Photonics Dictionary

Harmonic generation refers to a nonlinear optical process in which incoming photons interact with a material and produce new photons at integer multiples of the frequency of the incoming photons....

The heat-affected zone (HAZ) refers to the portion of a material, typically metal, that experiences changes in its microstructure and mechanical properties due to the heat generated during welding,...

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device designed to capture fast-moving events or phenomena at extremely high frame rates....

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced imaging technique that captures and processes information from across the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike traditional imaging systems that record only a few...

A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide range of wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum, typically from...

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the infrared radiation emitted by objects, revealing temperature variations across...

An InGaAs photodiode refers to a photodetector device that is constructed using a semiconductor material composed of a combination of indium (In), gallium (Ga), and arsenic (As). The term InGaAs...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The...

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...

Laser ablation is a process that involves the removal or erosion of material from a target surface using laser energy. This technique is widely used in various scientific, industrial, and medical...

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 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...

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 optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser light. Laser optics play a crucial role in shaping the characteristics of...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or nanoscopic scale. These optical lattices can be created using various techniques...

A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which lenses are eventually fabricated. Lens blanks are made from various...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the intensity, phase, or polarization of light passing through it using liquid...

Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the surface of substrates, typically silicon wafers. It involves the transfer of...

A magnon is a quasiparticle representing a quantized spin wave in a magnetic material. In other words, it is a collective excitation of the spins of electrons in a magnetic solid, analogous to the...

A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped waveguide structure to selectively enhance or filter certain wavelengths of...

A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It consists of a micro-sized, gas-filled spherical cavity (the "microbubble")...

Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, refer to miniature devices or systems that integrate mechanical and electrical components at a microscale. These systems combine elements such as sensors,...

Mode locking is a technique used in optics and laser physics to generate short pulses of light with extremely high peak powers. In mode locking, the phases of different longitudinal modes (specific...

A multiline laser system refers to a type of laser that is capable of emitting multiple discrete wavelengths or spectral lines simultaneously. Unlike single-line lasers, which produce radiation at a...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a high-resolution, high-throughput process that involves the mechanical...

Nanophotonics is a branch of science and technology that explores the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, typically at dimensions smaller than the wavelength of light. It involves the study and...

Nanoplasmonics is a branch of nanophotonics that focuses on the study and manipulation of optical phenomena at the nanoscale using plasmonic materials and structures. Plasmonics deals with the...

A unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters which ultimately alter the way light propagates through and is...

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. This type of laser emits light at a wavelength of 1064 nm in the...

A nonlinear crystal is a type of crystal that exhibits nonlinear optical properties when subjected to intense electromagnetic fields, typically from laser light. Unlike linear optical materials,...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a material and induces nonlinear responses. In contrast to linear optics, where...

Nonlinear polarization refers to the phenomenon where the polarization of a material responds nonlinearly to an applied electric field. In linear systems, the polarization of a material is directly...

On-board optics refers to optical systems integrated into devices or platforms for various purposes, such as imaging, navigation, communication, and sensing. These systems are crucial in a wide range...

An optical accumulator is a concept or device that collects and stores optical energy or data for subsequent use. This can be applied in various fields within optics and photonics: Optical data...

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into machine-readable text. OCR software and systems are designed to recognize and extract...

An optical gate typically refers to a device or system that controls the transmission of light, allowing it to pass through or be blocked in a manner analogous to an electronic gate controlling the...

An optical modulator is a device used to control or modify a property of light, such as its amplitude, phase, polarization, or frequency. Optical modulators are essential components in a wide range...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or integrity of the transmitted information. This type of noise is particularly...

Optical parametric amplification (OPA) is a process in nonlinear optics where a weak signal beam is amplified by a much stronger pump beam through the nonlinear interaction in a nonlinear optical...

Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy and increase their velocity. This acceleration can occur in various natural...

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it. The phase mask is used to control the spatial distribution of the light's...

A photodetector, also known as a photosensor or photodiode, is a device that detects and converts light into an electrical signal. Photodetectors are widely used in various applications, ranging from...

Photolithography is a key process in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). It is a photomechanical process used to transfer...

A photonic engine refers to a device or system that utilizes photonics, or the science and technology of generating, controlling, and detecting photons (particles of light), to perform various...

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and functions on a single chip, similar to the way electronic integrated circuits...

Piezoresistance is a phenomenon in materials science and physics where the electrical resistance of a material changes in response to applied mechanical stress or strain. This change in resistance...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically,...

Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded together to form long chains or networks, creating a macromolecular...

Q-switched operation, or q-switching, is a technique used in lasers to produce short and intense pulses of light. The term "Q" in q-switching stands for "quality factor," which is a measure of the...