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Photonics Dictionary

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Seidel aberrations

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and physicist Ludwig von Seidel. These aberrations describe deviations from...

self-generating barrier layer cell -> photovoltaic cell

A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into electrical energy through the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect is...

self-phase modulation

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a medium, causing a change in the phase of the light due to its interaction with...

semiconductor

A semiconductor is a type of material that has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. In other words, semiconductors have properties that are intermediate between...

sensor

1. A generic term for detector. 2. A complete optical/mechanical/electronic system that contains some form of radiation detector.

SERCOS

serial real-time communications system

servo motion

Servo motion is the controlled motion of a mechanical system achieved through the use of a servo motor, which utilizes feedback mechanisms to ensure accurate positioning, speed, and acceleration....

servomechanism

A closed-loop system that is constantly adjusted in response to input signals generated within the system.

Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system. It is widely used in adaptive optics systems to correct distortions and...

shading

1. The sorting of lenses by their color. 2. In an optical system, an irradiance or brightness gradient in the image that is not present at the object.

shock wave

Interruption in the normal flow of a plasma or fluid characterized by sharp rises in velocity, temperature and pressure. As the shock passes into a gaseous compound, gas particles are heated and...

short-focus lens -> wide-angle lens

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to capture a broader field of view. Wide-angle lenses are characterized by their...

Systeme Internationale d'Unites, the international metric system of units.

International System of Units; step index

sidereal time

Frequently used in astronomical measurement, it is based on the diurnal rotation of a star relative to the fixed stellar system.

sign conventions

A convention that defines specific dimensions of an optical system, such as the image distance or radius of curvature of a lens or mirror, as negative or positive to facilitate calculations based on...

silicon carbide light-emitting diodes

Silicon carbide (SiC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor devices that emit light when an electric current is applied to them. These LEDs are made using silicon carbide as the...

silicon photodiode

A silicon photodiode is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. It is a type of photodetector specifically designed for detecting and measuring light intensity. Silicon...

Silsbee effect

The ability of an electrical current to destroy superconductivity by means of the magnetic field generated by the current. The temperature of the material is not raised, and the effect is identical...

silver-disc pyrheliometer

An instrument that uses a blackened silver-disc reflector with a shutter to create temperature fluctuations that are proportional to the intensity of the solar radiation incident upon it. Using the...

simplex

A fiber optic transmission system in which data can go in only a single direction.

simultaneous dual field of view

A passive infrared system that uses two line-of-sight telescopes to generate both narrow and wide field-of-view images of the same target area, which can be presented on a single split screen or on...

sine wave object

An object that has a sinusoidal variation of luminance. Its image will have a sinusoidal variation of illuminance and the only effect of degeneration by the lens system will be to reduce the...

sine wave response -> modulation transfer function

Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the modulation in the image to the modulation in the object as a function of frequency...

single attachment station

In a dual-ring local area network, a node that is connected only to the primary, active ring and not to the secondary ring that provides a backup in case of cable or system failure.

single-molecule spectroscopy

An advanced technique that allows the detection of one molecule within a crystal or a cell through optical excitation. Single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS) can image at subwavelength scales, down to a...

single-photon avalanche diode

A single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is a specialized type of photodetector designed to detect extremely weak optical signals, down to the level of single photons. SPADs are widely used in...

singlet lens

A singlet lens is an optical lens made from a single piece of material, typically glass or plastic, with one or both surfaces being spherical or aspherical. It is the most basic type of lens used in...

sisyphus cooling

Sisyphus cooling is a technique used in atomic physics to achieve ultracold temperatures of atoms or molecules by exploiting the periodic motion of particles in optical traps or lattices. The name...

skew angle

The angle at which photoelectric sensors are aligned to prevent light from being reflected back to the sensor from the object during retroreflective sensing; also, the angle a measured part is...

skew ray

Any ray through an optical system that is not a meridional ray. The plane created by a refracted skew ray does not contain the optical axis.

skiatron

A system employing a dark trace tube in which the opacity of the screen is varied as a function of the power of the beam.

sky noise

Variations in signal detected on a bolometer that are caused by instabilities in the temperature of the sky.

skyrmion

A skyrmion is a topologically stable, vortex-like configuration of spins in a magnetic material. These configurations are characterized by a swirling pattern where the direction of the magnetic...

slicing and cutting machines - for crystals, quartz, glass, etc.

A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing process to precisely cut and slice materials such as crystals, glass, and quartz...

slow-scan television

A television system that uses a slow rate of horizontal scanning to increase its reproduction and transmittance accuracy of printed matter, photographs and illustrations.

smart bomb

A bomb guided to its target by some form of electro-optical system.

smart cities

Smart cities are urban environments that use information and communication technologies (ICT) and data-driven solutions to optimize city operations and services across various domains such as...

SMBus

system management bus

SoC

system on chip

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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 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 resolution

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the smallest discernible or resolvable features in the spatial domain, typically...

speckle effect

In laser systems, the granular effect that is noted when observing the expanded cross section of a laser beam.

speckle noise -> modal noise

In an optical system, noise created by mode-dependent optical losses and variations in the distribution of radiant power among the modes or relative phases of the modes. Also known as speckle noise.

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