Photonics Dictionary

The ablation threshold refers to the minimum amount of energy, such as laser energy or intense radiation, required to remove material from a surface through ablation. Ablation itself is the process...

An ablative wall flashlamp typically refers to a type of flashlamp used in certain high-energy laser systems. Components include: Flashlamp: This is a device that produces an intense pulse...

An absorption line is a dark line in a spectrum that occurs when a specific wavelength of light is absorbed by atoms or molecules in a medium (such as a gas or a solid) as light passes through it....

An absorption peak refers to a sharp increase or spike in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a particular wavelength or energy level. It is a distinctive feature in the absorption...

Absorption spectroscopy is a fundamental analytical technique used to study the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter. It involves measuring the absorption of light by a sample...

An absorption spectrum is a graphical representation of the absorption of light by a material as a function of wavelength, frequency, or energy. It displays the specific wavelengths of light that are...

AC thin film electroluminescent (ACTFEL) display devices are a type of flat-panel display technology that uses electroluminescence to produce visible light. Structure: They consist of a thin...

The actinides are a series of 15 chemical elements in the periodic table, with atomic numbers from 89 to 103. They are named after actinium, the first element in the series. Elements: The...

Active transport is a biological process by which cells move molecules or ions across their cell membrane against their concentration gradient, meaning from a region of lower concentration to a...

An active-cavity radiometer is a highly sensitive instrument used to measure radiant energy (power per unit area), often in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The key features of an active-cavity...

An active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display is a type of flat-panel display technology that combines the active matrix addressing scheme with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)....

Radioactivity refers to the spontaneous emission of radiation from the nucleus of an unstable atom. This emission occurs as the nucleus undergoes radioactive decay, which is a natural and random...

Agri-photonics refers to the application of photonics technologies in agriculture. Photonics involves the generation, manipulation, and detection of light and other forms of radiant energy whose...

An ammonia maser is a device that amplifies microwave radiation using ammonia gas molecules in a process analogous to how lasers amplify visible light through stimulated emission of radiation. The...

An arc flash is a sudden release of electrical energy due to an electric arc — a continuous, high-current discharge of electricity between conductors or from a conductor to ground. Arc flashes...

An argon-fluoride (ArF) excimer laser is a type of ultraviolet laser that operates using a mixture of argon and fluorine gases. Excimer lasers are a class of gas lasers that emit light in the UV...

Radioactivity formed by the bombardment of stable elements by either neutrons or high-energy, charged particles under regulated conditions.

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical elements in a sample by measuring the absorption of light at...

An atomic clock is a highly precise timekeeping device that uses the vibrations or oscillations of atoms as a reference for measuring time. The most common type of atomic clock uses the vibrations of...

Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of attoseconds (1 attosecond = 10-18 seconds). These ultrafast light pulses are in...

Attosecond-pump attosecond-probe spectroscopy (APAP) is an advanced technique in ultrafast spectroscopy that allows scientists to study the dynamics of electronic processes occurring on extremely...

In semiconductor physics, the term bandgap refers to the energy range in a material where no electronic states are allowed. It represents the energy difference between the valence band, which is the...

A relatively hard crystal, highly resistant to excessive energy radiation, that is frequently used for optical windows, prisms and lenses transmitting from the vacuum UV into the IR.

Bin picking, also known as bin picking automation or bin picking robotics, refers to the automated process of selecting and retrieving individual objects or components from a bin, container, or bulk...

Bioluminescence is the natural phenomenon where living organisms produce light through a chemical reaction. In the context of photonics, bioluminescence has significant implications for both research...

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically between 400 and 500 nanometers. Diode lasers are compact,...

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with acoustic phonons (quantized lattice vibrations) in a material, resulting in the...

A large tank filled with liquid hydrogen, with a flat window at one end and complex optical devices for observing and photographing the rows of fine bubbles formed when a high-energy particle...

A gas laser in which the energy-state transitions between vibrational and rotational states of CO2 molecules give emission at long IR, about 10 µm, wavelengths. The laser can maintain...

Carbon fullerenes are a class of carbon-based molecules composed entirely of carbon atoms arranged in a hollow, closed, cage-like structure. The most well-known fullerenes are spherical and are often...

A shower of cosmic rays whereby a high-energy electron produces one or more photons that convert into electron pairs, the secondary electrons producing the same effects as the primary. As the process...

An instrument that detects high-energy charged particles by analysis of the Cerenkov radiation that they emit.

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te). These elements are known as...

A photoelectric detector consisting of a glass tube internally coated with a low conductance material. Voltage applied along the tube causes photoemission from the photocathode at the end of the tube...

Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a substrate, typically a printed circuit board (PCB), without the need for...

Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies without causing damage to the amplifying medium. The method was first...

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) is a powerful technique used in spectroscopy to probe molecular vibrations in a sample. It is based on the Raman effect, which involves the inelastic...

Cold atoms refer to atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures, typically in the microkelvin (µK) to nanokelvin (nK) range, close to absolute zero (0 Kelvin or -273.15°C). At...

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are nanometer-sized semiconductor particles that are dispersed in a colloidal solution. These quantum dots have unique optical and electronic properties due to their...

A phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density level during laser materials processing. These devices direct and focus...

An instrument that is used to detect high-energy particles by the pulse of the current formed when a particle passes through a normally insulating crystal to which a potential difference is applied.

Dark current density refers to the electric current that flows through a semiconductor device in the absence of any external illumination. It is primarily caused by thermal generation of charge...

Deep multiphoton microscopy is an advanced imaging technique used in biological and biomedical research to visualize structures and processes deep within tissues with high resolution. It combines the...

Deep ultraviolet (DUV or deep-UV) refers to a specific range of ultraviolet light with shorter wavelengths than those in the UV-A and UV-B regions. The exact wavelength range considered as DUV can...

A deep-ultraviolet (DUV) laser is a type of laser that emits light in the deep ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with wavelengths ranging from about 200 nm down to 10 nm....

A dichroic coating, also known as a dichroic filter or dichroic mirror, is an optical coating designed to selectively transmit or reflect certain wavelengths of light while simultaneously absorbing...