Photonics Dictionary

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) refers to a specific range of UV radiation that has disinfectant properties capable of killing or inactivating microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The...

In vacuum deposition, a device that removes contaminants from the vacuum chamber.

GigE, short for gigabit Ethernet, refers to a standard for high-speed Ethernet communication, capable of transmitting data at rates of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or 1000 megabits per second...

An optical mounting device that permits adjustment around two perpendicular and intersecting axes of rotation.

An interferometer similar in construction to a Fabry-Perot interferometer but having a rear mirror with high reflectivity, allowing light to escape only at the partially reflective front mirror.

A device similar to the ordinary spectrophotometer but containing particular modifications to provide for the comparison of two sources.

A type of birefringent polarizing prism that transmits the extraordinary ray and removes the ordinary ray through total internal reflection. It consists of two calcite prisms with an air gap...

A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or phosphoric oxides. Common window or bottle glass is a mixture of soda,...

An optically pumped solid-state laser in which the active medium is a neodymium ion in a glass rod host. Abbreviated Nd:glass.

A type of glass used in telescope mirrors, formed by adding a nucleating agent to standard glass and then heating it until it crystallizes.

A furnace used to heat glass materials. It may be a small laboratory-type furnace for small-scale experiments or large enough to hold gas-fired tanks for the commercial mass production of glass....

A controlled random search process, such as generalized simulated annealing, that has been incorporated into many optical design programs as a way of helping designers find the most suitable lens...

A crystal of microscopic size having no definite plane faces and having a globular shape. At the time the crystal is formed, the strong surface tension influences the formation of the plane faces.

A thermal radiation detector consisting of a small cell with a blackened plastic front face that bulges slightly when heat is received by it. The bulging tilts a small mirror, which, in turn, varies...

A neutral-colored gelatin wedge, cast between glass plates, that is used as an intensity scale in certain types of sensitometers; the greater the thickness of the wedge through which light emitted by...

The Golgi staining technique (also called the black reaction) makes it possible to look at the nervous system by rendering neurons visible under light microscopy. After a long process involving...

A mirror whose percent reflectance varies as a function of position on the mirror surface.

In a microscope, the diaphragm located between the Bertrand lens and the eyepiece, which is closed during conoscopic viewing to restrict the interference figures to that of a crystal lying on the...

Gram-negative bacteria are a group of bacteria that possess a cell envelope composed of a thin layer of peptidoglycan surrounded by an outer membrane. This outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharides...

Gram-positive bacteria are a group of bacteria that have a thick cell wall composed primarily of a substance called peptidoglycan. This thick peptidoglycan layer retains a stain called crystal violet...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice pattern. It is the basic building block of other carbon-based materials...

An acronym of gamma ray amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. It is a gamma ray laser that operates between energy levels established by metastable isomeric transitions in the nucleus.

A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into multiple beams, often redirecting them at specific angles. It is based on the...

An optical instrument used to isolate a narrow bandwidth of optical radiation using a diffraction grating as the dispersive element. See also monochromator.

A specific, right-angle prism having a transmission grating replicated on its hypotenuse face and used in applications requiring a system that can produce in-line viewing for one wavelength.

The substrate upon which a diffraction grating will be ruled. It must be dimensionally stable, and the surface must be polished to an accurate flat or spherical form as required by the grating. The...

An instrument capable of precise measurements of the Earth's gravity. This permits the detection of small changes in local height that indicate changes in the Earth's crust and subsurface density.

A process used to detect minute gravitational fields and to display images from objects by means of radiated gravitational imagery.

The effect of a powerful gravitational field on light traveling through the field. This effect is detectable in astronomical observations when light from a distant source passes a massive object...

A temperature radiator whose spectral emissivity at all wavelengths is in constant ratio (less than unity) to that of a complete radiator at the same temperature.

Transparencies that represent progressive steps in the amount of transmitted radiation for administering predetermined amounts of radiation to a radiation-sensitive substance. The steps are...

A porous ceramic substance that is ground to a given optical form and on which a polished plate of glass is sagged by heat application. It is capable of transmitting in a partial vacuum. The glass...

Familiar term for CD/I disc. The CD/I standard also is known as the green standard.

A form of a stereoscopic microscope having paired objectives, prisms and eyepieces, and invented by H. Greenough.

A telescope with an ellipsoidal secondary concave mirror that reflects rays from a parabolic primary mirror through an opening in the center of the primary, where the image is viewed with an eyepiece.

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather than having a uniform refractive index like conventional lenses. This...

A tool of cast iron or another suitable medium used with a slurry of silicon carbide, aluminum oxide or emery for grinding optical surfaces.

A method of determining the abrasion resistance of very hard materials by passing a weighted wiper blade across them in a sand-water slurry for a specified number of times.

A plate of glass in which a face has been frosted by grinding or etching. It diffuses light by scattering in directions close to the incoming beam, but the light falls off rapidly at larger angles...

Also known as ground level. The lowest energy level of an atom or atomic system. A material in the ground state is not capable of emitting optical radiation. All other states are called excited...

A photodiode that has been designed so that the bar of semiconductor material has a PN junction perpendicular to its length and an ohmic contact at each of its ends.

An optical device that permits the alignment of a gun, cannon or rocket launcher system with its target.

Gyroscopy refers to the principles and applications of gyroscopes, devices that measure or maintain orientation based on the principles of angular momentum. Gyroscopes are essential in various...

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, defined as multiple surface irregularities across the fiber surface. A less serious imperfection of the same nature is known as mist.

Triggering a laser at a predetermined time by pumping it to a level just below its threshold and then using an auxiliary source that quickly pumps it above threshold. Means of achieving it in laser...