Photonics Dictionary

A bench with instrumentation including a collimator, a microscope, positioners and a nodal slide used to rotate a lens about its second nodal point. The nodal bench is used to determine the cardinal...

The measurement of first- and higher order properties of a lens and its formed image, including effective focal length, back focal length, f number, aberrations, blur patterns, magnification and...

A small low-power microscope or magnifier with a scale that is used to measure the exit pupil diameter and eye relief on visual instruments. Optical dynameters are often used to measure the...

An otoscope is a medical device used by healthcare professionals, particularly ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists, primary care physicians, and pediatricians, to examine the ear canal and...

The image distortion produced by a panoramic camera with a swinging lens or a swinging mirror in front of a fixed lens. The magnification is greatest in the center and diminishes to each side in the...

The distortion that is the result of viewing a print from a point other than the center of perspective. The center of perspective is that viewpoint at which the angular subtenses of points in the...

A method of producing magnified images by x-rays. The specimen is placed close to a point source of x-rays; the magnification achieved is the ratio of source-image to source-object distance....

An alteration in magnification from the center of the field to any point in the field, measured in a radial direction from the center of the field. Some radial distortion is inherent in most optical...

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials characterization, and various industrial applications. Unlike traditional optical...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the surfaces of solid specimens. SEM achieves this by...

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and physicist Ludwig von Seidel. These aberrations describe deviations from...

A singlet lens is an optical lens made from a single piece of material, typically glass or plastic, with one or both surfaces being spherical or aspherical. It is the most basic type of lens used in...

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field, distortion-free images at all magnifications with a high-intensity vertical...

In microscopy, a calibrated scale on a slide that may be viewed to determine the exact magnification factor of the microscope.

Wide-field, low-magnification device that consists of two compound microscopes focused on a single object, producing an erect three-dimensional image.

The use of a specialized optical microscope designed to provide a more three-dimensional view of a sample. Stereomicroscopy usually uses reflected light and provides enhanced depth perception via the...

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

The ratio between the focal length of a lens having a longer focal length than that of the standard lens used with a camera, and the focal length of the standard lens. It is used to provide an...

An afocal optical device made up of lenses or mirrors, usually with a magnification greater than unity, that renders distant objects more distinct, by enlarging their images on the retina.

Teloscopy, while not a commonly used term, could be understood in the context of principles related to telescopes and their applications in observation and measurement. If we interpret teloscopy as...

The product of the actual base or baseline of a rangefinder or heightfinder, and the power or magnification of the instrument.

Virtual histology refers to the use of digital technology and computational methods to simulate or recreate histological images and structures without the need for traditional physical slides and...

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...

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...