Photonics Dictionary

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the fabrication, shaping, finishing, and testing of optical components and systems....

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

Optical noise refers to undesirable fluctuations or disturbances in an optical signal that can affect the quality or integrity of the transmitted information. This type of noise is particularly...

The emission of gas or de-aeration due to thermal variations and often occurring in a vacuum. In a cleanroom, contamination from the spontaneous emission of absorbed particles.

A Peltier cooler, also known as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or thermoelectric module, is a solid-state device that uses the Peltier effect to transfer heat between two electrical junctions. It can...

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline lattice. In simpler terms, phonons are quanta of lattice vibrations in a solid...

Photoacoustic refers to the generation of acoustic (sound) waves following the absorption of light (usually laser pulses) by a material. This phenomenon occurs when light energy is absorbed by a...

A light therapy that utilizes nonionizing light sources, including lasers, LEDs, and broadband light, in the visible and infrared spectrum. It is a nonthermal process involving endogenous...

The term photochemical pertains to chemical processes or reactions that are initiated or influenced by the absorption of light. Photochemical reactions involve the interaction of light, often in the...

An optical medical instrument that uses an intense, precisely focused beam of light to stop weakened blood vessels from hemorrhaging. The thermal effect of the beam strengthens the weakened vessels...

Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities in a single platform, often...

A vacuum gauge designed to measure very high degrees of vacuum by thermal conduction.

Plastic optics refers to optical components or systems that are made from transparent plastic materials, as opposed to traditional optical components made from glass or other materials. Plastic...

A device used to detect radiant energy by means of the thermal expansion of gas.

A noncontact, nondestructive method of measuring defects in thin composite materials, using a xenon flashtube to generate heat in a sample. A thermal imaging system detects differences in the rates...

A pump laser is a type of laser used to provide the necessary energy to the gain medium of another laser or laser system, initiating the process of stimulated emission and producing laser light. The...

Trade name for a type of borosilicate glass manufactured by Corning Glass Works, noted for its low coefficient of thermal expansion. Used most often for mirror blanks; not suitable for light...

A current-source thermal detector used to detect and study the pulses obtained from particular lasers.

A read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) is an electronic device used in imaging systems, particularly in infrared (IR) and other sensing technologies. It is designed to interface with an array of...

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is a molecular biology technique used to rapidly amplify specific DNA or RNA sequences under isothermal conditions, meaning it does not require the...

Remote inspection refers to the process of inspecting, evaluating, or monitoring assets, equipment, infrastructure, or systems from a distance, typically using remote sensing technologies and...

Formula that describes the thermal equilibrium of gas electrons and ions as a direct function of variations in temperature.

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is highly transparent in the infrared region of the electromagnetic...

A sapphire window refers to a transparent optical component made from sapphire crystal. Sapphire is a single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is highly prized for its exceptional optical...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications due to its exceptional optical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Sapphire...

Silicon carbide (SiC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current is applied to them. These LEDs are made using silicon carbide as the...

A skyrmion is a topologically stable, vortex-like configuration of spins in a magnetic material. These configurations are characterized by a swirling pattern where the direction of the magnetic...

A substance capable of converting solar radiation into thermal energy.

A copolymer of styrene and acrylic used in molded optical components; it has a high refractive index and a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

A surface-mount device (SMD) is an electronic component that is mounted directly onto the surface of a printed circuit board (PCB) rather than being inserted into holes drilled in the board (as with...

The instrument used to collect thermal radiation information on an object by scanning. It consists basically of a detector, a photoconductive element that converts incident radiation to an electrical...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera, to detect and visualize the infrared radiation emitted by objects. This...

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) refers to a technology that converts heat energy into electricity using the principles of thermophotovoltaics. In a thermophotovoltaic system, thermal radiation from a heat...

Thin-film coatings are layers of material applied to the surface of an object or substrate, typically to modify its optical, electrical, or mechanical properties. These coatings are composed of thin...

A transducer is a device or component that converts one form of energy into another. It is commonly used in various fields, including electronics, acoustics, and instrumentation, to facilitate the...

A method of measuring total hemispherical emissivity of the plane surface of a solid that consists of thermally isolating a specimen of the material inside a vacuum, preheating it slightly above the...

A mechanical, electrical, thermal or optical detector designed to identify and measure ultrasonic radiation.

A YAG crystal refers to a solid-state crystal made of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), which is a synthetic crystalline material. YAG crystals are known for their exceptional optical properties,...

A ytterbium laser is a type of solid-state laser that employs ytterbium ions (Yb³+) as the dopant in the gain medium. These lasers are known for their high efficiency, broad absorption and...

Zerodur is a type of glass ceramic material known for its exceptional thermal and mechanical properties, particularly its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) close to zero. It was developed by...