A colorless, crystalline compound whose low refractive index (n = 1.38) makes it effective as a lens antireflection coating when deposited by thermal evaporation in a near vacuum. This process develops a coating that is robust and stable, though...

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

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

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

A thermal source that emits less radiation than a blackbody under identical temperature conditions.

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible...

A high-frequency pulse-rate laser with an output limited by the heat capacity of the laser medium. Instead of having...

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

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

The radiation emitted from a group of charged particles that does not depend on the temperature of the source in which those...

Trade name for a type of borosilicate glass manufactured by Corning Glass Works, noted for its low coefficient of thermal...

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

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

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

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

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective...

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

A copolymer of styrene and acrylic used in molded optical components; it has a high refractive index and a low coefficient...

A Nernst glower, also known simply as a Nernst lamp or Nernst filament, is a type of incandescent lamp or radiant heater...

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

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

In a thermal imaging system, the change in temperature that yields a signal-to-noise ratio of unity.

Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of...

A device used to determine the location and attitude with respect to the Earth of orbiting spacecraft by detecting the...

Schott Glass Technologies' trade name for a glass-ceramic material with a very low coefficient of thermal expansion.

E.I. duPont's trade name for a material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables. It is flame-retardant, thermally stable...

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

The emission of gas or de-aeration due to thermal variations and often occurring in a vacuum. In a cleanroom, contamination...

The effect that characterizes an intense laser beam that is passed through an absorbing medium, causing the absorbed energy...

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

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from...

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

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

Any noise or current fluctuation that prevents precise measurement of the signal current. Both dark current and signal...

A device that detects radiation by utilizing the influence of light in forming an electrical signal. It may be a phototube;...

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

A technique for removing thermal noise and drift from focal plane assemblies by sampling the system output between views of...

The emission of light by thermal radiation of a temperature high enough to render the source of radiation visible.

Distortion of an optical component as a result of heat, which can influence the divergence and the mode quality of a beam...

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

An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for...

The emission of radiant energy in which the energy emitted originates in the thermal motion of the atoms or molecules of the...

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

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

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

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems,...

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

A vacuum gauge designed to measure very high degrees of vacuum by thermal conduction.

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

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment refers to a class of specialized apparatus used in the process of chemical vapor...

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

Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines...

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

A substance capable of converting solar radiation into thermal energy.

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...

An atmospheric nonlinear process unique to CO2 laser wavelengths, whereby CO2 absorbs 10.6-µm radiation and the CO2...

Light from a pulsed laser focused into nonsaturable absorbing fluid that generates a strongly backscattered light beam with...

A thermal radiation detector consisting of a small cell with a blackened plastic front face that bulges slightly when heat...

A device designed to measure radiant energy, particularly in the thermal region.

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal...

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

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

A computer-generated routine for achieving true-temperature readings in thermal infrared imaging systems.

That part of an infrared detector-Dewar assembly that limits the solid angle viewed by the sensor; it is maintained at a...

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

A thermogram in which temperature values are displayed in discrete thermal bands, each band possessing a distinct color.

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

In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit...

A femtosecond laser is a type of laser that emits ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of femtoseconds,...

A glass-ceramic material developed in Russia. Astrosital resembles Zerodur in terms of its ultralow thermal expansion. Other...

Used to detect radiation from the infrared region. The functional process includes absorption of infrared radiation, which...

Deformation of a material caused by mechanical factors, especially constant pressure, and not attributable to thermal...

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

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

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

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

A form of laser output noise that is caused by thermal, mechanical, or acoustical disturbances of the cavity length. Mode...

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

An etalon is an optical device that consists of two parallel reflecting surfaces separated by a precise and known distance....

The process of producing a visible two-dimensional image of a scene that is dependent on differences in thermal or infrared...

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

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

A material often used in the construction of optical instruments because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion (0.9 x...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the...

A source that emits radiant energy when its molecules or atoms are thermally excited.

Horizontal concentrations that comprise the dominant factor in atmospheric gradient correction. The range bias near due...

Propagation of electromagnetic waves through the Earth's atmosphere in a path that conforms to the curvature of the Earth...

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

A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...

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

The mathematical expression of the probability of any given state of energy being occupied when a semiconductor is in...

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

Method for studying absorption coefficients of low-loss materials, in which a sample is allowed to come to thermal...

In infrared imaging systems used for mass screening of printed circuit boards or other quality control applications, an...

Approximation of a system of thermal equilibrium formed by the distribution of the kinetic energies of electrons in a gas...

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

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

A device used to detect radiant energy by means of the thermal expansion of gas.

Thermal emission caused by the unity in absorption bands that must be discriminated when calculating radiation intensity of...

A technique for detecting free radicals by their electronic spectra. The material to be studied is placed in a...

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

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

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

An electron-beam lithography (EBL) system is a sophisticated nanofabrication tool used in the semiconductor industry and...

Westinghouse trade name for an alloy of iron, nickel and cobalt, which has the same thermal expansion as glass and therefore...

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

A closed-loop system that compensates for thermal blooming by optimizing only one parameter: the amplitude of the phase...

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

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

The cause of some forms of laser injury in which tissue absorbs incident laser light and experiences a damaging rise in...

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet...

A semiconductor device with a semiconductor junction in which infrared radiant flux is nonthermally produced when a current...

A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path...

A noncontact, nondestructive method of measuring defects in thin composite materials, using a xenon flashtube to generate...

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

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

For any point on a thermal radiator, at thermal equilibrium and for each wavelength, the emissivity in any direction is...

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

A dielectric ceramic material used in laser capillary tubes because of its high electrical resistivity and high thermal...

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

Device that operates by interaction of incident radiation with semiconductor based material in order to produce an...

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

A mass spectrometer used to detect ions formed by photo- and charge-exchange ionization of gases, such as those in the lunar...

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

Long-wave infrared (LWIR) refers to a specific range of the infrared spectrum. Infrared radiation is divided into three main...

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

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

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

FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of...

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

The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged...

Formula that describes the thermal equilibrium of gas electrons and ions as a direct function of variations in temperature.

The naturally occurring crystalline form of silicon dioxide. It is slightly birefringent and exhibits rotary dispersion of...

Anisotropic is a term used to describe a material or substance that exhibits different properties or behaviors in different...

In a laser, a measure of the device's ability to dissipate internally generated heat.

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

A numerical representation of the rate at which a material will exhibit dimensional changes as a direct result of changes in...

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

Ferroelectric materials are a type of dielectric materials that exhibit spontaneous electric polarization, meaning they...

A current-source thermal detector used to detect and study the pulses obtained from particular lasers.

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

A flowmeter is a device used to measure the flow rate or quantity of a fluid passing through a particular point in a system....

A laser skin-resurfacing method that creates microscopic thermal wounds referred to as microscopic treatment zones (MTZs),...

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

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

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