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Photonics Dictionary
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coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy
Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) is a powerful technique used in spectroscopy to probe molecular vibrations in a sample. It is based on the Raman effect, which involves the inelastic...
coherent communications
A fiber optic communications system that works on the principles of homodyning or heterodyning. The transmitting laser produces an optical wave that is modulated in amplitude, phase or frequency by...
coherent optical adaptive technique
The use of phase conjugation or other methods to increase the power density of a laser beam under adverse atmospheric conditions.
collimation
1. The process of aligning the optical axes of optical systems to the reference mechanical axes or surfaces of an instrument. 2. The adjustment of two or more optical axes with respect to each other....
collimator pen
->
laser pen
Device consisting of a laser diode, beam-correcting optics and collimating optics in a single housing. Also called a collimating pen.
color holography
The recording of three or more separate holograms having a different color on a medium, so that illumination with a tricolor beam yields three separate wavefronts, each representing one of the...
color scanner
An instrument that uses a beam of light to scan a color transparency, and three differently filtered photosensors to record the transmitted beam, as a means of producing three exposed separation...
combiner
A semitransparent mirror in an optical system that combines two or more output beams into a single coaxial beam.
common optoelectronics laser detection system
A laser warning and countermeasure system containing a sensor that indicates the direction of a laser beam, and analytical instruments to determine pulse code, repetition frequency and wavelength.
computer-generated hologram
A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than traditional optical techniques. CGHs are generated entirely in digital form...
computer-generated holographic scanner
A phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density level during laser materials processing. These devices direct and focus...
condenser, Abbe
->
Abbe condenser
An Abbe condenser is a type of optical component used in microscopy to enhance the illumination of the specimen. Named after the German physicist Ernst Abbe, who developed it in the 19th century, the...
conduction welding
A type of laser welding of thin materials using a defocused or low-power carbon dioxide laser beam. The energy is absorbed by the material through conduction and melts the material to produce an edge...
confocal resonator
A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator configuration used in laser systems. The term confocal in this context refers to the...
conjugate autofocus system
A system that determines whether an image is in or out of focus by means of a source of illumination at the conjugate focal point, which reflects off the target; the return beam is mediated by masks...
conjugate holographic image
Also known as real holographic image. The indistinct, highly distorted image produced on the side of the hologram closest to the observer, in addition to the primary image. When the location of the...
conjugator
->
phase conjugation
The use of a reflective device, which can be fashioned from a variety of materials including gases, solids, dyes, aerosols, semiconductor crystals and plasmas, to replicate a laser beam by reversing...
continuous strobe
A continuous strobe, also known as a continuous light or constant light strobe, is a type of lighting device used in photography, videography, and various other applications where continuous...
continuous wave
Continuous wave (CW) refers to a type of signal or transmission where the signal is constant and does not vary with time. In various contexts, the term is used to describe continuous, uninterrupted...
contour analysis
A method in optical character recognition in which a mobile light beam scans the outlines of characters for subsequent reading of these outlines.
convergence
1. In optics, the bending of light rays toward each other, as by a convex or positive lens. 2. Turning in the eyes to view a near object. 3. In a television picture tube, the crossing of the...
convexo-concave lens
->
meniscus lens
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...
Cotton-Mouton effect
The ability of particular pure liquids to doubly refract when influenced by a magnetic field with a direction that is transverse to the light beam.
covered groove
A technique used in integrated optics where a groove is cut on a substrate surface and covered by a thin film to facilitate the construction of filters, resonators, beamsplitters and grating couplers...
CRT
->
cathode-ray tube
A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated filament are accelerated by a series of annular anodes at progressively higher...
crystal laser
->
solid-state laser
A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent light. The term "solid-state" refers to the fact that the active medium, where...
cycloidal mass spectrometer
A small mass spectrometer, with a limited mass range, equipped with an analyzer to generate a cycloidal-path beam of the sample.
cylindrical lens
A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape resembling a cylinder. Unlike spherical lenses, which have the same...
Dammann grating
A Dammann grating is a type of diffractive optical element (DOE) used to create an array of equally spaced, uniform-intensity spots or beams. It is named after its inventor, Dr. Herbert Dammann. The...
dark-field condenser
A condenser that forms a hollow cone-shaped beam of light with its focal point in the plane of the specimen. If it is used with an objective having a numerical aperture lower than the minimum...
Debye-Scherrer-Hull method
->
x-ray analysis
The series of processes used to identify and evaluate crystal structure by using crystalline solids to diffract x-rays. In the Laue method, radiation of a wide range of wavelengths is transmitted by...
Debye-Sears ultrasonic cell
A device used in ultrasonic imaging to measure the velocity and attenuation of compressional waves in a transparent liquid by virtue of acoustic waves set up in the liquid. The wavefronts serve as a...
deflection circuit
The circuit that regulates an electron beam's deflection in a cathode-ray tube.
deflection focusing
The progressive defocusing of a cathode-ray tube display image that occurs when the deflected electron beam impinges on the cathode-ray tube screen at a slant.
deflection yoke
A metal coil or coils wrapped around the outside of the neck of a cathode-ray tube. Current passing through the coils produces a magnetic field, which can be used as an alternative to deflection...
deformable mirror device
A spatial light modulator consisting of a metallized polymer film stretched over an array of metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Each mirror element in the film can be...
degree of coherence
A quantitative measurement of the coherence of a light source; equal to the visibility (V) of the fringes of a two-beam interference test: where Imax equals the intensity at a maximum of the...
depolarizer
A device that obliterates the polarization of a polarized beam by reflecting the beam in all directions at right angles to its axis.
dextrogyrate
Able to rotate the plane of polarization of a transmitted, plane-polarized light beam clockwise as seen by a viewer looking in the same direction as the traveling light. Also called dextrorotary; the...
dichroic coating
A dichroic coating, also known as a dichroic filter or dichroic mirror, is an optical coating designed to selectively transmit or reflect certain wavelengths of light while simultaneously absorbing...
dichroic polarizer
A polarizer that consists of dichroic polarizing material embedded in a plastic sheet, and that transmits light that is almost completely plane polarized with an intensity that is half that of the...
differential absorption lidar
A lidar (light detection and ranging) technique used in pollution monitoring. Two light beams are emitted simultaneously, one at a wavelength that will be absorbed by the target particles, and the...
differential interference contrast microscopy
Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the contrast of transparent...
diffraction angle
The angle that lies between the direction of an incident light beam and any resulting diffracted beam.
diffraction fanning
The formation of a fan of light or energy rays in a beam as the beam passes through an extremely narrow aperture.
diffraction scattering
Elastic scattering that occurs when inelastic processes eliminate particles from the beam.
diffraction velocimeter
->
laser velocimeter
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...
diffractive optics
Optical elements that use diffraction to control wavefronts. Diffractive optical elements include diffraction gratings, surface-relief diffractive lenses, holographic optical elements and...
diffractometry
The study of the diffraction of beams of a wave by matter to ascertain the structure of the matter.
diode-pumped solid-state laser
A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into a solid gain medium, resulting in the generation of coherent light. This...
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Photonics Dictionary
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