Photonics Dictionary: R

A very uncommon lamp in which a tungsten electrode is heated to incandescence by a radio-frequency electrical current.

Fiber optic cable in which the arrangement of fibers within the bundle has been made random so that output light will be uniformly distributed and not relay the image of the light source at the input...

Raster scanning is a technique used in imaging and scanning systems to systematically capture and process information from a two-dimensional area or surface. It involves moving a sensor or scanning...

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene. It involves tracing the path of rays of light as they travel through a...

A device that is used to determine the index of refraction of a gas or liquid through the interference patterns formed by two beams of light, one of which has been transmitted by the sample. A single...

A reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) is a key component in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical communication networks. It allows for flexible and dynamic routing of...

An image that appears when a hologram is illuminated by a suitable light source, generally a laser beam.

The displacement of spectrum lines, as determined by the increasing distance between, and the relative velocity of, the observer and a light source, causing the lines to move toward the red portion...

A means of high resolution study through the application of soft and hard x-rays onto a sample surface in order to obtain image information from 1-10 nm layers and surfaces. The x-ray source emission...

Reflectance spectroscopy is a technique used to analyze the reflective properties of materials across various wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. By measuring the reflectance of light from a...

The term reflective is an adjective that describes the ability of a surface or material to reflect light or other forms of radiation. It implies the capability of bouncing back or redirecting...

A lamp used in projection that is made with a reflector built into the bulb, normally by coating a portion of its interior with a reflective material to ensure the reflector's optimum position in...

Remote sensing is a method of data collection and observation where information about objects, areas, or phenomena on Earth's surface is gathered from a distance, typically using sensors onboard...

Retroreflection is a phenomenon in optics where light is reflected back toward its source, typically in a direction nearly parallel to the direction from which it originated. This occurs due to the...

Retroreflectivity refers to the property of a surface or material to reflect light back to its source, regardless of the angle of incidence. Unlike most surfaces that scatter light in various...

A retroreflector is an optical device or structure that reflects incident light or electromagnetic waves back to their source, regardless of the direction from which the light approaches. Unlike...