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695 terms
Photonics Dictionary
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e-beam x
CAIBE
chemical-assisted ion-beam etching
calcite interference microscope
A microscope that allows examination of a small crystal and conveniently provides linearly polarized object and reference beams so that, by suitable orientation of an anisotropic crystal, the optical...
calligraphic imager
->
stroke pattern
The pattern formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are composed of a sequence of line segments (strokes) generated by the electron beam motion with time...
camera tube
The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and then scans the pattern to produce a corresponding electronic signal for...
camera tube target
The storage surface of an electron beam tube that is scanned by an electron beam to generate an output-signal current corresponding to the charge-density pattern stored.
cantilever
A projecting beam or other structure supported only at one end.
carcinotron
->
backward-wave oscillator
An amplifying device with a wide tuning range in which an electron gun sends a beam of electrons into a slow-wave structure. The electron beam and the electromagnetic wave move in opposite directions...
cascade tube
An instrument consisting of a high-voltage vacuum tube used to form hard x-rays or high-speed ion beams. By partitioning the tube into separate sections, the total voltage is divided.
cathode-ray oscilloscope
->
oscilloscope
A system in which a supplied signal causes the deflection of the electron beam in a cathode-ray tube, thus forming a visible trace on the phosphor screen of the tube and providing for examination of...
cathode-ray tube grid
->
Wehnelt cylinder
Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a cathode-ray tube with opposite potential, is designed to focus and control the...
cathode-ray tube pattern
The luminous trace formed on the cathode-ray tube screen by the motion of the electron beam.
cathode-ray tube shield
->
Wehnelt cylinder
Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a cathode-ray tube with opposite potential, is designed to focus and control the...
cathode-ray tube
A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated filament are accelerated by a series of annular anodes at progressively higher...
chief ray
The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an oblique beam.
chip-on-board lights
Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a substrate, typically a printed circuit board (PCB), without the need for...
chirped-pulse amplification laser
A laser whose pulses are expanded, using gratings and optical fibers, before amplification and compressed to increase beam intensity without damage to the optical train.
chopper
->
optical chopper
A mechanical or electrical-electromagnetic device for periodically interrupting or blocking abeam of light for a brief known interval. The three most common chopper types include the tuning fork...
chromophore
A naturally occurring pigment in tissue that may selectively absorb certain wavelengths and can be used to aid in targeting the beam in laser surgery.
circle of least confusion
Best point of focus for an image in a beam of light at the smallest cross section of the beam.
circular-ranging optical coherence tomography
Circular-ranging optical coherence tomography (CR-OCT) is a specialized imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and research to obtain high-resolution cross-sectional images of biological...
circularly polarized light
A light beam whose electric vectors can be broken into two perpendicular elements that have equal amplitudes and that differ in phase by l/4 wavelength.
coaxial gas
A jet of inert gas along a laser welding beam's axis that cools, protects or cleans the work surface.
coded disc
A reticle carrying patterns of various forms that can be rotated in an optical beam to cause variations in the intensity of the beam. It also is used in infrared detectors to scan the object field...
coherence degree
->
degree of coherence
A quantitative measurement of the coherence of a light source; equal to the visibility (V) of the fringes of a two-beam interference test: where Imax equals the intensity at a maximum of the...
coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering
A technique whereby two laser beams, one at an excitation wavelength and the second at a wavelength that produces Stokes Raman scattering, interact coherently in a sample, producing a strong...
coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy
Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) is a powerful technique used in spectroscopy to probe molecular vibrations in a sample. It is based on the Raman effect, which involves the inelastic...
coherent communications
A fiber optic communications system that works on the principles of homodyning or heterodyning. The transmitting laser produces an optical wave that is modulated in amplitude, phase or frequency by...
coherent optical adaptive technique
The use of phase conjugation or other methods to increase the power density of a laser beam under adverse atmospheric conditions.
collimation
1. The process of aligning the optical axes of optical systems to the reference mechanical axes or surfaces of an instrument. 2. The adjustment of two or more optical axes with respect to each other....
collimator pen
->
laser pen
Device consisting of a laser diode, beam-correcting optics and collimating optics in a single housing. Also called a collimating pen.
color holography
The recording of three or more separate holograms having a different color on a medium, so that illumination with a tricolor beam yields three separate wavefronts, each representing one of the...
color scanner
An instrument that uses a beam of light to scan a color transparency, and three differently filtered photosensors to record the transmitted beam, as a means of producing three exposed separation...
combiner
A semitransparent mirror in an optical system that combines two or more output beams into a single coaxial beam.
common optoelectronics laser detection system
A laser warning and countermeasure system containing a sensor that indicates the direction of a laser beam, and analytical instruments to determine pulse code, repetition frequency and wavelength.
computer-generated hologram
A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than traditional optical techniques. CGHs are generated entirely in digital form...
computer-generated holographic scanner
A phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density level during laser materials processing. These devices direct and focus...
condenser, Abbe
->
Abbe condenser
An Abbe condenser is a type of optical component used in microscopy to enhance the illumination of the specimen. Named after the German physicist Ernst Abbe, who developed it in the 19th century, the...
conduction welding
A type of laser welding of thin materials using a defocused or low-power carbon dioxide laser beam. The energy is absorbed by the material through conduction and melts the material to produce an edge...
confocal resonator
A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator configuration used in laser systems. The term confocal in this context refers to the...
conjugate autofocus system
A system that determines whether an image is in or out of focus by means of a source of illumination at the conjugate focal point, which reflects off the target; the return beam is mediated by masks...
conjugate holographic image
Also known as real holographic image. The indistinct, highly distorted image produced on the side of the hologram closest to the observer, in addition to the primary image. When the location of the...
conjugator
->
phase conjugation
The use of a reflective device, which can be fashioned from a variety of materials including gases, solids, dyes, aerosols, semiconductor crystals and plasmas, to replicate a laser beam by reversing...
continuous strobe
A continuous strobe, also known as a continuous light or constant light strobe, is a type of lighting device used in photography, videography, and various other applications where continuous...
continuous wave
Continuous wave (CW) refers to a type of signal or transmission where the signal is constant and does not vary with time. In various contexts, the term is used to describe continuous, uninterrupted...
contour analysis
A method in optical character recognition in which a mobile light beam scans the outlines of characters for subsequent reading of these outlines.
convergence
1. In optics, the bending of light rays toward each other, as by a convex or positive lens. 2. Turning in the eyes to view a near object. 3. In a television picture tube, the crossing of the...
convergent beam sensing mode
A type of photoelectric proximity mode sensing incorporating a lens system to focus the light from the emitter in a small, concentrated spot at a specific point in front of the sensor. Also referred...
convexo-concave lens
->
meniscus lens
A meniscus lens is an optical lens that has one side that is concave (curved inward) and the other side that is convex (curved outward). It can be categorized into two types based on its optical...
Cotton-Mouton effect
The ability of particular pure liquids to doubly refract when influenced by a magnetic field with a direction that is transverse to the light beam.
covered groove
A technique used in integrated optics where a groove is cut on a substrate surface and covered by a thin film to facilitate the construction of filters, resonators, beamsplitters and grating couplers...
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Photonics Dictionary
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