Type

Browse by Letter

PI Physik Instrumente - 50 ways hexapod ROS MR 7/24

956 terms

Photonics Dictionary

Clear All Filters x materials x
optical character recognition

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into machine-readable text. OCR software and systems are designed to recognize and extract...

optical coatings

Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms, to modify their reflective and transmissive properties. These coatings are...

optical density

A measure of the transmittance through an optical medium. Optical density equals the log to the base 10 of the reciprocal of the transmittance. where τλ is transmittance. In spectroscopy,...

optical element

An optical part constructed of a single piece of optical material. It is usually a single lens, prism or mirror.

optical emission spectroscopy

In dry etching, a method of characterizing the composition of solid materials such as metal. Atoms in the OES technique are excited by energy that comes from a spark formed between the sample and an...

optical filter

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical filters are used to control the spectral content of light in various...

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 strain sensors

Optical strain sensors are devices that utilize optical principles to measure the deformation or strain experienced by a material under mechanical stress. These sensors convert changes in strain into...

optical table

An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics laboratories for mounting and aligning optical components. These tables provide a...

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...

optically active material

A material that can rotate the polarization of light that passes through it. An optically active material exhibits different refractive indices for left- and right-circular polarizations (circular...

optics

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and its manifestation as both particle and wave phenomena. It encompasses the...

optics of material

The area of optics that deals with the interaction of light with a given material. The optical properties of material are generally described by the absorption, transmission, reflection, and...

optoacoustic

Optoacoustic, or photoacoustic, refers to a phenomenon and related techniques that involve the generation of acoustic waves in a material induced by the absorption of light. The term "optoacoustic"...

optoelectronics

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...

optofluidics

Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems that integrate the manipulation of light and fluids. This field focuses on...

orange peel

In the context of imaging, particularly digital imaging and printing, "orange peel" refers to a texture or visual distortion that resembles the surface of an orange peel. This texture can result from...

organic dye laser

A laser having a lasing material that is a fluorescing organic dye. Depending on the dye used, it can produce emission in any part of the visible spectrum into the near-infrared and ultraviolet, and...

organic light-emitting diode

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) technology that utilizes organic compounds to produce light. OLEDs are commonly used in display technologies, such as...

oscillation threshold

Point at which a laser's material gain is equal to, or greater than, the circuit losses.

oscillator -> laser cavity

A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined region or space where light undergoes multiple reflections, leading to the...

overcoat

A layer of material applied to a coated surface to protect it from physical or chemical action.

P-type material

A semiconductor material in which the dopants create holes as the majority charge carrier. It is formed by doping with acceptor atoms.

paraffin oil

A saturated compound of carbon and hydrogen used as a liquid coating material for optical components in high-power laser applications. See liquid coating.

parametric oscillator

A device using a parametric amplifier inside a resonant optical cavity to generate a frequency-tunable coherent beam of light from an intense laser beam of fixed frequency. This device is tuned by...

particle acceleration

Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy and increase their velocity. This acceleration can occur in various natural...

Peltier cooler

A Peltier cooler, also known as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or thermoelectric module, is a solid-state device that uses the Peltier effect to transfer heat between two electrical junctions. It can...

permeability

Typically represented by the Greek letter μ, magnetic permeability is the measure of a material's ability to generate and sustain a magnetic field within itself when an external magnetic field is...

perovskite

The term perovskite refers to a specific crystal structure commonly found in various materials. Perovskite structures have a cubic arrangement of oxygen ions, forming a framework within which other...

petrographic microscope

A microscope equipped with a polarizer, an analyzer and a Bertrand lens to focus on the upper focal plane of the objective. It is used chiefly by mineralogists and crystallographers for...

phage

A phage, short for bacteriophage, is a type of virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. Phages are composed of genetic material (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat. They are...

phase conjugation

The use of a reflective device, which can be fashioned from a variety of materials including gases, solids, dyes, aerosols, semiconductor crystals and plasmas, to replicate a laser beam by reversing...

phase contrast microscopy

Phase contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy technique that enhances the contrast of transparent and colorless specimens, making it possible to visualize fine details and internal structures...

phase hologram

A hologram that is formed on a recording medium by changing the phase of the illuminating wave in correspondence with the recording exposure. It may be formed by contact printing onto a resist...

phase mask

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it. The phase mask is used to control the spatial distribution of the light's...

phase matching

Phase matching is a crucial concept in the field of optics, particularly in nonlinear optics and the generation of coherent light. It refers to the condition where the phases of two or more waves,...

phonon

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline lattice. In simpler terms, phonons are quanta of lattice vibrations in a solid...

photoacoustic

Photoacoustic refers to the generation of acoustic (sound) waves following the absorption of light (usually laser pulses) by a material. This phenomenon occurs when light energy is absorbed by a...

photocathodes

Photocathodes are specialized materials or surfaces that exhibit the photoelectric effect, wherein the absorption of photons leads to the emission of electrons. When photons with sufficient energy...

photochromic

Photochromic refers to a property exhibited by certain materials, typically organic compounds or dyes, which undergo reversible changes in color when exposed to light. Specifically, photochromic...

photoconductive film

A film of material that exhibits varying conductivity based upon its absorption of varying amounts of photon radiation.

Photonics Dictionary

Need Help?