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8,726 terms

Photonics Dictionary

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.

solid-state drive

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a storage device that stores data electronically using solid-state memory chips. Unlike traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) that use spinning disks and mechanical...

solid-state imaging system

An imaging system that uses a mosaic of tiny light-sensitive semiconductors (phototransistors) to produce individual outputs that are then converted into a coherent video signal.

solid-state lamp

An electroluminescent semiconductor that emits low intensity radiation in the green or red regions. Used as an indicator lamp.

solid-state laser

A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent light. The term "solid-state" refers to the fact that the active medium, where...

solid-state light valve

A light valve that uses a crystal as the control layer medium and that operates on the principle of the electro-optic effect.

solid-state linear motor -> piezo worm

A piezoelectric translator that moves up and down a spindle like a caterpillar. It clamps itself at one end, expands, clamps the other end, releases the first end, and then contracts and begins the...

soliton

Any isolated wave that propagates without dispersion of energy. Specifically to photonics, an ultrashort pulse of laser light that propagates through a waveguide without characteristic chromatic...

soliton laser

A color center laser whose output is coupled to an external control laser cavity and then fed back to the main laser cavity to provide enhanced pulse shaping, leading to ultrashort pulse generation.

SONAR

sound navigation and ranging

sonde

A ruggedized scintillation counter used in oil well logging. The cylindrical housing contains a gamma ray source, a crystalline scintillator and a photomultiplier tube. As the sonde is drawn through...

SONET

synchronous optical network

Sonnar lens

A photographic objective that uses the thick meniscus principle to obtain its power. It is designed to photograph small fields at large apertures.

sonoholography -> acoustical holography

Acoustical holography is a technique used to visualize and analyze sound fields in three-dimensional space. It involves capturing the complex spatial distribution of acoustic waves, much like how...

sonoluminescence

The luminescence of a substance resulting from its exposure to ultrasonic waves.

sonoptography

The process whereby sound waves are employed to form a three-dimensional image of an object. The process involves generally: the recording of the diffraction pattern of an object exposed to sound...

sonoradiography

The diagnostic procedure that uses ultrasonic energy to probe the body and, with the help of laser beams, a reflecting membrane to produce a three-dimensional picture.

sonosensitive plate

Device that uses a coherent reference wave to record the interference patterns produced by incident ultrasonic waves on an object.

SOP

state of polarization

SOQE

Society for Optical and Quantum Electronics

SOR

synchrotron orbital radiation

SOS

silicon on sapphire

sound pressure

Calculated at a given point in a medium as the instantaneous pressure at that point in the presence of a sound wave, minus static pressure at that point.

source

A physical source of radiation, as contrasted to illuminant. See illuminant.

source correlation

The relationship between different wavelengths of light generated by a source, which may affect the spectral distribution of the light as it travels great distances in space; put forth by physicist...

source efficiency

The ratio of emitted optical power of a source to the input electrical power.

space charge

A volumetric electrical charge resulting from a flow of charged particles across a gap.

space pattern

On a test chart, the pattern designed to direct and measure geometric distortion.

space-division multiplex

In fiber optics, the condition in which each fiber of a bundle carries a separate channel.

spaser

A spaser (surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) is a nanoscale device that generates coherent optical radiation at nanometer-scale dimensions. It is analogous to a laser...

spatial averager -> low-pass filter

In digital image processing, a method of convolution that reduces random noise by replacing the value of each pixel with the average of that pixel plus its neighbors, or of the neighbors alone. Also...

spatial coherence

The maintenance of a fixed-phase relationship across the full diameter of a cross section of a laser beam.

spatial condition

The spatial distribution of incident and collected flux contained in the analysis of reflectance, transmittance or densities.

spatial filter

1. Generally, an emulsion mask having a clean annular region in an otherwise opaque region. It is designed to eliminate undesired information. 2. A pinhole in a metal plate, placed at a focal plane...

spatial filtering

In image processing, the enhancement of an image by increasing or decreasing its spatial frequencies.

spatial frequency

With a repetitive object such as a series of equispaced lines, the reciprocal of the line spacing in object or image, generally expressed in cycles per millimeter.

spatial intensity perturbation

A beam instability, induced by index of refraction inhomogeneities and component damage of dirt and dust particles, that exhibits exponential growth and causes both system degradation and energy loss...

spatial light interference microscopy

Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative phase imaging methods. It is designed to provide high-resolution,...

spatial light modulator

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light in two dimensions, typically in the form of an array. SLMs are...

spatial mode

Also known as transverse mode. The configurations of energy storage, relative to the structure of a laser resonator, that define the relative intensity distribution of the laser beam.

spatial phase shift

The change in position of the image of a sine wave object from its ideal position. Usually measured in degrees with 360° designating a full cycle of the image.

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Photonics Dictionary

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