Definitions: M

A technique for producing micron-size structures on surfaces by using short-wavelength light or electron beams.

A device that provides means for accurately moving minuscule tools over the surface of a microscopic object. The motion precision of a micromanipulator exceeds that of the unaided human hand....

1. The SI unit of length equal to 10-6 m. Also called micron. 2. A screw thread device used to make accurate physical linear measurements.

A unit of length in the metric system equal to one millionth of a meter (10-6 m). Also called micrometer. Abbreviated µm.

Output noise in a laser beam resulting from acoustic disturbances of mirror separation or orientation. Such disturbances may come either from the plasma or from vibration of external sources.

The formation of microimages for microreduction. The technique is used, for example, in the production of precision reticles or resolution charts. The sensitized materials used in the process must...

A photograph reduced to the microscopic scale and stored on a microfilm as seen with microfiches for the purpose of storing and archiving information.

An instrument capable of measuring the transmitted or reflected luminance from a very small area seen under a microscope. Microphotometers are the fundamental tools of microphotometry and are also...

The measurement of the intensity of spectral lines by the examination of a very small area under a microscope and the measurement of the density at any point of the image.

The technology of manipulating light on a micro scale. In optical communications, this is usually accomplished using two or more materials with significantly different indicies of refraction. In most...

A laser-induced scar on experimental bare glass surfaces usually attributable to threshold damage and indicative of isolated damage-susceptible areas in the glass.

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...

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...

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.

Radiographic recording and enhancement of the micoscopic details within the structure of thin specimens at a high magnification. Also known as x-ray micrography

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

A microspectroscope equipped with a sensing and recording device, such as a camera, to measure the spectrum formed by microscopic samples.

A specialized spectrophotometer for use through a microscope on very small areas of an object.

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...

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...

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...

A device used for slicing very thin specimens in preparation for mounting on a microscope slide.

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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.

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...

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, 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...

In the SI system, prefix meaning one-thousandth, 10-3.

A unit of pressure, one-thousandth of a bar, equivalent to 100 Pascal and 0.75 torr. One atmosphere equals 1013 mbar.

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...

A unit of metric measurement, equal to 0.001 m. 25.4 mm equal 1 inch.

Former name of the nanometer, 10-9 m.

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.

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...

Small tungsten lamp used in surgical instruments such as cystoscopes, and for other purposes where space is limited.

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, 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...