Photonics Dictionary

Laser texturing is a manufacturing process that involves using a laser beam to selectively modify the surface of a material, creating textures, patterns, or microstructures. This technique is...

A technique that uses a solid-state laser and a detector to determine an object's relative distance to the system. The laser beam is projected onto the target and then reflected onto a detector...

The use of lasers in tailoring of such components as thin-film resistors. The process improves speed and accuracy.

The device, usually made of glass or a similar material, that contains the resonant cavity and optics of a gas laser.

A system that uses a continuous-wave laser to measure the velocity of an object by focusing the laser beam on the object, perpendicular to its direction of motion. An optical grating receives...

Laser viewing cards, also known as laser alignment cards or laser safety cards, are specialized cards or sheets designed to visualize laser beams or assist in aligning optical equipment while...

A system that uses the heat from a pulsed laser to weld metals. Because of the rapidity and localization in which the welding takes place, metals of vastly dissimilar melting points can be welded...

A process used in the design, repair and customization of integrated circuits. A low-power laser etches a silicon wafer placed inside a gas-filled vacuum chamber, initiating a chemical reaction.

A pump-probe technique whereby a single wavelength source may be used in order to excite a given sample to determine electronic transitions.

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a spectroscopic technique that involves using a laser to excite molecules or atoms, leading to their emission of fluorescence light. This technique is widely used...

Laser-mediated gene transfer refers to a technique in molecular biology and genetic engineering that utilizes lasers to introduce genetic material into cells. This method is a type of gene delivery...

A stroboscopelike apparatus that uses a copper vapor laser to illuminate an object for very short time periods (about 30 ns).

The material that produces stimulated emission from within a laser oscillator. Laser gain media may vary from extended-length glass fibers to submicron-length semiconductor material.

The lowest excitation power level at which a laser's output is mainly the result of stimulated emission rather than spontaneous emission.

Latency is the time interval between the stimulation or input of a system and the response or output. It is a measure of the time delay experienced in a system, network, or process. Latency can occur...

The pattern of physical or chemical changes that has taken place in a photographic emulsion, by its exposure to light, that will form a visible image when the emulsion is developed. Also known as...

Lens aberration resulting in image size variation as a function of wavelength. See also chromatic aberration.

A method of measuring microbending losses in optical fiber by sandwiching a length of fiber between two parallel plates, with 150-grit sandpaper on the bottom plate. Different weights are placed on...

In a diode laser, a mode in the plane of the active layer that is perpendicular to the direction of the emitted beam.

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...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or nanoscopic scale. These optical lattices can be created using various techniques...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by optically active substances. Optical rotation, also known as optical activity, is a...

In physics, the law of reversibility is often associated with the concept of reversibility in thermodynamics. The law asserts that any process that occurs in a closed system can, in theory, be...

Defines the minimum operational standards for a self-sustaining fusion reactor as equivalence between energy released per volume unit and kinetic energy per unit volume.

In a fiber optic cable, the longitudinal length required for the transmission media, wrapped around a central member, to complete one helical wrap. Also called pitch.

The process of removing some of the constituents of a glass surface by chemical action.

A ferroelectric polycrystalline ceramic material used in optical memories for computers and as a piezoelectric transducer.

In a sequence of laser pulse emissions, the intitial pulse that often helps initiate a reaction at the target surface, whereas the trailing edge maintains the reaction.

The circle of confusion is a defocused or aberrated image of a point. Focus is generally set where the diameter of this circle is minimized or least.

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...

One optical element of a multielement lens. See optical element.

A tool used to determine the curvature of a lens surface in terms of dioptric power. See lens watch; spherometer.

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance, quality, and characteristics of lenses. These instruments are essential for...

A lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses are commonly used in optical systems, such as cameras, telescopes,...

A hologram formed without lenses and with the object and reference points sharing the same plane. In the initial recording, each object point produces fringes having one spatial frequency across the...

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and reconstructs microscopic images without the use of traditional lenses. Instead of...

A matrix of miniature lenses, molded or formed onto a common base.

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...

A rear or front projection screen composed of minute optical surfaces that introduce a spread to the light beam that conforms approximately to the light distribution requirements of the application.

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two eyes, onto film through a lenticular screen, which records the images as an...