Photonics Dictionary: G

Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) is a semiconductor alloy composed of gallium (Ga), arsenic (As), and phosphorus (P). It is commonly used in the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, particularly...

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound made up of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). It is a wide-bandgap semiconductor material that exhibits unique electrical and optical properties. Gallium nitride is...

A galvanometric scanner, also known as a galvanometer scanner or galvo scanner, is a type of optical scanning device used to rapidly and precisely direct a laser beam or other light source to...

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...

A field of physics that deals with light as if it truly were composed of rays diverging in various directions from the source and abruptly bent by refraction or turned by reflection into paths...

A controlled random search process, such as generalized simulated annealing, that has been incorporated into many optical design programs as a way of helping designers find the most suitable lens...

Descriptive of an optical fiber having a core refractive index that decreases almost parabolically and radially outward toward the cladding. This type of fiber combines high bandwidth with moderately...

Also known as ground level. The lowest energy level of an atom or atomic system. A material in the ground state is not capable of emitting optical radiation. All other states are called excited...

In an optical waveguide, a mode whose field decays monotonically in the transverse direction everywhere external to the core and which does not lose power to radiation. Also called bound mode.