Search
Menu
DataRay Inc. - ISO 11146-Compliant Laser Beam Profilers
Photonics Marketplace
Suppliers Products
Handbook Institutions Dictionary

Show Filters
8,726 terms

Photonics Dictionary

WDM
wavelength division multiplexing
weakly guided fiber
A fiber for which the difference between the maximum and the minimum refractive index is small, usually less than 1 percent.
Weber's law
The law stating that the just-perceptible increment of stimulus is a constant fraction of the stimulus.
weber
The magnetic flux that, linking a circuit of one turn, produces in it an electromotive force of one volt as it is reduced to zero at a uniform rate in one second.
wedge filter
An optical filter so constructed that the density increases progressively from one end to the other, or angularly around a circular disc.
wedge photometer
A photometer that uses a wedge, marked to show its reduction of flux density, to make two light sources equal in intensity for comparison of luminous intensities. This is accomplished by the gradual...
wedge ring detector
A diffraction pattern sampling unit composed of a 32-element monolithic silicon photodiode array and a readout unit. The intensity on each detector element can be separately read out by means of a...
wedge spectrograph
A spectrograph in which the flux density transmitted through the entrance aperture is regulated by an optical wedge or similar device.
wedge tolerance
A method of specifying the allowable edge-thickness difference or decentering of a lens.
wedge
An optical element having plane-inclined surfaces. Usually the faces are inclined toward one another at very small angles. Wedges divert light toward their thicker portions, and may be circular,...
Wehnelt cylinder
Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a cathode-ray tube with opposite potential, is designed to focus and control the...
Weibull distribution
A statistical means of characterizing the failure of a fiber or device as related to strain or time. Results are plotted on a special graph paper to yield the distribution shape parameter.
Weissenberg method
The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for obtaining high-quality diffraction patterns from single crystals. This...
welding laser systems
Welding laser systems refer to specialized equipment used for joining materials through the application of a high-energy laser beam. These systems utilize laser technology to melt and fuse materials...
well plate
A well plate, also known as a microplate or microtiter plate, is a flat plate with multiple small wells or depressions arranged in a grid pattern. Each well serves as a separate container for holding...
WFE
wavefront error
WFS
wavefront sensor
WG
waveguide
Wh
watt-hour
whispering gallery mode
Whispering gallery mode (WGM) refers to a phenomenon in wave physics, particularly in optics, where waves, such as light or sound waves, are trapped and circulate along the periphery of a curved...
white balance
A feature of some imaging devices, such as digital cameras, that allows them to compensate for different lighting conditions by adjusting the color balance based on the difference between a white...
white level
The state of a carrier signal that corresponds to maximum picture brightness in a television system.
white light
Light perceived as achromatic, that is, without hue.
white noise
The random noise having a spectral density that is substantially independent of the frequency over a specified frequency range. White noise is widely used in the random vibration testing of devices.
white-light continuum
An extremely wide emission spectrum generated by the nonlinear effects created when a high peak power from a short-pulse laser is focused into a water or carbon tetrachloride cell. The resulting...
white-light hologram -> rainbow hologram
Essentially, a hologram of a hologram, in which the first-generation hologram is masked with a narrow slit. During image reconstruction, the slit operates as the exit pupil in image space. The...
white-light interferometer -> 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,...
whiteness measurement
The use of whiteness formulas to replace visual assessment.
Whittaker-Shannon theorem
The theorem stating that, when the sampling period in a recorded sample hologram is matched to the object spectrum, the resulting image does not suffer any loss of information content.
whole slide imaging
Whole slide imaging (WSI), also known as virtual slide microscopy or digital pathology, is a technology that involves the digitalization of entire glass slides containing histological or cytological...
WIC
wavelength-independent coupler
wide-angle distortion
A common aberration in lenses covering large fields of view; it results in images of objects near the edge of the field being compressed in the radial distortion.
wide-angle lens
A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to capture a broader field of view. Wide-angle lenses are characterized by their...
wide-field eyepiece
An eyepiece or magnifier capable of covering a field of view that is greater than 50°.
wide-field fluorescence microscopy
Wide-field fluorescence microscopy uses either naturally occurring structures or staining with fluorescent tags that are activated by specific wavelengths of light and then emits a different...
Wien's displacement law
The formula that gives the wavelength of maximum spectral radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody: λmax = 2898/T(µm) The radiation at this λmax can be calculated as follows:...
Wiener experiment
After putting a thick photographic emulsion on a front-faced mirror, and exposing the emulsion to monochromatic incident light normal to the face, Wiener discovered, upon developing the emulsion,...
Wiener filtering
A method that embraces the classical approach to image restoration and attempts to minimize the mean square difference between the original ungraded signal and the restoration.
Wiener spectrum -> 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...
wiggler magnet -> 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...
Williams refractometer
A refractometer that has a greater resolving power than a standard refractometer, and that uses a pentagonal prism to split the light from a single slit into two beams.
Winchester drive
A sealed, hard, magnetic disc drive used for the storage of data in a computer system.
window
1. A piece of glass with plane parallel surfaces used to admit light into an optical system and to exclude dirt and moisture. 2. A particular region of the electromagnetic spectrum that has been...
windowing
A technique for reducing data processing requirements by electronically defining only a small portion of the image to be analyzed, all other parts of it being ignored.
Winston cone
Specified curved optic intended for maximum collection of light, including off-axis rays, before leaving the exit aperture.
WL
wavelength
wobble
In micropositioning systems, motion (most frequently undesired) about the Z-axis.
Wollaston prism
A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are mutually perpendicularly polarized) by nearly equal amounts in opposite...
Wolter telescope
A grazing incidence mirror telescope with concentric conic surfaces having a single common point: a paraboloid-hyperboloid combination with two internal reflections.
wood effect
The phenomenon in which alkali metals are transparent to ultraviolet radiation.

Photonics Dictionary

Marketplace Help Need Help?

Explore Our Content
News
Features
Latest Products
Webinars
White Papers
All Things Photonics Podcast
Photonics Spectra Now
Videos
Our Summits & Conferences
Industry Events
Bookstore
Join Our Community
Subscribe
Advertise
Become a member
Sign in
Contribute a Feature
Suggest a Webinar
Submit a Press Release
Mobile Apps

About Us
Our Company
Our Publications
Contact Us
Career Opportunities
Teddi C. Laurin Scholarship

Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)



©2024 Photonics Media
100 West St.
Pittsfield, MA, 01201 USA
[email protected]
We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.