Photonics Dictionary

A contact tip made of artificial sapphire (AlO2) that allows surgeons to use laser power to cut and coagulate tissue simultaneously.

Biomimicry, or biomimetic design, is the practice of emulating natural processes, systems, and structures found in biological organisms to solve human problems or create innovative technologies. It...

An apparatus, designed for use with a camera, that is used to rapidly open the path from lens to film, to maintain the opening throughout exposure and to close the opening in rapid succession. The...

A shutter consisting of a ring of interweaving blades that open outward and allow light to pass when they are pivoted at their outer edges.

A device used to prepare optical fiber end faces; a scribe line made by the cleaver's blade propagates across the fiber, resulting in a clean break.

A method of determining the abrasion resistance of very hard materials by passing a weighted wiper blade across them in a sand-water slurry for a specified number of times.

A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing process to precisely cut and slice materials such as crystals, glass, and quartz...