Photonics Dictionary

The measurement of the responsivity of photographic media and of the relations between exposure and density of developed images.

A measure of the total light passed by a shutter during an exposure, compared with the light that could be passed by an idealized, infinitely fast shutter fully open for the same extreme time.

Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is a medical treatment approach that combines elements of phototherapy and immunotherapy to target and treat specific cells or tissues in the body. The key components of this...

Photolithography is a key process in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). It is a photomechanical process used to transfer...

A photomask, also known simply as a mask or reticle, is a key component in the photolithography process used in semiconductor manufacturing and other areas of microfabrication. It is a high-precision...

Photocells of various kinds used to measure photometric quantities; i.e., intensity, luminance and illuminance. Meter readings are used to express illuminance and, by calibration, to measure...

Photometry is the branch of science that deals with the measurement of light, particularly in terms of its intensity and the way the human eye perceives it. It involves the quantification of visible...

A photomultiplier tube (PMT) is a highly sensitive vacuum tube that detects and amplifies low levels of light. It is widely used in various applications where high sensitivity, fast response times,...

Photonics contract manufacturing refers to the outsourcing of the production of photonics-related components, devices, or systems to specialized manufacturing firms. Photonics involves the...

A holographic plate coated by photopolymeric mixtures that are composed of one or more monomers and a photoredox catalyst sensitized to visible light. The material becomes a plastic solid when...

A process in which a mixture of one or more monomers, plus a catalyst, polymerize under exposure to light radiation. Photopolymerization permits a hologram to be exposed, fixed and reconstructed in...

A material in which the refractive index varies according to changes in the light to which it is exposed. Lithium niobate is one example.

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in photolithography processes, particularly in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)....

That property of a material indicating that it will react when exposed to light energy.

The photographic recording of data, in binary form, for storage in memory. Exposure is achieved by a cathode-ray tube or by modulating a continuous-wave laser beam with a Kerr cell, both relative to...

A camera equipped with angular scales in altitude and azimuth. The scale readings are imprinted on the film when an exposure is made. The exact point indicated by the scale readings is shown by...

Phototherapy is a medical treatment that involves the use of light to treat various conditions, particularly those related to the skin or mood disorders. There are different types of phototherapies,...

The cause of some forms of laser injury in which tissue absorbs incident laser light and experiences a damaging rise in temperature. The severity of the damage is dependent on the rate of energy...

Phototoxicity refers to the harmful effects caused by exposure to light, particularly intense or ultraviolet (UV) light, on living cells or organisms. This phenomenon is often associated with the...

A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into electrical energy through the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect is...

Photovoltaic (PV) refers to a technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductors. The term "photovoltaic" is derived from the words "photo," meaning light, and...

An interferometric technique for the generation of precision gratings that allows for sequential exposure of small segments in the writing of a large grating, allowing increased intensity that...

A piezoelectric translator that moves up and down a spindle like a caterpillar. It clamps itself at one end, expands, clamps the other end, releases the first end, and then contracts and begins the...

A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a fundamental unit that represents a single point in a raster image, which is a grid of...

Low-insertion-loss fiber coupler fabricated from a sheet of light-sensitive material laminated onto a fused quartz substrate and exposed through a suitable mask. After development of the plastic...

A plasma accelerator is a type of particle accelerator that uses electric fields and magnetic fields to accelerate charged particles, typically electrons or ions, by exploiting the motion of charged...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically,...

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to traditional optical components made from glass or other materials. Plastic...

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

A polariton is a quasiparticle resulting from the strong coupling between photons (light particles) and certain types of excitations in a material, such as electronic excitations (electrons and...

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the difference between the maximum and minimum loss in decibels.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a widely used molecular biology technique used to amplify a specific segment of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) through a series of temperature-controlled cycles....

Positioning generally refers to the determination or identification of the location or placement of an object, person, or entity in a specific space or relative to a reference point. The term is used...

For a pulsed laser, the product of the energy per pulse (joule) and the pulse frequency (hertz); expressed in watts.

A photographic enlarger with a fixed negative plane and a fixed paper plane, often using a roll of paper that is advanced automatically between exposures. The lens is interchangeable to suit a range...

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter away.

The minimum amount of strength characteristic of an optical fiber, as determined by proof stressing; expressed in thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch.

The underexposure caused by the diffraction of light passing through small openings spaced closely together in masks used in photolithography.

The integral of the radiance over exposure time.

Separation of incident laser pulses by several seconds so holographic plates can be changed and sandwiched between the pulses. This technique combines the short exposure time of pulsed holography...

Pushbroom scanning is a technique used in remote sensing and imaging systems, particularly in satellite and aerial sensors, to capture images of the Earth's surface or other objects. In pushbroom...

Trade name for a type of borosilicate glass manufactured by Corning Glass Works, noted for its low coefficient of thermal expansion. Used most often for mirror blanks; not suitable for light...

The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the atomic and subatomic scales. It originates from quantum theory, a branch of...

A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics. It is a versatile and powerful device used for emitting coherent light in...