Photonics Dictionary: S

A neutral density filter that, when placed in front of the iris of a lens, increases the f-stop range.

A telescopic light-sensing meter used to measure illumination levels of small regions at a distance of many feet; it is used in professional motion picture and television production to ensure proper...

A metal tool used to hold a number of lens blanks during grinding and polishing.

The distribution of energy about the image of a point source in the focal plane of an optical system.

A phenomenon that causes the details in an image to appear at a spatial frequency higher than that at which the contrast first drops to zero. A phase reversal will accompany this phenomenon, often...

A vacuum deposition method in which the coating material (target) is removed from the surface of the coating source (cathode) by ion bombardment and deposited upon the substrates.

Sputtering equipment is machinery used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering. Sputtering is a method of depositing thin films of material onto a substrate surface...

A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering. Sputtering targets are typically made of metals, metal alloys, or compounds...

A wave that changes from one amplitude to the other in a short time compared with the wavelength.

A light source that does not fluctuate despite temperature changes.

A platform mount used to hold sensitive optical instruments immobile.

A plane-parallel interferometer that yields extremely high contrast over a wide range of finesse values without significantly reducing transmission.

A laser resonator in which a mode oscillating between the mirrors will converge upon the laser's longitudinal axis.

The superimposing of holographic pages in a thick, erasable storage material by changing the reference and object beams. This extends the capacity of holographic memories.

A memory system composed of a stack of holographic plates, a mode-locked laser and a rapid detector array. Ultrashort laser pulses are used to extract information from the stack. In this way, storage...

A type of laser used when a great amount of power is required. Avoiding the bulk of large numbers of optical lenses, this instrument offers high-output intensity and a small emitting region at...

A reticle pattern in a surveying instrument consisting of parallel lines that can be superimposed on a calibrated rod, making possible determination of the distance from the instrument to the rod.

The determination of distance based upon the known size of an object and the size of its image at the image plane of an optical system.

In microscopy, a calibrated scale on a slide that may be viewed to determine the exact magnification factor of the microscope.

A lens whose focal length is roughly equal to the diagonal of the negative format of the camera on which it is mounted.

The refraction that would take place in an idealized atmosphere where the refractive index is reduced uniformly with height at the rate of 39 x 10-6 per kilometer.

In infrared imaging systems used for mass screening of printed circuit boards or other quality control applications, an image of an ideal component that is stored in the system's memory and then...