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fire cracks
Small clefts or fissures that penetrate the glass surface in the form of short-hooked crescents. Fire cracks result from a sudden excessive change in temperature.
first principal point
The principal point of a lens relative to the object space.
first window
The spectral transmission window in silica-based fibers between 830 and 850 nm.
first-order optics
->
Gaussian optics
1. That branch of optics that illustrates the theory in which q is substituted for sin q in Snell's law. Effective results are achieved if the aperture and field angle are made very small. The...
first-order spectrum
The separate spectral lines formed by a diffraction grating that are characterized by one wavelength difference in path length between adjacent slits.
first-order theory
->
Gaussian optics
1. That branch of optics that illustrates the theory in which q is substituted for sin q in Snell's law. Effective results are achieved if the aperture and field angle are made very small. The...
first-side meniscus
The process of grinding the concave surface of a single-vision spherical lens.
first-side toric
The process of grinding the toric surface of a single vision sphero-cylindrical lens.
first-surface mirror
->
front-surface mirror
An optical reflector with the reflective coating applied to the front surface of the substrate. This eliminates the ghost image formed with second-surface mirrors.
end-fire coupling
End-fire coupling refers to a method of coupling energy into or out of a waveguide, transmission line, or antenna, where the electromagnetic waves are directed primarily along the axis or direction...
far-infrared grating
A grating with very coarse rulings to match the long wavelengths in the far-infrared region. In the most efficient ruling method, grooves are cut in plane, solid aluminum alloy blanks.
far-infrared laser
A laser with output over a wide range of wavelengths spanning the far-infrared region of the spectrum (30 to 1000 µm); typically, it consists of a metal or dielectric waveguide one to two...
far-infrared maser
A gas maser that is capable of producing radiation in the far-infrared region of the spectrum.
far-infrared
That part of the infrared spectrum from about 30 to 1000 µm.
Abbe-Porro prism
An Abbe-Porro prism, often referred to simply as a Porro prism, is an optical prism used in binoculars and other optical instruments to invert and reverse an image. It is named after the Italian...
absolute luminance threshold
The absolute luminance threshold is the lowest luminance level of a light source or illuminated object that can be detected by the human eye under specific conditions. This threshold represents the...
actinide
The actinides are a series of 15 chemical elements in the periodic table, with atomic numbers from 89 to 103. They are named after actinium, the first element in the series. Elements: The...
acuity (visual acuity)
Visual acuity specifically refers to the clarity or sharpness of vision, typically measured by the ability to discern the details of objects at a specific distance. It is a fundamental measure of the...
acuity, visual
->
acuity (visual acuity)
Visual acuity specifically refers to the clarity or sharpness of vision, typically measured by the ability to discern the details of objects at a specific distance. It is a fundamental measure of the...
Airy disc
The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a uniformly irradiated, aberration-free circular optical element or system.
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electrical current in which the direction of flow of electric charge periodically reverses. This reversal occurs at regular intervals, typically in a sinusoidal...
balsam
->
Canada balsam
A resin obtained from the balsam fir, Abies balsamea, used as a lens cement.
Bessel functions
Two formulas used in diffractometer analysis, the first giving the individual diffraction patterns of each aperture, the second representing the constant of the degree of an incoherent circular...
bilinear interpolation
It is often necessary to estimate the value of what a pixel would be between neighboring pixels. This is accomplished by interpolating (or inserting) the value of a pixel between neighboring pixels....
Brownian motion
The behavior of microscopic solid particles suspended in a fluid, first observed by botanist Robert Brown in 1827 as a continuous random motion.
cadmium lines
The three lines in the spectrum of cadmium that have the purest radiations and that were first used by Michelson to calculate the standard meter.
Canada balsam
A resin obtained from the balsam fir, Abies balsamea, used as a lens cement.
Casimir force
The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged conductive surfaces. This force arises from the quantum vacuum fluctuations of the...
character generator
Computer hardware or firmware that accesses character patterns stored in read-only memory and displays them at specific coordinates on a screen.
chirped-pulse amplification
Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies without causing damage to the amplifying medium. The method was first...
chromatic dispersion
->
dispersion
Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing through a medium. This variation in the speed of light for different colors...
Clayden effect
The desensitization of the first photographic exposure after it has been subjected to high-intensity radiation.
contextual analysis
In optical character recognition systems, the identification of a character facilitated by means of known factors governing its appearance in a particular context; e.g., the first character in the...
cross dispersion
Recombination of only the light that is correctly dispersed by the first stage of a polychromator through its wide intermediate slit (common during Thomson scattering experimentation), which is...
design and engineering consulting services
Design and engineering consulting services refer to professional services provided by specialized firms or individuals to assist clients in various aspects of product development, system design, or...
dispersion
Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing through a medium. This variation in the speed of light for different colors...
dual-chirped optical parametric amplification
Dual-chirped optical parametric amplification (DC-OPA) is an advanced technique in ultrafast laser technology used to amplify femtosecond laser pulses to extremely high energies while maintaining...
edge detection
In image processing, the location of edges by employing templates that respond to the first or second derivative of gray-scale intensity in the neighborhood of each pixel.
electron image tube
A cathode-ray tube that increases the brightness or size of an image or forms a visible image from invisible radiation. The focal plane for the optical image is a large, light-sensitive, cold...
Förster resonance energy transfer
Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a mechanism describing the transfer of energy between two closely spaced fluorescent molecules. This phenomenon is named after the German scientist...
gas discharge laser
->
gas laser
One of the first lasers to find practical application. Generally, the pumping mechanism is an electric discharge, although some high-power forms employ chemical reaction or gas compression and...
gas laser
One of the first lasers to find practical application. Generally, the pumping mechanism is an electric discharge, although some high-power forms employ chemical reaction or gas compression and...
gatling gun laser
->
multiple laser sequence
Also known as gatling gun laser. A system that has an array of lasers sharing a common central axis on a rotating Fabry plate to achieve increased laser firing rates by sequential Q-switching.
Gaussian optics
1. That branch of optics that illustrates the theory in which q is substituted for sin q in Snell's law. Effective results are achieved if the aperture and field angle are made very small. The...
generating
A rapid roughing process for the quick removal of glass, the first step in manufacture of a curved lens surface. It is accomplished with coarse emery or a diamond-impregnated tool.
germanium crystal
Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor commonly used in various electronic and optical applications. Germanium crystals...
glass-melting furnace
A furnace used to heat glass materials. It may be a small laboratory-type furnace for small-scale experiments or large enough to hold gas-fired tanks for the commercial mass production of glass....
grating beamsplitter
A grating beamsplitter is an optical device that utilizes the principles of diffraction to split a beam of light into multiple beams, often redirecting them at specific angles. It is based on the...
Higgs boson
The Higgs boson is a fundamental particle associated with the Higgs field, a field that permeates the universe and is responsible for giving mass to other fundamental particles through the mechanism...
immersion objective
->
oil-immersion objective
A form of high-power microscope objective where the space between the object and the first element is filled with an oil having the same index as that element. This form reduces losses, increases the...
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