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8,726 terms

Photonics Dictionary

synchronous pumping

The technique of generating ultrashort -- down to subpicosecond -- pulses by pumping a dye laser with mode-locked laser pumps with cavity lengths the same as, or a submultiple of, that of the dye...

synchronous transmission

A mode of transmission whereby the sending and receiving stations operate continuously at a fixed relationship of phase and frequency, generating signals to control the timing of the data that are to...

synchrotron

A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that uses magnetic fields to steer charged particles, typically electrons or positrons, in a closed, circular or elliptical path. The name synchrotron...

synchrotron radiation

Radiation emitted by electrons when they travel in circular orbits at speeds close to that of light. Synchrotron radiation occurs in the x-ray and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. Once considered...

synthetic aperture radar

Imaging radar that increases the sweep of its along-track (or azimuth) capacity by measuring not only the time delay of the echoes returning from the microwave pulse transmitted by its antenna (or...

synthetic interferometric image

An imaging technique in which an object moving through an interference field formed in space scatters light and is spatially recorded on a photographic film as a hologram. If the interference field...

system

A combination of components arranged so as to perform at least one function.

system-on-chip

A system-on-chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit (IC) that incorporates all necessary components of a computer or electronic system onto a single chip. This typically includes a microprocessor or...

torr

transmission; tesla; tera-

t number

The equivalent f number of a fictitious lens that has a circular opening and 100 percent transmittance, which would give the same central illumination as the lens being considered: where...

T stop -> t number

The equivalent f number of a fictitious lens that has a circular opening and 100 percent transmittance, which would give the same central illumination as the lens being considered: where...

3-D

three-dimensional

t-number

transmission number

T/R

transmit/receive unit

TAB

tape automated bonding

table

See honeycomb table; indexing table.

tachometer

An instrument designed to measure the rate of rotation of components, such as shafts.

TAI

Temps Atomique International

talbot

One lumen-second, the SI unit of the quantity of light.

Talbot's bands

The series of interference bands that appear in the spectrum when a specified glass plate is inserted into a spectroscope, from the side of the blue portion of the spectrum, so that the plate...

Talbot's law

The law stating that the brightness of an object that is examined through a slotted disc, rotating over a critical frequency, is proportional to the angular aperture divided by the opaque sectors.

tan

tangent of

tangent ogive

In optics, a shape often given to the leading edge of a projectile. In any side view it appears as a pointed arc, while any cross section perpendicular to its long axis appears as a circle.

tangential distortion

Optical aberration such that image magnification varies with ray distance from the optical axis in a radial distortion.

tanh

hyperbolic tangent

TAP

target angular position

tap

A device for extracting a portion of the optical signal from a fiber.

tapered transmission line -> tapered waveguide

A waveguide having a characteristic that is altered continuously with the distance traveled, relative to the axis of its path.

tapered undulator -> undulator magnet

A device used in a free-electron laser to convert the electron-beam's energy into microwave laser radiation by creating a magnetic field of alternating polarity through which the free electrons are...

tapered waveguide

A waveguide having a characteristic that is altered continuously with the distance traveled, relative to the axis of its path.

target

1. The anode or anticathode of an x-ray tube that emits x-rays when bombarded by electrons. 2. The screen in a television imaging tube that is scanned by an electron beam to determine the...

target angular position

Measurement estimated from the position of the image's centroid.

target size and orientation

Angular tracking measurement estimated from the properly normalized image second-moment tensor.

TAS

target acquisition system

TASR

tunable, all-optical signal regenerator

Taylor criterion

States that in interferometers in which the separation of the maxima is equal to the half-value width, a slight drop in intensity between fringes is distinguishable and the fringes can be considered...

Tb/s

terabits per second

TCL

through-camera-lens

TCR

temperature coefficient of resistance

TDAS

tracking and data acquisition system

TDDM

time division demultiplex

TDI

tachometry displacement integration; time delay integration

TDL

tunable diode laser

TDM

time division multiplexing

TDR

time-domain reflectometer

TDRS

tracking and data relay satellite

TDS

time-domain spectroscopy

thermoelectric; transverse electric

TEA

transversely excited atmosphere

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Photonics Dictionary

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