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black hole
A cosmic phenomenon in which the mass and density of a star pass a critical point so that the escape velocity matches the speed of light. For this reason, light and matter are "captured'' by the...
black level
The level of the television picture signal that corresponds to the maximum limit of black peaks.
black light
Radiation from the invisible (usually ultraviolet) region of the spectrum.
black surface enclosure
An enclosure whose walls are coated to absorb completely all radiation striking them.
blackbody
An ideal body that completely absorbs all radiant energy striking it and, therefore, appears perfectly black at all wavelengths. The radiation emitted by such a body when heated is referred to as...
blackbody locus
With respect to a chromaticity diagram, this is the locus of points that represent the chromaticities of blackbodies possessing different color temperatures.
blackbody simulator
A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical, made of an opaque material and insulated from thermal effects, with a small...
blackbody source
A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation incident upon it and emits radiation in a...
blacking -> optical blacking
A light absorbing material applied to ground optical surfaces during the process of making that surface non reflective. Such material should have a refractive index as high as that of the underlying...
blank
A piece of glass, quartz or other transparent material formed roughly by molding or cutting into the approximate shape and size of the finished part.
blanking
The process by which the raster beam in a video tube is cut off during the retracing and sync periods.
blaze
1. A plane that forms one side of the groove ruled on a diffraction grating. 2. To form the individual grooves of a grating with flat smooth faces, inclined to the surface by an angle known as the...
blaze height
Blaze height typically refers to a parameter in the context of diffraction gratings, which are optical devices consisting of a series of closely spaced parallel grooves or slits. The blaze height is...
blaze wavelength
The light wavelength for which the direction of reflectance from the groove face is identical to the angle of diffraction for a specified angle of incidence.
bleach (or bleacher)
A chemical used in the developing of positive photographs that incites oxidation and thereby dissolves the negative silver to vary tone, color and intensity.
bleaching -> saturable absorber
A saturable absorber is a type of optical device that exhibits variable absorption properties depending on the intensity of incident light. In essence, it becomes less absorbent as the light...
blind approach beacon system
A ground-based navigation beacon that emits pulsed signals which are picked up by aircraft making an instrument (blind) approach in landing. The signal is transmitted to the aircraft's L-scan...
blind spot
The spot on the retina where the optic nerve is attached; it is incapable of sensing light because of the absence of light receptors.
blindness
The inability to perceive visual images (visible radiant energy). In human beings, blindness is defined as a visual acuity of less than one-tenth normal vision.
blink comparator
An optical system that rapidly alternates two similar pictures or scenes to permit the detection of small dissimilarities between them.
blinking
Intentionally alternating the intensity of a display element in a graphic display device.
blister
An extended bubble or seed on glass, elliptically shaped and more than one-quarter inch (6.3 mm) in length.
blob
A group of adjacent pixels in an image representing the same value, as all black in a binary image.
block
A supporting member used to hold optical parts during grinding and polishing. It also describes the assemblage of optical parts on the supporting member; e.g., a block of lenses or block of prisms.
block reek
A type of scratch.
blocking
The process whereby blanks are attached to a block in a position for grinding or polishing.
blocking cement
An adhesive used to hold optical elements to blocking tools. It is usually a thermoplastic substance such as resin, beeswax, pitch or shellac.
blocking material
Pitch, wax, resin or other cement suitable for holding optical parts to a spindle during grinding and polishing processes.
blocking pitch
An adhesive used to affix optical elements to an approximately shaped body -- usually of cast iron.
blocking shaper
A convex, concave or flat cast iron form that is used to shape a soft mold block of optical components.
blocking tool
An instrument used to support optical parts to be cemented, or to be mounted in plaster.
blooming
The loss of focus of a camera sensor because of excessive brightness, characterized by the enlargement of spot size and halation on a cathode-ray tube.
blown fiber
A technique developed by British Telecom in which the viscous drag of air is used to install optical fibers in narrow plastic tubes.
blue diode laser
A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically between 400 and 500 nanometers. Diode lasers are compact,...
blue noise
Noise over a specified frequency range, in which the spectral density is proportional to the frequency instead of being independent of it, as in white noise.
bluestone
An edging stone having a relatively coarse abrasive.
blur circle
A blur circle refers to the out-of-focus region in an image captured by an optical system. When an object in a scene is not in perfect focus, its image is spread out into a circular shape on the...
body
In the optical field, a piece of glass to which a lens or prism is cemented. The unit is ground and polished as a whole to obtain a sharp edge on the finished piece.
Bohr's frequency relation
The law given by the formula: that is, the frequency of radiation emitted or absorbed by a system when E2 and E1 are the energies of the states among which transition takes place, and h is...
bolograph
A bolometer that serves to record. The photographic record formed by the bolometer may be called bolograph or bologram.
bolometer
A thermometric instrument used for the detection and measurement of radiant energy. Its essential component is a short narrow strip covered with a dead black absorbing coating and mounted at the...
Boltzmann's constant
A constant equal to the universal gas constant divided by the Avogadro number. It is approximately equal to 1.38 x 10-23 J/K and is commonly expressed by the symbol k.
bombsight
An instrument that determines, or allows a bombardier to determine, the point in the plane's line of flight at which a bomb must be released to hit a specified target.
bore
The central hole running the full length of a laser capillary tube, in which electrical discharge and laser action take place. Also a similar hole in a hollow waveguide or a microchannel plate.
borescope
A device for the internal inspection of hard-to-get-at mechanical parts, such as rifle barrels, sewer pipes, oil wells, or gas mains. The long narrow tube used contains a telescope system with as...
boresight
The alignment process that makes the optical axes of two related systems parallel to each other. Also, making the optical axis parallel to a related weapon system axis.
borosilicate glass
A strong, heat-resistant glass that contains a minimum of 5 percent boric oxide.
Bose-Einstein condensate
A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that forms at temperatures close to absolute zero. It is named after Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein, who independently predicted the...
boson
A boson is a type of fundamental particle that follows Bose-Einstein statistics, which dictate the statistical distribution of identical particles with integer spin. Bosons are one of the two main...
Bouguer's law -> Lambert's absorption law
Transmittance of a solution, or internal transmittance of a transparent solid, is an exponential function of the thickness of the layer.

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