Photonics Dictionary

The organic inclusion in quartz crystal that forms delicate films and microspheres and that shows a maximum absorption at 450 nm.

A special evacuated camera equipped with means for holding a specimen and bombarding it with a sharply focused beam of electrons. A cylindrical film is placed around the specimen to record the...

A method for detecting vibration amplitudes analogous to image holography, except that the film emulsion is replaced by a television target.

A method of thin-film deposition in which electrons boiled off a heated cathode are used to melt the coating material. If a multipocket crucible is used, many materials can be processed at the same...

An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic visual display technology used in electronic devices for the purpose of...

A camera that records its images electrostatically on plastic tape; used in situations where radiation would have an adverse effect on regular photographic film.

A spectrometer equipped with polarizing prisms and retardation plates that is used in the analysis of elliptically polarized light, mostly in the study of thin, evaporated films.

Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the measurement of changes in the polarization state of light reflected or...

In photography, the layer of light-sensitive material (usually a suspension of silver halide crystals) that coats the film or plate.

The sensitivity of a photographic emulsion when exposed to light, provided that the film is developed through a standard process.

Epitaxial refers to the growth of a crystalline layer on a crystalline substrate in such a way that the orientation of the crystal lattice of the growing layer is related to that of the substrate. In...

Epitaxial deposition is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing and materials science to grow a thin crystalline layer, known as an epitaxial layer, on a substrate. The term epitaxial refers to...

Epitaxial equipment refers to a set of specialized tools and systems used in the process of epitaxy, which is the growth of crystalline layers on a substrate material. Epitaxial growth is a critical...

A well controlled thin films technique for growing films with good crystal structure in ultra high vacuum environments at very low deposition rates. Epitaxy methods are well known for the growing of...

A sensor generally used for infrared imaging. It consists of two chambers separated by a thin, blackened membrane. An infrared image is formed on the membrane by a lens or mirror and produces...

A small incandescent lamp whose intense beam is focused on the optical soundtrack of a motion picture film. The soundtrack modulates the beam, which in turn is detected by a photocell that produces...

A measure of film speed sensitivity to light.

An instrument used to measure the light from a scene to be photographed and to indicate the camera lens and shutter settings required to expose the film correctly. The exposure time required in a...

An image-forming instrument in which a strong electrostatic field causes cold emission of electrons from a sharply rounded point or from an object that is located on that point. The electrons are...

A filter, partially opaque to near-ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation, that may be made by exposing and processing photographic film. Such materials are almost equally opaque to radiation of...

An automatic camera that can record reduced images of documents at a rate of up to 30,000 documents per hour by having the film and documents move synchronously in opposite directions.

A camera with a very high aperture lens or mirror system for photographing x-ray fluorescent screen images, mainly to save the cost of large pieces of 11 x 14-in. film. The film may be 4 x 5-in. cut...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or film when the lens is focused at infinity. In simple terms, it is the...

1. The focal point. 2. To adjust the eyepiece or objective of a telescope so that the image is clearly seen by the observer. 3. To adjust the camera lens, plate, or film holder so that the image is...

A polarizing prism formed from calcite that is like the Nicol prism but has the two parts divided by a thin air-film and cut to such angles that the extraordinary beam will be transmitted and the...

1. To center an image or place it in any part of the television screen desired. Also applies to stills. 2. A single image of the connected multiple images on motion-picture film. 3. The size of the...

Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is typically measured in frames per second (fps) and determines the smoothness and...

The number of separate images exposed by a cine camera in a second or the number illuminated by a cine projector in a second. By varying the number of images recorded per second, films can be created...

A prism resembling a Nicol prism but having faces normal to the axis and the two parts divided by a glycerine film. Also known as Glan prism.

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...

1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the screen's light being reflected by the front and rear surfaces of the tube's...

Describing a surface that is coated with a film of metal of such thickness that it transmits about one-half of the incident light and reflects about one-half.

A term used to describe a photograph, film or television picture where the values for black and white areas are at or near their limits, thereby giving the maximum degree of difference between them.

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....

A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism can be used. From 500 to 1000 fps, the film must be moved continuously, the...

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to capture 3D holographic images of objects or scenes. Unlike conventional...

Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and diffraction of light. Unlike conventional photography, which records only...

A thin film of absorbing or nonabsorbing layers in which the absorption of radiation at any point is directly proportional to the electrical field intensity at that point.

A desklike apparatus with an opal glass surface illuminated from beneath by fluorescent tubes. It is equipped with roll holders for aerial films and a low-power microscope or some form of...

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the electrical signal being modified electronically before being recorded on...

A camera tube widely used in television broadcasting. It consists of three sections within a single vacuum envelope. 1. A photosensitive film sometimes called the photocathode. The scene to be...

Complex devices, often involving a computer, in which a photograph is scanned by a point of light, the amplitude of the electrical signal being modified electronically before being re-recorded on...

A device used in thin-film deposition; the material to be evaporated is placed in a crucible that is heated inductively by current passing through a coil around it.

The process of mapping the infrared emittance of an area through the use of an infrared detector and related scanning instrumentation to produce thermal images that are then recorded on photographic...