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Photonics Dictionary: A

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absolute (kelvin degrees), absorption, acoustic, alpha particle, analog, anode, ampere, amplitude, area, atomic, atomic mass, Helmholtz free energy, mass number, nucleon number
Abbe sine condition -> Abbe sine condition
The Abbe sine condition is a fundamental principle in optical physics that relates to the performance of an optical system, particularly its ability to produce high-quality images free from spherical...
Abbe sine condition
The Abbe sine condition is a fundamental principle in optical physics that relates to the performance of an optical system, particularly its ability to produce high-quality images free from spherical...
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...
absorption hologram
An absorption hologram is a type of hologram in which the image is formed by variations in the absorption of light within the recording medium. Unlike traditional holograms that rely primarily on...
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a sensor or transducer that measures the rate of change of velocity of an object, or in simpler terms, it measures acceleration. Accelerometers are widely used in various...
achromat
An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon where different colors of light...
acoustical hologram
An acoustical hologram refers to a three-dimensional representation of sound waves in space, analogous to optical holography but applied to acoustic waves. Unlike visual holography, which creates...
acoustical holography
Acoustical holography is a technique used to visualize and analyze sound fields in three-dimensional space. It involves capturing the complex spatial distribution of acoustic waves, much like how...
actinism
Actinism refers to the property of radiation, particularly light, that enables it to produce photochemical effects. This term is derived from the Greek word aktinos, meaning ray. Here are the key...
active transport
Active transport is a biological process by which cells move molecules or ions across their cell membrane against their concentration gradient, meaning from a region of lower concentration to a...
active-matrix liquid crystal display
An active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) is a type of flat-panel display technology that utilizes an array of thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the individual pixels on the screen. This...
active-matrix OLED display
An active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display is a type of flat-panel display technology that combines the active matrix addressing scheme with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)....
acute bisectrix
The term acute bisectrix is used in mineralogy and crystallography to describe a specific optical property of minerals, particularly in relation to their crystal structure and light behavior. ...
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of atmospheric distortions. The Earth's atmosphere can cause light passing through it...
additive color mixing
Additive color mixing refers to the process of creating colors by combining different wavelengths of light. In this system, red, green, and blue (RGB) are considered primary colors. By mixing varying...
additive color process
The additive color process refers to the method of creating color by combining different wavelengths of light. This process is fundamental in various applications, particularly in: ...
additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional objects by adding material layer by layer. This is in contrast to...
addressability (optical)
Optical addressability refers to the capability to control or manipulate individual elements that emit or modulate light (such as pixels in a display or light sources in an optical network) using...
aerotriangulation
In aerial photography, the geometric method of indicating the three-dimensional location of ground points from a pair of aerial photographs.
air bearing
A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and positioning equipment, air bearings are of two types, linear or rotary,...
air dose
A quantitative measure of the amount of radiation given off by an instrument, expressed in roentgens per unit of free air.
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.
aluminized cathode-ray tube
A cathode-ray tube having a screen that is coated on the back with a thin film of aluminum, which serves to intensify the propagation of light.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science, engineering, and innovation for the benefit of all people....
American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is a prominent professional association of astronomers and other scientists dedicated to the study of astronomy and related fields. Founded in 1899, the AAS...
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress,...
amplification -> gain
Also known as amplification. 1. The increase in a signal that is transmitted from one point to another through an amplifier. A material that exhibits gain rather than absorption, at certain...
anaglyph
An image that can be studied three-dimensionally through a pair of complementary color filters composed of two superimposed views.
analog stroke
An analog method of moving a cathode-ray tube beam across a display screen face, commonly used in high-performance vector and character generators.
angular spectrum approach
The angular spectrum approach is a mathematical and computational technique used in the field of optics to analyze and simulate the propagation of optical waves, particularly in the context of wave...
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 trichromatism
Color vision whereby abnormal proportions of three colors are needed for color matching.
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.
aplanatic lens system
A system that satisfies the Abbe sine condition, and is free from spherical aberration and coma.
aplanatic points
Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or coma, are minimized or eliminated. In an optical system, aberrations are...
aplanatic surface
An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and coma. Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays...
apochromat
An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to minimize chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration occurs when different...
apochromatic system
An optical system that is corrected chromatically for three colors simultaneously.
aspect ratio
With respect to pictorial displays, the ratio of the width to the height. The television standard in the US is 4:3. High-definition or wide-screen television will have a ratio of 16:9.
atomic absorption spectrometer
An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical elements in a sample by measuring the absorption of light at...
atomic scattering factor
The efficiency of scattering by an atom in a particular direction, expressed as: where AA is the amplitude of the wave from the atom and AE is the amplitude of the wave from a free electron.
attenuation
Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it propagates through a medium or travels over a distance. This concept is prevalent...
Auger effect
The radiation-free transition that takes place within an ion, in which inner-shell vacancies in neutral atoms are filled by outer-shell electrons, thereby transferring energy to other electrons,...
auroral line
The green line, in the spectrum of the aurora borealis, that has a wavelength of 5577 Å; it is caused by a forbidden transition in oxygen.
autofluorescence
Autofluorescence refers to the natural emission of fluorescence exhibited by certain biological structures or molecules when exposed to light. Unlike fluorescence that results from the application of...
averted vision
In astronomy, the method of deliberately viewing objects with peripheral vision to take advantage of the eye's greater sensitivity to faint light a few degrees from the optical center.
axicon
An axicon is a type of optical component characterized by its conical shape and its ability to transform a collimated Gaussian beam of light into a ring-shaped beam with a gradually increasing...
Photonics DictionaryA

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