Photonics Dictionary

1.) Generally, the electromagnetic spectrum within the wavelength region extending from the vacuum ultraviolet at 40 nm to the far-infrared at 1 mm. 2.) The wavelength or color distribution...

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...

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...

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it. The phase mask is used to control the spatial distribution of the light's...

An interferometric technique for the generation of precision gratings that allows for sequential exposure of small segments in the writing of a large grating, allowing increased intensity that...

The first-order spectrum formed by a diffraction grating.

A contour mapping technique that involves projection of a grating onto an object to produce a shadow grating that is observed through another grating. Therefore, the size of the object to be measured...

A means of achieving higher peak powers and more efficient harmonic generation by narrowing the pulse width and thus increasing the frequency bandwidth of the output of CW mode-locked lasers....

Essentially, a hologram of a hologram, in which the first-generation hologram is masked with a narrow slit. During image reconstruction, the slit operates as the exit pupil in image space. The...

A reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) is a key component in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical communication networks. It allows for flexible and dynamic routing of...

The study of the quality of the image formed on the retina by the measurement of the flux reflected from the eye when the image of a grating or line is produced on the retina.

More efficient than the Foucault knife-edge test, this test examines curved mirrors by using a transmission grating with 40 to 200 lines per inch in place of the knife-edge, and a section or slit of...

The circle that contains the slit, grating and primary astigmatic focus of a concave diffraction grating.

In spectroscopy, the false images arranged symmetrically on both sides of the true line and caused by irregularities in the ruling of diffraction gratings.

The mounting of a concave diffraction grating and a plate holder at the ends of a rigid bar. The ends follow separate straight tracks that intersect perpendicular to each other. The slit is located...

A contour mapping technique that uses electronic scanning and sampling techniques instead of a reference grating (see moire topography; projection moire topography) to obtain moire fringes, producing...

An automatic scanning instrument that is used to study a substance's fluorescence over a wide range of wavelengths. It consists of a radiation source, a grating that functions as the monochromator in...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a prism or a diffraction grating. A concave grating requires no other means...

A streak camera is a specialized instrument used to capture and analyze ultrafast phenomena, such as extremely short pulses of light or rapidly changing events. Unlike traditional cameras that...

Computation of tristimulus values by integrating or summing, over the visible wavelength region, the product of the relative spectral power of a CIE standard source, the reflectance of the object...

The technique of producing spectrograms in wavelengths beyond 120 nm by the use of a diffraction grating and a Schumann plate in a vacuum environment.

A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to reduce astigmatism and spherical aberration. The mounting yields a...

The bending of x-rays by the regular layers of molecules in a crystal acting like a very small diffraction grating. The diffraction pattern so obtained and recorded on film provides a means for...