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Photonics Dictionary
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e-beam x
modulated transmission ellipsometry
A method used to detect internal or residual microstresses in a material by using a laser beam to locate changes in polarization caused by the stress.
modulated zone plate
A zone plate produced by a computer and having a binary structure that can be etched into a chromium or quartz layer. It often is used in laser machining, in which the machining of small holes with...
modulator crystal
A nonlinear crystal used to modulate a polarized beam of light by means of the Pockels effect. A Pockels cell is used as a voltage-controlled waveplate by means of applying a known voltage across the...
molecular beam epitaxy
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epitaxy
A well controlled thin films technique for growing films with good crystal structure in ultra high vacuum environments at very low deposition rates. Epitaxy methods are well known for the growing of...
MOMBE
metallorganic molecular beam epitaxy
monoscope cathode-ray tube
A character generation CRT that functions on the principle of secondary emission. The target holds a set of aluminum characters, select characters being scanned by the electron beam. The secondary...
motion controller
In optics, a motion controller refers to a device or system that precisely controls the movement of optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, stages, or other elements within an optical setup. The...
multicolor hologram
A hologram formed by reconstruction of multicolor wavefronts. The system used to produce the hologram is designed to combine the different colored wavefronts of the separate illuminating sources, and...
Murty interferometer
A form of shearing interferometer that contains a simple wedged (plane-parallel) glass plate with a nonzero optical path difference to create interference between split optical wavefronts. The...
mutual coherent function
A function that quantifies the performance degradation of coherent communications systems, imaging systems and all systems that rely on the spot size of a laser beam that has propagated along an...
Mylar
E.I. duPont's trade name for a polyester film. The most practical beamsplitter for use beyond the 15-µm wavelength because of its high efficiency. It exhibits high visible transmission, allowing...
Nd:YAG laser
Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. This type of laser emits light at a wavelength of 1064 nm in the...
near-field walk
In a laser diode, lateral motion of the beam center at the facet when the drive current is changed.
neutral density wedge
A strip or annulus of glass coated with a semitransparent material such as inconel. The coating thickness, and as a result its transmission, varies linearly as a function of distance. The neutral...
Newton's rings
The series of rings or bands formed when light beams reflected from two polished, adjacent surfaces, placed together with a thin film of air between them, interfere. By counting these bands from the...
Nichols radiometer
An instrument devised by Nichols and Hull for use in the measurement of radiation pressure. The device has two small silvered, glass mirrors that are suspended, in the way of a torsion balance, by a...
nonlinear crystal
A nonlinear crystal is a type of crystal that exhibits nonlinear optical properties when subjected to intense electromagnetic fields, typically from laser light. Unlike linear optical materials,...
nonlinear optical detector
A type of radiation detector designed to recognize nonlinear optical effects, such as the Raman effect, by means of a directional, nearly monochromatic light beam; e.g., a laser beam.
nonlinear optical effect
A class of optical phenomena that can be viewed only with nearly monochromatic, directional beams of light, such as those produced by a laser. Harmonic generation and the stimulated Raman effect are...
nonlinear optical phase conjugation
The coupling of laser or light beams via nonlinear optical techniques such as four-wave mixing to achieve spatial variation of the electrical field of the target beam. This technique is also referred...
null process
Commonly performed in spectroscopy, the optical null process is a method for radiation detection whereby physical detectors are used to rapidly interchange the intensity between a reference beam and...
object beam
In holography, the wave of light that illuminates the object to be recorded, which diffracts it to the recording medium, where it interferes with the reference beam, generating the hologram.
oculometer
An electro-optical infrared tracker consisting of a beamsplitter, an illuminating source, an image dissector tube and an electronics unit, that automatically acquires and tracks particular eye...
off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirror
Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly in applications requiring precise focusing, collimation, or imaging of...
off-axis paraboloidal mirror
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paraboloidal mirror
A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...
OLBR
operational laser beam recorder
optical assembly
An optical assembly refers to a collection of optical components that are carefully arranged and aligned to perform a specific function within an optical system. These components may include lenses,...
optical autocorrelator
An instrument used to test lenses by utilizing the optical transfer function. It consists of a HeNe laser, a beamsplitter and two mirrors.
optical beam steering
Directing an optical beam in varying directions by varying reflection, refraction, focusing and diffraction methods.
optical bistability
The phenomenon that can render an optical resonator the equivalent of a semiconductor flip-flop. A bistable device will remain stable in two optical states, one of high transmission and another of...
optical chopper
A mechanical or electrical-electromagnetic device for periodically interrupting or blocking abeam of light for a brief known interval. The three most common chopper types include the tuning fork...
optical coherence tomography imaging system
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. An OCT imaging...
optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. It provides...
optical combiner
An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines multiple optical signals or images into a single output. The purpose of an...
optical component
One or more optical elements – typically cemented together - in an optical system that are treated as a single group; e.g., a beamsplitter, or a cemented doublet or triplet.
optical disc
A rigid medium, generally a polycarbonate substrate coated with a reflective aluminum layer, that stores information (such as audio, video or data) as digital bits in the form of variations in the...
optical grating reflectance evaluator
A device for measuring diffraction grating efficiency at any angle of incidence, consisting of a reflectometer wherein the detector rotates around the grating at a specific distance and is attached...
optical lattice
A periodic structure formed by intersecting or superimposed laser beams. These beams can trap atoms in low-potential regions, forming a pattern of atoms resembling the structure of a crystal.
optical lever
A device used to detect and measure small amounts of rotation. The rotating object contains a reflecting surface from which a beam of light is reflected onto a positional detector. A large distance...
optical manufacturing tools and machinery
Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....
optical materials
Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...
optical modulator
An optical modulator is a device used to control or modify a property of light, such as its amplitude, phase, polarization, or frequency. Optical modulators are essential components in a wide range...
optical molasses
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laser cooling
Laser cooling is a technique used to reduce the temperature of a material or a collection of atoms or molecules by using laser light. It is based on the principle of selective absorption and emission...
optical null method
->
null process
Commonly performed in spectroscopy, the optical null process is a method for radiation detection whereby physical detectors are used to rapidly interchange the intensity between a reference beam and...
optical parametric amplification
Optical parametric amplification (OPA) is a process in nonlinear optics where a weak signal beam is amplified by a much stronger pump beam through the nonlinear interaction in a nonlinear optical...
optical pumping
The process whereby the number of atoms or atomic systems in a set of energy levels is changed by the absorption of light that falls on the material. This process raises the atoms to specific higher...
optical rangefinder
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rangefinder
1. An optical distance finder that depends on triangulation of two convergent beams on an object from disparate view points. 2. A device that depends on the measurement of time of wave travel from an...
optical testing instrument
An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...
optical trapping
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laser trapping
A technique for confining atoms, molecules or small particles within one or more laser beams. This can be accomplished through the use of a single focused beam or multiple intersecting beams. With a...
optical tweezers
Optical tweezers refer to a scientific instrument that uses the pressure of laser light to trap and manipulate microscopic objects, such as particles or biological cells, in three dimensions. This...
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Photonics Dictionary
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