Photonics Dictionary

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a lens or optical system, leading to a failure to focus all colors to the same...

A plane mirror mounted on a polar axis that lies parallel to the plane of the mirror. When the mirror is rotated once in 48 hours, celestial objects can be made to appear stationary and are...

A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides objective and standardized color information, typically expressed in terms...

A center-opening shutter made up of several identical leaves that are mounted symmetrically around the optical axis of the lens.

Computational imaging refers to the use of computational techniques, algorithms, and hardware to enhance or enable imaging capabilities beyond what traditional optical systems can achieve. It...

A camera mounted on an optical bench with an easel to hold the material to be copied. Magnification can be varied over a wide range by sliding the camera and easel.

In microscopy, the chamber that is contained on a microscope slide to hold a certain amount of fluid. It is calibrated accurately to determine the number of cells and other elements while the...

A coverslip, also known as a cover glass or cover slip, is a thin and flat piece of transparent material typically made of glass or plastic. It is used in microscopy to cover a specimen mounted on a...

A cryogenically cooled long-wave infrared (LWIR) camera is a specialized thermal imaging device designed to detect infrared radiation in the long-wave infrared spectrum, typically ranging from 8 to...

A crystal that may serve as a diffraction grating if mounted effectively.

A data acquisition (DAQ) system is a combination of hardware and software used to collect, process, and analyze data from physical phenomena or processes. data acquisition system suppliers...

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that involves the use of artificial neural networks to model and solve complex problems. The term "deep" in deep learning refers to the use of deep...

For an optical table, the amount of displacement that occurs when a heavy load is placed or moved on the surface. To measure deflection under static load, a 113-kg (250 lb) weight is placed in the...

Use of a photoelectric receiver to sense an object's presence by detecting a small amount of the emitter's light that is diffusely reflected by the object.

A step-by-step method of reducing the amount of data in a digital video signal to transmit or store a high-quality image. The digitized picture is analyzed, and fine detail and redundant pixels,...

A scale located on the eyepiece focusing screw and used to measure the amount of defocusing of the eyepiece in diopters. The reciprocal of the image distance in meters is a measure of the amount of...

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing through a medium. This variation in the speed of light for different colors...

A dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) refers to a type of optical fiber designed to minimize the effects of chromatic dispersion, which is the phenomenon where different wavelengths of light travel at...

A spectrophotometer that measures the amount of ozone in the atmosphere through a comparison of solar energy at two wavelengths in the ozone's absorption band. This comparison is achieved by...

A mode of laser printing in which each pixel is printed four times, providing sharper lines and a continuous tone from one-quarter the amount of image data, compared with single-raster output.

For a detector, the amount of time alotted for the observation of one location.

A lens mounting with eccentric rings that may be rotated to shift the axis of the lens to a prescribed position.

A unit of energy equal to the amount of energy absorbed by one molecule of material undergoing a photochemical reaction, as determined by the Stark-Einstein law.

A type of optical modulator with potential application in optical switching and displays, in which applied voltage causes a change of interfacial tension between mercury and an electrolyte, varying...

A type of modulation spectroscopy that measures spectral reflectance or transmittance changes induced by applying a perturbing electric field. It can be performed in contactless modes with no special...

Emission spectroscopy is a technique used to study the emission of electromagnetic radiation (light) by atoms, molecules, or ions when they undergo transitions from excited states to lower energy...

The entrance slit, also known simply as the slit, is an essential component in optical instruments such as spectrometers and monochromators. It is a narrow opening or aperture through which light...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a laboratory technique used to detect and measure the presence of specific substances, such as antibodies, antigens, proteins, hormones, or other...

A telescope stand equipped with a polar axis that can be set parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation and a declination axis that is at right angles to the polar axis. If the telescope is turned at a...

Calculation of the amount of energy extracted from a light beam regardless of its wide range resolution.

The amount of energy required to raise the energy level of an atom; a necessity if the atom is to radiate energy. High excitation potential is the amount of energy in the upper state of the...

The amount of x-rays used to penetrate and diffuse a target sample undergoing electron-probe microanalysis.

The ejection of electrons from the surface of a solid by the absorption of a sufficient amount of photons.

The Faraday effect, named after the English scientist Michael Faraday, is a phenomenon in physics where the polarization plane of light is rotated when the light passes through a transparent medium...

A FAC lens, or fast axis collimation lens, is an optical component used in laser diode systems to collimate the fast axis of laser emission. Laser diodes emit light in two main axes: the fast axis,...

A type of mirage that creates a distorted vertical image of relatively flat objects so that they appear as mountains, cliffs, columns or castles. The nonexistent mountainous region in the Arctic...

A property of optical fiber that results from thermal stresses during manufacturing and is defined as the amount of curvature over any specified length of fiber.

A fiber optic attenuator is a passive optical component designed to attenuate or decrease the intensity of an optical signal traveling through a fiber optic link. It achieves this by introducing a...

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to transmit light from a source to a spectrometer unit, where the light is...

A transformer that is designed to regulate the amount of current that passes through an electron tube's filament.

The distance between the locating surface of the lens mount and the image plane.