Photonics Dictionary: I

Any form of lens, optical system (camera, telescope, microscope, etc.), or opto-electronics utilized for the purpose of producing an image of a given object.

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...

Infrared optics refer to optical components and systems designed to manipulate and control infrared (IR) light, which lies beyond the visible spectrum. These components are crucial for various...

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from group III and group V of the periodic table. More specifically, these...

In optics, an image is the reconstruction of light rays from a source or object when light from that source or object is passed through a system of optics and onto an image forming plane. Light rays...

An electro-optic system using, in general form, an evacuated glass envelope with a semitransparent photocathode at one end and a luminescent screen at the other for the amplification of an optical...

The apparent luminance of the image as seen through an optical system. This brightness of the image is determined by the brightness of the object, as well as the transmittance and etendue - or light...

Also referred to as image visibility, the contrast of an image is the variation in the intensity of an image formed by an optical system, where the image pixels are defined on a gray scale scheme of...

A semiconductor platelet laser that emits a coherent image by means of plane optical pumping over the platelet surface, and that uses laser threshold characteristics to produce a pronounced threshold...

A system of elements which rotates the optical image with respect to the optical axis by a factor of pi radians.

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs in the optical system. This phenomenon is often observed in certain types of...

The active control of various aspects (optical element position, airspace thickness, etc.) of an optical system that compensates for unwanted movement of the image that is caused by mechanical and...

A measure of the closeness with which an optical image is capable of resembling the original object. The factors that affect image quality are lens aberrations, diffraction, dirt and stray light...

Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of the spacing of the fibers from the entrance end to the exit end, a...

In the context of optical materials, the term "impurity level" refers to the presence of foreign atoms or molecules within the material that deviate from its regular or intrinsic composition. These...

In optics, the term denoting the lack of a fixed phase relationship between two waves. If two incoherent waves are superimposed, interference effects cannot last longer than the individual coherent...

A bundle of filaments of optical glass or other transparent materials that transmit only light, not optical images. The arrangement of the individual fibers in the bundle is not sufficiently regular...

The production of holograms initially from either conventional photographs or incoherent optical equipment.

A flaw deliberately introduced into an optical fiber to prepare it for cleaving.

In an optical waveguide, the refractive index as a function of radius.

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the III-V group of semiconductors, where elements from groups III and V of the...

In a microscope, a space reserved to accommodate an optical filter or polarizer.

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the infrared radiation emitted by objects, revealing temperature variations across...

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating infrared (IR) radiation within the infrared spectrum. These lenses are used in...

An infrared light-emitting diode (IR LED) is a semiconductor device that emits infrared light when an electric current passes through it. Similar to standard LEDs that emit visible light, IR LEDs are...

The range of materials that, unlike glass, may be used in the infrared. Water-soluble salts, such as cesium iodide, and other substances such as arsenic sulfide, selenium, thallium bromide-iodide and...

An impurity-doped silicon detector array sensitive to long infrared wavelengths, installed in optical collecting systems capable of detecting the presence of infrared-emitting objects at extensive...

An optical component coated to reflect infrared radiation. Gold, silver and aluminum are typical coating materials.

An optical system used to collect infrared energy from a scene using scanning optics with a point or line detector, as compared with a fixed optical system with a full two-dimensional detector array.

An infrared source combined with reflecting projection optics to illuminate a target making it visible when observed through an infrared viewing device.

A device that combines electronic and optical techniques to form a monitored infrared signal between 1 and 14 µm. It contains an internal modulator to amplitude-modulate the output signal, an...

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

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a combination of indium (In), gallium (Ga), and arsenic (As). The term InGaAs...

A method of producing high-quality plastic optics in large volumes by injecting the heated, liquified plastic at high pressure into a tooled mold with polished chromium stainless steel inserts to...

The total optical power loss caused by the insertion of an optical component such as a connector, splice or coupler into a fiber optic system. See attenuation.

A method that produces low-loss optical fibers. A glass tube rotates while reactants pass through the tube and heat is externally applied by a burner that traverses the tube. The oxidizable vapors in...

Instantaneous field of view (iFOV) is a term commonly used in the context of remote sensing, imaging systems, and optical instruments. It refers to the specific portion of a scene that an optical...

With respect to color photography, the measurement of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical system containing the film.

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between optoelectronic devices and providing signal processing functions.

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The...

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a sensor collects and accumulates incoming light or signal. It is a crucial...

An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an image intensifier and a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor to achieve...

A standard direct-readout vidicon tube linked by fiber optics to an intensifier for increased sensitivity.

An interferometer that functions by first detecting the light striking each aperture and then combining the two detector outputs. With an intensity interferometer, the primary collectors need not be...

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

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in completely transparent objects and specimen. The object is placed in one beam...