Photonics Dictionary

With respect to television, a potentiometer that allows variation of the intensity of the different elements of an image and that can be used to accentuate the highlights and shadows in an image. In...

A filter designed to improve contrast in an imaging system. For visual and black and white photosystems, a yellow filter is used.

Any lens with at least two lens elements, each of which can be used singly or in combined configurations.

Convex is an adjective used to describe a surface or shape that curves outward, bulges, or has a rounded and outwardly extending appearance. In the context of geometry or optics, a convex shape is...

A powerful and flexible machine-learning approach that can be used in machine vision to help solve difficult problems. Inspired by biological processes, multiple layers of neurons process portions of...

A fluid used to decrease the temperature rise produced by friction or other causes.

An instrument used to measure the coordinates of a point on an object such as a photographic plate.

An early type of nonvacuum photocell consisting of a layer of copper oxide on a metallic substrate, with a thin transparent layer of a conductor over the oxide. When light falls on the cell, a small...

A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...

In rangefinders and height finders, a rotatable or sliding wedge-shaped element used to divert the line of sight precisely to correct errors in the optical system.

An optical wedge of very small angles that admits light while sealing out moisture and dirt and that may be rotated to compensate for the errors in the entire system. Correction windows are sometimes...

The concave portion of a surface, formed on a blank, on which the disk of higher refractive glass will be fused to form a multifocal spectacle lens.

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...

A coverslip, also known as a cover glass or cover slip, is a thin and flat piece of transparent material typically made of glass or plastic. It is used in microscopy to cover a specimen mounted on a...

Cresyl violet, also known as cresyl violet acetate or cresyl echt violet, is a synthetic organic compound belonging to the class of triarylmethane dyes. It is commonly used in histology and...

Fine lines, wires or threads used in the focal plane of many optical instruments to point out and locate particular objects in the field of view. They were formerly made from a single strand of...

One of the two principal types of optical glass, the other being flint glass. Crown glass is harder than flint glass, and has a lower index of refraction and lower dispersion. Both types are used in...

A cryogenically cooled long-wave infrared (LWIR) camera is a specialized thermal imaging device designed to detect infrared radiation in the long-wave infrared spectrum, typically ranging from 8 to...

The spectrographic analysis of matter that is in a cooled state. Generally, a mechanical refrigerator is used to lower the temperature of the sample, allowing isolation and study of the sample and...

A cryostat is a device used to maintain very low temperatures, typically below the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K or -196°C) or even lower. It provides a controlled environment for...

A solid with a structure that exhibits a basically symmetrical and geometrical arrangement. A crystal may already possess this structure, or it may acquire it through mechanical means. More than 50...

An instrument that is used to detect high-energy particles by the pulse of the current formed when a particle passes through a normally insulating crystal to which a potential difference is applied.

A temperature-controlled container used to stabilize the temperature and resonant frequency of a crystal found in a crystal-controlled oscillator.

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite characterized by its standardized size and modular design. CubeSats are typically used for scientific research, technology demonstration, educational...

A method of resampling in which a 16-pixel neighborhood around a given pixel from the original image is used to calculate the final brightness value of that pixel in the corrected image.

Adhering material used to glue optical components that transmit in the infrared. It is easily dissolved by acetone.

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...

An endoscope used for the visual examination of the bladder.

A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable diffraction grating.

Popular process for silicon and polycrystalline production that consists of an alteration of the original state of a substance; thus, single-crystal materials can be used to form a polycrystal.

A value used to designate the relative sensitivity of a detector. The higher the D* value, the better the detector.

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...

An organizational method used in optical design computer programs. The technique produces one number (merit function) to measure the state of correction of an optical system. This number, which is...

A lightproof box used for storing photosensitive materials.

Dark current density refers to the electric current that flows through a semiconductor device in the absence of any external illumination. It is primarily caused by thermal generation of charge...

Unused fiber; fiber that has been installed but reserved for future use. Carrying no light.

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...

A data acquisition (DAQ) system is a combination of hardware and software used to collect, process, and analyze data from physical phenomena or processes. data acquisition system suppliers...

An accurate cathode-ray tube display used to provide visual representation stored in a computer for the interpretation and evaluation of the data.

Data analysis software is a category of software tools used for the systematic examination of data sets to uncover patterns, trends, relationships, and insights. It supports a range of analytical...