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8,236 terms
Photonics Dictionary
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annealing
The process of heating and slowly cooling a solid material, like glass or metal, to stabilize its thermal, electrical or optical properties or, as in semiconductor materials, to reverse lattice...
annealing furnace
An oven or furnace that possesses the design requirements and heat control necessary to anneal glass for the optical industry.
annihilation radiation
Gamma ray radiation released when matter and antimatter, such as electron and positron, unite and eliminate each other, transforming completely into energy. The resulting gamma ray spectrum depends...
annular eclipse
A type of solar eclipse that occurs when the sun is at perihelion and the moon is at apogee. Because the apparent size of the moon is insufficient to cover the sun, the outer edge of the solar disc...
anode
The part of an electrical circuit in which the electrons leave (a cathode-ray tube) or enter (an electrolytic cell) a unit in the circuit.
anomaloscope
An optical instrument that uses a yellow light of varying intensity with red and blue lights of fixed intensity to test for colorblindness.
anomalous dispersion
Dispersion that occurs when the medium's index of refraction decreases as the frequency of the propagating light increases. For a given medium, some wavelength ranges may produce anomalous dispersion...
anomalous photoconductivity
A spectral phenomenon in which the degree of the photoresponse of an illuminated semiconductor is determined by the wavelength composition of the incident light.
anomalous propagation
Irregular propagation of a wave due to variations in the medium's density or refractive index.
anomalous trichromatism
Color vision whereby abnormal proportions of three colors are needed for color matching.
ANRT
Association Nationale de la Recherche Technique
ANSI
American National Standards Institute
anthropomorphic
Having human characteristics or behavior.
antialiasing
In image processing, methods of reducing image defects that result from false data. Techniques include sampling, linear intensity, filtering a high-resolution image to produce a low-resolution image,...
antibleaching
Characteristic of an absorber in the IR region, whereby absorption increases as a direct function of the intensity of the incident, continuous radiation.
antiblooming gate
A device that prevents electrons from a saturated pixel in a CCD imaging device from spilling into an adjacent pixel. The antiblooming gate drains a pixel of any charge in excess of its full-well...
anticathode
->
x-ray tube target
Also known as an anticathode. An electrode or electrode section that is focused upon by an electron beam and that emits x-rays.
antiferromagnetism
The elimination of magnetic moments and decrease in magnetic susceptibility with a decrease in temperature due to the equal power of atomic magnets.
antifog coating
A coating that is capable of stopping the condensation of moisture on an optical surface.
antigen
An antigen is any substance that is capable of triggering an immune response in an organism. Antigens are typically proteins or large polysaccharides, although other types of molecules can also act...
antiguide
A waveguide that has a core with a lower refractive index than the refractive index of the cladding. This structure can limit the power of the transmitted beam by removing unwanted radiation, for...
antihalation backing
Light-absorbing material that is applied to the back support of any bright image under inspection to prevent the formation of a secondary image.
antireflection coating
An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to minimize unwanted reflections and increase the transmission of light...
antiresonance
Literally the opposite of resonance, antiresonance occurs when any variation in excitation frequency results in an increased response.
antisolar point
The point to which the extension of the straight line, reaching from the sun to the observer's eye after penetrating the atmosphere of the Earth, is projected.
antistatic coating
An electrically conductive layer for carrying off static charges that might accumulate on a surface.
ANVIS
aviator's night vision imaging system
AOBD
acousto-optic beam deflector
AOD
acousto-optic deflector
AOI
area of interest; automatic optical inspection
AOTF
acousto-optic tunable filter
APA
all points addressable
APC
automatic power control; angle polished connector
APCVD
atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition
APD
avalanche photodiode
APD detector
An APD detector, or avalanche photodiode detector, is a type of photodetector used to detect light or optical signals by converting incoming photons into electrical current. It operates based on the...
apertometer
An instrument designed to measure the numerical aperture of an objective.
aperture
An opening or hole through which radiation or matter may pass.
aperture card
A combination 80-column computer card containing a 35-mm microfilm frame. Reference data can be punched onto the card to facilitate retrieval of it on film.
aperture diaphragm
The second adjustable iris diaphragm in an optical system. In the common microscope condenser system, it usually is located beneath the substage condenser on a transmitted light microscope. When the...
aperture distortion
A loss of resolution or detail in a television signal caused by the size of the electron scanning beam.
aperture illumination
The amplitude, polarization and phase contained in the field distribution over the aperture.
aperture imaging
The formation of an image by a pinhole aperture that transmits radiation, such as gamma radiation.
aperture mask
Also known as a shadow mask, a perforated plate placed between the focusing and accelerating electrodes, and the tricolor phosphor screen in a color-television tube.
aperture ratio
The ratio of the lens aperture to its focal length (1/f/#).
aperture stop
A physical constraint, often a lens retainer, that limits the diameter of the axial light bundle allowed to pass through a lens.
aphelion
The point of a planet or comet's orbit that is farthest from the sun.
API
application programming interface
aplanat
Also known as aplanatic lens. A lens corrected for spherical aberration and coma.
aplanatic lens system
A system that satisfies the Abbe sine condition, and is free from spherical aberration and coma.
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Photonics Dictionary
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