Photonics Dictionary

The span of frequencies within which a single channel of broadcast television must fall; in the US, it is 6 MHz.

A camera containing an electronic image sensor that converts the image to an electronic signal suitable for television applications.

The value equal to the raster height divided by the half-period of a periodic test pattern.

A device designed to enlarge the image of a microscopic object by television process. It may be a flying spot scanner that is used to scan the microscope slide, or a camera tube-microscope...

A television receiver that receives the signals generated by a television camera directly, or remotely through a radio signal. It may be used to continuously check image and sound reception; as a...

A television display system in which the television signal is converted to an image that is projected onto either a front or rear projection screen.

The combination of the audio and visual signals that are transmitted and received at the same time, correlating the scene and sound in a television picture.

An electronic device used to encode video and audio signals of a television camera into radio waves that are broadcast to remote receivers. The video and audio components are transmitted...

The graph of the oscillating variations composing the wave of a video signal.

The material favored for study of interaction of high-acoustic intensities with free carriers. Tellurium is the semiconductor with the largest piezoelectric constants. Tellurium oxide is the material...

Teloscopy, while not a commonly used term, could be understood in the context of principles related to telescopes and their applications in observation and measurement. If we interpret teloscopy as...

A coating having pigments that change color when exposed to heat. This effect has been widely used to monitor hot spots in mechanical parts.

A glass that is heated, then chilled (usually by an air blast) to set up internal stresses so that the surfaces are under compression. This strengthens the glass, since glass breaks only in tension,...

A characteristic of laser output, calculated by dividing the speed of light by the linewidth of the laser beam. The temporal coherence length of different lasers thus varies from a few centimeters to...

A technique used to suppress extreme noise amplification during digital image reconstruction that relies on smoothing and differentiation of the data by simplified least squared procedures.

Characteristic of deflected light power defined as the quadratic invariant function of the video signal amplitude.

In the SI system, prefix meaning 1012. (T).

Electromagnetic radiation with frequencies between 300 GHz and 10 THz, and existing between regions of the electromagnetic spectrum that are typically classified as the far-infrared and microwave...

A terahertz spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to measure and analyze the properties of materials in the terahertz frequency range, typically spanning from about 0.1 to 10 terahertz (THz),...

Terahertz (THz) refers to a unit of frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum, denoting waves with frequencies between 0.1 and 10 terahertz. One terahertz is equivalent to one trillion hertz, or...

A synonym for spatial coherence. See spatially coherent radiation.

An optical matrix that does not require perfection in both states of the crosspoint, so that all the optical switches can be tap-off devices in which a fraction of the optical energy is transferred...

The process of attaching a device to the end of a fiber cable to enable the beam to be transmitted farther, to pass to another device and to avoid reflection.

Made up of three components; for instance yttrium, aluminum and garnet (YAG).

Refers to a notation system using a base of 3 and the numerical characters 0, 1 and 2.

A telescope that produces an erect image. Erection is achieved either by a lens (for a long instrument) or a prism (for a compact instrument). Very small terrestrial telescopes of low power may be of...

The magnetic flux density given by a magnetic flux of one weber per square meter. (T).

A lens similar to the Cooke triplet anastigmat, with the rear crown achromatized for improved coverage and definition. It is used in medium-speed cameras and enlargers.

A device used to detect elevation, pyramid and resolution errors in prisms and other components by bringing them into contact with the three highly polished, flat, perpendicular surfaces that form...

A transparent block shaped accurately to reverse curvatures of the components it is used to test. By contacting an accurately finished negative lens shape with a newly made positive, the conformity...

The section of crystal symmetry having only one-quarter of the greatest number of faces permitted by the crystal system of which the section is a member.

With respect to crystals, having three mutually rectangular axes, only two of which are equal.

A contraction for "texture element." A base unit used in computer graphics that defines the surface of three-dimensional objects. Texels are obtained from texture memory and represent color to be...

A photoconductive cell that uses thallium oxysulfide as the light-sensitive medium.