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Teledyne DALSA - Line Scan Leader 5/24 LB
art Dictionary Terms

dichroic polarizer
A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is...
laser plasma
A plasma produced by the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a material surface. Production of ionized particle with...
figure tolerance
The allowable departure from the given figure or geometrical form. It may be described in terms of fringes or wavelengths.
laser contact tip
A surgical device used to deliver laser light. Specifically,contact tips are made with artificially grown sapphire which is...
RTSP protocol
RTSP, or real-time streaming protocol, is a network control protocol designed for controlling streaming media servers. It is...
advanced driver assistance systems
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) refers to a set of safety features and technologies designed to assist drivers in...
contour projector
An inspection device in which the profile of a mechanical part is projected onto a ground-glass screen at a precisely known...
artificial star
A point source of light used for the test and evaluation of image quality. May be a backlit pinhole in an otherwise opaque...
inverse bremsstrahlung
Collisional absorption of energy that occurs in inertial confinement fusion systems when hydrodynamic expansion of the...
photovoltaic cell
A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into...
tetartohedral crystal
The section of crystal symmetry having only one-quarter of the greatest number of faces permitted by the crystal system of...
fan-in
The simultaneous collection of two or more signals at a single location. In a digital computer, it refers to the number of...
laser peening
Laser peening is a surface enhancement technique used to improve the mechanical properties of materials, particularly...
filter
1. With respect to radiation, a device used to attenuate particular wavelengths or frequencies while passing others with...
tearing
In television, a lateral displacement of the lines from their normal position due to the instability of a synchronizing...
detector-Dewar assembly
A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...
borescope
A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or...
erbium-doped fiber amplifier
An optical fiber that can be used to amplify an optical input. Erbium rare earth ions are added to the fiber core material...
donpisha
A type of asynchronous shutter device that is used particularly in CCD sensor applications to capture an image of a...
spectral signature
A spectral signature, in the context of remote sensing and spectroscopy, refers to the unique pattern or characteristic...
London equations
The partial differential equations for the spatial and time dependence of electric and magnetic fields inside a...
strain
In optics, the mechanical tension, compression or shear in optical glass due to internal stress caused by improper cooling...
blur circle
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...
aberration sensor (wavefront sensor)
Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image...
laser
A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and...
echelette grating
A diffraction grating with lines and grooves formed so as to concentrate the radiation of a particular wavelength into one...
rare-earth elements
Rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of seventeen chemical elements found in the Earth's crust, characterized by their...
homogeneous cladding
That part of the cladding wherein the refractive index is constant within a specified tolerance, as a function of radius.
coincidence circuit
Electronic circuit capable of distinguishing the pulses emitted by separate counters in a given time phase and determining...
aurora
The strongest light emitted by the Earth's upper atmosphere. It most often can be viewed in the Arctic as the aurora...
Nernst glower
A Nernst glower, also known simply as a Nernst lamp or Nernst filament, is a type of incandescent lamp or radiant heater...
electrophoretic display
An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic...
extraterrestrial radiation
Radiation that is emitted by a source outside the Earth and its atmosphere.
zonal aberration
Spherical or chromatic aberration in a lens having a wide aperture. It is present because the refracting power varies for...
opaque projector
An opaque projector is a device used for enlarging and projecting images from opaque objects such as printed pages,...
cascade tube
An instrument consisting of a high-voltage vacuum tube used to form hard x-rays or high-speed ion beams. By partitioning the...
mode beating
In optics, "mode beating" refers to an interference phenomenon that can occur in laser systems with multiple longitudinal...
spatially offset Raman spectroscopy
Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) is a technique that extends traditional Raman spectroscopy by incorporating...
functional material
Functional materials refer to materials that possess specific properties or functionalities that make them suitable for...
dip
The departure of a curved surface from the plane that is tangent to its vertex. See sag.
cartesian lens
A lens, one surface being a cartesian oval, that produces an aplanatic condition.
diffuse reflectance spectroscopy
Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to investigate the optical properties...
fiber-coupled LED
A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the...
multiple wavelength interferometry
A specific form of phase shifting interferometry - commonly referred to as multiple wavelength phase shifting interferometry...
deep learning
Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that involves the use of artificial neural networks to model and solve complex...
quantum sensing
Quantum sensing refers to a class of sensing technologies that leverage principles from quantum mechanics to enhance the...
free radicals
Short-lived molecular or atomic particles, with an unpaired electron, that play an important part in many photochemical...
photoelectron holography
A technique proposed for studying the atomic structure of crystals by measuring the interference pattern generated when the...
cosine collector
Translucent collector developed to compensate for the partial blocking of a flat surface's collection angle that normally...
short-arc lamp
A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart...
digital signal processing
Digital signal processing (DSP) refers to the manipulation and analysis of signals, which are representations of physical...
nonionizing radiation
Radiation that does not produce free electrons and ions, or electrically charged particles.
half-shade plate
A semicircular, half-wave quartz plate between the polarizer and analyzer. It often is used in forming precision settings...
laser cavity
A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined...
negative-refraction metamaterial
An artificial material, engineered to have a negative refractive index value, such that light or any other form of...
facsimile chart
Data gathered by a facsimile system and converted into graphic, readable form; generally used in meteorology. Also known as...
multi-axis alignment
Multi-axis alignment refers to the process of aligning or adjusting components or systems in multiple spatial dimensions or...
CIE source
Standard light source representative of the quality of specified natural or artificial illumination.
Cerenkov counter
An instrument that detects high-energy charged particles by analysis of the Cerenkov radiation that they emit.
alpha particle
A positively charged particle emitted from the nucleus of an unstable isotope, characterized by two protons and two...
remote inspection
Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or...
orange peel
In the context of imaging, particularly digital imaging and printing, "orange peel" refers to a texture or visual distortion...
airglow
Diffuse light emitted by the atmosphere due to the excitation of particles of atmospheric gas. These excited particles...
skew angle
The angle at which photoelectric sensors are aligned to prevent light from being reflected back to the sensor from the...
signal period
Also referred to as the width of the dark pulse. This is the time interval between the instant the particle approaches the...
thematic mapper
An instrument used to record infrared images of large areas. The recorded data are used to produce maps in false color...
interference filter
A filter that controls the spectral composition of transmitted energy partially by the effects of interference. Frequently,...
multiconfiguration mode
Used in computer design for optical systems with common parts and different applications.
quarter-wave plate
A plate made of a double-refracting crystal having such a density that a phase difference of one-quarter cycle is formed...
terahertz spectrometer
A terahertz spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to measure and analyze the properties of materials in the terahertz...
Collaborative Robot
Collaborative Robot (Cobot): Unlike traditional autonomous robots, which usually work by themselves, a collaborative robot...
flash photographic density filter
A filter, partially opaque to near-ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation, that may be made by exposing and processing...
diffraction rings
1. The ring patterns of light that seem to encircle particles in the field of a microscope. 2. See Newton's rings.
optical bistability
The phenomenon that can render an optical resonator the equivalent of a semiconductor flip-flop. A bistable device will...
read-write head
That part of a magnetic or optical tape or disc drive that retrieves data from or records data on the recording media.
phosphor dots
Very small phosphor particles present on the screen of a picture tube.
crystal diamagnetism
The unusual and anisotropic diamagnetic quality observed in particular crystals such as those composed of bismuth.
recrystallization
The growth of particular grain fragments in a metal or alloy, at the expense of others, that occurs when the metal or alloy...
high-pressure cloud chamber
A cloud chamber designed to maintain the gas within it at a high pressure as a means of reducing the range of the...
quartz
See crystal quartz; fused quartz.
Brewster angle window
A parallel plate of glass in such a position that the refracted and reflected rays of incident parallel light are mutually...
electron-gun system
An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find...
green block
A porous ceramic substance that is ground to a given optical form and on which a polished plate of glass is sagged by heat...
vibrational transition
A vibrational transition refers to a change in the vibrational energy of a molecule. Molecules consist of atoms that are...
nuclear track emulsion
A photographic emulsion of the silver-halide type that is used to record the path of a charged traveling particle. The...
quantitative phase imaging
Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to measure and analyze the optical...
Van der Waals
Van der Waals forces refer to the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or parts of molecules) that arise from...
sputtering equipment
Sputtering equipment is machinery used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....
atomic emission spectrometry
Spectrometric analysis of the distinct and characteristic spectra of atoms of elements. The atoms are energized to emit...
sustaining voltage
In a laser, the voltage necessary to sustain a constant operating current, somewhat less than that needed for start-up.
nanoimprint lithography
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a...
complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) refers to a technology used in the fabrication of integrated circuits,...
computer graphics
Computer output in the form of pictorial representation (graphs, charts, drawings, etc.) that is displayed visually.
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment or experience that can be...
Hartmann formula
 Snellen letter
The letter form used on visual performance test charts. The overall letter height is equal to five times the thickness of...
photon jet
A photon jet is a narrow, highly collimated beam of light that is formed when light interacts with small dielectric...
neuromorphic vision sensor
A neuromorphic vision sensor is a type of imaging device designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human visual...
micro-ring resonator
A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped...
Casimir force
The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged...
quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become correlated to such an extent...
Y axis
1. In a plane Cartesian coordinate system, the vertical axis orthogonal to the X-axis. 2. In a quartz crystal structure, the...
photoplethysmography
Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical technique used to detect changes in blood volume in tissues. It...
blocking material
Pitch, wax, resin or other cement suitable for holding optical parts to a spindle during grinding and polishing processes.
qubit
A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing and quantum information...
cesium 134
An isotope of cesium that emits negative beta particles and has a half-life of 2.19 years; its applications include...
resolution target
A chart on paper or glass containing a series of sets of lines at progressively smaller spacing and used to ascertain the...
blocking tool
An instrument used to support optical parts to be cemented, or to be mounted in plaster.
color center
A color center, in the context of materials science and condensed matter physics, refers to a specific type of...
photometry
Photometry is the branch of science that deals with the measurement of light, particularly in terms of its intensity and the...
emission line
The line or lines emitted by an element when its radiation particles travel from one energy level to another.
nitrogen vacancy
A nitrogen vacancy (NV) refers to a specific type of defect or impurity in a crystal lattice where a nitrogen atom replaces...
phase matching
Phase matching is a crucial concept in the field of optics, particularly in nonlinear optics and the generation of coherent...
quantum-ehanced metrology
Quantum-enhanced metrology refers to the use of quantum mechanics principles and techniques to enhance the precision and...
axial vapor-phase deposition
A vapor-phase oxidation process for fabricating graded-index optical fibers. It differs from outside vapor phase deposition...
mode
1. The characteristic of how light propagates through a waveguide that can be designated by a radiation pattern in a plane...
scanning beam
A light, radar or electron beam used to scan according to a particular method.
momentum transfer
In physics, momentum transfer is the amount of momentum transferred from one particle to another during particle collision...
Lorentz force
The force acting upon a charged particle as it moves in a magnetic field, proportional to the particle's charge and velocity.
mass spectrometry
An instrumental technique that utilizes the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles as recorded from a mass spectrometer...
lock-in amplifier
A lock-in amplifier is a specialized electronic instrument used to extract and measure small signals embedded in noise or...
Stokes parameters
The parameters, relative to polarized light and the Poincaré sphere, that are usually represented as: I, the intensity of...
grating beamsplitter
A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into...
gallium arsenide phosphide
Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) is a semiconductor alloy composed of gallium (Ga), arsenic (As), and phosphorus (P). It...
chemical-mechanical polishing
A technique for polishing silicon in which an alkaline suspension containing silicon dioxide particles creates a soft layer...
3D laser line profile sensor
A 3D profile sensor, also known as a 3D profiling sensor or 3D depth sensor, is a technology that is used to capture and...
image correlation
A machine vision technique that compares a template of the desired image (the correlation kernel) with the actual camera...
aerosol
A two-phase system consisting of dispersed liquid or solid particles in a gas; examples include dust, smoke and clouds.
Malus's law
A law that uses the square of the cosine between the plane of polarization of a beam of plane-polarized light and the plane...
cataphoretic effect
The attraction of particles suspended in a solution to a cathode, as a result of an electric field.
Foucault prism
A polarizing prism formed from calcite that is like the Nicol prism but has the two parts divided by a thin air-film and cut...
Peltier cooler
A Peltier cooler, also known as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or thermoelectric module, is a solid-state device that uses...
beam-addressable technology
The application of reversible writing with a laser beam on particular storage materials. In one method, an amorphous film is...
intensified charge-coupled device camera
An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an...
diffraction scattering
Elastic scattering that occurs when inelastic processes eliminate particles from the beam.
holmium
A soft, malleable, stable rare-earth element. Holmium laser systems are used in surgical procedures involving the cutting...
quantum
The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...
planar magnetron
A device used in the sputtering of thin films, in which a magnet system on the back of the cathode deflects the electrons,...
near-infrared spectroscopy
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that uses the near-infrared region of the...
bathymetric map
A surveying map representing measurement of depth, particularly that of the ocean.
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...
achromat
An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration....
fiber optic preform
A fiber optic preform is a cylindrical glass rod or tube used as the starting material for manufacturing optical fibers. It...
infrared light source
An infrared light source is a device that emits light in the infrared spectrum, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of...
X-axis
1. In a plane Cartesian coordinate system, the horizontal axis, or axis in the left to right direction. 2. In a quartz...
augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates digital information, typically in the form of computer-generated...
monoergic
Pertaining to radiation or particle emission, whereby the emission is produced with minimal energy spread.
pixel binning
Pixel binning, also known as pixel merging or pixel combining, is a technique used in digital imaging and camera technology....
CubeSat
A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite characterized by its standardized size and modular design. CubeSats are...
aerial camera
Camera designed for the imaging of the earth's surface in order to obtain high quality aerial images
luminescent fiber
Fiber that emits luminescent radiation excited by ultraviolet, x-ray or high-energy particles.
boule
1. A group of optical fibers that are fused and then treated to produce a vacuum-tight optical fiber cone or plate. 2. An...
outside vapor-phase oxidation
A process for the production of optical fibers. A glass bait is rotated in a traversing flame of a reaction burner....
sputtering target
A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering....
windowing
A technique for reducing data processing requirements by electronically defining only a small portion of the image to be...
fused quartz and silica
Fused quartz and silica are closely related materials, both composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2), but they are...
thyratron
An arc discharge tube having a grid that is used to start the discharge through an atmosphere of inert gas or vapor at low...
emission spectroscopy
A study of the energies and wavelengths of radiation emitted by atoms and molecules when particular physical conditions are...
horizon detector
An infrared device used in satellites and rockets to determine a heat horizon for the Earth at altitudes (above 200 miles)...
detector array
A detector array refers to a collection of individual detector elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid or matrix format....
in vitro
In vitro is a Latin term that translates to "in glass." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and medicine, it...
electro-optic deflection
The effect whereby a light beam is deflected by a birefringent prism when its polarization is changed by voltage applied to...
conduction band
A partially filled or empty energy band through which electrons can move easily. The material can therefore carry an...
polarizing coating
A coating made up of particular birefringent materials having polarizing properties. It may be used, in some cases, to...
analytical photography
The use of photographs -- motion picture or still -- to establish if a particular event exists.
mean solar time
One of two types of solar time - the other being apparent solar time - the mean solar time is the time measured by the...
liquid gate
An immersion liquid used to treat polarizing filters to eliminate the effects of surface variations and to minimize the...
infrared light-emitting diode
An infrared light-emitting diode (IR LED) is a semiconductor device that emits infrared light when an electric current...
Fabry-Perot interferometer
A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set...
smart bomb
A bomb guided to its target by some form of electro-optical system.
atmospheric turbulence
Irregularities and disturbances in the atmosphere that are of particular interest because they induce random temporal and...
Koenig-Martens spectrophotometer
A visual, single-unit spectrophotometer with a biprism and a Wollaston prism. The Wollaston prism polarizes coincident...
stellar parallax
The angle subtended by the mean distance of the Earth from the sun at the distance of a given star from the sun.
digital camera
A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...
hyperchromic shift
Hyperchromic shift refers to an increase in the absorption of light, leading to a higher absorbance, often observed in...
absorption peak
An absorption peak refers to a sharp increase or spike in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a particular...
spectroradiometer
A spectroradiometer is a device used to measure the intensity of light at different wavelengths across the electromagnetic...
GRIN lens
A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...
laser spark spectroscopy
A method of analysis in which a pulsed laser beam is used to heat a particle, producing a plasma, or laser spark. As the...
photobleaching
Photobleaching is a phenomenon in which the fluorescence of a fluorophore (a fluorescent molecule or dye) is permanently...
fluence
Fluence is a term used in various scientific and technical disciplines to describe the amount of something per unit area....
component
1. A constituent part. It may consist of two or more parts cemented together, or with near and approximately matching...
fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna
A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna...
mirror blank
A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly...
Hartmann test
A test for spherical aberration, coma or astigmatism in which incident rays from a point source are isolated by small holes...
electronic flash unit
A small xenon-filled tube with metal electrodes fused into the ends. The gas flashes brilliantly when a condenser is...
low Earth orbit
Low Earth orbit (LEO) refers to a region in space that is relatively close to Earth's surface, typically characterized by...
photoglow tube
A particular type of phototube having increased sensitivity as a result of the glow initiated by light incident to the...
resonance absorption (light)
The re-emission of absorbed energy, having the same wavelength as the incident energy, in an arbitrary direction from a...
Foucault chart
platonic solid
Geometrical partition possible with a sphere that can be four, six, eight, 12 or 20 solid-angle wedges. Each platonic mass...
regular transmittance
The part of incident flux that is transmitted with no scattering.
photoresist
Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of...
nonradiative transition
A nonradiative transition refers to a process in which an electron or an atom undergoes a change in its energy state without...
phototheranostics
Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines...
substrate
A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various...
shock wave
Interruption in the normal flow of a plasma or fluid characterized by sharp rises in velocity, temperature and pressure. As...
spectral repeatability
Spectral repeatability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of spectral measurements across multiple trials or...
electrophoresis
The movement of particles or ions in a solution toward the electrode having the opposite sign because of the application of...
solid-state laser
A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent...
single-molecule FRET
Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is a specialized technique in biophysics and molecular...
adhesive
An intermolecular substance that serves to hold materials together. Two types are used in the optical industry: one, which...
transfer blocking
A process used to control thickness and parallelism precisely during the production of plane-parallel plates. Elements are...
matrix
With respect to television, that part of a color television circuit that combines the I, Q and Y signals, and changes them...
Sabattier effect
The reversal of a developed image due to the exposure of the partially developed image to actinic light.
Pockels
In optics, the Pockels effect refers to the phenomenon where the refractive index of a material changes in response to an...
area scan
Area scan, in the context of imaging and cameras, refers to a method of capturing an entire two-dimensional image in a...
Kerr effect
The Kerr effect, named after the physicist John Kerr who first observed it in 1875, is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where...
Fried length
The length of the small space within which the atmosphere exhibits coherence, particularly in relation to an observer on...
embedded vision
Embedded vision refers to the integration of computer vision technologies into various embedded systems, devices, or...
blister
An extended bubble or seed on glass, elliptically shaped and more than one-quarter inch (6.3 mm) in length.
long-pass filter
A long-pass filter is an optical filter that allows longer wavelengths of light to pass through while blocking or...
ionization gauge
A type of radiation detector that depends on the ionization produced in a gas by the passage of a charged particle through...
spiral scanning
A scanning process in which the greatest amount of radiation determines part of a spiral motion rotating in one direction.
legacy fiber
Older fiber optic cable that may not be suitable for state-of-the-art applications and that is difficult for suppliers to...
quantum confinement
Quantum confinement refers to the phenomenon in quantum mechanics where the motion of charge carriers, such as electrons or...
electromagnetic interaction
The interaction of charged particles and electromagnetic fields.
reactive evaporation
Reactive evaporation refers to a process in thin-film deposition where a material is deposited onto a substrate through...
densitometer
1. An instrument used to measure the opacity or density of dyes, pigments or dispersed particles that form an image in or on...
mass spectrograph
A device that uses electromagnetic fields to separate electrically charged particles according to their masses. As a beam of...
glitter
The specular reflection of individual parts of a surface.
Gires-Tournois interferometer
An interferometer similar in construction to a Fabry-Perot interferometer but having a rear mirror with high reflectivity,...
lambda services
Term for service offered by a vendor who leases a particular wavelength to a customer through DWDM technology. Lambda...
off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirror
Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly...
magnetometer
A magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of a magnetic field. It can detect...
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the development of algorithms and...
framer
A device that permits the adjustment of facsimile transmitters and recorders so that their scanning lines stop and start at...
launching fiber
A fiber used in conjunction with a source to excite the modes of another fiber in a particular fashion.
magneto-optics
Magneto-optics refers to the study and manipulation of the interaction between magnetic fields and light (electromagnetic...
seed
1. In glass, a solid inclusion having a small diameter. 2. A particular, single crystal that, after undergoing the...
spectrometric oil analysis
An analytical technique used to determine, identify and localize impending malfunctions. It is based upon quantitative and...
recombinase polymerase amplification
Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is a molecular biology technique used to rapidly amplify specific DNA or RNA...
chirped-pulse amplification
Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies...
retroreflection
Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly...
wide-angle lens
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...
light diffusion
Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a...
cosmic ray telescope
A system consisting of two or more Geiger-Müller counters, connected in coincidence with their centers on an axis. The only...
plume
A mixture of ionized gas and metal vapor generated by impingement of the laser beam onto a material being welded or a weld...
endoscope
An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...
artificial pupil
iris or adjustable radially symmetric opening used for allowing the passage of useful light
cross section
Calculation of the probability of an interaction between two types of particles, such as light absorption, excitation or...
hyperspectral imaging camera
A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide...
diode-pumped solid-state laser
A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into...
differential absorption lidar
A lidar (light detection and ranging) technique used in pollution monitoring. Two light beams are emitted simultaneously,...
Brillouin scattering
Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with...
internet of things
The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects...
zeta particle
The difference in electrokinetic potential between the stationary liquid connected to a solid phase surface and the mobile...
modulation transfer function analysis/measurement equipment
MTF analysis/measurement equipment refers to instruments and tools used to measure and analyze the modulation transfer...
scintillation
1. The variation in intensity of a light beam as it travels through the atmosphere. 2. In radiation physics, a light flash...
event-based sensor
An event-based image sensor, also known as a dynamic vision sensor (DVS), is a type of digital imaging device designed to...
gravimeter
An instrument capable of precise measurements of the Earth's gravity. This permits the detection of small changes in local...
embedded laser
The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or...
Stark effect
The splitting or shifting of spectral lines or energy levels caused by the application of a strong transverse electrical...
nonlinear optics
Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a...
optical memory
1. The direct storage of data as bits in memory using optical systems and properties. The memory makes use of a laser beam...
photon sieve
A photon sieve is an optical device used in the field of optics and imaging. It's designed to focus and shape light,...
surface error
The departure of an optical surface from its required tolerance or figure.
Raman effect
When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered...
thermal interface materials
Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are substances or compounds used to enhance the thermal conductivity between two surfaces...
tunneling
An observed effect of the ability of certain atomic particles to pass through a barrier that they cannot pass over because...
Fresnel rhomb
A type of quarter-wave retarder in the form of a glass rhomb; light entering the retarder undergoes two total internal...
occluder
A device that completely or partially restricts the amount of light reaching the eye.
micro-optics
Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level....
phase contrast microscopy
Phase contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy technique that enhances the contrast of transparent and colorless...
piezoelectric effect
The interaction between electrical and mechanical stress-strain factors in a material. When piezoelectric crystal is...
space pattern
On a test chart, the pattern designed to direct and measure geometric distortion.
polariton
A polariton is a quasiparticle resulting from the strong coupling between photons (light particles) and certain types of...
angular spectrum approach
The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and...
holographic tomography
Holographic tomography is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and tomography to provide three-dimensional...
in vivo
In vivo is a Latin term that translates to "within the living." In scientific contexts, particularly in biology and...
line-scan camera
A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to...
dioptrics
The branch of optics that deals with the study of the refraction of light, particularly by the transmitting medium of the...
electron multiplication charge-coupled device camera
An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for...
four-level laser
A solid-state laser consisting of active atoms or ions of a transition metal, rare-earth metal or actinide, imbedded in a...
artificial intelligence
The ability of a machine to perform certain complex functions normally associated with human intelligence, such as judgment,...
light filter
A homogeneous optical medium or coating that transmits only in particular regions of the spectrum. It is used to change or...
nanophotonics
Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at...
diamond turning
Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...
polymerase chain reaction
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a widely used molecular biology technique used to amplify a specific segment of DNA...
lens blank
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...
laser damage threshold
The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing...
oleophobic
Oleophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or resist oils. The word oleophobic comes from the...
reflective spectroscopy
Reflectance spectroscopy is a technique used to analyze the reflective properties of materials across various wavelengths of...
laser trapping
A technique for confining atoms, molecules or small particles within one or more laser beams. This can be accomplished...
residual blue
The optical phenomenon in which white light dispersed by small particles in suspension appears blue when viewed through a...
mass spectrum
A spectrum that displays the distribution in mass or in mass-to-charge ratio of ionized atoms, molecules or molecular parts....
Bose-Einstein condensate
A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that forms at temperatures close to absolute zero. It is named after...
differential interference contrast microscopy
Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical...
aerocartography
The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive...
radioactivity detector
An instrument used to detect radioactive materials: alpha particles or helium nuclei; beta particles or free electrons; and...
spectrum analyzer
A scanning device used to cyclically tune through a given frequency range to determine the amplitude-frequency distribution...
carbon arc
An electric discharge between two carbon rods that are touched together to start the arc and then separated slightly. The...
diamond-turned optic
Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...
ultraviolet reflectance
Ultraviolet reflectance refers to the ability of a material or surface to reflect UV light. Ultraviolet light is...
cartesian
Of or pertaining to the methods of the French philosopher Rene Descartes. Refers to the standard orthogonal X-Y-Z coordinate...
magnetic lens
An arranged series of coils, magnets or electromagnets disposed in such a way that the resulting magnetic fields generate a...
spectral domain optical coherence tomography
Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...
microphotofabrication
The formation of microimages for microreduction. The technique is used, for example, in the production of precision reticles...
plane of symmetry
An imaginary plane dividing a body into two parts so that each part is the precise mirror image of the other in the plane of...
dewetting
Dewetting is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where a thin film or coating spontaneously undergoes a process of...
Cornu double prism
A compound prism formed by cementing together two 30° prisms, one of right-handed and one of left-handed quartz. It has...
InGaAs photodiode
An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a...
network interface card
A network interface card (NIC), also known as a network adapter or LAN adapter, is a hardware component that allows...
elastic scattering
Scattering caused by the interaction between ingoing and outgoing particles of the same type, with no loss of kinetic energy.
interstellar absorption lines
Sharp and narrow absorption lines found in the spectra of stars. They result from the absorption of a part of a star's...
Fresnel reflection
Fresnel reflection refers to the reflection of light at the interface between two different media with different refractive...
long-wave infrared
Long-wave infrared (LWIR) refers to a specific range of the infrared spectrum. Infrared radiation is divided into three main...
quadrupole lens
A device used in electron microscopes and particle accelerators to focus electron beams by the arrangement of four...
linar
Celestial point sources that emit specific wavelengths of radiation that appear on spectral charts as narrow lines. The term...
mid-wave infrared
MWIR stands for mid-wave infrared, referring to a specific range of wavelengths within the infrared spectrum. Infrared...
parallel scanning
Parallel scanning refers to a method of acquiring data or images simultaneously from multiple sources or in parallel, rather...
geometric image
The position and shape of the image of a point source, as predicted by geometric optics alone. The geometric image is to be...
cleanroom
An area in which airborne particulates can be monitored and controlled so that given size particles do not exceed a...
dielectric coating
A high-reflectance coating consisting of alternating layers of quarter-wave film of a higher refractive index and lower...
laser spectroscopy
That part of the science involved in the study of the theory and interpretation of spectra that uses the unique...
otoscope
An otoscope is a medical device used by healthcare professionals, particularly ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists,...
dispersion formula
All formulas that present the index of refraction as a function of a wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. Also called...
cavity
In a laser, the optical resonator formed by two coaxial mirrors, one totally and one partially reflective, positioned so...
attenuation constant
The real part of the axial propagation constant for a particular mode. The attenuation coefficient for the mode power is...
Tyndall effect
The effect by which sufficiently small particles will scatter blue light at right angles to the incident beam. This...
rare-earth type glass
Optical glasses containing the oxides of rare earths such as lanthanum to impart a very high refractive index combined with...
arc discharge
The electric arc that is a particular discharge between two electrodes in a gas or vapor which is characterized by high...
thermomagnetic imaging
The production of an image on a magnetic film that is exposed to infrared radiation and heated to a point above Curie...
silicon dioxide
An abundant material found in the form of quartz and agate and as one of the major constituents of sand. The silicates of...
Ti:sapphire laser
A Ti:sapphire laser is a type of solid-state laser that utilizes a titanium-doped sapphire crystal as the gain medium. The...
optical materials
Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...
degreaser
A tank with a boiling solvent at the bottom and a ring of cold piping higher up that condenses the liquid and returns it to...
fan-out
The distribution of one signal to more than one location. In a digital computer, it refers to the number of outputs that can...
resonance
Resonance can be defined in various contexts, including physics, chemistry, and music. Here are definitions for resonance in...
object
The figure seen through or imaged by an optical system. It may contain structures, natural or artificial, or it may be the...
Glan spectrophotometer
A device similar to the ordinary spectrophotometer but containing particular modifications to provide for the comparison of...
coma
A lens aberration, resulting from different magnifications in the various lens zones, that occurs in that part of the image...
window
1. A piece of glass with plane parallel surfaces used to admit light into an optical system and to exclude dirt and...
quartz spectrograph
A spectrograph used to detect radiation in the range of the ultraviolet in the electromagnetic spectrum. It is made up of...
photomultiplier tube
A photomultiplier tube (PMT) is a highly sensitive vacuum tube that detects and amplifies low levels of light. It is widely...
volumetric imaging
Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of...
astronomy
The scientific observation of celestial radiation that has reached the vicinity of Earth, and the interpretation of these...
extinction meter
A type of exposure meter that artificially reduces the light admitted in a sequence of known fractions until a value is...
scalar diffraction theory
Scalar diffraction theory is a simplified approach used to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves, particularly...
silicon carbide light-emitting diodes
Silicon carbide (SiC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current is...
optical flat
A piece of glass, pyrex or quartz having one or both surfaces carefully ground and polished plano, generally flat to less...
Nd:YAG laser
Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain...
spectrochemical equipment
Equipment used for chemical analysis by investigation of the spectra formed and observed in chemical activity. Of particular...
intravital microscopy
Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in...
synchronous detector
A detector sensitive only to signals close to or at a particular frequency that is the same as the frequency of a control...
Coulomb scattering
The scattering of charged particles, moving through matter, by the electrostatic force exerted by other charged particles.
line scan
Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the...
micro-LED
Micro-LED (micro-light-emitting diode) refers to a technology that involves the use of very small light-emitting diodes to...
laser strainmeter
An instrument usually consisting of a very long interferometer, 3 to 800 m, and a laser light source for the study and...
organic dye laser
A laser having a lasing material that is a fluorescing organic dye. Depending on the dye used, it can produce emission in...
photographic photometry
A form of photometric measurement, often used with light sources that are transparent or fluctuating, in which a...
field of view
The field of view (FOV) refers to the extent of the observable world or the visible area that can be seen at any given...
twinning
A defect of natural quartz crystals in which both the right and left quartz are in the same crystal.
resolution chart
fiber optic imaging bundle
A fiber optic imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each...
ion laser
A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...
sine wave testing chart
A test chart whose luminance changes uniformly in one direction according to a sinusoidal rule. These charts carry groups of...
nonthermal radiation
The radiation emitted from a group of charged particles that does not depend on the temperature of the source in which those...
cell
1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit....
spectral luminous efficiency
Ratio of the radiant flux at a particular wavelength lm to that at any other wavelength l, such that both radiations produce...
opal glass
A material consisting of very small colorless particles imbedded in a clear glass matrix. It is available in two forms:...
laser-induced fluorescence
Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a spectroscopic technique that involves using a laser to excite molecules or atoms,...
beta-ray spectrometer
An instrument for the detection of the energy distribution of b-particles and secondary electrons.
minimum object distance
Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system...
bayonet coupling
A coupling mechanism designed to quickly lock a connector into an adaptor or a lens into a lens mount. Typically coupling is...
Rydberg atom
The term "Rydberg atom" refers to an atom in a highly excited state where one or more of its electrons are in a Rydberg...
Kapitza-Dirac diffraction
The diffraction of a particle by a standing lightwave.
microheterogeneous systems
Extremely small organic and inorganic systems of molecules within a substance. In general, systems are colloidal size in...
aspheric mirror
An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...
microelectromechanical systems
Refers to micron-size complex machines that have physical dimensions suitable for the fabrication of optical switches for...
nanoparticle
A small object that behaves as a whole unit or entity in terms of it's transport and it's properties, as opposed to an...
radiophotoluminescence
The luminescence displayed when particular minerals are irradiated with β-rays and g-rays, after being exposed to...
ultraviolet lens
A lens intended for use with wavelengths shorter than about 380 nm. It must be made of quartz, calcium fluoride, lithium...
surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique that combines the principles of Raman spectroscopy...
acousto-optic diffraction
Light diffracted by a solid (usually quartz in crystal or fused form) traversed by acoustic waves. If the ultrasonic...
scintillation spectrometry
The method of determining the energy distribution of high-speed charged particles by the luminous effect formed when the...
autoguider
A CCD sensor that provides feedback to the motion control system for a telescope, allowing the telescope to follow a...
reconstruction wave
The coherent wave used to play back a recorded hologram. It is identical to the reference wave used in the generation of the...
lensless microscopy
Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and...
optical tweezers
Optical tweezers refer to a scientific instrument that uses the pressure of laser light to trap and manipulate microscopic...
additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional...
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter...
extreme ultraviolet
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) refers to a specific range of electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum....
erosion
In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the...
particle acceleration
Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy...
ultraviolet fiber optics
Ultraviolet (UV) fiber optics refers to optical fibers that are designed and optimized for the transmission of ultraviolet...
holographic camera
A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...
computer numerically controlled grinding
Computer numerically controlled (CNC) grinding is a manufacturing process that utilizes computerized controls and precision...
laser sintering
Laser sintering is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that involves using a laser to selectively fuse...
organic light-emitting diode
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) technology that utilizes organic compounds to...
Mie scattering
Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as...
slicing and cutting machines - for crystals, quartz, glass, etc.
A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing...
definition test object
A chart, either printed on paper or prepared photographically on glass plates or film, that consists of 3-bar resolution...
flow chemistry
Flow chemistry, also known as continuous-flow chemistry, is a chemical manufacturing process where reactions take place in a...
optical element
An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.
fiber optic gyroscope
A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in...
quantum key distribution
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method of secure communication that utilizes principles from quantum mechanics to...
etaloning
Etaloning is an optical phenomenon that occurs in imaging systems, particularly in devices such as spectrometers,...
Senarmont compensator
A type of compensator for use with a microscope and consisting of a quarter-wave plate in a fixed position and a rotatable...
neutron drip line
Prediction based on observations of nuclear masses in the valley of stability that indicates the maximum number of electrons...
clinical photography
The application of photography, with the exception of radiography, to obtain pictures of parts or the whole of a patient to...
contextual analysis
In optical character recognition systems, the identification of a character facilitated by means of known factors governing...
ultrasonic cleaning equipment
Ultrasound used in the cleaning of metal and optical parts by virtue of its vibration rates. Large acoustic forces break off...
laser output
The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by...
soft radiation
Term applied to radiation composed of particles or photons that will not easily penetrate a material because of their low...
focused laser scattering
A single-particle scattering technique in which an incident laser beam is tightly focused by means of lenses to yield a...
isolator
In the context of electronics and optics, an isolator refers to a device that allows the transmission of signals in one...
visibility meter
1. An instrument used to determine the visual range in an environment. 2. A type of photometer that artificially reduces an...
remote sensing
Remote sensing is a method of data collection and observation where information about objects, areas, or phenomena on...
photomask
A photomask, also known simply as a mask or reticle, is a key component in the photolithography process used in...
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves...
exciton
An exciton is a quasiparticle that represents the bound state of an electron and a hole in a solid-state material, typically...
FTIR spectrometer
FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of...
optical Fourier transform
The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial...
coherent fiber bundle
A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers...
scintillation detector
A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing...
Cotton-Mouton effect
The ability of particular pure liquids to doubly refract when influenced by a magnetic field with a direction that is...
flow cytometry
Flow cytometry is a powerful technique used in biology and medicine for the quantitative analysis of the physical and...
flowmeter
A flowmeter is a device used to measure the flow rate or quantity of a fluid passing through a particular point in a system....
scintillation crystal
A scintillation crystal, also known simply as a scintillator, is a material that emits light when it interacts with ionizing...
curvature
The measure of departure from a flat surface, as applied to lenses; the reciprocal of radius. Applies to any surface,...
spectrogram
A chart formed by a spectrograph; the record of the spectral range. See spectrograph.
electric quadrupole lens
A device that uses four electrodes set in an alternating positive-negative polarity series to focus the beams of charged...
quenching
The inhibition or elimination of one process by another process. The stimulated emission of a laser oscillator can be...
visual test chart
A series of high contrast block letters or similar objects arranged to permit the evaluation of eyesight in humans.
scattering angle
The angle between the initial and final paths traveled by a scattered particle or photon.
gamma-ray spectrometer
An instrument used to detect and measure the energy distribution of gamma rays. It has been used to chart the radioactivity...
resolution test chart
gain-switching
Gain-switching is a technique used in lasers to generate short pulses of light by modulating the gain of the laser medium....
ultraviolet microscopy
The study and photographing of microscope specimens in ultraviolet light; using an optical microscope containing fluorite...
biomarker
A biomarker, short for biological marker, refers to a measurable and quantifiable indicator of a biological condition,...
inertial fusion energy
Inertial fusion energy (IFE) refers to a proposed method of generating electricity by harnessing the energy released from...
phase velocity
For a particular mode in a waveguide, the ratio of the angular frequency to constant phase.
calcium indicator
A calcium indicator is a molecule that is sensitive to changes in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations in biological systems....
Angstrom coefficient
The coefficient Å in Angstrom's formula for the dispersing coefficient for dust present in the atmosphere. The formula...
spectral flow cytometry
Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry...
laser Doppler velocimeter
Device which determines particle velocity through the measurement of scattered interference of a beam pair from a single...
mosaic
One surface of a nonconducting plate that is coated with many minute particles of photoemissive material that are insulated...
noctovision
A television system used for seeing in the dark, particularly with the use of infrared rays.
infrared detector
An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible...
germanium crystal
Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor...
quartz light source
A lamp with a quartz envelope that transmits radiation generally rich in the ultraviolet.
bandpass filter
A filter with a transmission that is high for a particular band of frequencies, but that falls to low values above and below...
collimation
1. The process of aligning the optical axes of optical systems to the reference mechanical axes or surfaces of an...
2D profile sensor
A 2D profile sensor is a type of sensor used in various industrial and technological applications to measure and capture...
artificial radioactivity
Radioactivity formed by the bombardment of stable elements by either neutrons or high-energy, charged particles under...
turbidity
Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by the presence of suspended particles. These...
geosynchronous satellite
A man-made satellite that orbits 35,680 km from the Earth at a rate of one orbit per 24-hour period, thereby retaining its...
oscilloscope
A system in which a supplied signal causes the deflection of the electron beam in a cathode-ray tube, thus forming a visible...
actinometer
A device that measures the intensity of photochemically active radiation, particularly from the sun. One form of this...
holmium laser
Holmium lasers are a type of medical laser that utilizes holmium-doped crystals as the gain medium. The term holmium laser...
entrainment
The movement of particulate material by flowing gas or liquid.
neuromorphic
Neuromorphic refers to the design and development of computing systems or devices that are inspired by the structure and...
optical phase distortion
Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through...
selective laser melting
Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that belongs to the powder bed...
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a type of material that has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. In...
constant linear velocity
Method of disk rotation used for optical disk drives, in which the spindle motor decreases the speed of the disk's rotation...
functional near-infrared spectroscopy
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that measures changes in hemoglobin...
digital twin
A digital twin refers to a virtual representation or digital counterpart of a physical object, system, or process. This...
equatorial mount
A telescope stand equipped with a polar axis that can be set parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation and a declination axis...
diamond cutting tool
A tool made by imbedding small particles of diamond in the working edge. In the optical field, the most commonly used...
reagent
A reagent is a substance or compound that is used in a chemical reaction to bring about a specific transformation or to...
kampometer
A device designed to measure radiant energy, particularly in the thermal region.
time-to-amplitude converter
A time-to-amplitude converter (TAC) is an electronic circuit that converts a time interval between two events into an...
whispering gallery mode
Whispering gallery mode (WGM) refers to a phenomenon in wave physics, particularly in optics, where waves, such as light or...
space charge
A volumetric electrical charge resulting from a flow of charged particles across a gap.
virtual histology
Virtual histology refers to the use of digital technology and computational methods to simulate or recreate histological...
inside vapor-phase oxidation
A method that produces low-loss optical fibers. A glass tube rotates while reactants pass through the tube and heat is...
biostimulation
The action of a biological system responding to a single or multiple coherent particles of light produced from a laser...
mosaic detector array
A group of photosensors arranged in a grid-like pattern covering the entire field of view, enabling them to record it all at...
rolling shutter artifacts
Rolling shutter artifacts are distortions or visual anomalies that can occur in images or videos captured by cameras with...
custom lapping and polishing services
Custom lapping and polishing services involve specialized processes used to improve the surface finish and dimensional...
footprint
1. The sector of the Earth's surface registered upon a remote sensing device in a satellite. 2. The amount of space occupied...
filter grating
A grating used as a reflectance filter, particularly in the far-infrared. Small plane gratings, blazed for the wavelength of...
chip-on-board lights
Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a...
modulation
In general, changes in one oscillation signal caused by another, such as amplitude or frequency modulation in radio which...
Glan-Thompson prism
A prism resembling a Nicol prism but having faces normal to the axis and the two parts divided by a glycerine film. Also...
piezoelectric motion systems
Piezoelectric motion systems are mechanical systems that utilize piezoelectric materials to generate controlled motion or...
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other...
dilation
In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the...
anode
The part of an electrical circuit in which the electrons leave (a cathode-ray tube) or enter (an electrolytic cell) a unit...
attosecond photonics sources
Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of...
annihilation radiation
Gamma ray radiation released when matter and antimatter, such as electron and positron, unite and eliminate each other,...
astronomical unit
The unit generally used to express distances within the solar system, and sometimes to measure interstellar distances....
water glass
A solution containing colloidal silica particles.
acetate film
Also cellulose acetate film. The emulsion layer applied to the substrate of a photographic surface. The emulsion layer is...
microscope stage
The component of a microscope on which the sample or slide to be examined is placed. Depending on the design of the...
starting voltage
In a laser, the voltage necessary to initiate electrical discharge, somewhat higher than that needed to sustain it.
video scan converter
A device that changes the number of lines per frame of a video image to adapt to a lower resolution format, either by...
double-raster format
A mode of laser printing in which each pixel is printed four times, providing sharper lines and a continuous tone from...
outgassing
The emission of gas or de-aeration due to thermal variations and often occurring in a vacuum. In a cleanroom, contamination...
photodielectric effect
The effect, present in particular phosphors, that is defined as a transformation in the dielectric constant of a material...
quantum optics
The area of optics in which quantum theory is used to describe light in discrete units or "quanta" of energy known as...
spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...
nuclear magnetic resonance
A phenomenon, exploited for medical imaging, in which the nuclei of material placed in a strong magnetic field will absorb...
laser tweezers
A technique based on the principles of laser trapping and used to manipulate the position of small particles by gradually...
sequential color transmission
With respect to television, the transmission of the signals that originate from variously colored parts of an image in a...
dust extinction
In atmospheric optics, the almost total blocking of light transmission in the atmosphere due to the scattering and...
optical comparator
Typically used for the examination of manufactured or engineered parts, an optical gauging device, in which a backlight is...
interferometric calorimetry
Heat measurement method in which the sample is made part of the interferometer and the temperature increase is determined by...
cascade method
A heterochromatic photometric process using successive comparison of similar chromaticities and the calculation of relative...
magnetorheological finishing
Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces...
electrodeless discharge tube
A device consisting of an airtight quartz tube that holds the material to be analyzed. When a high-frequency electrostatic...
circular dichroism
Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric)...
planar access coupler
Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate...
magnon
A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...
time-correlated single photon counting
Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a technique used in photon counting applications, particularly in the...
atom optics
The area of optics in which the wave nature of a particle is exploited to carry out very accurate interferometry and other...
ionosphere
The gas of charged particles that begins approximately 50 km above the surface of the Earth and contains a sufficient...
XY recorder
A recorder that plots, on a chart, the interaction between two variables, not directly representing time.
freeform optics
Freeform optics refers to the design and fabrication of optical surfaces that do not follow traditional symmetric shapes,...
Nomarski microscopy
Also referred to as differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy; Nomarski microscopy is a unique form of microscopy...
backlash
In a mechanical system, any lost motion between driving and driven elements due to clearance between parts.
stereoscopic distortion
An exaggerated depth appearance in stereo photographs caused by the lenses in the camera being farther apart than the eyes...
spatial resolution
Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the...
radiation length
The average length in a specific material in which a relativistic charged particle will lose 67 percent of its energy by...
fiber optic cable assembly
A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and...
Q machine
Device in which contact ionization of atomic particles and thermionic electron emission are used to produce magnetically...
bi-quartz
A double block formed by placing two adjoining, equally thick sections of quartz, one being dextrorotary, the other...
crystal quartz
The naturally occurring crystalline form of silicon dioxide. It is slightly birefringent and exhibits rotary dispersion of...
short wavelength infrared
Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) refers to the portion of the infrared spectrum that encompasses wavelengths roughly between...
lidar
Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and...
Fizeau fringes
Fizeau fringes are interference fringes observed in an interferometer, specifically in a Fizeau interferometer. The Fizeau...
lens testing equipment
Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...
system on chip
Abbreviated SoC. A single chip containing all the electronic circuits required for a complete, working product. SoCs are...
electrostatic process
A process used in document copying and printing that involves the visible rendering of an invisible electrostatic image on a...
Rayleigh limit
The restriction of wavefront error to within a quarter of a wavelength of a true spherical surface to assure essentially...
Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor
The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....
electromagnetic radiation
Radiation emitted from vibrating charged particles. A combination of oscillating electrical and magnetic fields that...
digital holographic microscopy
Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and digital image processing...
luma
The luminance portion of a composite video signal, i.e., the portion of the signal that corresponds to the brightness of the...
etching liquid
An acid used to etch the surfaces of particular materials. For glass, hydrofluoric acid is used either as a liquid or a...
phase screen
A phase screen, in the context of optics and wave optics, refers to a surface or medium that introduces a phase delay to an...
x-ray spectrograph
An instrument that is used to chart x-ray diffraction patterns, such as an x-ray spectrometer having photographic or other...
retroreflector
A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their...
integrated photonics
Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...
frame
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...
three-photon microscopy
Three-photon microscopy is an advanced imaging technique that belongs to the family of multi-photon microscopy methods. It...
optogenetic defibrillation
An optogenetic technique that embeds genetically-engineered proteins to the heart to aid in terminating arrhythmias. After...
metabolic imaging
Metabolic imaging refers to the visualization and quantification of metabolic processes within living organisms, tissues, or...
radioluminescence
Luminescence produced by the bombardment of radiant energy such as x-rays, radioactive waves or alpha particles.
spatial light interference microscopy
Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative...
pyroelectric pulse detector
A current-source thermal detector used to detect and study the pulses obtained from particular lasers.
gray
1. A measure of absorbed dose, equal to the energy imparted by ionizing radiation to a mass of matter corresponding to 1 J...
dispersion-shifted fiber
A dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) refers to a type of optical fiber designed to minimize the effects of chromatic dispersion,...
laser lithotripsy
Laser lithotripsy is a medical procedure that uses laser energy to break down or fragment stones in various parts of the...
ducting
Propagation of electromagnetic waves through the Earth's atmosphere in a path that conforms to the curvature of the Earth...
mandrel
A shaft, spindle or any object generally passed through a workpiece to hold, support or shape a particular piece during its...
ionization potential
The amount of energy required for a particular kind of atom to remove an electron to infinite distance. The ionization...
monolithic lenslet module
An array of refractive microlenses that are round, square and hexagonal and as small as 15 µm. They are used for...
epitaxial equipment
Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of...
Fabry-Perot method
A means of determining a prism's index of refraction by placing the prism so that its emergent face is perpendicular to the...
holographic particle velocimetry
A method of measuring flow velocity by seeding the flow with neutrally buoyant particles and using a pulsed laser to...
holographic grating
A holographic grating is a type of diffraction grating that is produced using holographic recording techniques. It consists...
image dissector tube
An electron tube that is used as a camera tube for a television system. When the picture to be transmitted is focused on a...
visual range
The value of the expanse of b-particles in an absorber, evaluated by visual examination of breaks in the absorption curve.
temperature-sensitive coating
A coating having pigments that change color when exposed to heat. This effect has been widely used to monitor hot spots in...
cold shield
That part of an infrared detector-Dewar assembly that limits the solid angle viewed by the sensor; it is maintained at a...
racemic
Inactive optically, but having the capacity for resolution into forms of opposed optical activity. The term is derived from...
colloid
A particle that will not normally diffuse through animal or vegetable membrane. Larger than most inorganic compounds,...
spatial intensity perturbation
A beam instability, induced by index of refraction inhomogeneities and component damage of dirt and dust particles, that...
uniformly redundant array
Array used in coded-aperture imaging experiments with two-beam CO2 lasers that provide an artifact-free process, faithful...
vapor degreasing
A method of cleaning and drying coated optical components. The cooled parts are placed in a container above a boiling...
speckle pattern
A power intensity pattern produced by the mutual interference of partially coherent beams that are subject to minute...
oculometer
An electro-optical infrared tracker consisting of a beamsplitter, an illuminating source, an image dissector tube and an...
reflectance confocal microscopy
Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for high-resolution, in vivo imaging...
phase annulus
A term for the ring-shaped stop in a phase contrast microscope. The phase annulus limits the amount of light that reaches...
electron-beam lithography system
An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...
laser desorption
A process of forming ions within a given molecular species by incident laser light. The molecular species may remain intact,...
laser powder bed fusion
Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a type of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that uses a high-power...
nuclear fusion
In physics, nuclear fusion refers to the process in which two atomic nuclei come together to form a heavier nucleus,...
chelate laser
A laser having a rare-earth chelate within a plastic host as the lasing material. The chelate laser is easily pumped and has...
modulated zone plate
A zone plate produced by a computer and having a binary structure that can be etched into a chromium or quartz layer. It...
phase distrortion
Phase distortion refers to a change in the phase relationships between different frequency components of a signal. In the...
phase
In optics and photonics, "phase" refers to a property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the position...
generating mark
The curved mark formed when, in the process of generating, a loose or coarse diamond particle from the generating tool...
aspheric lens
An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...
transition
The process whereby a quantum mechanical system alters from one energy level to another. During this process, energy is...
standing wave
The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves...
photonic crystals
Photonic crystals are artificial structures or materials designed to manipulate and control the flow of light in a manner...
wave plate
An optical element having two principal axes, slow and fast, that resolve an incident polarized beam into two mutually...
asynchronous transmission
A mode of data transmission whereby each bit of information is generated separately, with some stop/start code to indicate...
rare earth dopants
Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...
lepton
The generic term describing the class of light particles having no strong interactions.
metasurfaces
Metasurfaces are two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength-scale artificial structures, often referred to as meta-atoms or...
plasmon ion-assisted deposition
Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production...
proximity probe
A noncontact sensor used in the remote measurement of position, speed or other variables of moving parts.
quartz plate
A crystalline-quartz plate designed according to specifications but having its two major faces parallel.
excimer laser coronary angioplasty
Excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) refers to a medical procedure used in the treatment of coronary artery disease....
chromatic aberration
Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a...
hyperspectral imaging
Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced imaging technique that captures and processes information from across the...
fiber optics
The use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one...
MSM photodiode
A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiode is a type of photodetector that consists of metal electrodes on a semiconductor...
sun synchronous
Characterizes an Earth-orbiting satellite whose orbit plane is near polar and positioned at an altitude that allows it to...
digital point system
A pixel-based computer graphics system that simulates the tools of an artist.
laser shock adhesion test
A nondestructive test, also referred to as LASAT, that uses a high-energy laser pulse that is targeted on an adhesively...
optical manufacturing tools and machinery
Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...
lapping
1. The process of wearing down the surface of a softer material by rubbing it under pressure against the surface of a harder...
integration time
Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a...
spectral series
A classification of particular regularities that occur in the spectra of many atoms.
ellipsometry
Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the...
phase-shift keying
A method of coding information in a communications system where the shift in the phase of an electromagnetic wave represents...
synchrotron
A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that uses magnetic fields to steer charged particles, typically electrons or...
antisolar point
The point to which the extension of the straight line, reaching from the sun to the observer's eye after penetrating the...
flat-field frame
A frame taken with a CCD camera of a surface that is evenly illuminated by diffuse light. This frame shows irregularities in...
focal length
The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or...
Rayleigh scattering
Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light waves interact with particles or molecules that are much smaller...
photodynamic inactivation
Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is a therapeutic approach that utilizes the combination of light, a photosensitizer, and...
nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy
A chemical detection technique used to measure molecules that have a magnetic dipole moment. The analysis is directed to...
metaverse
The term "metaverse" refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical...
output coupler
The partially reflective mirror at the end of the laser cavity that is the source of the beam. It controls the coupling...
optical air mass
A measure of the optical path length for light traveling from the sun or other celestial source through Earth's atmosphere...
self-phase modulation
Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a...
magnetic spectrograph
An electron system using the effect of a constant magnetic field on electron paths to differentiate electrons that have...
drift curve
A technique used in astronomy that requires a radio telescope to be directed at a point in the sky west of the object under...
photochromic
Photochromic refers to a property exhibited by certain materials, typically organic compounds or dyes, which undergo...
attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy
Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry to obtain IR spectra of samples....
partial coherence theory
Totally coherent radiation is produced by a purely monochromatic point source. In the real world the energy will have a...
photofabrication
The use of photoetching techniques to produce small tools, parts and dies from sheet metal.
swept-source laser
A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its...
Er:YAG laser
An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...
high dynamic range
High dynamic range (HDR) refers to a technology that allows for a broader and more dynamic range of luminosity in visual...
liquid crystal
Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid...
mode partitioning
The pulse-to-pulse fluctuations in power distribution among modes of a Fabry-Perot laser, which can result in...
Descartes ray
The ray refracted by a sphere of transparent material that travels back as closely as possible to the original path formed...
optical switching
Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using...
liquid marble
Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a...
zero-order retarder
A quarter- or half-wave retarder made from two plates of quartz, mica or polymer with their fast axes crossed; the...
red, green, blue
RGB stands for red, green, blue, which are the primary colors of light used in additive color mixing. The RGB color model is...
laserblade scalpel
A contact tip made of artificial sapphire (AlO2) that allows surgeons to use laser power to cut and coagulate tissue...
ratiometry
Ratiometry is a technique used in various scientific fields, particularly in analytical chemistry and biochemistry, to...
angstrom
An angstrom, symbolized by the Ångström or Å, is a unit of length used to express atomic and molecular...
penumbra
A source of light will not cast a distinct shadow of an interfering, opaque object, but will cast a shadow having two parts:...
total internal reflection fluorescence
Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is an advanced fluorescence microscopy technique that leverages the...
sapphire window
A sapphire window refers to a transparent optical component made from sapphire crystal. Sapphire is a single-crystal form of...
rare-earth doped fiber
An optical fiber in which ions of a rare-earth element, such as neodymium, erbium or holmium, have been incorporated into...
quantum well
A quantum well is a structure in quantum mechanics that confines particles, such as electrons or holes, in one spatial...
surface-enhanced Raman scattering
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful analytical technique that enhances the Raman scattering signal of...
spectrometer
A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution...
flyback
The time it takes a cathode-ray tube's electron beam to return to its starting point after completing one line, one field or...
bubble chamber
A large tank filled with liquid hydrogen, with a flat window at one end and complex optical devices for observing and...
alexandrite lasers
An alexandrite laser is a solid-state laser that utilizes a synthetic crystal made from the rare earth element alexandrite...
CCD camera
A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and...
prism
A prism is a geometric optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. It is typically a solid, transparent...
blank
A piece of glass, quartz or other transparent material formed roughly by molding or cutting into the approximate shape and...
optical noise
Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or...
halogen lamp
A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a...
laser-mediated gene transfer
Laser-mediated gene transfer refers to a technique in molecular biology and genetic engineering that utilizes lasers to...
Babinet compensator
A device containing two opposed quartz wedges of equal angle, one wedge being movable along its length by a micrometer...
Baker-Nunn camera
A wide-field camera based on the classic Schmidt optical system used to photograph Earth-orbiting satellites.
resonance radiation
That radiation emitted by an atom or molecule that has the same frequency as that of an incident particle; e.g., a photon....
cross wire
Fine lines, wires or threads used in the focal plane of many optical instruments to point out and locate particular objects...
optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture...
x-ray spectrogram
A chart of an x-ray diffraction pattern.
synchrotron radiation
Radiation emitted by electrons when they travel in circular orbits at speeds close to that of light. Synchrotron radiation...
aberration
A departure from ideal paraxial imaging behavior. The distortion of an optical field wavefront as it is propagated through...
ultraprecision cathode-ray tube display
A highly accurate cathode-ray tube used to display information with the utmost efficient stability and resolution. The...
ephemeris time
Uniform measure of time based on dynamics law and calculated according to planetary orbital paths; specifically, Earth's...
bifocal lens
A two-part lens that has a different focal length for each part. Generally, it is used in eyeglasses to correct for both...
far-infrared
That part of the infrared spectrum from about 30 to 1000 µm.
fiber laser
A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as...
holography
Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and...
thin-film semiconductor
A semiconductor formed by applying a particular single-crystal layer to the specific insulator.
flexible display
A flexible display refers to a type of electronic visual display that is designed to be bendable, foldable, or rollable,...
optofluidics
Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems...
backscatter
Backscatter refers to the phenomenon in which radiation or waves are scattered backward, opposite to the direction of the...
pathogen
A pathogen is a biological agent, such as a virus, bacterium, fungus, protozoan, or parasite, that causes disease in its...
particle image velocimetry
A whole-flow-field technique providing instantaneous velocity vector measurements in a cross-section of a flow that is...
Kerr soliton
A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical...
limiting angle of resolution
The angle subtended by two points or lines that are just far enough apart to be distinguished as separate. The ability of an...
free-electron laser
A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a...
mixed-signal oscilloscope
A mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO) is a type of electronic test instrument that combines the capabilities of both a...
aphelion
The point of a planet or comet's orbit that is farthest from the sun.
linear optics
Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of...
frame rate
Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is...
positioning
Positioning generally refers to the determination or identification of the location or placement of an object, person, or...
distal end
The end of an optical fiber farthest from the source of illumination.
masks for evaporation/deposition
In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit...
second-harmonic generation
Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a nonlinear optical process that occurs when two photons with the same frequency combine...
solar wind
The constant outward flow of weakly magnetized plasma from the sun that is deflected by the magnetic field of the earth and,...
Harting Dove prism
A direct-vision prism made in one piece that can be used only in parallel light.
indium phosphide
Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the...
x-ray spectrometer
An instrument designed to produce an x-ray spectrum of a material as an aid in identifying it. This technique is...
photodetector
A photodetector, also known as a photosensor or photodiode, is a device that detects and converts light into an electrical...
Christiansen effect
The monochromatic transparency effect produced by the immersion of a finely powdered substance (e.g., glass or quartz) into...
aerial mapping
The use of photographs taken from the air to construct graphic maps and charts of ground surfaces.
neural network
A computing paradigm that attempts to process information in a manner similar to that of the brain; it differs from...
laser rangefinder
A laser rangefinder is a device that uses laser technology to measure the distance between the device and a target. It...
polarization
Polarization refers to the orientation of oscillations in a transverse wave, such as light waves, radio waves, or other...
feret's diameter
In microscopy, the measured distance between theoretical parallel lines that are drawn tangent to the particle profile and...
optical bottle
A term referring to an optical force field used to trap and stabilize particles acted upon by a force such as laser light.
mass spectrometer
A device used to measure the masses and relative concentrations of atoms and molecules. It utilizes the Lorentz force...
laser-light-scattering photometer
A scattering photometer using scattered light in the solid angle 4.51+0 19° with respect to the forward direction, and...
telescope mount
The base used to hold an astronomical telescope. It may be either altazimuth, with horizontal and vertical axes of rotation,...
zodiacal light
The sunlight that extends to the earth after scattering from other solar bodies, mostly from meteorite dust of radii...
bubble chamber photography
The photographic recording of gas bubbles produced when particles traverse liquid hydrogen in a bubble chamber.
electric CO laser
An electrically excited laser having carbon monoxide as the lasing material and in which lasing occurs in a partial...
CMOS image sensor
A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used...
perovskite
The term perovskite refers to a specific crystal structure commonly found in various materials. Perovskite structures have a...
drift scan
An astronomical scanning technique for capturing images of stars without moving the sensor. To perform a drift scan, a CCD...
Laurent polarimeter
A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by...
translucent
Pertaining to materials having the property of reflecting a part and transmitting a part of the incident radiation.
phage
A phage, short for bacteriophage, is a type of virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. Phages are composed of...
microchannel plate
A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle...
solar radiation
Radiation from the sun that is made up of a very wide range of wavelengths, from the long infrared to the short ultraviolet...
pixel
A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a...
attenuation
Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it...
laser-excited Shpol'skii spectroscopy
A type of fluorescence spectroscopy in which an excimer laser, a dye laser and a frequency-doubling device are used to...
flame photometry
A part of the spectrochemical analysis of a sample that deals with the excitation of that sample by flame analysis.
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a sensor or transducer that measures the rate of change of velocity of an object, or in simpler terms,...
lateral shearing interferometer
A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams...
stress-applying part
In polarization-preserving optical fibers, the element used to induce birefringence. The SAP is highly doped to provide a...
nematic phase
A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick...
beam
1. A bundle of light rays that may be parallel, converging or diverging. 2. A concentrated, unidirectional stream of...
conical scan sensor
A device used to determine the location and attitude with respect to the Earth of orbiting spacecraft by detecting the...
diode laser
A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light....
resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...
Raman absorption
The absorption of part of the photon energy by a molecule through which there is a slight energy change and the energy...
ion pair
Two oppositely charged particles.
deep ultraviolet
Deep ultraviolet (DUV or deep-UV) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet light with shorter wavelengths than those in the...
plasma accelerator
A plasma accelerator is a type of particle accelerator that uses electric fields and magnetic fields to accelerate charged...
air bearing
A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and...
GaN-based LEDs
Gallium nitride-based light-emitting diodes (GaN-based LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric...
structural color
Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the...
electron
A charged elementary particle of an atom; the term is most commonly used in reference to the negatively charged particle...
cascade shower
A shower of cosmic rays whereby a high-energy electron produces one or more photons that convert into electron pairs, the...
pulsed welding
A type of laser welding that produces short-duration vapor pockets without buildup of heat in the part, useful for parts...
sapphire crystal
Sapphire crystal refers to a transparent, single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) known as corundum. It is one of the...
Michelson-Morley experiment
An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by...
laser ablation
Laser ablation is a process that involves the removal or erosion of material from a target surface using laser energy. This...
Martin's diameter
A specific method for measuring the diameter of irregular shaped particles, Martin's diameter is the measured distance...
indium gallium arsenide camera
An InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) camera is a type of imaging device that utilizes InGaAs sensors to capture images in the...
phase-contrast microscope
A microscope that has an annular stop in the lower focal plane of the condenser, and a quarter-wave retarding and absorbing...
photoreactive agent
Participates in a reaction only in the presence of light and radiant energy. Besides 3D printing, photoreactive agents also...
short-wave radiation
Characterizes the significant solar radiation at the surface of the earth, so named because its spectral range extends only...
laser guide star
An artificial star used to aid in adaptive optics imaging of the sky. The guide star is provided from a telescope system on...
absorbing wedge
A doped or absorbing transparent medium cut or molded into a wedge in order to measure the real and imaginary components of...
fluorescence lifetime imaging
Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is an advanced imaging technique that provides information about the lifetime of...
optical axis
The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...
double-clad fiber
Double-clad fiber (DCF) is a specialized optical fiber that features two concentric cladding layers surrounding a core. The...
electromagnon
An electromagnon is a quasiparticle excitation that combines aspects of both magnetism and electric polarization in a...
optical theorem
A fundamental law of wave scattering theory that connects the extinction cross section of a scatterer to the real part of...
swept source optical coherence tomography
Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...
optical character recognition
Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into...
chiral
Description of a particle that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.
spheric lens
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...
phototoxicity
Phototoxicity refers to the harmful effects caused by exposure to light, particularly intense or ultraviolet (UV) light, on...
diffraction-limited lens
A lens with aberrations corrected to the point that residual wavefront errors are substantially less than one-quarter the...
chromoendoscopy
A technique of using dyes during endoscopy to improve tissue differentiation. Dyes such as methylene blue, Toluidine blue...
quantum cascade laser
A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics....
helium-neon laser
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...
Cerenkov radiation
The radiation produced when a charged particle traverses a medium that has a refractive index considerably greater than...
Brownian motion
The behavior of microscopic solid particles suspended in a fluid, first observed by botanist Robert Brown in 1827 as a...
multispectral imaging
Multispectral imaging is a technique that involves capturing and analyzing images at multiple discrete spectral bands within...
Nicol prism
A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68°...
Savart polariscope
1. A polariscope consisting of a Savart plate and a tourmaline plate analyzer, and used to produce parallel color fringes by...
apogee
The point on an elliptical orbit about the Earth that is the farthest distance from the Earth.
resolving power chart
contour projection chart
A large-scale, precise drawing of the contours of a perfect mechanical part, often with plus and minus tolerances drawn or...
dislocation
The region of distorted atom configuration formed between the displaced and normal areas in a crystal when part of the...
coronagraph
A telescope in which a mask occults the solar disk, generating an artificial eclipse and allowing observation and recording...
crystal
A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess...
aplanatic points
Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...
quantum dot light-emitting diode
Quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are semiconductor...
negatron
A negatively charged elementary particle. See electron.
harmonic generation
Harmonic generation refers to a nonlinear optical process in which incoming photons interact with a material and produce new...
laser anemometry
The process by which laser emission is used in measuring fluid velocity and, more specifically, the detection of air and...
ferroelectric materials
Ferroelectric materials are a type of dielectric materials that exhibit spontaneous electric polarization, meaning they...
silicon monoxide
A material used as a protective layer on an aluminized or silvered mirror. It is evaporated on the mirror as a thin layer,...
epifluorescence microscopy
Fluorescence imaging technique in which the excitation light from the objective is directed into the sample producing...
dust counter
An instrument that uses a photoelectric system to determine the size and volume of dust particles in a given unit of air.
termination
The process of attaching a device to the end of a fiber cable to enable the beam to be transmitted farther, to pass to...
emission spectrum
An emission spectrum is a graphical representation or a characteristic pattern of the wavelengths or frequencies of light...
fluorescent protein
Fluorescent proteins are proteins that exhibit the property of fluorescence, which is the ability to absorb light at a...
phototherapy
Phototherapy is a medical treatment that involves the use of light to treat various conditions, particularly those related...
bandwidth
The range of frequencies over which a particular instrument is designed to function within specified limits. See also fiber...
blue diode laser
A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic...
degrees of freedom
The number of unique ways in which a part can move in an alignment system. In static alignment, there are six: one in the...
Dammann grating
A Dammann grating is a type of diffractive optical element (DOE) used to create an array of equally spaced,...
smart pixel array
An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs...
diurnal aberration
Atmospheric aberration caused by the Earth's rotation; the degree varies from 0 at the poles to a maximum of 0.31 s of arc...
secondary color
An aberration that remains after primary color is corrected. Primary color causes the back focus of a lens to vary with...
pushbroom scanning
Pushbroom scanning is a technique used in remote sensing and imaging systems, particularly in satellite and aerial sensors,...
elaterite
The organic inclusion in quartz crystal that forms delicate films and microspheres and that shows a maximum absorption at...
mode filling factor
In a laser, the fraction of plasma volume used by a particular transverse mode of oscillation, a determinant of the gain...
photomagnetic effect
The direct influence of light on the magnetic susceptibility of particular materials.
germicidal UV
Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) refers to a specific range of UV radiation that has disinfectant properties capable of killing...
v-coat
A multilayer antireflective thin-film coating, so called because its reflectance rises steeply at wavelengths above and...
halo
1. The faintly hued ring that is seen to surround a light source viewed through fog or light clouds. The size of scattering...
feedback
The transfer of a part of a device's or circuit's output back to its input.
meta-optics
Meta-optics, also known as metasurface optics or flat optics, is a branch of optics that involves the design, fabrication,...
collision broadening
The broadening of spectral lines due to the collision of radiating particles with one another and the resulting interruption...
pyramid error
Pyramid error in optics refers to an aberration in the shape of an optical surface, particularly in the context of mirrors....
phenotype
In biology, particularly genetics and evolutionary biology, the phenotype refers to the observable characteristics or traits...
Lorentz oscillator model
The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as...
optical bench
A support for optical parts comprising a solid bed that permits precise longitudinal movement of one component relative to...
de Broglie wavelength
The concept of the de Broglie wavelength exploits the wave-particle duality of quantum physics by associating all matter (of...
block
A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical...
nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy
Nanoparticle photonic resonator absorption microscopy is a microscopy technique that combines the principles of photonic...
grinding and polishing machinery
Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry...
test chart
 Newton's rings
The series of rings or bands formed when light beams reflected from two polished, adjacent surfaces, placed together with a...
helium leak detector
A small mass spectrometer used to find leaks in a vacuum system by detecting the presence of helium. Using a magnetic...
chalcogenide
Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...
vacuum chamber
A vacuum chamber is a sealed enclosure from which air and other gases are removed to create a low-pressure environment,...
half bandwidth
The term half bandwidth (HBW) generally refers to the width of a spectral band or frequency range at half of its maximum...
automated optical inspection
Automated optical inspection (AOI) is a technology used in manufacturing processes, particularly in electronics, to...
computer vision
Computer vision enables computers to interpret and make decisions based on visual data, such as images and videos. It...
dark-field illumination
The transmission of light by a condenser to observe either very small particles or very fine lines with a microscope.
diffraction efficiency
Diffraction efficiency is a measure of how effectively a diffractive optical element (DOE) or diffraction grating directs...
carbonization
Carbonization is a process in which organic materials are heated in the absence of air, leading to the decomposition of the...
atmospheric optics
The analysis of the properties of radiation, such as light, when acted upon by variations in the atmosphere. Blue and red...
Pellin-Broca prism
A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30°...
smart skin
Structural surfaces that incorporate an embedded sensor network capable of detecting flaws within the structure.
solar constant of radiation
Solar radiation intensity existing in free space at the mean solar distance of the Earth. Commonly expressed in g cal...
scintillation phosphor
A phosphor that has the ability to convert into light emission a portion of energy lost by ionization when a charged...
directed energy
Directed energy refers to a type of energy that is emitted and transferred in a controlled direction. The term is often...
atomic scattering factor
The efficiency of scattering by an atom in a particular direction, expressed as: where AA is the amplitude of the wave from...
Nichols radiometer
An instrument devised by Nichols and Hull for use in the measurement of radiation pressure. The device has two small...
Weissenberg method
The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...
Savart plate
A double-plate device used to transmit polarized light and form interference fringes of the light, thus indicating its...
metrology
Metrology is the science and practice of measurement. It encompasses the theoretical and practical aspects of measurement,...
optical figure
The amount by which an optical surface deviates from its ideal design value, expressed in wavelengths of light. Optical...
stimulated Brillouin scattering
In Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS), an incident photon (usually laser light) interacts with acoustic phonons in a...
multimode distortion
In an optical waveguide,- typically a multimode fiber - the distortion resulting from differential mode delay, i.e. axial...
aplanatic surface
An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...
transducer
A transducer is a device or component that converts one form of energy into another. It is commonly used in various fields,...
chromatography
The chemical method of separating compounds dissolved in one phase (usually mobile) through its equilibration with a second...
current transient
A sudden, brief increase in current or voltage in a circuit that can damage sensitive components and instruments. Preventive...
Brace prism
A compound prism composed of two 30° prisms, one of which is partially coated with a suitable opaque metal of high...
chirality
Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...
metamaterial
Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring substances. These...
aspect of image
The particular orientation of the image, such as normal, canted, inverted or reverted.
photon correlation spectroscopy
Spectroscopy used to study the concentration, diffusion and Brownian motion of small particles suspended in a fluid by...
laser cloud mapper
A scanning laser radar system applied to transmission and concentration analysis in three dimensions of clouds as well as...
computer-generated hologram
A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than...
magnetic fluid
A fluid having three components: a carrier fluid, magnetite particles suspended by Brownian motion and a stabilizer to...
charge-injection device
A charge-injection device (CID) refers to a class of devices that manipulate and detect electrical charge within a...
multiplet
A group of related lines that represent transitions between two spectroscopic terms, each of which may be complex. Also in...
star testing
The visual examination by a trained observer of the image of a point source. Any coloring or departure from the Airy disc...
crystal counter
An instrument that is used to detect high-energy particles by the pulse of the current formed when a particle passes through...
label-free
Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or...
flasher
A device that is designed to automatically turn electric lamps on and off in a rapidly repeating sequence. The device may...
nanotechnology
The use of atoms, molecules and molecular-scale structures to enhance existing technology and develop new materials and...
photonic integrated circuit
A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and...
Martens wedge
A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane...
optical clock
An optical clock is a highly precise and advanced timekeeping device that relies on the oscillations of electromagnetic...
two-photon polymerization
Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a technique used in additive manufacturing, specifically in the field of 3D printing. It...
apochromat
An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to...
beam shaper
A beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or...
Munsell Book Of Color
A collection of color samples arranged in charts according to equal visually spaced steps in Munsell hue, value and chroma.
group velocity
For a particular mode, the reciprocal of the rate of change of the phase constant with respect to angular frequency.

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