Photonics Dictionary

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...

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...

Optical phase distortion refers to a phenomenon where the phase of an optical wavefront is altered as it propagates through a medium. This distortion can result from variations in the refractive...

An optical probe is a device equipped with optical components such as lenses, fibers, or detectors, designed to transmit and receive light for the purpose of measuring or analyzing optical properties...

The process whereby the number of atoms or atomic systems in a set of energy levels is changed by the absorption of light that falls on the material. This process raises the atoms to specific higher...

An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives off and comparing it to the known temperature and wavelength spectrum of...

A measure of image quality produced by an optical system. May be specified in terms of cycles per millimeter, referencing a repeating bar pattern; or angular resolution, referencing the angle...

With respect to microscopy, also called dispersive staining, optical staining the projection of colors through areas of a colorless specimen by color filters that are constructed to fit over the...

Optical strain sensors are devices that utilize optical principles to measure the deformation or strain experienced by a material under mechanical stress. These sensors convert changes in strain into...

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using various techniques to selectively switch or redirect optical paths. This...

An optical table, also known as an optical bench or an optical breadboard, is a specialized platform used in optics laboratories for mounting and aligning optical components. These tables provide a...

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...

An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize and analyze the optical fibers' characteristics, including attenuation,...

A transparent crystalline substance in which the refractive index of the optic axis (extraordinary axis) is different from the other two crystal axes. Two polarization directions are allowed for any...

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and its manifestation as both particle and wave phenomena. It encompasses the...

Optoacoustic, or photoacoustic, refers to a phenomenon and related techniques that involve the generation of acoustic waves in a material induced by the absorption of light. The term "optoacoustic"...

Optofluidics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from optics and fluidics to create devices and systems that integrate the manipulation of light and fluids. This field focuses on...

A discipline that combines optics and genetics to enable the use of light to stimulate and control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light....

Optomechanical refers to the integration of optical and mechanical systems or components. In optomechanical systems, optics (related to the manipulation of light) and mechanics (related to the...

In the context of imaging, particularly digital imaging and printing, "orange peel" refers to a texture or visual distortion that resembles the surface of an orange peel. This texture can result from...

Any organic substance, that when dissolved in appropriate liquid based solvents will absorb and emit electromagnetic radiation in the near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared spectral regions....

A laser having a lasing material that is a fluorescing organic dye. Depending on the dye used, it can produce emission in any part of the visible spectrum into the near-infrared and ultraviolet, and...

A camera designed with a telecentric optical system and a narrow field of view; the telecentric optical system (placement of the system's stop at its focal point) ensures that the principal image...

Opsins are a group of light-sensitive proteins found primarily in the retinas of vertebrate and invertebrate eyes, as well as in other light-sensitive tissues. These proteins play a crucial role in...

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...

Oxytosis refers to a form of cell death that is induced by oxidative stress. It is characterized by the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within cells, leading to oxidative damage and...

Color sensitivity extended to cover the entire visible spectrum out to the red.

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a paraboloidal surface through which the axis does not pass, and is known as an...

Parallel scanning refers to a method of acquiring data or images simultaneously from multiple sources or in parallel, rather than sequentially scanning each source one after another. This approach is...

An array of lines in the infrared region of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Their wave numbers are expressed by the equation: where represents the wave number in the reciprocal centimeters,...

A mounting used for large concave gratings, whereby the slit, grating and plate holder lie in the Rowland circle, and the photographic plates lie along a large portion of the circle. In this way, a...

Passive optical components are devices or elements used in optical systems that do not require external power or active control to perform their function. These components manipulate light signals...

The criterion maintaining that if light follows a specific path through an optical system, it will, if reversed, traverse that same path in the opposite direction.

Pathogenesis refers to the process by which a disease develops and progresses within an organism. It encompasses the sequence of events and mechanisms that lead to the onset, progression, and...

A form of dispersing prism, often used in monochromators, that consists of a common right-angle prism with a 30° dispersing prism attached to each of its square faces. The spectrum formed by the...

A pentaprism is a five-sided glass prism used in optical devices, particularly in SLR cameras, to deviate the path of light by 90 degrees and ensure that the image seen through the viewfinder is...

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses the periscope is a long tube containing prisms at both ends and...