with an electromagnetic wave and thus with a lightwave. The electric vector specifies the...

A passive coupler that connects three ports.

The measured planar or solid angle of related aspects of an optical system with respect to an optical axis.

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

Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...

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

A holographic plate coated by photopolymeric mixtures that are composed of one or more monomers and a photoredox catalyst...

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

The site behind the lens system in a camera where photographic media are positioned for exposure.

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

Energy loss encountered at connectors in optical fiber transmission systems. The major contributors are mutual core...

A method of reducing dark current in charge-coupled devices by holding all the clocks at negative voltage during the...

A photovoltaic device that consists of multiple p-n junctions to produce a greater efficiency when in use than that of...

A type of fiber optic sensor that responds to a change in the intensity of received light caused by the displacement or...

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

A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess...

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

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

A microscope to which a beamsplitter and illuminated reticle have been added to measure the radius of curvature of a...

A lens made from transparent plastic material. Lenses over 31/2 in. in diameter are usually machined, ground and polished....

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

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

Laser texturing is a manufacturing process that involves using a laser beam to selectively modify the surface of a material,...

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

Process developed for the production of high-resolution patterns in electro- and magneto-optics. These high-generation...

A theoretical analysis of radiation loss from planar optical waveguides due to scattering by surface irregularities/surface...

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

In optics, the double refraction that is produced when stress is applied to a transparent material. Plastics, which are...

A device used to evaluate the luminance of a surface by determining the number of photons emitted from a sample surface area.

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

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

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

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image...

A device that converts alternating voltage to direct voltage, while at the same time increasing its amplitude.

A monolithic laser diode incorporating multiple coupled emitters.

1. A framelike structure that serves to restrict the viewing area of the screen when placed before a television picture...

The process of aligning the crystallites in a piezoelectric material by placing a large DC field across the element at an...

The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against...

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

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

Formulaic compensation to correct laser ranging data for the effects of horizontal refractivity gradients; it requires the...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....

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

In general, changes in one oscillation signal caused by another, such as amplitude or frequency modulation in radio which...

In ultraviolet and fluorescence photography, the term applied to the filter used in the photographic system and with the...

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

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

Temporal jitter at a signal's receiver when amplified noise causes frequency shifts, as with a soliton traveling through an...

A device consisting of an airtight quartz tube that holds the material to be analyzed. When a high-frequency electrostatic...

A general-purpose lens, also known as the Celor lens, used widely in photography and commercial processing; it has the form...

The measurable leakage of optical energy from one optical conductor to another. Also known as optical coupling.

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

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

A lens or mirror surface that is perfectly flat.

A laser diode in which the beam is confined to the region of the active layer with gain high enough to accomplish such...

A law that uses the square of the cosine between the plane of polarization of a beam of plane-polarized light and the plane...

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

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

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

A cable backbone used to interconnect local area networks at various sites (corporate offices and factories, for example) in...

That branch of spectroscopy that applies to the study of interactions between energy and atomic nuclei. The simultaneous...

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

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

An avalanche photodiode in which the light-absorbing area is a low-bandgap material and the PN junction is placed in an area...

A gas made up of electrons and ions.

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

The process of applying a film of aluminum to a surface, usually by evaporation in a vacuum.

A splice accomplished by the application of localized heat sufficient to fuse or melt the ends of two lengths of optical...

An optical element having two principal axes, slow and fast, that resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually...

An image-forming instrument in which a strong electrostatic field causes cold emission of electrons from a sharply rounded...

Surface analysis by means of photon induced electron emission. PEM methods provide high lateral resolution of the observed...

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

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

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

A highly accurate cathode-ray tube used to display information with the utmost efficient stability and resolution. The...

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

The electrical power used to stimulate any light source. Power supplies may be step-up or step-down transformers; rectifiers...

Interferometric measurement of the interference pattern recorded when a complex object is illuminated by two laser pulses...

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

1. A thin parallel plate of material that transmits in the infrared region. See infrared optical material. 2. A spectral...

A planar photocathode and a planar phosphor screen mounted in a close-spaced parallel configuration in an evacuated...

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to...

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

A synonym for blackbody or complete radiator.

The spontaneous visual presentation of radar information by electronic traces on a cathode-ray tube.

The refraction that would take place in an idealized atmosphere where the refractive index is reduced uniformly with height...

A crystalline-quartz plate designed according to specifications but having its two major faces parallel.

A flat, round micrometer that is placed in the focal plane of a telescope to measure difference in right ascension and...

A coating made up of particular birefringent materials having polarizing properties. It may be used, in some cases, to...

A display device having a thermoplastic film as the control layer medium. The film, moving from a playoff reel, is scanned...

A polished plano-parallel plate that is contacted to an unpolished glass surface to permit see-through analysis of the...

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

Thin-film deposition equipment refers to machinery and tools used in the process of depositing thin layers of material onto...

The amount of x-rays used to penetrate and diffuse a target sample undergoing electron-probe microanalysis.

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

Triggering a laser at a predetermined time by pumping it to a level just below its threshold and then using an auxiliary...

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

An optical instrument used to track and image a test vehicle (target) throughout its flight. The cinesextant frequently...

A specified cold-cathode gas tube used to apply a short-duration, high-power arc for a stroboscope.

A display in which regeneration takes place serially at a fixed speed in a set pattern through the scan lines.

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

In computer graphics, the point on the display screen where the electron beam is located before the display instruction is...

The Mills Cross telescope is a two dimensional radio telescope in which the two antenna arrays are positioned perpendicular...

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

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

A device that provides simple and reliable laser power and energy measurement. Essentially a heat flux sensor producing an...

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

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

Quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are semiconductor...

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

The magnitude of the electric vector of a wave of light. See electric vector; magnetic vector.

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

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

One or more optical elements – typically cemented together - in an optical system that are treated as a single group;...

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

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

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

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

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

An instrument designed to place nongraphic information, usually generated by a computer, onto photographic film. The...

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

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

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

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

Any optical device that utilizes diffraction in an image-forming capability. Familiar diffractive lenses are zone plates,...

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

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

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

An analog method of moving a cathode-ray tube beam across a display screen face, commonly used in high-performance vector...

In computer graphics, the assignment of each pixel on a display screen to its own switch in the computer memory.

Stress applied to an optical fiber at a constant rate.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also called complementary dominant wavelength. On a chromaticity diagram, the wavelength on the spectrum locus that lies on...

An instrument used to record sound, pictures or both on a magnetic tape for storage and playback.

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

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

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

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

The constant that, multiplied by the frequency of the radiation-producing emission of photoelectrons, determines the amount...

Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or...

A technique used to create an achromatic phase shift based on the principle of geometric phase. The phase shift is...

A fluorescent screen refers to a phosphorescent or fluorescent-coated surface that emits visible light when exposed to other...

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

An old name for the rotating arm moving about an axis of rotation over a divided circle used to measure angles. Now the term...

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

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

The fusion frequency of flicker that is needed just to produce complete fusion and to assure the visual sensation of...

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

A device that varies the amplitude and phase of a light beam; e.g., from a laser or by sound waves. Also known as a Bragg...

A specific type of storage in which the material to be written on is heated above its transition temperature and switched in...

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

The effect produced on a wave frequency because of the relative motion of a source or an observer. The radiation emitted...

Multispectral imaging is a technique that involves capturing and analyzing images at multiple discrete spectral bands within...

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

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

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

A device for detecting visual and infrared radiation using a photoconductor as the principle sensing element.

Means of correcting laser postweld shift. The correction procedure is applied to optoelectronic systems such as laser diode...

A cathode-ray tube that generates symbols for use in other displays. The tube operates by scanning specific characters on...

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

A computer circuit that supplies the action of problem-solving functions or operations.

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

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

The decrease in effect in developable density on a photographic plate formed by a second exposure to radiation having a...

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

A rapid roughing process for the quick removal of glass, the first step in manufacture of a curved lens surface. It is...

The limitation on performance imposed by the distortion of a received signal rather than its amplitude or power.

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

An accurate cathode-ray tube display used to provide visual representation stored in a computer for the interpretation and...

In photography, the layer of light-sensitive material (usually a suspension of silver halide crystals) that coats the film...

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

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...

A specific, right-angle prism having a transmission grating replicated on its hypotenuse face and used in applications...

A monitoring technique used to measure the oxygen saturation levels in the brains of patients, commonly in operating room...

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

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

Single wavelength source with a larger linewidth often containing multiple longitudinal modes.

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

The number of electrons that can share a principal quantum number by preventing identity between any two electrons' four...

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

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

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

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

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

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

A single wavelength of light that matches the color of a given sample when combined in suitable proportions with white light...

The ability of an electrical current to destroy superconductivity by means of the magnetic field generated by the current....

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

The interference of the two real images formed by a Billet split lens.

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

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

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

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

A tachometer consisting of a light source, rotating perforated wheel and phototransistor to measure the rates of rotation of...

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

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

With respect to a lens, the reciprocal of its focal length. The term power, as applied to a telescope or microscope, often...

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

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

A phenomenon, exploited for medical imaging, in which the nuclei of material placed in a strong magnetic field will absorb...

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

A mounting used for large concave gratings, whereby the slit, grating and plate holder lie in the Rowland circle, and the...

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

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

A lens made up of a number of lens elements arranged into two or more groups.

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

The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and...

A set of mirrors mounted on solenoids to move them into and out of the path of a laser beam, making it possible for multiple...

In display technology, an expression of resolution given by the number of pixels in both the horizontal and the vertical...

A process of forming ions within a given molecular species by incident laser light. The molecular species may remain intact,...

Amplifier in which the input and output pulse heights are directly proportional.

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

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

1. The angular displacement of the plane of polarization of light passing through a medium. 2. The azimuthal displacement of...

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

The simultaneous exposure of two holographic plates with emulsions facing the object. After deformation, a second pair of...

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

Application of radiation to an object.

A semicircular, half-wave quartz plate between the polarizer and analyzer. It often is used in forming precision settings...

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

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

A refrigeration method based on the Peltier effect. When an electric current passes through a thermocouple of two dissimilar...

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

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

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical...

The coupling of laser or light beams via nonlinear optical techniques such as four-wave mixing to achieve spatial variation...

In fiber optics, the limitation on performance imposed by the amplitude of a received signal rather than distortion.

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

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

1. A device used in chemistry to compare the colors of solutions held in flat-bottomed tubes and viewed along the length of...

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

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

In photography, the technique of taking multiple pictures of the same subject at different exposures to compensate for...

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

The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other...

Any of the photoelectric and thermal detectors, spectrographs and monochromators, thermographs, scanners, amplifier tubes,...

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

Full width half maximum (FWHM) is a measure of the extent of a function. Given by the difference between the two extreme...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The region of distorted atom configuration formed between the displaced and normal areas in a crystal when part of the...

In the tolerancing of optical elements, the displacement of the optical axis from the mechanical axis.

The theorem stating that, when the sampling period in a recorded sample hologram is matched to the object spectrum, the...

A piece of glass, pyrex or quartz having one or both surfaces carefully ground and polished plano, generally flat to less...

A biomarker, short for biological marker, refers to a measurable and quantifiable indicator of a biological condition,...

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

The utilization of the light produced when electrical energy is directly converted into light within devices used for visual...

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

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

See laser Doppler velocimeter; laser velocimeter.

An accelerator at the Argonne National Laboratory, providing powerful x-ray beams for materials research applications.

A projection printer that is capable of reproducing a multiplicity of images from a master transparency on a single support...

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

See regular transmittance; the term specular is not properly applied to transmission.

A device consisting of two optical systems in which two signals are simultaneously transformed to produce their spectra, and...

A hologram formed when the light of the illuminating beam is absorbed in correspondence with the recording exposure. In...

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

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

Calculation of the probability of an interaction between two types of particles, such as light absorption, excitation or...

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

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

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

Micro-LED (micro-light-emitting diode) refers to a technology that involves the use of very small light-emitting diodes to...

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

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

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent...

Degradation factor in coherent light systems where the amplitude of the recorded signal is decreased as the number of object...

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

An instrument using a Michelson interferometer, a beamsplitter, two plane mirrors and a detector to give Fourier analysis of...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A solar cell that is lightweight and flexible because of its construction by vacuum deposition of a semiconductor material...

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

The capacitance of a capacitor which has a potential difference of one volt between its plates when it is charged by one...

A laser using a dye solution as the active medium whose resonator is formed into a ring (or a triangle or another shape) by...

Graphic evaluation of the operation of a steam thermodynamic cycle of a solar energy system on which enthalpy is plotted...

A grating with very coarse rulings to match the long wavelengths in the far-infrared region. In the most efficient ruling...

A two-lens arrangement intended to image light into a microscope slide sample. The primary aberrations present are red and...

An assembly of optical fibers that will not transmit coherent images or information because the relationship of the fibers...

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

Area in which laser operation occurs and therefore safety requirements are met and regulations are implemented. Lasers...

An early graphic scheme of colors in which saturated spectral colors are plotted around the circumference of a circle....

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

The photographic recording of objects or events in a manner that allows quantitative information to be derived from the...

A lens or lens system that produces an enlarged virtual image of an object placed near its front focal point.

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

A display that is formed in an X-Y manner; i.e., two inputs allow control of X2 elements.

A superposition of many zone plates, each reconstructing a real and virtual point image at the appropriate locations upon...

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

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

Protective material surrounding the cladding of an optical fiber that allows the fiber no play within it.

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

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

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

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

A glow discharge tube placed on an insulating rod to detect the presence of high-frequency radiation in the vicinity of a...

The term "metaverse" refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical...

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

Luminous flux emitted from a surface per unit solid angle per unit of area, projected onto a plane normal to the direction...

A mold for glass or plastics often made of stainless steel to prevent pitting or oxidation in service. It is polished to the...

A method of image dissection whereby a lens transfers images onto a lenticular plate that in turn illustrates the images as...

A shallow, fine-pitch diffraction grating having a precise dielectric overcoating that experimentally has absorbed...

An approach to character recognition based on the structure of the character to be identified (number of straight lines,...

An instrument that determines, or allows a bombardier to determine, the point in the plane's line of flight at which a bomb...

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

The standards of MIL-O-13830 set by the US government relative to tolerable surface scratches and other such defects in an...

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

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

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

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

A hologram formed without lenses and with the object and reference points sharing the same plane. In the initial recording,...

A corrective lens system that is placed near the focal plane of a Newtonian telescope to increase its effective field of...

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

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

An isotope of cesium that emits negative beta particles and has a half-life of 2.19 years; its applications include...

A type of photographic film, often used in microfilming, that is processed by heat treatment, needing no liquid application.

The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves...

In an optical system with a series of lenses, images formed prior to the final focal plane.

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

The general term for the application of light to a subject. It should not be used in place of the specific quantity...

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

1. In optics, the bending of light rays toward each other, as by a convex or positive lens. 2. Turning in the eyes to view a...

Neuromorphic refers to the design and development of computing systems or devices that are inspired by the structure and...

The variation of the electronically detected signal with respect to the scaled version of the classical optical signal...

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

A device used to accelerate the electrons in a free-electron laser by supplying electrical energy to the electron beam...

A ray that lies in the meridional plane; a ray that lies in the plane that contains the optical axis. A tangential ray.

The criterion maintaining that if light follows a specific path through an optical system, it will, if reversed, traverse...

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

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

To supply a signal to some point.

The formula describing the spectral radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody as a function of its temperature and the...

An infrared light source is a device that emits light in the infrared spectrum, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of...

The use of an electric field or signal to couple a lightwave from one dielectric waveguide into another dielectric waveguide.

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

A night-vision device that uses one or more infrared transducers to scan a scene in the 3- to 5-µm or 8- to...

A type of asynchronous shutter device that is used particularly in CCD sensor applications to capture an image of a...

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

Periodic interruptions of a light beam incident on an absorbing medium that produce heat, expansion and acoustic wave...

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

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

A study of the energies and wavelengths of radiation emitted by atoms and molecules when particular physical conditions are...

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

An array or mosaic of optical surfaces. May be a number of lenses closely packed to form multiple images or many parallel...

Any type of interference produced by a beamsplitter.

A plotted relation between Log E (logarithm to base 10 of exposure in metercandle seconds) and density (logarithm to base 10...

Also known as constant angle or constant deviation fringes. The interference fringes observed with dense flat plates near...

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

A set of three colored lights which, when mixed, give the sensation of white light. The set used in color television, for...

An interferometer formed by two similar concave spherical mirrors arranged with the center of one sphere on the other...

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

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

A PN-PN device with incident light taking the place of gate current; three of the four semiconductor regions are available...

Generally, a rotatable table with scales marked in degrees. The fiducial marking also may be a vernier scale. The same...

Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...

A specific type of hologram that will transmit a pure plane wave when the hologram is illuminated by the type of wave it is...

Unlike the thermocouple or bolometer, the pyroelectric infrared detector is a current source with an output proportional to...

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

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

The area in a 2-D or 3-D microdisplay viewer within which the eye can move and still see the entire image.

A source of energy that produces needed excitation for population inversion in laser operation. The excitation source that...

The measurement of the rotation of the plane of polarization of radiant energy, usually through the use of a polarimeter.

An electron tube that employs electromagnetic radiation to produce a visual replica of an image produced on its cathode....

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

The individual coherent series of lightwaves that defines a quantum of radiant energy. Light quantum is equal to hv, h being...

A means of determining a prism's index of refraction by placing the prism so that its emergent face is perpendicular to the...

Fluorescence microscopy is a specialized optical imaging technique used in biology, chemistry, and materials science to...

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

The process whereby a spectacle lens is placed in a frame.

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

In the context of materials science and semiconductor physics, doping refers to the intentional introduction of impurities...

Potential alternative to the conventional pulse approximation method of digital image processing because of its highly...

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

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

The distribution of energy about the image of a point source in the focal plane of an optical system.

A device attached to the end of an alignment telescope that detects and calculates a plane mirror's rotation axis that is...

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

An instrument that produces an intense, tightly focused beam of ions to stimulate emissions from a minute section of a...

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

A plot showing how the response (ability to detect a signal) varies with wavelength. D(l).

An artificial material, engineered to have a negative refractive index value, such that light or any other form of...

A set of rays through a lens originating at a common point and contained in one plane.

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

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

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

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

The ratio of the power of the carrier wave to that of unwanted signal distortions, or noise, before any nonlinear signal...

A type of holographic film widely used for industrial applications because it is inexpensive and erasable.

Ion-beam sputtering (IBS) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for depositing thin films onto substrates. It...

A mixture of ionized gas and metal vapor generated by impingement of the laser beam onto a material being welded or a weld...

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

An optical material used in place of crown glass to produce lenses with extraordinary correction of chromatic aberrations....

A type of flat panel display made up of a layer of gas between two glass plates. The glass is coated with parallel...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by...

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

A method for detecting vibration amplitudes analogous to image holography, except that the film emulsion is replaced by a...

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

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

Left- and right-hand circularly polarized beams that are produced at different velocities by passing plane-polarized light...

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

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

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

A screen composed of a sheet of diffusing plastic material that reveals excellent image detail for close viewing. It is...

Light that is emitted from a phosphor film applied to the surface of a three-layer thin film, respectively metal, oxide and...

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

Also known as a shadow mask, a perforated plate placed between the focusing and accelerating electrodes, and the tricolor...

A light valve that uses a crystal as the control layer medium and that operates on the principle of the electro-optic effect.

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

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

The perpendicular orientation of the molecular axes of the nematic molecules in a nematic crystal, relative to the electrode...

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

A color whose hue is not produced by a single wavelength in the visible spectrum, but is instead produced by mixing the...

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

The process of adjusting input pixel by pixel at the filter plane to adapt to nondeal phase behavior in an optical...

A direct reading spectrograph having a photomultiplier assembly in place of a photographic plate. The output from the...

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

A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to...

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

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

Scalar diffraction theory is a simplified approach used to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves, particularly...

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

A variation of tomography, which is a means of visualizing any one of a large set of parallel planes in the patient. A...

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

A photofluorescent compound that, when used with a scintillating substance, absorbs photons and emits related photons having...

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

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

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

A system having a photoelectric detector for the measurement of three quantities related by linear combination to...

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...

The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as...

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

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

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

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

Generation of an acoustical signal by a sample exposed to modulated light.

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

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

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

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

The use of photoelectric sensors to detect and measure the intensity of a light source. This application, as compared to...

The electrical resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant difference of potential of one volt, applied...

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects...

A plate of glass in which a face has been frosted by grinding or etching. It diffuses light by scattering in directions...

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

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

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

In fiber optics, the limitation on performance imposed by the system bandwidth rather than the amplitude of the signal.

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

A neutral density filter that, when placed in front of the iris of a lens, increases the f-stop range.

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

Developing a photographic image by means of an applied electric field. The methods used include electrolysis and...

Means of amplifying optical waves whereby an intense coherent pump wave is made to interact with a nonlinear optical crystal...

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

The use of miniature scanners to project raster-scanned video images directly onto the surface of the human retina,...

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

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

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

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

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

A test for spherical aberration, coma or astigmatism in which incident rays from a point source are isolated by small holes...

An instrument used to support optical parts to be cemented, or to be mounted in plaster.

As applied to a device or machine, the ratio of total power input to the usable power output of the device.

A CCD image sensor that uses a proximity-focused image intensifier to provide greater sensitivity at low light levels.

An instrument designed to measure radiation indirectly through the use of several phosphors and a photomultiplier tube. The...

A liquid crystal display using the material in its supertwisted nematic phase; the birefringence of the liquid crystal...

Envelopes for cathode-ray tubes are made by blowing glass in the same manner as light bulbs. They have a fairly flat end...

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

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

In a waveguide, the material in intimate contact with the cladding surface, applied to preserve the integrity of that...

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

A hologram in which the image of an object, or the object itself, is located near the hologram recording plane, for optimum...

A frame taken to identify electronic noise in a CCD imaging device. A dark frame is recorded without exposing the CCD to any...

Also cellulose acetate film. The emulsion layer applied to the substrate of a photographic surface. The emulsion layer is...

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

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

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

An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...

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

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

In a camera, the focusing of an image on the screen located at the camera's film plane. Once the image is in complete focus,...

A surface imperfection caused by a polisher running dry too long. It occurs with felt or plastic polishers, and may appear...

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

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

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

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

Introduced into the laser beam from localized fluctuations in current density within the plasma itself. These fluctuations...

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

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

Also known as clear glass or clear filter. The clear glass plate is used to simulate a filter, in converging or diverging...

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

A lens system that is capable of producing a 360° image, or one that is very close to that. In recording, the image may...

A wave that changes from one amplitude to the other in a short time compared with the wavelength.

In an interlaced scanning electro-optical system such as television, the system resolution will be less than the number of...

Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of...

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

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

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

An instrument designed to give precise and rapid detection of changes in tumor growth as well as the location of small...

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

A form of liquid crystal in which the 90° twist of the twisted nematic phase has been increased to 180° or more,...

A diffraction pattern sampling unit composed of a 32-element monolithic silicon photodiode array and a readout unit. The...

The spreading of potentially equal radiation frequencies that results in broadening of the spectral line. This effect is...

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

A diverging lens is a type of lens that causes parallel rays of light to spread out or diverge. It is thinner in the center...

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

The application of coating without heating of the substrates.

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

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

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or...

A medical imaging device that uses a ring of crystal/photomultiplier tube assemblies encircling the patient to detect gamma...

The pattern of lines traced by rectilinear scanning in display systems.

A calculated function that can be achieved experimentally with interferometric analysis of complex atmospheric altitude;...

The logarithm of the reciprocal of diffuse transmittance. Diffuse density results when a sample is diffusely illuminated.

The instrument used to analyze a pulsed electromagnetic wave to determine its time, amplitude, duration and shape, and to...

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

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

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

A system employing a dark trace tube in which the opacity of the screen is varied as a function of the power of the beam.

A liquid, usually of a specific refractive index and dispersion, serving as an interface between two solids to form a...

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

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

A wideband amplifier used to process video or picture information.

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

A standard lens interface initially made for 16mm movie cameras and now used primarily on closed-circuit television cameras....

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

Light-absorbing material that is applied to the back support of any bright image under inspection to prevent the formation...

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

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

The superposition of satellite or aerial images with a map in order to process and remove distortion. Uses reference points...

In a straight line. When applied to a lens, it indicates that images of straight lines formed by the lens are not distorted.

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

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

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

The method used to measure the index profile of an optical fiber by placing it in an interferometer and illuminating the...

STED microscopy, or stimulated emission depletion microscopy, is a superresolution imaging technique in fluorescence...

When applied to LCD grids, the active matrix is a means of supplying power to pixels by use of a transistor and capacitor....

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

A scanner in which a fiber optic assembly replaces a lens system.

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

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

A device that detects and measures the quantity of exposure to nuclear radiation. It uses a special glass rod that...

The physical limit of an optical fiber or cable to withstand an applied force or weight perpendicular to the axis of the...

A photodetector employing photoregeneration of carriers in the channel region of an FET structure to provide photodetection...

A lens that focuses on a flat plane because its field of curvature is close to zero.

A rigid or flexible, concentrated assembly of glass or plastic fibers used to transmit optical images or light. See aligned...

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

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

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

A scanning device used to cyclically tune through a given frequency range to determine the amplitude-frequency distribution...

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

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

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

A quantum of electromagnetic energy of a single mode; i.e., a single wavelength, direction and polarization. As a unit of...

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

A method of measuring flow velocity by seeding the flow with neutrally buoyant particles and using a pulsed laser to...

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

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

A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...

An interferometer in which interference is produced between wavefronts that are sheared in the sample object by a small...

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

In a charge-coupled device, the percentage of each charge packet that is carried over to the next stage of the transport...

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

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

Transparent glassy and or crystalline structured materials engineered from inorganic, non-metallic materials via various...

A device that utilizes avalanche multiplication of photocurrent by means of hole-electrons created by absorbed photons. When...

A display that allows the observation and measurement of the altitude and range of airborne objects.

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

A large table with an accurately designed plane surface used to test other surfaces, or to provide a true surface for...

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

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

A compound lens consisting of two negative lenses of flint glass. A double-convex lens of crown glass is cemented between...

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

1. In fiber optics, a protective material applied as an optical fiber cover that has no optical function. 2. In image...

A television display system in which the television signal is converted to an image that is projected onto either a front or...

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

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

The light flash that occurs when an electrical field is applied to a phosphor already excited by ultraviolet radiation.

The induced birefringence in isotropic gases that results when the gases are placed in strong fields.

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

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

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna...

With respect to a traveling plane wave at a known frequency, the space rate of decrease of phase of a field component in the...

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

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

Descriptive of an optical fiber having a core refractive index that decreases almost parabolically and radially outward...

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

The displacement of spectrum lines, as determined by the increasing distance between, and the relative velocity of, the...

The coupling of two circuits by the use of a light pipe through which photons are transmitted.

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

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

Also known as a gray body; a nonselective radiator is a thermal radiator that has a constant spectral emissivity with...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A gas laser wherein the gas mixture is not exhausted into the atmosphere but is continually recycled. It is excited in the...

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

The sine of the vertex angle of the largest cone of meridional rays that can enter or leave an optical system or element,...

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

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

The grinding and polishing of rock samples, to a thickness of less than 0.05 mm, for study with petrographic microscopes....

An optical storage product that can be used for playback only.

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

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

A cathode-ray display where information is represented visually as spots. Each spot's location is represented by a...

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

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

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

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

The plane diagram produced by plotting one of the three chromaticity coordinates (X,Y,Z) against another. The most common...

See charge-coupled device; charge-injection device.

A rear or front projection screen composed of minute optical surfaces that introduce a spread to the light beam that...

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

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

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

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

An optical resonator in which feedback is accomplished by two parallel planes. In diode lasers, the planes are obtained by...

A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is...

A light beam whose electric vectors can be broken into two perpendicular elements that have equal amplitudes and that differ...

In a charge-coupled device, the detection of charge collected by the transport register rather than by the image-sensing...

A type of multiple-pass amplifier in which no optical leakage is allowed until a finite number of passes has occurred; at...

An experimental model of an electrical circuit or complex assembly; a prototype.

A term applied to an electric charge image in a camera tube that remains for a period of a few frames after its initial...

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

A lamp designed to emit a large amount of infrared radiation; used in applications requiring heat.

A beam of light whose electrical field amplitude distribution is Gaussian. When such a beam is circular in cross section,...

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

A family of specialized instruments used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to study a patient's eyes and prescribe...

A method of optical fiber coupling in which the fibers are ground down to expose their cores and placed together to allow...

A computerized token-passing local area network (LAN) configuration adopted by General Motors for real time control over the...

An adhesive whose viscosity decreases as the temperature is increased to a limit. Canada balsam, resin and pitch are...

The use of high temperatures, between 2000 and 3000 °C, to excite emission lines from a sample in spectroscopic...

An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics...

The use of whiteness formulas to replace visual assessment.

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

A noncontact, nondestructive method of measuring defects in thin composite materials, using a xenon flashtube to generate...

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

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

A technique for detecting free radicals by their electronic spectra. The material to be studied is placed in a...

Literally, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet. A cylindrical rod of yttrium-aluminum-garnet doped with neodymium that is the...

A thermogram in which temperature values are displayed in discrete thermal bands, each band possessing a distinct color.

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

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

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

In computer graphics, intersection of a plane with a three-dimensional object to create a sectional view.

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

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

A device employed to identify toxic agents lingering on the ground or in the air from up to three miles away, by using laser...

An individual circuit component, complete in itself, such as a resistor, diode, capacitor or transistor. It is used as an...

A specially designed microscope for observing the etched surface of a polished metal specimen. The specimen is often laid...

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

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

A camera designed to record astronomical objects (e.g., stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies) and their spectra.

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

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

A slight displacement in the position of a spectral line because of an alteration in frequency, as a result, in turn, of a...

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

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes...

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

An emitter based on stimulated emission with amplification but insufficient feedback for oscillation to build up.

Plasma formed by heat radiation from the sun.

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

The multiple storage of a single image.

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

The time it takes a cathode-ray tube's electron beam to return to its starting point after completing one line, one field or...

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

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

An optical waveguide having a silica core and a plastic cladding.

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

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

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a...

In television, a lateral displacement of the lines from their normal position due to the instability of a synchronizing...

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

A special evacuated camera equipped with means for holding a specimen and bombarding it with a sharply focused beam of...

A transparent plate ruled with black lines and equal, clear spaces. It is used as a multiple knife-edge for testing a...

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

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

A plate made of a double-refracting crystal having such a density that a phase difference of one-quarter cycle is formed...

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

The generation of a grating on a flat surface by means of a series of interference fringes formed by a holographic process....

A material that produces stimulated emission during the process of amplification with a laser system.

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

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

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

An instrument that is used to chart x-ray diffraction patterns, such as an x-ray spectrometer having photographic or other...

A cooling system used to attain and maintain desired low temperatures in infrared systems. The Stirling type is a mechanical...

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

An instrument that contains a spectrograph with a grating in which an array of slits, in place of a photographic plate, is...

A type of high-speed photographic shutter that uses Faraday rotation to produce exposure times as fast as 1 microsecond. It...

The parallel orientation of the molecular axes of the nematic molecules in a nematic crystal, relative to the electrode...

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

A material in which the refractive index varies according to changes in the light to which it is exposed. Lithium niobate is...

A method used in imaging to detect subtle differences between two apparently similar pictures. It can be achieved by...

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

The theoretical explanation and analysis of the interactions between electron waves and crystals used in studying electron...

The use of photographs taken from specially placed cameras, to develop, through computation, a spatial solution of the...

Technique in which the polarization rotation of light, and its relationship to the magnetic field strength can be analyzed...

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

A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...

Used in computer design for optical systems with common parts and different applications.

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

A solid-state panel of the photoconductor-electroluminescent type. The photoconductive layer, sensitive to x-rays, is coated...

An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine...

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

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

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

A double-plate device used to transmit polarized light and form interference fringes of the light, thus indicating its...

The amplitude, polarization and phase contained in the field distribution over the aperture.

The mounting of a concave diffraction grating and a plate holder at the ends of a rigid bar. The ends follow separate...

An imaging process, similar to specific Doppler mapping radar techniques, that utilizes a laser, an optical imaging system,...

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

A fiber optic device that uses a HeNe laser, beamsplitter, monochromator and photomultiplier to detect trace levels of...

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

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

A grinding process that employs fine emery.

Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the...

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

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

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

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...

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

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

A device that produces brief flashes of light for observing the behavior of an object during a short interval. One of the...

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

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

A color center laser whose output is coupled to an external control laser cavity and then fed back to the main laser cavity...

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

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

In laser damage testing, the exposure of many sites of a sample to different intensities of laser irradiation to discover...

A system that is complete and self-contained, needing no further additions to permit its operation.

In positioning, in-plane rotation about the vertical axis. Also known as azimuth.

An electron tube that is used as a camera tube for a television system. When the picture to be transmitted is focused on a...

Acronym for profile resolution obtained by excitation. In its simplest form, probe involves the overlap of two...

The ratio of the radiant flux emitted by a source to the power supplied.

An instrument that divides a single laser beam in two and uses one half as a sensing beam and the other as a reference beam,...

A method of data multiplexing that can provide large, instantaneous bandwidths for busy traffic while permitting slow...

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

A communications system that can transmit in only a single direction at a time. See duplex.

A sequential scanning device, utilizing a revolving lens, in which the cathode-ray tube image is transformed into a circle...

The science of producing, recording, storing, transmitting and displaying visual images by any system (photographic, video,...

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 distance between the locating surface of the lens mount and the image plane.

A fundamental law of wave scattering theory that connects the extinction cross section of a scatterer to the real part of...

A lens derived from the Cooke triplet anastigmat, but with one of the crown elements split in two, resulting in improved...

A signal traveling from transmitter to receiver that has an altered frequency due to the Doppler effect.

A transparent powdered solid immersed in a liquid or plastic of similar refractive index but widely different dispersion;...

The process in which the normal rate of fluorescent emission from a substance is enhanced by virtue of the optical gain of...

A thermoplastic or optically transmitting hard plastic produced by applying polymerization initiator and heat to a monomer.

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

A camera system used to form a high-precision hologram of the subject on a photographic plate. It contains a high-power...

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

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

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

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

Polishing with a plastic pad.

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

The magnitude, expressed in cycles per second, of the alteration of the wave frequency observed as a result of the Doppler...

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

For a given mode propagating in a medium of refractive index n, the velocity of light in vacuum c, divided by the group...

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

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

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

Fiber in which both core and cladding are made of plastic.

A camera used in scintillation recording to make a visible record of the distribution and relative concentration of...

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

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

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

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

A system that applies a crystal as a diffracting agent to photograph the spectrum.

Common name for a variety of adhesives used for lens bonding, fiber optic splicing and other photonics applications. The...

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

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

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...

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

An instrument for measuring the radius of curvature of a spherical lens or mirror surface. It may consist of a ring resting...

Q-switched operation, or q-switching, is a technique used in lasers to produce short and intense pulses of light. The term...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

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

A form of liquid crystal widely used in displays, achieved by sandwiching a liquid crystal material between two substrates...

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

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

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

Type of solid-state display tube in which the readout surface is coated with a material that changes color when positively...

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

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

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter...

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

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

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

An instrument that employs the interference of lightwaves to measure the accuracy of optical surfaces; it can measure a...

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

A semiconductor diode that exhibits change in capacitance with a change in applied voltage; used as a voltage-variable...

A cryogenic cooler device that is an intermittent Joule-Thomson refrigerator with a passive radiator serving as the...

A method of resampling in which a 16-pixel neighborhood around a given pixel from the original image is used to calculate...

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

The amount of time needed for a detector signal or electronic circuit to reach 63 percent of its final value after a fixed...

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

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

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

A system composed of a prism spectroscope and compound microscope to provide the visual comparison of two spectra...

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

Interruption in the normal flow of a plasma or fluid characterized by sharp rises in velocity, temperature and pressure. As...

An analog signal capable of being modulated as to frequency, amplitude or phase to carry information.

A rangefinder on a camera that is integrated with the focusing mechanism so that when an object's range is determined, the...

A material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Measures the refractive indices axially from the fiber profile. Microscopy technique provides an interferogram with high...

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

A term applied to rays that possess the same focal point, which may be infinity, thereby meaning that the rays are parallel.

A photographic recording of interference patterns between a plane wave and a spherical wave on a high-resolution...

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

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and...

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

An infrared device used in satellites and rockets to determine a heat horizon for the Earth at altitudes (above 200 miles)...

Technique that uses high-pass filtering to reduce the local average to zero for all regions of the picture and then applies...

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

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

Multiple exposures of holograms, one for each position of a vibrating image, that are used for vibration analysis and that...

1. The grinding or edging of a lens so that the geometrical center and optical center do not coincide. 2. The shifting of an...

A cathode-ray tube, driven by a computer, that receives impulses of information from the computer and displays it in a...

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

The reddish/purple color that results when equal amounts of blue and red are combined so that no one wavelength dominates.

A rotating plate containing two or more lenses to provide a rapid interchange.

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

A device that consists of two types of mode converters, one of which must be magnetic. It is nonreciprocal because the...

Plasma-enriched deposition or planar magnetic sputtering that offers increased deposition rates in optical thin-film...

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

A method of evaluating image quality whereby a large number of rays are traced through a lens from a single object point,...

A high-contrast transparency of the gas sought, or an array of exit slits that correlates with some features of the...

A device used to compare the luminous intensities of two sources by locating a point between the two light sources where the...

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

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

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

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

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

Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of...

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

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

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

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

Condition in which a perpendicular surface can be discovered for every ray in a group. This condition is commonly observed...

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

A character generation CRT that functions on the principle of secondary emission. The target holds a set of aluminum...

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

A technique developed by British Telecom in which the viscous drag of air is used to install optical fibers in narrow...

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

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

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

Terahertz (THz) refers to a unit of frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum, denoting waves with frequencies between 0.1...

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

A device used to create a light output that exceeds light input, the energy being provided by an electric field. It consists...

When splitting the output of a single optical fiber into two or more fibers, the difference in the maximum loss between any...

The interference pattern formed by light waves diffracted at the edges of an object as seen on a screen placed in their path.

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

A cement used to reduce crosstalk in fiber optic bundles or plates.

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

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

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

In infrared imaging systems used for mass screening of printed circuit boards or other quality control applications, an...

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

The formula that gives the wavelength of maximum spectral radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody: λmax =...

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

Plasma's ability to stop the transmission of laser light.

A crystalline substance in which all planes are parallel, or approximately parallel.

SI unit of luminous intensity. It is defined as one sixtieth the normal intensity of one square centimeter of a blackbody at...

The use of optical or electronic recording systems to extract information from the terrain, while aloft, for reconnaissance...

A device that samples and quantizes a signal in digital form for storage in memory.

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

A collimator having, at one end of a tube, an objective lens, and at the other, a reticle with a pair of spaced lines...

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

The phase change of one of the two split beams of an interference microscope.

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

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

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...

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

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

In plano work, that property of a surface determining that it is convex and contacts a flat test glass at its center.

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

The formation of microimages for microreduction. The technique is used, for example, in the production of precision reticles...

A device to modulate spatially a collimated coherent beam of light with input data in optical data processing. It uses a...

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

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

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

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

Direct conversion of a photon from one wavelength to a lower energy photon of another wavelength(s) due to inelastic...

An adhesive that permanently sets or hardens at a specified high temperature. Methacrylate is an example of a thermosetting...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free...

A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is...

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

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

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

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

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

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

An instrument consisting essentially of a photoelectric cell filtered to respond to a specified wavelength region, an...

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

1. The near total absorption of plane-polarized light by a polarizer that has an axis perpendicular to the plane of...

Instrument that uses absorption spectroscopy to detect gases in planetary atmospheres. Dispersed incoming radiation is...

An LCD that has pixels with no internal drive transistors.

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

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

A variation of the atomic force microscope that operates by scanning a tiny ferromagnetic probe (or a magnetized tip) over a...

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

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

The luminescence displayed when particular minerals are irradiated with β-rays and g-rays, after being exposed to...

Device which determines particle velocity through the measurement of scattered interference of a beam pair from a single...

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

A system that satisfies the Abbe sine condition, and is free from spherical aberration and coma.

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

Anisotropic is a term used to describe a material or substance that exhibits different properties or behaviors in different...

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

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

An oil required by oil-immersion objectives that is applied between the exterior of the objective lens and a cover glass or...

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

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

A rangefinder used to determine the height or altitude of aerial targets by means of optical triangulation. The device...

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

A technique used to store wavefront information on thin polarization information-recordable materials by controlling the...

Intensity of emission as a function of direction in a given plane.

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) refers to a set of safety features and technologies designed to assist drivers in...

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

The splitting of energy levels of an atom, ion or molecule because of a magnetic field.

A step before fusion splicing that involves cleaning the fiber end with low-current electricity.

A device using the Kerr effect to read back the signals from mechanically recorded tapes and discs. It consists of a light...

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

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

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

An instrument for plotting the rotatory dispersion of a substance at different wavelengths.

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

A type of copying camera in which the object is placed on a horizontal easel and photographed by a horizontal camera above...

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

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

A microscope to which a beamsplitter and illuminated reticle have been added that is used to measure contact lenses.

Camera Link HS (high speed) is a standard developed for high-speed digital data transmission in machine vision and...

A chemical detection technique used to measure molecules that have a magnetic dipole moment. The analysis is directed to...

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

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

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

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

In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such...

The use of a tightly focused beam of electrons to drill minute holes in substances. The drilling is accomplished by the...

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

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

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

A fiber optic connector or splice that mates two multifiber cables, optically aligning all of the individual fibers...

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

A polarizing prism assembly made up of two cemented calcite halves. The prism transmits the ordinary ray without deviation,...

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

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise...

In an avalanche photodiode, the gain multiplied by the signal frequency in MHz.

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

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

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

The determination of a substance's identity or quantity through the analysis of its optical rotation. For example, the...

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

This type of miniaturized system, referred to as CMOS qPCR, combines microfluidic technology with an ultralow-light CMOS...

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

A device that serves to emit light of the same wavelength as the input light, only with an increase in intensity. It may be...

A unit of optical measurement that expresses the refractive power of a lens or prism. In a lens or lens system, it is the...

A laser having a Q-switching method that allows separate parallel volumes of the lasing material to act independently of...

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

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

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

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

Optic surface cleaning liquid that may be applied to glass, crystal, dielectric and metal surfaces; however, may not be...

An array of refractive microlenses that are round, square and hexagonal and as small as 15 µm. They are used for...

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

An electromagnon is a quasiparticle excitation that combines aspects of both magnetism and electric polarization in a...

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

A type of liquid-crystal display in which each display element contains an active component, such as a thin-film transistor,...

1. In a plane Cartesian coordinate system, the vertical axis orthogonal to the X-axis. 2. In a quartz crystal structure, the...

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

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

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

One or more spots placed in the field of view of an optical system to provide a means of reference.

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

Colors that produce an achromatic color when additively mixed.

A form of photometric measurement, often used with light sources that are transparent or fluctuating, in which a...

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

A plane along which destructive interference takes place.

Philips trade name for a lead oxide low-light-level vidicon tube.

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

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

The angle measured between the focal surface containing the image and a plane normal to the optical axis.

See plane-polarized light; polarization.

A camera that uses an image converter tube in such a way that voltage waveforms applied to internal electrodes cause the...

A point source of light used for the test and evaluation of image quality. May be a backlit pinhole in an otherwise opaque...

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

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

A diagram in which the variable frequencies of a spectral band system are plotted corresponding to ascending values of the...

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

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

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

A specific form of phase shifting interferometry - commonly referred to as multiple wavelength phase shifting interferometry...

A device that serves to detect the presence of vacuum ultraviolet radiation. It may be photographic film, a thermopile, ion...

An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a...

1. A mechanism that permits the focusing of an optical system.2. A means of obtaining the sharpest image from a cathode-ray...

The central hole running the full length of a laser capillary tube, in which electrical discharge and laser action take...

The first nonlinear theory in plasma physics that details the time and space evolution of plasma wave instability from a...

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

A semiconductor formed by applying a particular single-crystal layer to the specific insulator.

Used in halftone screens to change the fundamental sampled spatial frequency of the halftoned picture, as well as varying...

The change in refractive index that occurs as acoustic vibrations are transmitted through an optical material.The index...

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

A semiconductor made up of two or more elements, in contrast to those composed of a single element such as germanium or...

A spectrograph that uses a diffraction grating as its dispersive element in place of a prism, and yields greater resolving...

A factor derived by equating the incident light on the subject to the required incident light for suitable photography. The...

Free of coma.

The analysis of the photographs taken from the radar display of a survey aircraft and used when recording terrain that is...

A crystal of microscopic size having no definite plane faces and having a globular shape. At the time the crystal is formed,...

A mercury vapor discharge lamp that has cadmium added to emit radiation in the red region as a complement to the mercury...

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

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

Ratiometry is a technique used in various scientific fields, particularly in analytical chemistry and biochemistry, to...

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

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

A plane (through the focal point) at right angles to the principal axis of a lens or mirror; that surface on which the best...

A system that uses the heat from a pulsed laser to weld metals. Because of the rapidity and localization in which the...

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

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

In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the...

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

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

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

A technique used to generate a phase shift between reference and sample light beams. The phase shift can be performed...

A hologram formed by the recording of a plane object situated in the focal plane of a lens so that each object gives rise to...

The process of reducing the size of an image by removing a certain proportion of the samples produced from the original...

An acronym of gamma ray amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. It is a gamma ray laser that operates between...

A device that functions throughout the continuous radiation of a linearly polarized plane wave, and whose nonreciprocity...

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

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

A ruggedized scintillation counter used in oil well logging. The cylindrical housing contains a gamma ray source, a...

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

The placement of a device or an additional circuit into a feedback control system to improve its response in relation to a...

A device designed to measure the amplitude and frequency of the elements in a complex waveform.

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

A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...

A detector sensitive only to signals close to or at a particular frequency that is the same as the frequency of a control...

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

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

The noise produced in a photodetector when the photocathode is shielded from all external optical radiation and operating...

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

Hydrophilic is a term used to describe substances or materials that have an affinity for water. The word hydrophilic comes...

A panel of photoconductive and electroluminescent layers used as either a positive or negative image intensifier, depending...

An optical instrument containing a gimballed sighting telescope, used to measure angular relationships in horizontal and...

A high-frequency approach to the propagation of light in graded-index fibers in which the modal field is represented in...

The light spectrum formed by an explosive reaction or by the electrical explosion of a metallic wire by a strong current.

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

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

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

Transparent media which, when placed in front of a light source, change their color as a result of the selective absorption...

A phenomenon that occurs in WDM and DWDM systems when three closely spaced signal wavelengths near the zero-dispersion...

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

A passive coupler that distributes signals from one or several inputs among a larger number of output waveguides arranged...

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

A dome-shaped structure used for some optical instruments in place of a flat window. The transparent material should be of...

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

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

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

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

An optical data storage device that permits the user to store data (write) and play it back (read), but not to erase or...

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

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...

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

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

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

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the...

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

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

The application of observed operational processes of sophisticated living organisms to mechanical and electrical systems in...

A material that is present or added to a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis, to serve as an intensity reference for...

On a chromaticity diagram, the point that denotes the chromaticity sample.

A technique used to suppress extreme noise amplification during digital image reconstruction that relies on smoothing and...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal...

A gyroscope is a mechanical device consisting of a spinning disk or wheel mounted on a spinning axis in such a way that its...

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

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...

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

A Pockels cell in which electrical current is applied in a direction orthogonally to that of the light beam.

Behaving as though characterized by a series of waves having planes of vibration oriented at all possible azimuths.

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

The specification of allowable flaws in a surface by comparison to reference standards of quality. Two graded sets of...

The series of interference bands that appear in the spectrum when a specified glass plate is inserted into a spectroscope,...

A Nernst glower, also known simply as a Nernst lamp or Nernst filament, is a type of incandescent lamp or radiant heater...

In astronomy, the relative brightness of a celestial body. Originally a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 represented the brightest...

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

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...

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field,...

A polariscope with a half-shade device and an angular scale generally attached to the analyzer. It is used to measure the...

A complex filter that uses polarization and interference to transmit light that is nearly monochromatic.

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses...

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

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

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

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

In positioning, the friction that prevents immediate motion when force is first applied to a body or surface at rest.

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

In a series of amplifiers, amplification by each of the preceding output.

An extensometer used to measure deformations in the thickness of a plate caused by tension, compression or other stress.

A mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO) is a type of electronic test instrument that combines the capabilities of both a...

A glow discharge lamp consisting of a cold cathode and a mixture of inert gases. The intensity of illumination varies with...

Collisional absorption of energy that occurs in inertial confinement fusion systems when hydrodynamic expansion of the...

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

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

A shield of rubber, plastic or metal used to protect the eyes of the observer from stray light and wind, and to maintain the...

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

An amplifying device that returns a portion of its output to its input as a means of modifying the device's performance.

An enclosure whose walls are coated to absorb completely all radiation striking them.

Any pyrheliometer that has a filter placed over its sensor to limit the range of solar radiation it will detect; used to...

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

A data transfer function that moves a rectangular group of pixels between bit maps. Often used in displaying cursors and...

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

A spectrophotometer in which the beam emitted by the radiation source is split into beams that travel through the sample and...

A shutter having one or more roller blinds of material with a variable slit that moves across the back of the camera when...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered...

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

An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2...

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

Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of...

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

A beamsplitting mirror that reflects as a function of wavelength.

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

A handheld navigational instrument used to measure the elevation angle of celestial bodies such as the sun. An image of the...

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

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

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

An absorbing coating medium between fibers, used in some fused fiber optic plates to absorb unwanted light. Such coatings...

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

An early form of photographic media consisting of glass plates coated with an emulsion.

A thermal source that emits less radiation than a blackbody under identical temperature conditions.

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

Laser cavity bounded by a plane mirror and a concave spherical mirror with the plane mirror located at the center of...

The Kerr effect, named after the physicist John Kerr who first observed it in 1875, is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where...

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

A form of image intensifier designed to amplify a weak fluoroscopic image. The image is received at an input phosphor...

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

Oleophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or resist oils. The word oleophobic comes from the...

In a laser diode, the photocurrent produced by a photodiode that detects the emission from the rear facet of the...

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

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

Measures by heterodyning interferometry the local slope of a vibrating sample. The method allows the reconstruction of a...

The process whereby sound waves are employed to form a three-dimensional image of an object. The process involves generally:...

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

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

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a...

In optics, a plane that emits a flux proportional to the cosine of the angle of the normal; dense opal glass is an example.

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

A means of testing the strength of optical fibers to ensure reliability, by applying stress to the fiber so that any flaws...

A fiber optic component or system designed in such a way that it can be operated by people without specialized knowledge of...

In local area networking, arrangement of the satellite nodes around a central node through which all routing of network data...

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

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

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

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

Equipment that supports microscopic live-cell imaging by managing the gas, media perfusion, temperature and other factors to...

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

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

An optical test table made up of two outer layers or "skins'' bonded to either side of a honeycomblike core, usually of...

A lens similar to the Cooke triplet anastigmat, with the rear crown achromatized for improved coverage and definition. It is...

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

A computer architecture used in parallel processing whereby the processing elements are directed by a single, central...

A ruticon is an opto-electronic device in which light going through it can be modulated by an electric field. The...

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

When a block of glass (prism, window, filter, etc.) is placed into a converging light bundle, it increases the physical...

A pulsed laser having molecular nitrogen as laser material and a wavelength output of 337 nm in the ultraviolet region. It...

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is a therapeutic approach that utilizes the combination of light, a photosensitizer, and...

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

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

A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and...

For an electromagnetic field mode varying sinusoidally with time at a given frequency, the logarithmic rate of change, with...

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

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

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

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

A phase screen, in the context of optics and wave optics, refers to a surface or medium that introduces a phase delay to an...

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

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

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

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

A defect of vision where a single object appears as two. Also known as double vision.

A filter fluorometer that uses a photomultiplier tube to detect the fluorescence of a sample.

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

Decrease in cosmic ray activity that is observed approximately 24 hours after a solar flare, attributed to a shielding...

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

Pockels cell or dynamic optical retarder in which the electrical field is applied in a direction parallel to that of light...

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

A photon-counting instrument for use in both space-borne and ground-based photometric and spectroscopic instrumentation....

A calculated measure of the ability of an incident force to cause an object to spin. The spin speed of any given object is a...

The slope of the curve when output is plotted against input for quantum efficiency in a device.

Radiation similar in origin to spontaneous emission but determined by the presence of other radiation having the same...

One of the constants h, k, f or I, used to demonstrate any set of parallel planes in a crystal of the hexagonal system.

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

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

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

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from...

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

An instrument used to measure the coordinates of a point on an object such as a photographic plate.

A light source that is capable of producing radiation with waves vibrating in phase. The laser is an example of a coherent...

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

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

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

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

Any of the constants that relate the tendency of the director to remain parallel to restoring torques throughout the media....

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

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

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

gas laser using ionized argon as the active medium and applying electronic excitation in order to produce the laser light

A photographic objective that uses the thick meniscus principle to obtain its power. It is designed to photograph small...

A semiconductor device with a semiconductor junction in which infrared radiant flux is nonthermally produced when a current...

A filter purposely made to be placed before a lens to render the image rather unclear.

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

Experimental method of measuring the transmission of a given sample as a function of the wavelength.

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

An infrared detector that achieves a specified sensitivity through the application of certain cryogenic temperatures.

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

A method of analysis in which a pulsed laser beam is used to heat a particle, producing a plasma, or laser spark. As the...

A spectrophotometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the intensity of light at various wavelengths in the...

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

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is an advanced optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the...

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

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

A permanent, transparent, and highly transmissive adhesive capable of withstanding extreme temperatures that is applied to...

The photographic image of a thin specimen having a radioactive isotope that, formed through contact between the specimen and...

Also referred to as physical optics - the area of optics in which the wave nature of light is essential when defining its...

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

The development of a transverse electric field in a solid material when it carries an electric current and is placed in a...

A precision lens designed to convert the plane wavefront output of an interferometer to a spherical wavefront for the...

The intersection of the principal plane and the optical axis of a lens.

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

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

A transmission interference microscope that produces interference patterns of a sample by using birefringent plates that...

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

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

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

A transparent crystalline substance in which the refractive index of the optic axis (extraordinary axis) is different from...

Referring to compound semiconductor materials combining one element that has three valence electrons with one or more that...

A two-phase system consisting of dispersed liquid or solid particles in a gas; examples include dust, smoke and clouds.

1. In a polished surface, concentric waves that appear as zones in Newton's rings when a test glass is applied. 2. An...

On a display monitor, a small, mobile rectangle, cross-hair or pointer that locates a feature in an image that is the object...

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

A compound lens combination whose astigmatic difference is zero for one or more off-axis zones in the image plane. In such a...

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

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle...

Also referred to as differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy; Nomarski microscopy is a unique form of microscopy...

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

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

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

Calculated quantity of the entire longitudinal wave of a solid substance's electron gas.

Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is the 400- to 700-nm region (visible light) of the electromagnetic spectrum that...

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

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

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

The application of a cine camera in recording the images on a fluorescent screen. When x-rays are used to produce the screen...

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

A high-resolution imaging instrument that can detect and measure the positions of individual atoms on the surface of a...

System of information coding in which the signal is sampled 8000 times per second and the samples quantized by referring...

A plate of glass, usually a photograph, on which there is a central spot surrounded by concentric annular zones, alternately...

A film or plate that is usually coated on both sides with a very fast emulsion that is sensitive to x-rays, and used to...

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...

Medical lasers are devices that produce intense beams of light with specific characteristics and properties, which are used...

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

A ghost image that has the reverse lightness relations of the original image. This phenomenon is a common optical illusion...

A device that uses low-level visible radiation or infrared radiation to produce a visual image of a night scene. These...

With respect to television, that part of a color television circuit that combines the I, Q and Y signals, and changes them...

A process by which a plastic cell is molded around a glass lens or lenses to create a mount, eliminating the metal barrel...

The principle that electronic energy transitions occur at such speeds that the nuclei of the atoms in the molecular system...

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

A method that produces low-loss optical fibers. A glass tube rotates while reactants pass through the tube and heat is...

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

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

A fiber optic bundle split along its length with the ends of the fibers extending separately to illuminate different points...

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

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

A glass block that produces stationary fringes in the region crossed by incident light beams.

A glass rhomb that is used in photometry to compare two illuminated surfaces. This is accomplished by the rhomb's angles,...

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

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

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

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

Radiation in which every ray from any given object point can be considered to be parallel to every other. This is never...

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

A technical specification for a consumer product drawn up by Sony and Philips. CD/I combines audio, video and text recorded...

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

A wave that is guided by the interface between two different media or by a refractive index gradient in the medium. The...

Any crystalline material whose length is much less than its measured diameter.

In image processing, the memory that stores the values for the point processes. Input pixel values are those for the...

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

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

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

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

1. In a plane Cartesian coordinate system, the horizontal axis, or axis in the left to right direction. 2. In a quartz...

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

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

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at...

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

A passive device, having three or more ports, in which input light from one port is coupled only to the next sequential port...

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

A coarse diffraction grating that is used to form a scale of intensities to determine the relative magnitudes of stars. The...

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to...

The effect by which sufficiently small particles will scatter blue light at right angles to the incident beam. This...

Any noise or current fluctuation that prevents precise measurement of the signal current. Both dark current and signal...

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

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

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

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

A phototube in which the primary photoemission current, before being extracted at the anode, is multiplied many times.

A thermal radiation detector consisting of a small cell with a blackened plastic front face that bulges slightly when heat...

A quarter- or half-wave retarder made from two plates of quartz, mica or polymer with their fast axes crossed; the...

Two microscopes that are coupled on a common stand, the two images being projected side by side in the field of view of a...

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or...

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

A method of measuring complex sequential photosynthetic reactions by varying the pulse time and wavelength of light...

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

More efficient than the Foucault knife-edge test, this test examines curved mirrors by using a transmission grating with 40...

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

A thermocouple that is used in infrared spectroscopy to detect a sample's infrared emittance. See thermocouple.

An ultrafast pulsed laser is a type of laser that emits extremely short pulses of light with durations typically on the...

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

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

Essentially, a hologram of a hologram, in which the first-generation hologram is masked with a narrow slit. During image...

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

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

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...

Operates with light collectively emitted by the recombination of free electrons and ions in the plasma state.

The ratio of the power of a plane-polarized beam that is transmitted through a polarizer placed in its path with its...

The principle stating that two diffraction screens, one being exactly the negative of the other, will form the same...

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

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

A plastic disc coated with ferric oxide or other films on which data can be stored by selectively magnetizing areas of the...

Abbreviated TEA CO2 laser. A gas laser that provides shorter pulses and higher peak powers than conventional CO2 lasers. The...

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

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

A modified form of an image-retaining panel that can be used in subdued daylight. This is achieved by adding a layer of zinc...

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

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

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

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

A lens aberration that causes a flat object surface to be imaged onto a curved surface rather than a plane.

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

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

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

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

A device where each pixel in the detector array is mated with a preamplifier on a single silicon chip, providing sensing and...

A cascade amplifier that uses a common cathode resistor to couple energy from stage to stage.

Combining light beams, usually of unlike frequencies, to form a single beam with a frequency that is equal to the frequency...

With respect to pictorial displays, the ratio of the width to the height. The television standard in the US is 4:3....

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

A method of producing high-quality plastic optics in large volumes by injecting the heated, liquified plastic at high...

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

Technique using functional optical microscope with the addition of a coherent source collinear with the image path. The...

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

1. To center an image or place it in any part of the television screen desired. Also applies to stills. 2. A single image of...

The movement of an object seen through a refracting prism toward the apex of a prism.

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

Measures the absorption or sample transmittance over a range of specified wavelengths. Sample may be placed within the...

A surface heat-treating process that produces a highly stressed surface. In case-hardening of glass, a plate of glass is...

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

A piece of glass having a crude plano surface on each side.

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

A pollution-measuring device used to detect the presence of nitric oxide regardless of other gases present. It utilizes the...

A robotic process commonly employed by automakers that enables high-speed and flexible production throughput by using...

A specific type of photographic plate designed with only a small amount of gelatin to function in the extreme ultraviolet...

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

The rotation of an instrument (or the line of sight of an optical system) in a horizontal plane; transverse.

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

Area scan, in the context of imaging and cameras, refers to a method of capturing an entire two-dimensional image in a...

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

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

A cathode-ray tube that either splits an electron beam from one source or uses beams from two sources to produce two beams,...

The procedure applied to flame-excited line emissions to determine spectra and wavelengths.

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such...

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

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

Noise generated in the flow of current in the photomultiplier, produced by the intentional or controlled application of...

An erecting prism that inverts and reverses the image. It displaces the optical axis but does not deviate it.

A manufacturing process used to construct substrates for large optical components. Used with IR materials, planform bonding...

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

A type of compensator for use with a microscope and consisting of a quarter-wave plate in a fixed position and a rotatable...

A device that acquires a signal and then stores it for a specified period of time before processing, and used, for example,...

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

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

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

A temperature radiator whose spectral emissivity at all wavelengths is in constant ratio (less than unity) to that of a...

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

Oscillation in rod and disc amplifiers that critically limits the achievable energy storage.

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

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

A type of refractometer designed to measure the refractive indices of liquids. A section of the instrument is immersed into...

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

A piece of glass polished flat on one side, with a pair of polished faces that form an angle close to 180° on the other...

A filter, pale purple in color, used in black and white photography to display the brightness values of a subject being...

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

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

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

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

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

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

A cable that incorporates multiple fibers, jacketed side by side in a ribbonlike form.

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

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

A standard of luminous intensity evaluated as the luminous intensity of 1 cm2 of a blackbody at the melting point of...

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

The butt (edge to edge) splice of two pieces of film produced by a heat splicer that melts the edges together; used in...

In spectroscopy, the parallel bands that vary in lightness and darkness or color, and that are formed when light is...

The element in a charge-coupled device that receives the charge packets transferred from the line of sensor sites and then...

A length that denotes the size of the unit cell in a crystal lattice. With respect to the cubic crystal, this is the length...

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

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

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

A type of birefringent filter, similar in principle to the Lyot filter, consisting of many identical birefringent elements,...

In a waveguide, a change in direction of the axis without deviating from the plane of polarization.

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

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

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

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

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

A crystal capable of being polarized in the reverse direction when an electric field is applied.

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

The process of microphotography that involves the reduction of the original at a ratio greater than 100 to 1. The process is...

A method of studying the chemical and physical properties of atoms and molecules (typically living tissue and chemical...

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

A method of producing x-ray exposures as short as 0.03 µs; the primary application is in ballistic radiography.

A relationship between two variables so that when plotted on a graph they yield a straight line.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A method of producing disks for erasable optical data storage. Information is recorded by a laser beam that generates pits...

A lamp that yields a nonluminous flame; used in the spectroscopic analysis of radiation emitted by a substance placed in the...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the...

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

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

A laser crystal, also known as an active medium or gain medium, is a solid-state material used in the construction of...

A blur circle refers to the out-of-focus region in an image captured by an optical system. When an object in a scene is not...

Fluorescent proteins are proteins that exhibit the property of fluorescence, which is the ability to absorb light at a...

The number of electrons that each pixel of a charge-coupled device can hold without overflowing and causing blooming.

A porous ceramic substance that is ground to a given optical form and on which a polished plate of glass is sagged by heat...

The angle between an instrument's line of sight and a reference horizontal plane.

An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...

A group of related lines that represent transitions between two spectroscopic terms, each of which may be complex. Also in...

A double block formed by placing two adjoining, equally thick sections of quartz, one being dextrorotary, the other...

The thin, transparent film made up of specific substances applied to glass-air surfaces for the purpose of decreasing the...

For light incident on a plane boundary between two regions having different refractive indices, the angle of incidence at...

The point at which decreasing current supplied to a laser results in the extinguishing of the laser discharge.

A lens assembly made up of three lens elements that may or may not be cemented.

Intentionally alternating the intensity of a display element in a graphic display device.

A two-stage illuminating system for a microscope in which the source is imaged in the aperture of the substage condenser by...

Radiation emitted from vibrating charged particles. A combination of oscillating electrical and magnetic fields that...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or...

In field-sequential color television, the rotating tricolor disc placed between the subject and the lens, or between the...

Thin layers intended to prevent damage to plastic optics.

Observed phenomenon in laser pulses in which a large number of excited electrons are created and in which multiphoton...

The use of a specialized optical microscope designed to provide a more three-dimensional view of a sample. Stereomicroscopy...

A laser having a rare-earth chelate within a plastic host as the lasing material. The chelate laser is easily pumped and has...

A complete unit containing a light source, globe, reflector, housing, socket and other necessary components for lighting.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates digital information, typically in the form of computer-generated...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...

1. To influence to a single direction. 2. Voltage that is applied to a solid-state device.

The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...

The approximately concentric waves that form on a surface that has been polished without an oscillation of the polishing lap.

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) is a type of gyroscope that uses laser light to detect and measure changes in orientation. It...

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...

Mode hopping in the context of lasers refers to a phenomenon where a laser system abruptly switches from one longitudinal...

In digital image processing, a subcategory of frame processing that transforms pixel brightness and contrast through use of...

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state...

A crystalline material with a high electro-optic coefficient, capable of operating at short wavelengths, with applications...

A luminous display of numbers and the letters of the alphabet.

An engine in which work is performed by the expansion of a gas at high temperature; heat for the expansion is supplied...

A photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) refers to a type of laser diode that emits light from its surface rather...

Instruments used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to study the eye. There are, for instance, the ophthalmoscope to...

The principle stating that the displacement of spectrum lines is determined by the distance between, and relative velocity...

The natural log of the ratio of absorbed intensity over the total intensity which gives a constant value assuming a stable...

The use of a surgical laser instead of sutures or staples to close a wound or rejoin severed blood vessels.

In a solid-state laser, the material (Nd:YAG, Nd:glass, ruby) in which lasing action takes place.

Distortion of the high frequencies of a signal. In television, the term generally applies to frequencies above the 15.7 kHz...

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate...

A Darlington current amplifier consisting of two separate transistors, of which a phototransistor is the input device.

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized...

The splitting or shifting of spectral lines or energy levels caused by the application of a strong transverse electrical...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...

In electronics, the coupling of power from stage to stage by the use of an input or output element in the cathode.

The technology of manipulating light on a micro scale. In optical communications, this is usually accomplished using two or...

In cosmology, a star that exhibits a rapid increase in the magnitude of light, which is followed by a slow decrease in...

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a...

A type of color-generating cathode-ray tube that uses a shadow mask, a thin perforated electrode, located close to the...

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device...

A plane in which an image is formed. A real image formed by a positive lens would be visible upon a screen located in this...

A microscope that uses an extremely fine x-ray focal point to produce an enlarged photographic image of a sample. Also known...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or...

A variation from standard physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating techniques, magnetron sputtering is a plasma coating...

An optical fiber that can be used to amplify an optical input. Erbium rare earth ions are added to the fiber core material...

A laser having a material, such as ruby, that has an energy state structure of three levels: the ground state (1) wherein...

An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter...

A layer of material applied to a coated surface to protect it from physical or chemical action.

A chemical placed in a solution that will indicate when an excess of a substance or ion has been reached by coloring the...

A circuit incorporated into counter systems that records only pulses that have amplitudes between two preselected limits.

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single,...

Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer...

Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is...