Photonics Dictionary: I

An instrument in which an object's image, produced by a lens of known focal length, is used to determine the object's distance from the instrument when its size is known, or the object's size if the...

Any filter in which the range of frequencies within a chosen radius suffers no attenuation and the range of frequencies outside the radius is entirely attenuated.

A system that transmits and receives identification codes to facilitate the discrimination between enemy and friend in a tactical situation.

In semiconductor physics and materials science, the term "III-V materials" refers to compounds composed of elements from group III and group V of the periodic table. More specifically, these...

Characteristic of a surface or object that has luminous flux incident upon it.

A magnifying lens fitted with a battery-operated lamp by which an object can be conveniently illuminated during observation.

A desklike apparatus with an opal glass surface illuminated from beneath by fluorescent tubes. It is equipped with roll holders for aerial films and a low-power microscope or some form of...

A photometric instrument used to measure the illumination falling on a surface. It may be photoelectric or visual.

An electron tube that employs electromagnetic radiation to produce a visual replica of an image produced on its cathode. Electrons ejected from the cathode by the incident radiation are accelerated...

A camera that uses an image converter tube in such a way that voltage waveforms applied to internal electrodes cause the original image to be switched on and off very rapidly, thus offering time...

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized electronic device used to amplify low-light-level images to make them visible to...

A system of elements which rotates the optical image with respect to the optical axis by a factor of pi radians.

A thermoplastic or thermosetting material used to hold an object fixed and keep it from deterioration. In microcircuitry, the process of imbedding is known as potting.

A radiation detector with its active medium mounted within a lens that focuses the radiation signal. The improvement in detector performance is a function of the indices of refraction of the lens...

A type of refractometer designed to measure the refractive indices of liquids. A section of the instrument is immersed into the sample being measured.

An exposure meter designed to measure the light striking an object and used at a suitable location in a scene.

A thermal source that emits less radiation than a blackbody under identical temperature conditions.

A material, often a liquid or cement, whose refractive index is nearly equal to the fiber's core index, used to reduce Fresnel reflection from a fiber end face.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are ordinary cells that are genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like state to allow the human cells to be used for therapeutic purposes....

A device used in thin-film deposition; the material to be evaporated is placed in a crucible that is heated inductively by current passing through a coil around it.

A shutter in which the opening and closing times for a large aperture setting occupy a substantial fraction of the total exposure time so that apertures and time pair readings from an exposure meter...

A system that uses infrared detectors and related instrumentation to determine when abnormal amounts of infrared radiation, usually in the form of heat, are present in an area; used for the detection...

A superconducting bolometer, operating at very low temperatures, that is used to detect infrared radiation.

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. These detectors are utilized in various applications,...

A filter exhibiting transparency, absorption or reflectance characteristics specifically for spectral control of wavelengths longer than 700 µm.

A direct method of measuring refractive index that works best with flat-surfaced samples (i.e., those that are not dependent on special prism shapes) and produces data that are uniquely sensitive to...

The range of materials that, unlike glass, may be used in the infrared. Water-soluble salts, such as cesium iodide, and other substances such as arsenic sulfide, selenium, thallium bromide-iodide and...

An impurity-doped silicon detector array sensitive to long infrared wavelengths, installed in optical collecting systems capable of detecting the presence of infrared-emitting objects at extensive...

A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It usually consists of a radiation source such as a Nernst glower, a monochromator,...

A telescope that transmits, enlarges and converts infrared images.

Used to detect radiation from the infrared region. The functional process includes absorption of infrared radiation, which causes a temperature change, consequently altering the physical properties...

A process by which a plastic cell is molded around a glass lens or lenses to create a mount, eliminating the metal barrel and the need for glass-to-metal seals.

With respect to color photography, the measurement of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical system containing the film.

A reflection hologram using multiple color lasers that integrates various graphical techniques to allow the display of three-dimensional images of live objects in motion, as well as outdoor scenes,...

Multiple, interconnected circuit elements, contained on or in a common substrate, that function as a unit and not separately.

An infrared detector mounted directly on the cold finger of the Dewar cooler rather than at the interface of Dewar and cooler, resulting in decreased size and power consumption and greater...

Also known as integrated exposure. A measurement of light from sources that vary rapidly with time, defined as the integral of instantaneous power and time and expressed as units per second.

A type of laser for which a large number of the components can be fabricated in or upon a single substrate.

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 intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an image intensifier and a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor to achieve...

A CCD image sensor that uses a proximity-focused image intensifier to provide greater sensitivity at low light levels.

A standard direct-readout vidicon tube linked by fiber optics to an intensifier for increased sensitivity.