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Photonics Dictionary

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microprobe
An instrument that produces an intense, tightly focused beam of ions to stimulate emissions from a minute section of a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis. The ion beams found in microprobes are...
microprojector
A miniature projecting device designed to enhance and reproduce the image generated by a smaller image-forming instrument. Microprojectors can be used to determine the image-forming qualities of...
microradian
Equivalent to 10-6 radian, where 1 radian equals 180/pi degrees. A rod 1 km in length will be moved by an angle of 1 µrad if the end of the rod is raised 1 mm.
microradiography
Radiographic recording and enhancement of the micoscopic details within the structure of thin specimens at a high magnification. Also known as x-ray micrography
microreciprocal degree
An approximated measure of the smallest change in color temperature detectable by the human eye, defined as the reciprocal of the color temperature times 106. Also called mired or reciprocal...
microresonator frequency comb -> microcomb
A microcomb, short for microresonator frequency comb, is a novel photonic device that generates a precise series of evenly spaced optical frequencies, akin to the teeth of a comb, across a broad...
microRNA
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules, typically consisting of about 19 to 24 nucleotides, that play important roles in the regulation of gene expression in cells....
microscope
An instrument consisting essentially of a tube 160 mm long, with an objective lens at the distant end and an eyepiece at the near end. The objective forms a real aerial image of the object in the...
microscope eyepiece
An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and flat-field projection eyepieces are quite efficient. Negative eyepieces are...
microscope immersion fluid
The liquid used in microscopy to fill the space between the high-power objective lens and the microscope slide in order to increase the numerical aperture (NA) or collecting power in object space of...
microscope objective
The lens located at the object end of a microscope tube. A wide range of objectives is available, including simple achromats, the color-corrected apochromats and the flat-field objectives. Objectives...
microscope stage
The component of a microscope on which the sample or slide to be examined is placed. Depending on the design of the microscope, the stage may play a passive role of just supporting the sample or...
microscope, electron -> electron microscope
A device utilizing an electron beam for the observation and recording of submicroscopic samples with the aid of photographic emulsions or other short-wavelength sensors. With the electron microscope,...
microscopic
Characteristic of an object so small in size or so fine in structure that it cannot be seen by the unaided eye. A microscopic object may be rendered visible when examined under a microscope.
microscopy
Microscopy is a scientific technique that involves the use of microscopes to observe and study objects that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Microscopes are instruments that magnify and...
microspectrograph
A microspectroscope equipped with a sensing and recording device, such as a camera, to measure the spectrum formed by microscopic samples.
microspectrophotometer
A specialized spectrophotometer for use through a microscope on very small areas of an object.
microspectroscope
A system composed of a prism spectroscope and compound microscope to provide the visual comparison of two spectra simultaneously -- that of the sample focused by the microscope and that of the...
microstereology
Microscopic investigation of two-dimensional areas of a three-dimensional object that can be quantitatively evaluated by consideration of the line intersections or point counts obtained via...
microstereoscope
A binocular microscope designed for the viewing of stereo pairs. As these stereoscopic image pairs are seen through a microstereoscope, they are merged into a single image allowing the brain to...
microtome
A device used for slicing very thin specimens in preparation for mounting on a microscope slide.
microwave
An electromagnetic wave lying within the region of the frequency spectrum that is between about 1000 MHz (1 GHz) and 100,000 MHz (100 GHz). This is equivalent to the wavelength spectrum that is...
microwave holography
The holographic recording of the pattern formed by two sets of coherent microwaves that interfere at a scanning plane. A scanning device converts the microwave interference pattern into a light...
microwave mapping
The pattern of microwave field intensity that can be obtained by detecting the minute expansion of a microwave absorber slab when heated by the microwave field, accompanied by moiré interference of a...
microwave phototube
A device designed to detect microwave modulation and to mix modulated and unmodulated laser beams. It consists of a photosensitive cathode and a microwave-electron-tube structure that amplifies,...
micrurgy
The use of a micromanipulator in combination with a microscope for the purposes of examining, dissecting, or the manipulation of microscopic objects such as single cells, under a microscope.
mid-infrared camera
A mid-infrared camera is a type of imaging device designed to capture images in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral range, typically spanning wavelengths from approximately 3 to 12 µm. This...
mid-wave infrared
MWIR stands for mid-wave infrared, referring to a specific range of wavelengths within the infrared spectrum. Infrared radiation is categorized into three main regions based on wavelength:...
Mie scattering
Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as light) by spherical particles. Unlike Rayleigh scattering, which is...
MIL-SPEC
Also referred to as military standard (MIL-STD),  a military specification is a defense specification or standard utilized by the United States and established by the U.S. department of defense to achieve standardization and regulation of defense related products and objectives.
MIL-STD
U.S. military standard. See MIL-SPEC.
milli (m)
In the SI system, prefix meaning one-thousandth, 10-3.
millibar (mbar)
A unit of pressure, one-thousandth of a bar, equivalent to 100 Pascal and 0.75 torr. One atmosphere equals 1013 mbar.
millidiopter
A unit of metric measure equivalent to 1 thousandth (or 10-3 ) of the standard unit of optical power which is the diopter (1 millidiopter is 0.001 D). The power of a lens in millidiopters is the...
millimeter (mm)
A unit of metric measurement, equal to 0.001 m. 25.4 mm equal 1 inch.
millimicron
Former name of the nanometer, 10-9 m.
milling
An automatic surface-generating process involving the removal of a material from a given surface. Optical milling typically involves the abrasion of glass by a diamond-charged wheel.
Mills cross (telescope)
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...
MIM
metal-insulator-metal
MIMD
multiple-instruction/multiple-data
MIN
multistage interconnection network
min
minimum; minute
miniature lamp
Small tungsten lamp used in surgical instruments such as cystoscopes, and for other purposes where space is limited.
minimum angle of deviation
The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a minimum if the incident and exiting rays form equal angles with the prism...
minimum object distance
Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system is capable of producing a sharp and focused image. In photography, this term...
minimum perceptible
The smallest object that may be seen, measured in terms of the angle subtended by the object measured at the eye. Also referred to as minimum perceptible color difference (MPCD) which is a unit of...
minimum resolvable temperature
In a thermal imaging system, the smallest change in blackbody equivalent temperature that can be detected clearly by the system as a function of target frequency.
minimum separable
The least space between two parallel lines that can be discriminated as a gap to the human eye. It is measured in terms of the angle subtended by the gap measured at the eye.
minimum spot size
The smallest linear diameter to which a laser or other beam of radiant energy is capable of being focused, depending on the quality of the focusing optics, aperture and focal length, beam irradiance...
minimum visible
The smallest area of uniform brightness that can be seen by the eye. It is measured in terms of the solid angle subtended by that area from the eye.

Photonics Dictionary

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