Photonics Dictionary

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between optoelectronic devices and providing signal processing functions.

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...

Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The...

A set of international standards by which a single telecommunications channel is used to transmit voice and data simultaneously.

A hollow sphere coated internally with a white diffusing material and provided with openings for incident beam, specimen and detector used for measuring the diffuse reflectance or transmittance of...

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a sensor collects and accumulates incoming light or signal. It is a crucial...

An interband cascade laser (ICL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on interband transitions between energy bands in a semiconductor material. Unlike traditional semiconductor...

That angle found between a pair of adjacent faces of a crystal.

1. The additive process whereby the amplitudes of two or more overlapping waves are systematically attenuated and reinforced. 2. The process whereby a given wave is split into two or more waves by,...

Color resulting from the interference between two light beams.

A filter that controls the spectral composition of transmitted energy partially by the effects of interference. Frequently, these filters are made up of thin layers of metals and dielectrics,...

A device, consisting of a diode activated by an interference pulse, that is designed to minimize the white spots on a television screen that are intensified by interference.

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in completely transparent objects and specimen. The object is placed in one beam...

The spectrum produced by the interference of light provided that the source used to create the interference has a broad enough emittance to form a spectrum.

A photographic or electronic recording of an optical interference pattern.

The method by which interferograms are produced.

An interferometer is a scientific instrument that utilizes the principle of interference to measure differences in the path length, wavelength, phase, or amplitude of coherent electromagnetic waves....

Heat measurement method in which the sample is made part of the interferometer and the temperature increase is determined by measuring the change in optical pathlength through the material. By moving...

Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) is a type of display technology used in electronic devices, known for its energy efficiency and ability to produce high-quality reflective color displays....

The study and utilization of interference phenomena, based on the wave properties of light.

Describing the standard television method of raster scanning in which the image is the product of two fields, each of which is a series of successively scanned lines separated by the equivalent of...

Interlayer attraction refers to the attractive forces between adjacent layers of atoms or molecules in a material, particularly in layered structures such as van der Waals solids, graphene, and...

In a heterodyne optical receiver, the frequency that is the difference between that of an incoming laser signal and that of the local oscillator laser. Also called beat frequency.

In an optical system with a series of lenses, images formed prior to the final focal plane.

With reference to absorbance, absorptance, transmittance and the like, the processes occurring within a specimen between the entry and exit surfaces.

The effect in which photons are absorbed and excite the electrons; the electrons move from the valence band to the conduction band (intrinsic photoeffect), from the valence band to impurity levels or...

The creation of free electrons within a solid by the absorption of a sufficient amount of photons. The effect produces an increase in the conductivity of the solid.

A material that is present or added to a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis, to serve as an intensity reference for spectral measurements.

A spectral line of an internal standard; used to compare radiant energy of the line being analyzed.

A nonoptical surface, within lenses and lens mounts, that contributes largely to flare by reflecting light into the image space. As a result, such surfaces, so located, are finished with a dull...

A unit of measurement of luminous intensity based on a physical standard, a set of calibrated carbon filament lamps. The old candle unit was superseded by the new candle or candela.

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects embedded with sensors, actuators, software, and network connectivity....

The distance between the two eye pupils when the observer is viewing distant objects (normal = 62 mm).

Measures the refractive indices axially from the fiber profile. Microscopy technique provides an interferogram with high contrast with demonstrated improvements in relation to the Pluta two-beam...

The separation between the exit pupils of a binocular instrument. This usually is adjustable so that it can be set equal to the observer's interocular distance, a normal range being from 55 to 75 mm.

Sharp and narrow absorption lines found in the spectra of stars. They result from the absorption of a part of a star's emittance by interstellar gases.

An absorbing coating medium between fibers, used in some fused fiber optic plates to absorb unwanted light. Such coatings are sometimes called EMA (extramural absorption).

A position inside a crystal lattice that is not one of the proper lattice sites in the crystal. Impurity ions of the proper size can occupy such positions in an otherwise regular lattice.

With respect to laser radiation, the subjection of the human eye to all or a portion of the laser beam.

That distortion resulting from dispersion of the group velocity of a propagating mode. It is the only distortion occurring in single-mode waveguides.

Intravital microscopy is an imaging technique used to visualize biological processes within living organisms, typically in real-time. Unlike traditional microscopy, which involves the examination of...

A material often used in the construction of optical instruments because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion (0.9 x 10-6/ °C).

Collisional absorption of energy that occurs in inertial confinement fusion systems when hydrodynamic expansion of the plasma causes an electron passing through the field of an ion to absorb...

The interaction between a photon and an energetic electron, caused by collision, that transfers energy from the electron to the photon, thus raising the energy of the photon.

The changing of the kinetic energy of a mobile electron into radiant energy, as in formation of x-rays.

The resulting contraction or expansion of a piezoelectric crystal along an electric axis when the crystal is under the influence of an electric field in the same direction.

Any problem that requires retrieval of the distribution of some internal properties, such as temperature concentration, etc., from remotely sensed data.