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8,236 terms
Photonics Dictionary
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smart microscopy
Smart microscopy refers to the integration of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and machine learning, into conventional microscopy techniques to enhance imaging...
smart pixel array
An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs are directly connected to electronic logic circuits, which also are a part...
smart skin
Structural surfaces that incorporate an embedded sensor network capable of detecting flaws within the structure.
SMD
surface-mount device
SME
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
smear
A lack of resolution in a television image as a result of smear ghosts or an insufficiently high video-frequency response. The distortion appears to be extended horizontally and blurred.
smear camera
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streak camera
A streak camera is a specialized instrument used to capture and analyze ultrafast phenomena, such as extremely short pulses of light or rapidly changing events. Unlike traditional cameras that...
smear ghost
A false image in television that follows the desired image so closely that it appears to be smeared.
smectic phase
A form of liquid crystal in which flow does not take place in the usual manner. When examined with polarized light, the substance often forms drops that display a series of fine lines. X-ray...
SMILE
spherical microintegrated lens
Smith-Baker microscope
A transmission interference microscope that produces interference patterns of a sample by using birefringent plates that split a polarized beam of light into ordinary and extraordinary rays, then...
SMPTE
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
SMSR
side mode suppression ratio
SMT
surface-mount technology
Snell's law of refraction
The incident ray, the normal to the refracting surface at the point of incidence of the ray at the surface, and the refracted ray all lie in a single plane. The ratio of the sine of the angle between...
Snellen letter
The letter form used on visual performance test charts. The overall letter height is equal to five times the thickness of individual strokes. Normal 20/20 vision is represented by the ability to...
sniperscope
A high-power riflescope specifically intended for sighting and shooting distant targets.
snooperscope
An instrument used for viewing in low levels of illumination by means of infrared radiation. A high-aperture lens forms an image of distant objects on the photocathode of an infrared-sensitive image...
SNR
signal-to-noise ratio
SOA
semiconductor optical amplifier
SoC
system on chip
sodium light source
An electric discharge lamp in which the conducting vapor is that of metallic sodium instead of the usual mercury. It emits a strong yellow light of a single wavelength.
soft coating
A term describing an antireflection coating that may be applied to optics that cannot tolerate the high temperatures usually required for normal "hard'' coatings. Such coatings lack durability...
soft mold blocking
Blocking by means of a pitch ring, pitch button or a totally pitched block. Pitch, containing a soft filter, may be used between the optical components to bar lateral movement.
soft radiation
Term applied to radiation composed of particles or photons that will not easily penetrate a material because of their low energy levels.
soft-focus filter
A filter that creates spherical aberration resulting in an image with a soft outline.
soft-focus lens
A lens that exhibits spherical aberration when used at large aperture settings, and that forms an image with a slightly blurred outline.
SOG
silicone on glass
SOHO
solar heliosphere observatory
sol-gel
A gelatinous fluid that can be used as a porous thin-film coating for optical components, including laser beam collimators, or as a protective coating for glass and crystalline materials.
solar absorber
A substance capable of converting solar radiation into thermal energy.
solar array
A group of solar cells that are electrically contacted and physically arranged so that they may be oriented in the direction of the sun simultaneously.
solar battery
A series of solar cells arranged to collect solar radiation and to generate a given amount of electrical energy.
solar black
A material, such as gold black and carbon black, that is used as a solar absorber because of its high absorptance and low reflectivity over the solar spectrum.
solar cell
A device for converting sunlight into electrical energy, consisting of a sandwich of P-type and N-type semiconducting wafers. A photon with sufficient energy striking the cell can dislodge an...
solar constant of radiation
Solar radiation intensity existing in free space at the mean solar distance of the Earth. Commonly expressed in g cal cm-2min-1, the constant is equal to the amount of incident radiation -- in unit...
solar furnace
An optical system that is designed to produce a high temperature in a specified area by the optical direction and concentration of solar radiation on that area. The system usually consists of a...
solar heat storage
The process of transferring collected energy from solar radiation into a heat-absorbing medium (e.g., an insulated tank of water) for use at a later time.
solar laser
A laser pumped by solar radiation focused by mirrors.
solar occultation
Measurement of absorption by the gas of interest in the 2- to 6-µm range as a function of tangent height pressure. The pressure profile may be inferred by using CO2 absorption profile...
solar plasma
Plasma formed by heat radiation from the sun.
solar radiation
Radiation from the sun that is made up of a very wide range of wavelengths, from the long infrared to the short ultraviolet with its greatest intensity in the visible green at about 5000 Å. The...
solar simulation
The simulation of solar radiation in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum for the analysis of extraterrestrial sunlight and its effects on spacecraft, materials and components.
solar simulator
A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for testing and research purposes. Solar simulators are employed in various...
solar wind
The constant outward flow of weakly magnetized plasma from the sun that is deflected by the magnetic field of the earth and, flowing around the field, creates a magnetosphere.
solarization
1. The reduction in the developable density of a photographic emulsion that has been extremely overexposed. 2. In a laser system, damage resulting from ultraviolet radiation that degrades the lasing...
Solc filter (Šolc filter)
A type of birefringent filter, similar in principle to the Lyot filter, consisting of many identical birefringent elements, often arranged in a "fan" or "folded" configuration, positioned between two...
soleil compensator
An optical compensator similar to the Babinet compensator, but which produces a phase-change consistent throughout its field, as opposed to the Babinet's phase-change, which occurs progressively...
solenoid
In micropositioning, a remote positioning device in which an electric current drives a movable armature mounted on an electromagnetic coil.
solid optics
Optical elements arranged with no spaces between, so that the light travels only through glass, not air.
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Photonics Dictionary
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