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51 terms
Photonics Dictionary: O
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optical image x
O x
object
The figure seen through or imaged by an optical system. It may contain structures, natural or artificial, or it may be the real or virtual image of an object formed by another optical system. In...
objective
The optical element that receives light from the object and forms the first or primary image in telescopes and microscopes. In cameras, the image produced by the objective is the final image. In...
oblique illumination
A common technique in microscopy, oblique illumination is one in which the object is illuminated by a light source that is at an oblique angle (on the side) to the optical axis. This technique is...
ocular
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eyepiece
Also known as ocular. The lens system used between the final real image in a visual optical system and eye. It acts as an image magnifier. Many types of eyepieces are known; e.g., the Huygens used in...
ocular accommodation
Ocular accommodation is the process by which the eye changes its optical power to maintain a clear image (focus) on an object as its distance varies. This process is essential for seeing objects at...
oculometer
An electro-optical infrared tracker consisting of a beamsplitter, an illuminating source, an image dissector tube and an electronics unit, that automatically acquires and tracks particular eye...
off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirror
Off-axis paraboloid and ellipsoid mirrors are specialized optical components used in various optical systems, particularly in applications requiring precise focusing, collimation, or imaging of...
offset prism
A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.
on-board optics
On-board optics refers to optical systems integrated into devices or platforms for various purposes, such as imaging, navigation, communication, and sensing. These systems are crucial in a wide range...
optical aberration
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optical aberration
Optical aberration refers to imperfections or deviations from ideal optical behavior in an imaging system, such as a lens or a mirror. These aberrations can cause distortions, blurring, or other...
optical aberration
Optical aberration refers to imperfections or deviations from ideal optical behavior in an imaging system, such as a lens or a mirror. These aberrations can cause distortions, blurring, or other...
optical activity
The capacity of a chiral substance such as a crystal or molecule to rotate the plane of polarized light that is transmitted through it. Any substance that cannot be superimposed onto it's mirror...
optical analysis
The mathematical evaluation of an optical system to determine and quantify its basic optical properties and image quality characteristics.
optical artifacts
Optical artifacts refer to undesired or unintended effects that can occur in optical systems, such as microscopes, cameras, telescopes, and other optical instruments. These artifacts can distort or...
optical axis
The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical centerline for all the centers of an optical element(s) of an optical...
optical camouflage
The use of retroreflective projection technology (RPT) to project a background image onto a masked object, such as a vehicle or overcoat, thereby making the masked object appear invisible....
optical cavity
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resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or stimulus is applied at a specific frequency, causing the system to oscillate...
optical center
The point on the optical axis of a lens that is the image of the nodal points. For any bundle of rays passing through the optical center of a lens, the incident and emergent rays through this point...
optical character recognition
Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into machine-readable text. OCR software and systems are designed to recognize and extract...
optical coatings
Optical coatings are thin layers of materials applied to optical components, such as lenses, mirrors, filters, and prisms, to modify their reflective and transmissive properties. These coatings are...
optical coherence tomography imaging system
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. An OCT imaging...
optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture high-resolution, cross-sectional images of biological tissues. It provides...
optical collimator
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collimator
An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e. illuminated slit or retical) at its focal plane. Collimators are used to...
optical combiner
An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines multiple optical signals or images into a single output. The purpose of an...
optical delay camera
A type of high-speed cine camera that uses different image paths and a Kerr cell to produce a series of successive images at about 60,000,000 fps.
optical density
A measure of the transmittance through an optical medium. Optical density equals the log to the base 10 of the reciprocal of the transmittance. where τλ is transmittance. In spectroscopy,...
optical design software
Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to simulate, model, analyze, and optimize the performance of optical systems and...
optical fiber
Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light signals over long distances with minimal loss of signal quality. It serves as a...
optical filter
An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits or blocks specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. Optical filters are used to control the spectral content of light in various...
optical fluorography
The fluorographic method whereby the visible image (as opposed to the x-ray image) is photographed by mounting a camera in front of the fluorescent screen.
optical Fourier transform
The optical Fourier transform is a mathematical operation applied to optical signals that involves transforming a spatial domain representation of an image into its corresponding frequency domain...
optical multimeter
An instrument that measures several optical parameters, such as optical power and wavelength, with a single measurement input.
optical parametric oscillator
A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates coherent light whose output can be tuned continuously over a variety of infrared...
optical path difference
The relative path difference (or phase shift) traveled between two rays that pass through different mediums from the same object point. For a perfect optical system, the optical path, or distance,...
optical power spectrum
Also known as the Wiener spectrum or the noise power spectrum, the optical power spectrum is a fundamental quantity in film-screen image quality evaluation. It is a means of describing image content...
optical profiler
Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to millimeter-scale step heights. A standard arrangement includes an illumination source,...
optical pyrometer
An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives off and comparing it to the known temperature and wavelength spectrum of...
optical relay
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relay lens
A lens or lens system used to transfer a real image from one point within an optical system to another, with or without magnifying it.
optical resolution
A measure of image quality produced by an optical system. May be specified in terms of cycles per millimeter, referencing a repeating bar pattern; or angular resolution, referencing the angle...
optical resonator
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resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or stimulus is applied at a specific frequency, causing the system to oscillate...
optical testing instrument
An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and characteristics of optical components, systems, and devices. These instruments play a...
optical time-domain reflectometry
A method for characterizing a fiber wherein an optical pulse is transmitted through the fiber, and the resulting light scattered and reflected to the input is measured (by an optical time-domain...
optical tooling target
Sets of paired lines carefully designed to give the most accurate pointing possible for various lengths of sight.
optical transfer function
The function that characterizes the quality of an optical system by denoting the modulation and spatial phase shift of the image of a sinusoidal object with frequency as the independent variable.
optical transform image modulation
A technique for detecting and measuring atmospheric pollution, in which an oscillating mirror directs half the incoming light to a transducer that controls amplitude and frequency, and the resulting...
optoacoustic
Optoacoustic, or photoacoustic, refers to a phenomenon and related techniques that involve the generation of acoustic waves in a material induced by the absorption of light. The term "optoacoustic"...
optoelectronics
Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...
orthicon
A television camera tube in which a low-velocity electron beam scans a photoactive mosaic that has been created by an optical image. Once scanned by the electron beam, the electrical storage capacity...
orthographic camera
A camera designed with a telecentric optical system and a narrow field of view; the telecentric optical system (placement of the system's stop at its focal point) ensures that the principal image...
OTIM
optical transform image modulation
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Photonics Dictionary
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