Definitions: F

A flexible single- or multifiber cable having a bundle of glass fibers arranged to transmit an image.

A coherent optical fiber bundle in which the configuration is flat rather than round, giving an output in a line.

A scanner in which a fiber optic assembly replaces a lens system.

A device used for coding messages and having a fiber bundle that is aligned at both ends and scrambled in the middle, potted and cut. The resulting halves of the bundles serve as encoders or decoders...

A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or environmental parameters. Unlike traditional electrical sensors, fiber optic sensors...

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to transmit light from a source to a spectrometer unit, where the light is...

A coherent fiber optic bundle made from fibers whose diameter changes gradually along its length. Used to magnify or reduce the input image.

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic communications to transmit and receive data over optical fibers. It integrates both a...

The face of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that has a fiber optic sheet attached to its surface. The sheet's fibers are at right angles to the face, allowing the transmittance of the fluorescent trace...

The use of thin flexible glass or plastic fibers as wave guides — or "light pipes" — to channel light from one location to another. Fiber optics is based off of the principle of total...

An optical recording technique that uses light source(s), a beamsplitting cube, light detector(s) and an optical fiber chronically implanted in animal brain to deliver excitation light to neurons...

The distance between the surface of a ferrule and the surface of a fiber end, provided that the ferrule extends above the fiber end. If the fiber end extends above the ferrule surface, the difference...

A microscope in which laser light is delivered through single-mode fibers that replace the pinhole usually used in confocal microscopy. When the Gaussian mode is imaged from the fiber output onto the...

A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the purpose of efficient light transmission. In this configuration, the LED serves...

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna with optical fibers for the purpose of generating or detecting terahertz...

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise end-to-end placement or epoxy sealing in fiber connections.

A wide-field multiobject spectroscopy system used in astronomy, in which a bundle of low-loss optical fibers positioned on the target images is rearranged at its other end into a linear array along...

An optical instrument consisting of an objective lens, a coherent (usually flexible) fiber bundle and an eyepiece to examine the output of the fiber bundle.

Relation between a material's transport rate and the material's concentration gradient and the diffusion coefficient.

One or more spots placed in the field of view of an optical system to provide a means of reference.

1. In raster scan television, one of the two scans that are interlaced to make up a frame. 2. See field of view.

A photodetector employing photoregeneration of carriers in the channel region of an FET structure to provide photodetection with current gain.

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent plate. The phosphor is induced into luminescence, similar to traditional...

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 handheld binocular telescope that is commonly of the Galilean type.

An extremely powerful microscope that renders individual ionized atoms visible by using an electric field to propel the ions to a fluorescent screen where they are magnified.

1. A lens situated at or near the plane of an internal image to project the aperture of a previous objective or erector upon the aperture of a following lens. 2. A lens at or near the plane of a...

An expression of the tolerance of decentration of a laser diode from the optical axis: the region around the axis in the focal plane of the collimator in which the facet can be located and still...

The field of view (FOV) refers to the extent of the observable world or the visible area that can be seen at any given moment through a device, such as an optical instrument, camera, or sensor. It is...

Intensity of emission as a function of direction in a given plane.

The number of fields scanned per second in a television system. The US standard is 60. Also called field frequency.

An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.

The angle measured between the focal surface containing the image and a plane normal to the optical axis.

Secondary aberrations remaining after the primary (Seidel) aberrations have been corrected.

The allowable departure from the given figure or geometrical form. It may be described in terms of fringes or wavelengths.

In optics, the geometrical form of an optical surface.

The process whereby the shape of an optical surface is altered by polishing.

The freeing of electrons from a filament in an electron tube as the result of the filament being heated by an electric current.

A transformer that is designed to regulate the amount of current that passes through an electron tube's filament.

A measuring eyepiece with a screw-micrometer-driven crosshair used to measure the size of the image.

In solar energy technology, the percent of usable land covered by collectors. The horizontal collector is the only design that exhibits 100 percent fill factor.

The ratio of active to inactive areas on a pixel.

The site behind the lens system in a camera where photographic media are positioned for exposure.

A mechanism in a camera designed to position the film in the focal plane for exposure.

A device used to scan images or information on photographic film for the subsequent relay of information.

An instrument designed to place nongraphic information, usually generated by a computer, onto photographic film. The information is generally encoded as a series of opaque and translucent spots, or...

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video transmission.