Photonics Dictionary

A furnace, generally electrically heated, with a control system capable of following a cam by which the temperature can be made to go through a definite cycle over a period of days, or even weeks, if...

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.

The process in the manufacture of an optical system that gives it the required geometric shape.

Machinery used to grind and finish a component, such as a lens or prism, to a desired precision. Usually such machines carry a cup-shaped or flat tool (lap) into close contact with the part. An...

A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, or quartz iodine lamp, is an incandescent lamp that uses a tungsten filament surrounded by a small amount of halogen gas, such as...

A heat sink for a laser is a device designed to absorb and dissipate the excess heat generated by the laser during operation. This is crucial to maintain the laser's performance, prevent overheating,...

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 hypercentric lens refers to a lens system where the chief rays of light from an object are directed through the center of the lens aperture, ensuring that the entrance pupil is situated at...

Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of the spacing of the fibers from the entrance end to the exit end, a...

A direct method of measuring refractive index that works best with flat-surfaced samples (i.e., those that are not dependent on special prism shapes) and produces data that are uniquely sensitive to...

Injection molding is a manufacturing process used to produce parts by injecting molten material into a mold. It is widely used for creating a variety of plastic products, but it can also be used with...

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical systems due to the Kerr effect. The Kerr effect is the phenomenon where the...

1. The process of wearing down the surface of a softer material by rubbing it under pressure against the surface of a harder material that has been formed in the shape opposite to that desired on the...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single package. These modules are designed to provide a convenient and efficient...

Laser kiss cutting is a technique used in manufacturing and fabrication processes, particularly in industries like packaging, textiles, and electronics. Laser kiss cutting involves using a laser...

A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams of light. Interferometry is a technique that combines and analyzes...

A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which lenses are eventually fabricated. Lens blanks are made from various...

The production of rough glass lens blanks that are pressed while red-hot to the approximate size and shape of the finished lens, ready for fine grinding and polishing. Large companies often do their...

An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens, and mark the optical center of the lens by an ink dot. When the lens to be...

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape and...

Transparent matter that usually is drawn into a cylindrical, pyramidical or conical shape through which light is channeled from one end to the other by total internal reflections. Optical fibers are...

The spectroscopic analysis of optical line shapes and frequency shifts, using the technique of light beating; i.e., the mixing of two narrowband optical components to produce an AC component in the...

An LED, or light emitting diode, is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs are widely used in various applications due to their energy efficiency,...

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid crystals. In a liquid crystal, the molecules are ordered like those in a...

Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a fine layer of hydrophobic powder, such as silica nanoparticles or Teflon....

A mirror composed of liquid, taking advantage of the parabolic shape of a spinning liquid and the fact that the mirror's focal length can be adjusted by altering the velocity at which the liquid's...

Liquid or fluid optics refers to the use of liquids to create or enhance optical systems. These systems leverage the unique properties of liquids, such as their ability to change shape, refractive...

The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes synthesized by a series of sine and cosine terms.

Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically computers, to interpret and understand visual information from the world,...

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...

A shaft, spindle or any object generally passed through a workpiece to hold, support or shape a particular piece during its machining process or its practical use. In fiber optics, optical fibers are...

A wedge-shaped piece of quartz typically found in a polarimeter to monitor and rotate the plane of polarization of plane polarized light. A Martens wedge can also be used in combination with other...

A specific method for measuring the diameter of irregular shaped particles, Martin's diameter is the measured distance between opposite sides of a particle, and is measured transverse to the particle...

A filter that maximizes signal-to-noise ratio so that a waveform of known shape can be separated from random noise.

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...

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level. These components are miniaturized optical elements that manipulate light at a...

A micro-ring resonator is a compact optical device that utilizes the resonant behavior of light within a small ring-shaped waveguide structure to selectively enhance or filter certain wavelengths of...

The Mills Cross telescope is a two dimensional radio telescope in which the two antenna arrays are positioned perpendicular to each other to form the shape of a cross. Each antenna consists of...

A mirror blank refers to the initial piece of material from which a mirror is made. It is typically a flat or slightly curved piece of glass or other substrate that serves as the starting point for...

A blank whose basic surface curves are attained by heating and forming a given weight of raw glass; a rough glass blank resembling the finished lens in size and shape. After molding, a precision lens...

A molded lens is an optical lens manufactured using a molding process, typically involving the shaping of a material, such as glass or plastic, into the desired lens shape. This process involves...

A monocyte is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte) that is part of the innate immune system. Monocytes are produced in the bone marrow and circulate in the bloodstream. They are characterized by...

A set of algorithms used to study the structural and spatial characteristics of objects in a digitized image for applications including feature extraction and image segmentation in machine vision and...

A camera equipped with a lens and a long length of perforated film, the latter being moved intermittently between exposures by a pulldown claw or sprocket. A rotating shutter serves to cut off the...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a high-resolution, high-throughput process that involves the mechanical...

Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that studies the optical phenomena that occur when intense light interacts with a material and induces nonlinear responses. In contrast to linear optics, where...