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photonics Dictionary Terms

jig transit
An optical instrument containing a gimballed sighting telescope, used to measure angular relationships in horizontal and...
optical camouflage
The use of retroreflective projection technology (RPT) to project a background image onto a masked object, such as a vehicle...
concave and convex spherical mirror
Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These...
rare earth dopants
Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...
normalized frequency
Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a dimensionless quantity, denoted by the...
femtosecond laser
A femtosecond laser is a type of laser that emits ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of femtoseconds,...
optical pyrometer
An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives...
light diffusion
Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a...
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other...
aperture stop
A physical constraint, often a lens retainer, that limits the diameter of the axial light bundle allowed to pass through a...
color center
A color center, in the context of materials science and condensed matter physics, refers to a specific type of...
Winston cone
Specified curved optic intended for maximum collection of light, including off-axis rays, before leaving the exit aperture.
critical angle
The least angle of incidence at which total internal reflection takes place. The angle of incidence in a denser medium, at...
Lissajous pattern
The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes...
electron multiplication charge-coupled device camera
An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for...
additive color process
A process of color photography in which colors are added one to another in the form of light, rather than as colorants, to...
optical time-domain reflectometry
A method for characterizing a fiber wherein an optical pulse is transmitted through the fiber, and the resulting light...
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...
scanner
1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The...
Dove prism
A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to...
sag
1. In the geometric sense, an abbreviation for the term "sagitta,'' the height of a curve measured from the chord. ...
free-space optics
Free-space optics (FSO), also known as optical wireless communication or optical wireless networking, refers to the...
degree of coherence
A quantitative measurement of the coherence of a light source; equal to the visibility (V) of the fringes of a two-beam...
integrated photonics
Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers,...
halogen lamp
A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a...
autofluorescence
Autofluorescence refers to the natural emission of fluorescence exhibited by certain biological structures or molecules when...
distortion
A general term referring to the situation in which an image is not a true-to-scale reproduction of an object. The term also...
ring-laser gyroscope
A solid block of glass-ceramic material with holes drilled the length of all four sides, and mirrors attached to the corners...
luminescence
Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in...
ion laser
A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...
comparator
1. An eyepiece or magnifier with a scale at its image plane. That scale is placed in contact with an object, permitting...
optical fiber
Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light...
photonic integrated circuit
A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and...
prism power
The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter...
phase
In optics and photonics, "phase" refers to a property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the position...
barrel distortion
The negative distortion that causes a square grid pattern to be imaged as barrel-shaped.
axis
A straight line, real or imaginary, passing through a body and indicating its center; a line so positioned that various...
hill cloud lens
A fish-eye lens designed to photograph cloud formations over the entire visible sky.
transverse mode
In the context of optics and lasers, a transverse mode refers to a specific spatial pattern of the electric field within the...
cold mirror
A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.
cosine law of illumination
Law relating the illuminance (or irradiance) of a surface to the cosine of the angle, q, between the normal to the surface...
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°...
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...
photonics
The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The...
quantum
The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the...
alexandrite lasers
An alexandrite laser is a solid-state laser that utilizes a synthetic crystal made from the rare earth element alexandrite...
eye relief
Also termed eye distance. The distance between the vertex of the last optical surface of a visual optical system and the...
cathode-ray tube
A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated...
superior mirage
An image of an object that appears above the object's true position as the result of abnormal refraction of the image rays...
electron-gun system
An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find...
magnetic resonance imaging
An imaging technique used in radiology that is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to produce...
phase matching
Phase matching is a crucial concept in the field of optics, particularly in nonlinear optics and the generation of coherent...
GRIN lens
A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...
spectrometer
A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution...
attenuator
An electronic transducer, either fixed or adjustable, that reduces the amplitude of a wave without causing significant...
aerocartography
The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive...
telecentric lens
There are three types of telecentric lenses: -Image-space telecentric lenses are those in which the aperture stop is...
chalcogenide
Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...
curvature of field
A lens aberration that causes a flat object surface to be imaged onto a curved surface rather than a plane.
fiber optic imaging bundle
A fiber optic imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each...
nanophotonics
Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at...
steradian
The unit solid angle subtended at the center of a sphere by an area on its surface equivalent to the square of the radius;...
infrared lens
An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...
Rowland circle
The circle that contains the slit, grating and primary astigmatic focus of a concave diffraction grating.
fiber optic sensor
A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or...
absorption peak
An absorption peak refers to a sharp increase or spike in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a particular...
bimorph
A type of piezoelectric translator that uses two thin strips of piezoelectric material, one expanding while the other...
short-arc lamp
A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart...
solar furnace
An optical system that is designed to produce a high temperature in a specified area by the optical direction and...
Snellen letter
The letter form used on visual performance test charts. The overall letter height is equal to five times the thickness of...
double refraction
The separation of unpolarized light into two plane-polarized elements by a doubly refracting crystal. When a crystal, such...
population inversion
The condition in which there are more atomic systems in the upper of two energy levels than in the lower, so stimulated...
optical profiler
Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to...
neodymium:YAG
Literally, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet. A cylindrical rod of yttrium-aluminum-garnet doped with neodymium that is the...
iris diaphragm
A mechanical device designed to smoothly vary the effective diameter of a lens, thereby controlling the amount of light...
triplet
A lens assembly made up of three lens elements that may or may not be cemented.
electro-optic modulator
An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...
double-crucible method
A method of fabricating an optical waveguide by melting the core and clad glasses in two suitably joined concentric...
high-speed movie camera
A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism...
scanning electron microscope
An electron microscope that uses a beam of electrons -- accelerated to high energy and focused on the sample -- to scan the...
assist gas
A gas, such as oxygen, that improves the speed and efficiency of a laser cutter or welder when applied to the work surface,...
lay length
In a fiber optic cable, the longitudinal length required for the transmission media, wrapped around a central member, to...
Galilean telescope
A refracting telescope that yields an erect image by the use of a positive lens for its objective and a negative lens for...
Fabry-Perot interferometer
A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set...
prism binoculars
A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance...
Michelson-Morley experiment
An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by...
Luneburg lens
A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is...
multileg lightguide
A fiber optic bundle split along its length with the ends of the fibers extending separately to illuminate different points...
wedge
An optical element having plane-inclined surfaces. Usually the faces are inclined toward one another at very small angles....
surface-emitting laser diode
A semiconductor laser diode that emits light perpendicular to the active region. The output radiation is taken through the...
Pockels cell
A device containing an electro-optic crystal and using the Pockels effect. A voltage applied across the crystal generates...
diffractive optics
Optical elements that use diffraction to control wavefronts. Diffractive optical elements include diffraction gratings,...
data bus
A system incorporated into fiber optic data communications characterized by several spatially distributed terminals that are...
azimuthal polarization
Azimuthal polarization refers to a specific polarization state of light where the electric field vector of the...
serpentine bend mode filter
A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber...
field emission display
An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent...
neutron drip line
Prediction based on observations of nuclear masses in the valley of stability that indicates the maximum number of electrons...
flying spot microscope
A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of...
Ultraviolet-C
Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet radiation with shorter wavelengths than those of visible...
spectrograph
An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...
contrast
The apparent difference in brightness between light and dark areas of an image. For a light target against a dark...
equivalent air path
When a block of glass (prism, window, filter, etc.) is placed into a converging light bundle, it increases the physical...
Kerr cell
A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...
Pechan prism
A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in...
third-order theory
Calculations of lens aberrations whereby the first two terms of the series expansion are the only ones employed....
surface reflection
Also known as Fresnel reflection. That portion of the incident radiation that is reflected from the surface of a refractive...
penumbra
A source of light will not cast a distinct shadow of an interfering, opaque object, but will cast a shadow having two parts:...
trichromacy
The basis of color vision in the human eye. Three types of cones have been identified, each having a unique spectral...
optical grating
An optical grating, in the context of optics and physics, refers to a device with a periodic structure of closely spaced,...
photonic crystals
Photonic crystals are artificial structures or materials designed to manipulate and control the flow of light in a manner...
apochromat
An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to...
dispersive power
A measure of the dispersive properties of a glass. The relative dispersion is defined as: where C, D, and F refer to the...
CCD image sensor
A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images...
binary optics
Optical elements, often created by micromachining, lithography or vacuum deposition, that rely on diffraction of the...
Weissenberg method
The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...
intrinsic detector
A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added...
achromatic lens
A lens consisting of two or more elements, usually of crown and flint glass, that has been corrected for chromatic...
whispering gallery mode
Whispering gallery mode (WGM) refers to a phenomenon in wave physics, particularly in optics, where waves, such as light or...
back focal length
The distance from the final optic within a system to the rear image point of the system. See focal length.
colorimeter
A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides...
Callier coefficient
The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and...
camera tube
The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and...
relay condenser
A form of lens assembly used in a projection system to maximize efficiency and assure uniform illumination of the object...
fan
A set of rays through a lens originating at a common point and contained in one plane.
three-level laser
A laser having a material, such as ruby, that has an energy state structure of three levels: the ground state (1) wherein...
digital camera
A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...
resolution target
A chart on paper or glass containing a series of sets of lines at progressively smaller spacing and used to ascertain the...
periscope
An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses...
fullerenes
Molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid or tube. Also called buckyballs....
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...
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...
lateral color
Lens aberration resulting in image size variation as a function of wavelength. See also chromatic aberration.
nanopositioning
Nanopositioning refers to the precise and controlled movement or manipulation of objects or components at the nanometer...
time-correlated single photon counting
Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a technique used in photon counting applications, particularly in the...
lock-in amplifier
A lock-in amplifier is a specialized electronic instrument used to extract and measure small signals embedded in noise or...
total internal reflection fluorescence
Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is an advanced fluorescence microscopy technique that leverages the...
quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become correlated to such an extent...
diode laser
A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light....
acoustical holography
The optical reconstruction of image information contained in a sound field. First the diffraction pattern, formed by an...
Fresnel mirrors
Two plane mirrors that are not wholly located in the same plane. When light from a point source or slit reflects from the...
smectic phase
A form of liquid crystal in which flow does not take place in the usual manner. When examined with polarized light, the...
retrofocus lens
Also known as reversed telephoto lens. A lens consisting of an ordinary objective with a negative component near its front...
design and engineering consulting services
Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to...
Bohr's frequency relation
The law given by the formula: that is, the frequency of radiation emitted or absorbed by a system when E2 and E1...
x-ray diffraction
The bending of x-rays by the regular layers of molecules in a crystal acting like a very small diffraction grating. The...
nematic phase
A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick...
Brewster's angle
For light incident on a plane boundary between two regions having different refractive indices, the angle of incidence at...
clear eye distance
In a visual optical system, the axial distance from the last mechanical surface of the eyepiece to the exit pupil.
gain-switching
Gain-switching is a technique used in lasers to generate short pulses of light by modulating the gain of the laser medium....
Gregorian telescope
A telescope with an ellipsoidal secondary concave mirror that reflects rays from a parabolic primary mirror through an...
field stop
An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.
secondary color
An aberration that remains after primary color is corrected. Primary color causes the back focus of a lens to vary with...
MSM photodiode
A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiode is a type of photodetector that consists of metal electrodes on a semiconductor...
vertical-cavity laser diode
A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is...
optical density
A measure of the transmittance through an optical medium. Optical density equals the log to the base 10 of the reciprocal of...
field
1. In raster scan television, one of the two scans that are interlaced to make up a frame. 2. See field of view.
Wadsworth mounting
A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to...
confocal resonator
A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator...
spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...
optical parametric oscillator
A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates...
head-up display
An optical system that superimposes a synthetic display providing navigational or weapon-aiming information on a pilot's or...
cylindrical lens
A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape...
radiometer
A device used to measure the intensity of radiant energy.
blackbody source
A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all...
mode beating
In optics, "mode beating" refers to an interference phenomenon that can occur in laser systems with multiple longitudinal...
Huygenian eyepiece
An ocular having two planoconvex lenses that are formed from similar glass and that are separated by a space equal to half...
epitaxial
Epitaxial refers to the growth of a crystalline layer on a crystalline substrate in such a way that the orientation of the...
Sagnac interferometer
A type of interferometer in which two coils of optical fiber are arranged so that light from a single source travels...
thermograph
The instrument used to collect thermal radiation information on an object by scanning. It consists basically of a detector,...
flying spot scanner
A device used to scan, with a small, intensely bright spot, portions of a picture surface and to transform the original...
Dogmar/Aviar lens
A general-purpose lens, also known as the Celor lens, used widely in photography and commercial processing; it has the form...
reticle
An optical element located at an image plane, containing a pattern that assists in pointing an instrument or measuring...
optical axis
The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...
Petzval surface
A paraboloidal surface on which the image is located when there is no astigmatism.
Brillouin scattering
Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with...
paraboloidal mirror
A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a...
modulation spectroscopy
A method of spectral analysis in which some property of the sample is varied and the corresponding change is measured. The...
mode filter
A device used in measuring the attenuation of multimode optical fibers. A short reference length of fiber when combined with...
molecular motor
A molecular motor refers to a nano-sized device composed of organic molecules or other small-scale components that can...
Snell's law of refraction
The incident ray, the normal to the refracting surface at the point of incidence of the ray at the surface, and the...
detector array
A detector array refers to a collection of individual detector elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid or matrix format....
variable-focus condenser
An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements...
fiber optic preform
A fiber optic preform is a cylindrical glass rod or tube used as the starting material for manufacturing optical fibers. It...
quantum key distribution
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method of secure communication that utilizes principles from quantum mechanics to...
diamond-turned optic
Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and...
collimator
An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e....
Paschen series
An array of lines in the infrared region of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Their wave numbers are expressed by...
light dispersion
The process whereby white light is separated into its component wavelengths. Light beams of different wavelengths are...
acousto-optic modulators and deflectors
An acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is a device that utilizes the interaction between sound waves and light waves to modulate...
laser optics
Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser...
arcuate displacement
Displacement in a direction perpendicular to that of the intended displacement, as in a translation stage with simple...
epitaxial equipment
Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of...
maser
An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or...
Twyman-Green interferometer
A testing device that provides a contour map of the emergent wavefront for the observer in terms of the given wavelength of...
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...
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...
CMOS camera
A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to...
dichroism
Dichroism refers to the property of certain materials to exhibit different colors or absorbance of light depending on the...
curvilinear distortion
A lens aberration in which the focal length varies radially outward from the center of the field. It has the effect of...
chemical vapor deposition equipment
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment refers to a class of specialized apparatus used in the process of chemical vapor...
microbubble resonator
A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It...
stereoscopic rangefinder
A rangefinder similar to a pair of binoculars with a long base, a dot or other wander mark provided in each eyepiece field,...
APD detector
An APD detector, or avalanche photodiode detector, is a type of photodetector used to detect light or optical signals by...
integrating sphere
A hollow sphere coated internally with a white diffusing material and provided with openings for incident beam, specimen and...
Airy disc
The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a...
tangential distortion
Optical aberration such that image magnification varies with ray distance from the optical axis in a radial distortion.
attosecond photonics sources
Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of...
Haidinger fringes
Also known as constant angle or constant deviation fringes. The interference fringes observed with dense flat plates near...
holography
Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and...
color perception test equipment
Equipment for testing an observer's color vision. Some tests require the identification or ordering of colored samples. The...
sonde
A ruggedized scintillation counter used in oil well logging. The cylindrical housing contains a gamma ray source, a...
Bragg's law
The law expressing the condition under which a crystal will reflect a beam of x-rays with the greatest amount of distinction...
photon jet
A photon jet is a narrow, highly collimated beam of light that is formed when light interacts with small dielectric...
lattice
In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or...
Mangin mirror
A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens...
self-phase modulation
Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a...
Young's two-slit interference
The method by which Thomas Young in 1802 disproved Newton's corpuscular theory of light by the formation of interference...
resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of optical lens that consists of a series of concentric grooves or steps carved into a flat, thin...
photovoltaic cell
A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into...
Maksutov corrector
A thick meniscus lens arranged concentric with the center of curvature of a spherical mirror to produce an image free of...
multi-axis alignment
Multi-axis alignment refers to the process of aligning or adjusting components or systems in multiple spatial dimensions or...
binocular
Designating any instrument in which both eyes can be used to view the image to achieve a stereoscopic effect, or merely to...
supercontinuum
Supercontinuum refers to a broad spectrum of light that spans a wide range of wavelengths, typically from the visible to the...
angle of incidence
The angle formed between a ray of light striking a surface and the normal to that surface at the point of incidence.
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...
etalon
An etalon is an optical device that consists of two parallel reflecting surfaces separated by a precise and known distance....
Ritchey-Common test
An interferometric method for describing the surface shape of large coated or uncoated optical flats. The procedure uses a...
soliton
Any isolated wave that propagates without dispersion of energy. Specifically to photonics, an ultrashort pulse of laser...
fiber optic gyroscope
A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in...
blackbody simulator
A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical,...
near-field scanning
A measurement technique used to determine the spatial distribution profile of an electrical or optical quantity of interest...
radiation pyrometer
Also known as radiation thermometer. A pyrometer in which the radiant intensity from the source to be measured is used to...
connector
Hardware installed on fiber cable ends to provide cable attachment to a transmitter, receiver or other cable. Usually a...
direct-vision prism
An assembly of multiple prisms that disperses incident light into its spectral components without deviating light at the...
insertion loss
The total optical power loss caused by the insertion of an optical component such as a connector, splice or coupler into a...
custom lapping and polishing services
Custom lapping and polishing services involve specialized processes used to improve the surface finish and dimensional...
diffraction
As a wavefront of light passes by an opaque edge or through an opening, secondary weaker wavefronts are generated,...
modified chemical vapor deposition
Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form...
oscilloscope
A system in which a supplied signal causes the deflection of the electron beam in a cathode-ray tube, thus forming a visible...
diamond turning
Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce...
fiber optic cable assembly
A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and...
aspheric lens
An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...
Rayleigh criterion of resolving power
When a lens system with a circular aperture is free of aberrations, the image of a point object will appear as a disc of...
halation
1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the...
loose-tube buffering
In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some...
astronomical mirror
An astronomical mirror, also known as a telescope mirror or primary mirror, is a key component of a reflecting telescope. It...
nanotube
A nanotube, also known as a nanotubule or simply a tube-like structure, is a nanoscale cylindrical structure composed of...
elbow telescope
A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.
meniscus lens
A lens that has one convex surface and the other concave.
wide-angle distortion
A common aberration in lenses covering large fields of view; it results in images of objects near the edge of the field...
powder camera
A camera system that uses a fine powder to diffract x-rays from the specimen. A beam of monochromatic x-rays passes through...
automatic optical inspection
A system for automatic industrial process control or measurement, consisting of an optical module for image acquisition, a...
modulation transfer function
Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the...
Schmidt camera
A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the...
detector-Dewar assembly
A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...
monochromatic light
Light consisting of a single wavelength or a very narrow band of wavelengths.
critical illumination
Illumination in which the light source is imaged at the object.
Planck's (radiation) law
The formula describing the spectral radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody as a function of its temperature and the...
reflection
Return of radiation by a surface, without change in wavelength. The reflection may be specular, from a smooth surface;...
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...
frame rate
Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is...
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...
Verdet constant
A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent...
Fresnel rhomb
A type of quarter-wave retarder in the form of a glass rhomb; light entering the retarder undergoes two total internal...
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...
vignetting
In an optical system, the gradual reduction of image illuminance as the off-axis angle increases, resulting from limitations...
aspheric mirror
An aspheric mirror is an optical mirror surface that deviates from the shape of a perfect sphere, having a non-spherical...
biplanar image tube
Also called proximity focus image intensifier. A compact image intensifier that utilizes a microchannel plate...
t number
The equivalent f number of a fictitious lens that has a circular opening and 100 percent transmittance, which would give the...
near-field region
The area closest to an aperture or source where the diffraction pattern differs substantially from that observed at an...
electron microscope
A device utilizing an electron beam for the observation and recording of submicroscopic samples with the aid of photographic...
Amici prism
Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long...
lens mount
The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal...
achromatic prism
Cemented prisms of differing refractive indices which refract incident light and, due to differing refractive indices, will...
grating spectroscope
A spectroscope having a diffraction grating for the resolution of light of various wavelengths.
x-ray image spectrography
Irradiation of a cylindrical crystal with an x-ray beam resulting in Bragg diffraction that produces a slightly enlarged...
beamsplitter
A beamsplitter is an optical device for dividing a beam into two or more separate beams. A simple beamsplitter may be a very...
overhead projector
A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...
astronomical telescope
An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial...
laser speckle
Sparkling granular pattern that is observed when an object diffusely reflects coincident laser light. Speckle appears as an...
slab laser
Solid-state laser geometry in which the standard rod is replaced by a slab of laser material. Often called...
Mach-Zehnder interferometer
A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of...
optical tooling target
Sets of paired lines carefully designed to give the most accurate pointing possible for various lengths of sight.
birefringence
Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light...
double-Gauss lens
A fast, wide-angle lens used in television and photographic cameras, with excellent overall correction, but subject to...
eye
The organ of vision or light sensitivity.
duplet lens system
An optical system having two sets of components separated by an air space, while successive lenses in each set are cemented...
Wollaston prism
A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are...
panoramic camera
A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is...
autocollimator
An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on...
topological photonics
Topological photonics is a branch of physics and optics that explores the application of topological concepts to the...
Foucault knife-edge test
The Foucault test is performed by moving a knife edge laterally into the image of a small point source. The eye, or a...
fluorescence photography
The photographic recording of a subject that exhibits luminescence only for an extremely short time (10-8 s) after the...
chief ray
The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an...
blue diode laser
A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic...
Abbe refractometer
Device which measures the index of refraction of glass as well as the dispersion over visible range.
negative dielectric anisotropy
State typically studied in liquid crystals in which the dielectric coefficient parallel to the director is less than the...
Fizeau interferometer
A type of interferometer noted for producing narrow multiple-beam interference fringes. As a result, when compared with the...
raster
The pattern of lines traced by rectilinear scanning in display systems.
quantum efficiency
Quantum efficiency (QE) is a measure of the effectiveness with which a device or system, typically in the context of...
optical materials
Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...
coma
A lens aberration, resulting from different magnifications in the various lens zones, that occurs in that part of the image...
optical multimeter
An instrument that measures several optical parameters, such as optical power and wavelength, with a single measurement...
nodal points
Of all the rays passing through a lens from an off-axis object point to its corresponding image point, there is always one...
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...
dichroic coating
A dichroic coating, also known as a dichroic filter or dichroic mirror, is an optical coating designed to selectively...
CMOS image sensor
A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used...
motion picture camera
A camera equipped with a lens and a long length of perforated film, the latter being moved intermittently between exposures...
principal plane
In a lens or lens system, that surface at which the projections of an entering and exiting ray intersect. Also known as the...
Gaussian profile
An intensity distribution (intensity as a function of radial distance from the beam center) which is given by the Gaussian...
inverse square law
The law stating that the illuminance (or irradiance) from a point source varies as the inverse square of the distance...
antireflection coating
An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to...
Senarmont prism
A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary...
charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital...
stereoscope
A small instrument containing a picture support and a pair of magnifying lenses so arranged that the left eye sees only the...
electrocapillarity modulator
A type of optical modulator with potential application in optical switching and displays, in which applied voltage causes a...
pyroelectric infrared detector
Unlike the thermocouple or bolometer, the pyroelectric infrared detector is a current source with an output proportional to...
standing wave
The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves...
diffraction grating
A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel...
electric-discharge lamp
A lamp that uses the transmission of an electric current through a gas or vapor to produce illumination. Neon, mercury and...
keystone distortion
A type of geometrical distortion that brings about a trapezoidal display of a nominally rectangular picture. Usually...
plasmonics
Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free...
near-field scanning optical microscope
A scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused...
CID camera
CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state...
Gauss lens
A telescope objective with excellent spherochromatic correction, consisting of a meniscus crown and a meniscus flint, both...
eye test apparatus
Instruments used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to study the eye. There are, for instance, the ophthalmoscope to...
near-field holography
A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes...
crystalline axes
The axes of symmetry in a crystal structure. See also biaxial crystal; uniaxial crystal.
infrared optic
Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies...
Munsell notation
Alphanumerical description of color according to Munsell hue, value and chroma.
Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry and physics to study vibrational, rotational, and other...
chemical vapor deposition
Chemical vapor deposition is a process of applying dopants to a glass bait by flame reactions of gaseous compounds. See also...
telephoto lens
A compound lens so constructed that its overall length is equal to or less than its effective focal length.
polarization-preserving fiber
Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its...
Cassegrain lens system
A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola....
refractive index contrast
A measure of the relative difference in refractive index between two optical materials. Most commonly used in fiber optics...
atomic absorption spectrophotometer
An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical...
cold shield
That part of an infrared detector-Dewar assembly that limits the solid angle viewed by the sensor; it is maintained at a...
epoxy
Common name for a variety of adhesives used for lens bonding, fiber optic splicing and other photonics applications. The...
holographic camera
A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...
stereolithography
A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal...
microscope eyepiece
An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and...
optical table
An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics...
optical distance
The physical length of the light path in a substance divided by the refractive index of that substance. See also equivalent...
Abbe prism
A form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may...
depth of focus
The range of image distances that corresponds to the range of object distances covered by the depth of field.
electron-beam lithography system
An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...
angle of refraction
The angle formed between a refracted ray and the normal to the surface. This angle lies in a common plane with the angle of...
disc colorimeter
A colorimeter using a spinning disc made of different colored sections for colorimetric analysis.
saturation
1. The decrease of the absorption (or gain) coefficient of a medium near some transition frequency when the power of the...
biocular
A term pertaining to devices (generally optical) designed for use with both eyes viewing through a single exit pupil. The...
Fourier transform spectrometer
An instrument using a Michelson interferometer, a beamsplitter, two plane mirrors and a detector to give Fourier analysis of...
custom optic
A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or...
ultraviolet reflectance
Ultraviolet reflectance refers to the ability of a material or surface to reflect UV light. Ultraviolet light is...
spectroheliograph
An instrument in which an image of the sun is scanned by the entrance slit of a monochromator, the exit slit simultaneously...
brightness resolution
The degree to which a pixel in a digital image represents the analog brightness of the corresponding point in the original...
vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser
A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser...
triclinic
With respect to a crystal, having three unequal axes intersecting at angles, only two of which can be equal and only one of...
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...
machine vision lens
A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated...
polariton
A polariton is a quasiparticle resulting from the strong coupling between photons (light particles) and certain types of...
vidicon
A small television tube originally developed for closed-circuit television. It is about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches...
Rayleigh range
In the region of a Gaussian beam focus by a diffraction-limited lens, it is the axial distance from the point of minimum...
diverging lens
A diverging lens is a type of lens that causes parallel rays of light to spread out or diverge. It is thinner in the center...
brightfield
Brightfield refers to a type of microscopy and imaging technique in which the specimen is illuminated with a white light...
Petzval lens
A high-speed, narrow-field lens consisting of two achromats spaced about the aperture stop. Its uses include portrait...
Littrow prism
A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.
caustic
A surface that envelops a bundle of rays or bundle of normals to the wave surface. It may be observed as a hollow, luminous...
iris
The adjustable membrane located just in front of the crystalline lens within the eye. The iris gives the eye its color. See...
photoelectric exposure meter
A device consisting of a microammeter, a photovoltaic cell and a battery. It is used for the measurement of scene brightness...
endoscope
An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...
penta prism
A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to...
bandwidth
The range of frequencies over which a particular instrument is designed to function within specified limits. See also fiber...
Lloyd's mirror
A mirror employed with a very high incidence angle to form a pair of coherent light sources by reflection, and therefore...
photon
A quantum of electromagnetic energy of a single mode; i.e., a single wavelength, direction and polarization. As a unit of...
computer-generated hologram
A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than...
Cooke triplet lens
The simplest lens in which all primary aberrations may be corrected. It consists of two positive crown elements on either...
monomer
A molecule that has the ability to chemically combine with other molecules to form a polymer, hence being capable of being...
Raman effect
When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered...
free-space optical interconnect
A type of internal photonic connection in an integrated circuit in which a holographic grating is used to focus light at...
camera
A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material...
aerial survey
The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other...
Kellner eyepiece
An eyepiece consisting of a planoconvex field lens and a cemented doublet as the eye lens.
acceptance angle
The range of angle or solid angle values by which light may enter an optical system.
binocular microscope
A microscope designed with two eyepieces (oculars), permitting the use of both eyes when viewing through the instrument.
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...
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...
hologram
An interference pattern that is recorded on a high-resolution plate, the two interfering beams formed by a coherent beam...
infrared spectrophotometer
A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It...
metalens
A metalens, short for "metasurface lens," is a type of optical lens that uses nanostructured materials to manipulate light...
slide projector
An optical projection device designed to project positive color transparencies onto a screen for viewing.
minimum angle of deviation
The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...
grating beamsplitter
A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into...
zoom lens
An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving...
Billet's split lens
An experimental lens used to produce interference fringes. A positive lens is cut into halves along its center, and the...
biophotonics
The technology that deals with the interaction of organic materials with light and other forms of radiant energy whose...
indium phosphide
Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the...
astigmatism
A lens aberration that results in the tangential and sagittal image planes being separated axially.
lens element
One optical element of a multielement lens. See optical element.
mesopic vision
Vision at intermediate levels of luminance between photopic and scotopic vision, where both retinal cones and retinal rods...
magnon
A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...
microphotonics
The technology of manipulating light on a micro scale. In optical communications, this is usually accomplished using two or...
chroma
1. Attribute of a visual sensation that permits a judgment to be made of the amount of pure chromatic color present. 2. The...
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves...
landolt ring
A broken circle used as the test object in distinguishing visual acuity. The width of the gap in the circle is equal to the...
rhomboid prism
A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces;...
second-order nonlinear optical properties
Second-order nonlinear optical properties refer to a class of phenomena exhibited by certain materials in response to...
Newtonian telescope
A telescope with a concave paraboloidal objective mirror and a small plane (diagonal) mirror that reflects rays from the...
grating monochromator
An optical instrument used to isolate a narrow bandwidth of optical radiation using a diffraction grating as the dispersive...
evaporagraph
A sensor generally used for infrared imaging. It consists of two chambers separated by a thin, blackened membrane. An...
polygon mirror
A rotating component with a series of flat reflective surfaces around the perimeter that is used in scanning systems to...
Barlow lens
A negative lens used to increase the effective focal length of a telescope objective.
offset prism
A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.
microring resonator
A microring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped...
neutral density wedge
A strip or annulus of glass coated with a semitransparent material such as inconel. The coating thickness, and as a result...

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