Photonics Dictionary

In an optical system with a series of lenses, images formed prior to the final focal plane.

A nonoptical surface, within lenses and lens mounts, that contributes largely to flare by reflecting light into the image space. As a result, such surfaces, so located, are finished with a dull...

An absorbing coating medium between fibers, used in some fused fiber optic plates to absorb unwanted light. Such coatings are sometimes called EMA (extramural absorption).

A material often used in the construction of optical instruments because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion (0.9 x 10-6/ °C).

An invisibility cloak is technology that would render an object or individual invisible to the observer. In scientific research, efforts to create real-life invisibility cloaks have been...

A method of fabricating a graded-index optical waveguide by means of an ion exchange process.

A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized gas. The gases are electrically excited in a container called a plasma tube,...

Ion-beam sputtering (IBS) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for depositing thin films onto substrates. It involves bombarding a target material with a beam of energetic ions,...

A thermosetting material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables.

Indication of emission brightness with degree of emission from an optical source.

In the context of electronics and optics, an isolator refers to a device that allows the transmission of signals in one direction while attenuating or blocking signals in the opposite direction. The...

The outer material that surrounds and protects the buffered and unbuffered fibers in an optical cable.

A continuous-wave dye laser that uses a circulation pump and nozzle to provide an optically flat stream of dye across the laser's optical axis.

Also called coating jig allowance. That margin on an optical component that is outside the clear aperture for use in holding the component in the optical thin-film coater tooling during the...

An optical instrument containing a gimballed sighting telescope, used to measure angular relationships in horizontal and vertical planes.

A device consisting of two optical systems in which two signals are simultaneously transformed to produce their spectra, and these spectra are multiplied and inversely transformed to produce the...

In an interlaced scanning electro-optical system such as television, the system resolution will be less than the number of active scan lines because of the random phase nature of the object being...

The Kerr effect, named after the physicist John Kerr who first observed it in 1875, is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where the refractive index of a material changes in response to an applied...

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical systems due to the Kerr effect. The Kerr effect is the phenomenon where the...

E.I. duPont's trade name for an aramid yarn used as a strength member in the jacket of fiber optic cable.

A mount for an optic element or optics assembly, designed so that all six degrees of freedom are singly constrained. This assures that movement will be prevented, while stress will not be introduced...

Pennwalt's trade name for polyvinylidene fluoride, a material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables where low smoke emission is deemed more important than flexibility.

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single, compact chip. Also known as microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems are...

An optical source that has a luminous distribution that is uniform for all directions.

In optics, a plane that emits a flux proportional to the cosine of the angle of the normal; dense opal glass is an example.

Lapping and polishing services involve specialized processes used to improve the surface finish and dimensional accuracy of components to meet specific requirements or standards. These services are...

Optical fiber with a large core, often a step-index fiber; "large'' is at times defined as greater than 85 µm.

Laser active elements typically refers to the substances or materials within a laser system that play a critical role in the amplification of light through the process of stimulated emission. These...

Laser annealing is a process that involves using a laser beam to heat and modify the microstructure of a material, typically a thin film or surface layer, with the objective of improving its...

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...

A laser crystal, also known as an active medium or gain medium, is a solid-state material used in the construction of lasers. The primary function of the laser crystal is to amplify light by...

The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing damage. It is a critical parameter in laser applications and is...

Visible laser radiation, often optically expanded and collimated, used to induced temporary blindness from within a walking distance of an impending target. Laser dazzle systems may be in a handheld...

A laser device used to establish a location or target usually for detection by an impact source e.g. missiles and guided munitions. Laser designation sources utilize a system configuration which is...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single package. These modules are designed to provide a convenient and efficient...

Laser drift typically refers to a phenomenon where the frequency or wavelength of a laser source gradually changes over time. In the context of lasers, stability in terms of frequency or wavelength...

Optical confinement of matter with high field energies intended to induce a stable nuclear fusion interaction.

An artificial star used to aid in adaptive optics imaging of the sky. The guide star is provided from a telescope system on the ground and is directed into the imaged region. The wavefront...

Laser irradiation is a process that involves the use of focused laser beams to deliver energy to specific areas for medical, industrial, or scientific purposes. The laser (light amplification by...

A narrow linewidth optically transmissive or reflective component intended for use with a highly monochromatic or single mode source.

A laser device intended for crushing urinary tract stones so they can be flushed from the body. Light is introduced via fiber optic delivery. A common wavelength used is 2.1 microns produced by...

Technique using functional optical microscope with the addition of a coherent source collinear with the image path. The laser light is intended to scan the sampled plane and acquire information from...

Contains the light or beam path within a laser device. The oscillator uses reflective optical components that are oriented to obtain multiple confined reflections.

Production of a repeated image of a transmitted beam through a diffractive optical element such as a holographic card or component disk. Creating moving or stationary optical designs via a system of...