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Meadowlark Optics - Wave Plates 6/24 MR 2024

PI Physik Instrumente - Microscope Stages HP ROS 11/24

8,726 terms

Photonics Dictionary

optical flat

A piece of glass, pyrex or quartz having one or both surfaces carefully ground and polished plano, generally flat to less than a tenth of a wavelength. Optical flats are used in surface testing to...

optical fluorography

The fluorographic method whereby the visible image (as opposed to the x-ray image) is photographed by mounting a camera in front of the fluorescent screen.

optical Fourier transform

The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial domain representation of an image into its corresponding frequency domain...

optical frequency comb

An optical frequency comb is a tool used for measuring frequencies with extremely high precision. It is essentially a spectrum consisting of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines, much...

optical gate

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...

optical glass

Optical glass refers to a type of glass specifically engineered and manufactured for use in optical components and systems, such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, and filters. Optical glass is...

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 grating

An optical grating, in the context of optics and physics, refers to a device with a periodic structure of closely spaced, parallel slits or rulings. These slits or rulings act as obstacles to the...

optical head

In compact disc and CD-ROM technology, the portion of the drive that projects the laser light onto the surface of the media and picks up the resulting reflections read as data. The head includes the...

optical instrument dome

A dome-shaped structure used for some optical instruments in place of a flat window. The transparent material should be of good quality and the hemispherical surfaces should be concentric.

optical interconnection

The use of photonic devices rather than electronic devices to make connections within and between integrated circuits.

optical isolator

Also known as an optical diode, an optical isolator is a device that utilizes the Faraday effect to suppress or redirect backscattered or backreflected light in order to allow light transmission in...

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 link

Any optical transmission channel used in telecommunications designed to connect two end terminals or to be connected in series with other channels using an optical circuit.

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 maser -> laser

light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

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 memory

Optical memory is a type of data storage technology that uses light to read and write information. It typically involves the use of lasers to encode data onto an optical medium, such as a disc, and...

optical microphone

Laser-powered telephone device for analog communications that employs a vibrating plastic membrane as a transmitter to modulate laser light piped via optical fibers from a central exchange, omitting...

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 -> 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 multichannel analyzer -> multichannel spectral analyzer

A spectrometric instrument that detects radiation simultaneously in multiple channels, sorts it spectrally from the deep ultraviolet to the infrared, digitizes the information and stores it for...

optical multimeter

An instrument that measures several optical parameters, such as optical power and wavelength, with a single measurement input.

optical noise

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or integrity of the transmitted information. This type of noise is particularly...

optical nonlinearity

The phenomenon that makes nonlinear the mathematical expression for the electrical polarization of a medium through which lightwaves are passing. Characterizes high-power lasers principally;...

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 page reader

An optical scanning system found in most computer scanners that can read documents, often in many type styles, and convert the document text into digital information to be stored, and displayed by a...

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 parametric chriped-pulse amplification

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is an advanced technique used in ultrafast laser systems to amplify optical pulses to extremely high intensities while maintaining their short...

optical parametric oscillator

A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates coherent light whose output can be tuned continuously over a variety of infrared...

optical path -> optical distance

The physical length of the light path in a substance divided by the refractive index of that substance. See also equivalent air path.

optical path difference

The relative path difference (or phase shift) traveled between two rays that pass through different mediums from the same object point. For a perfect optical system, the optical path, or distance,...

optical path length

In a medium of constant refractive index, the product of the geometrical distance and the refractive index.

optical perturbation

Optical perturbation refers to any disturbance or alteration in the characteristics of light as it propagates through or interacts with a medium. This perturbation can include changes in the...

optical phase distortion

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through a medium. This distortion can result from variations in the refractive...

optical phonon resonance

The point at which infrared transmission is cut off.

optical power -> radiant power

The time rate of flow of radiant energy, expressed in watts (W), and carries the units of Joule per second (J/s). The prefix often is dropped and the term "power" used.

optical power spectrum

Also known as the Wiener spectrum or the noise power spectrum, the optical power spectrum is a fundamental quantity in film-screen image quality evaluation. It is a means of describing image content...

optical probe

An optical probe is a device equipped with optical components such as lenses, fibers, or detectors, designed to transmit and receive light for the purpose of measuring or analyzing optical properties...

optical profiler

Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to millimeter-scale step heights. A standard arrangement includes an illumination source,...

optical prototypes

Optical prototypes refer to early-stage models or samples of optical devices or systems that are created to validate design concepts, test functionality, and assess performance characteristics before...

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 pyrometer

An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives off and comparing it to the known temperature and wavelength spectrum of...

optical pyrometry

The determination of the temperature of a source by the detection of its incandescent brightness.

optical rail -> optical bench

A support for optical parts comprising a solid bed that permits precise longitudinal movement of one component relative to the others, and a number of sliders equipped with holders for lenses, lamps,...

optical rangefinder -> 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 read-only memory

Generic term for read-only optical data storage, source of the Philips-Sony term CD-ROM.

optical relay -> relay lens

A lens or lens system used to transfer a real image from one point within an optical system to another, with or without magnifying it.

optical repeater

In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal, converts this optical signal to an electrical signal which is then...

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