Photonics Dictionary

Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that is employed to produce...

A type of tubing used to protect optical fiber cables, consisting of a wire spiral of aluminum, galvanized steel or stainless steel, encased in a polyvinyl chloride or silicon rubber coating. These...

An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical filters are used to control the spectral content of light in various...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...

A saturated compound of carbon and hydrogen used as a liquid coating material for optical components in high-power laser applications. See liquid coating.

A thin film or coating that forms on various finished surfaces. On optical surfaces it usually denotes aging.

Photoelastic equipment and supplies refer to instruments and materials used in photoelasticity, a technique used to analyze stress distribution and behavior in materials. photoelastic equipment...

Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production of optical coatings. This method combines two key processes: plasmon...

A film applied to a coated or uncoated optical surface primarily for protecting this surface from mechanical abrasion, from chemical corrosion, or from both. For example, a thin layer of silicon...

A process that employs heat to remove polyimide plastic coatings from silica optical fibers and capillary tubing.

Quantum dot thin films refer to thin layers or coatings composed of quantum dots deposited onto a substrate surface. Quantum dots are nanoscale semiconductor particles typically ranging from a few to...

Reactive evaporation refers to a process in thin-film deposition where a material is deposited onto a substrate through evaporation, and chemical reactions take place during or after the evaporation...

A measurement in optical thin-film coating processes whereby the gases remaining in the vacuum chamber after coating are characterized by mass spectroscopy.

Retroreflectivity refers to the property of a surface or material to reflect light back to its source, regardless of the angle of incidence. Unlike most surfaces that scatter light in various...

A Rugate filter is a type of optical filter that is designed to have a continuously varying refractive index profile throughout its thickness, rather than the discrete layers found in traditional...

A gelatinous fluid that can be used as a porous thin-film coating for optical components, including laser beam collimators, or as a protective coating for glass and crystalline materials.

A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering. Sputtering targets are typically made of metals, metal alloys, or compounds...

Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the physical structure of the material. In structural color, the interaction of...

A telescope lens is a primary optical component of a telescope system that gathers and focuses light to form an image. It is typically a curved, transparent piece of glass or other optical material...

Thin-film coatings are layers of material applied to the surface of an object or substrate, typically to modify its optical, electrical, or mechanical properties. These coatings are composed of thin...

Thin-film deposition is a process used to deposit a thin layer of material onto a substrate surface, typically ranging from nanometers to micrometers in thickness. These thin films are utilized in...

Ultraviolet (UV) coatings are specialized optical coatings designed to operate in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically ranging from 10 nm to 400 nm. These coatings are...

Ultraviolet (UV) fiber optics refers to optical fibers that are designed and optimized for the transmission of ultraviolet light, which is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than...