Technology and the built world

Optical heterodyne detection

Optical heterodyne detection combines weak received light with a local laser before photodetection, producing an electrical beat signal that carries the signal's amplitude and phase.

Optical image stabilization

Optical image stabilization (OIS) is a camera hardware technique that moves lens elements or the image sensor to counteract hand shake, reducing blur in handheld photos and video.

Optical injection locking

Optical injection locking is a photonics technique in which light from a master laser forces a slave laser to oscillate at the master's frequency and phase.

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is a non-profit consortium founded in 1998 by Cisco and CIENA, with over 160 members, that publishes Implementation Agreements such as 400ZR for interoperable optical networking.

Optical label switching

Optical label switching (OLS) is a packet-forwarding technique for optical networks in which a short optical label carries forwarding information, letting high-speed payloads stay optical.

Optical low-coherence reflectometry

Optical low-coherence reflectometry, also known as white-light interferometry, is a technique that locates and measures reflection sites inside optical devices by interfering broadband light with a reference beam.

Optical mark recognition

Optical mark recognition (OMR), also called optical mark reading, is a technology that detects pencil or ink marks in fixed positions on forms like answer sheets.

Optical module

An optical module, commonly called a pluggable optical transceiver, is a hot-swappable device that converts electrical signals to light and back for transmission over optical fiber, plugging into switches and routers.

Optical mouse

An optical mouse, also known as an optical computer mouse, tracks its movement by imaging the surface beneath it with a small camera, replacing the mechanical ball mouse.

Optical neural network

An optical neural network (ONN) is a computing architecture that implements artificial neural networks with lasers, modulators, and photodetectors, performing the matrix multiplications that dominate deep learning.

Optical orthogonal codes

Optical orthogonal codes (OOCs) are binary sequences with sharp autocorrelation and low cross-correlation, introduced in 1989 as signature codes letting asynchronous users share one optical channel.

Optical orthogonal frequency-division multiple access

Optical orthogonal frequency-division multiple access, or OFDMA-PON, is a passive optical network scheme in which users share fiber by transmitting on disjoint orthogonal subcarriers instead of taking turns in time slots.

Optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

Optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (O-OFDM) is the application of OFDM, which carries data on many orthogonal subcarriers, to optical links, proposed for long-haul fiber in 2006.

Optical packet switching

Optical packet switching (OPS) is a networking paradigm that routes data packets entirely in the optical domain, pursued since the mid-1990s to overcome electronic routers' bandwidth limits.

Optical phased array

An optical phased array (OPA) steers a laser beam with no moving parts by controlling the phases of coherent emitters, often on a chip, for LiDAR and communication.

Optical proximity correction

Optical proximity correction (OPC) is a computational lithography technique that pre-distorts photomask geometry, shifting subdivided mask edges so predictable imaging errors produce the intended pattern on the wafer.

Optical single-sideband modulation

Optical single-sideband modulation (OSSB) is an optical transmission technique that suppresses one sideband of a modulated carrier, halving optical bandwidth and suppressing chromatic-dispersion-induced power fading.

Optical solar reflector

An optical solar reflector, also called a thermal control mirror, is a passive spacecraft thermal control element that reflects most sunlight while radiating heat away in the infrared.

Optical spectrometer

An optical spectrometer, also known as an optical spectrum analyzer or optical spectroscope, separates light into its constituent wavelengths and measures each intensity, using diffraction gratings or prisms.

Optical spectrum analysis

Optical spectrum analysis measures how the power of light is distributed over wavelength or optical frequency, using an optical spectrum analyzer for laser characterization and fiber-optic network testing.

Optical switching

Optical switching is the redirection of an optical signal from one path to another without optical-electrical-optical conversion, using technologies like MEMS mirrors and lithium niobate switches in fiber networks.

Optical telegraph

The optical telegraph, or semaphore telegraph, is a signaling system that sent coded messages between towers by movable arms and shutters, pioneered by Claude Chappe in 1790s France.

Optical time-division multiplexing

Optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM) combines several optical signals by temporal interleaving on one wavelength and separates them later by arrival time, reaching serial rates beyond electronic limits.

Optical transceiver

An optical transceiver is a module that combines an optical transmitter and receiver in one package, converting electrical signals to light and back for fiber links.

Optical Transport Network

The Optical Transport Network (OTN), sometimes called the Optical Transport Hierarchy, is an ITU-T standardized architecture that multiplexes many service types onto high-capacity optical wavelengths.

Optical vector analysis

Optical vector analysis (OVA) measures the magnitude and phase response of optical components such as filters and resonators; commercial instruments, notably Luna Technologies' OVA 1550, test a full component in under 30 seconds.

Optical vestigial sideband modulation

Optical vestigial sideband modulation (optical VSB) is a modulation format for fiber and free-space optical links that transmits one sideband in full plus a retained vestige of the other.

OPTICS algorithm

OPTICS (Ordering Points To Identify the Clustering Structure) is a density-based clustering algorithm, presented at ACM SIGMOD in 1999, that orders points by reachability distance to find clusters of varying density.

Oct 22, 2026

OPTIMADE

OPTIMADE (Open Databases Integration for Materials Design) is a consortium of materials database providers whose standard REST API lets one query work across independent databases.