Type

Browse by Letter

CASTECH INC - High Precision CNC Polished Aspherical Lenses

Edmund Optics - Manufacturing Services 8/24HP

2,694 terms

Photonics Dictionary

Clear All Filters x MOS x
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...

shutter

A mechanical or electronic device used to control the amount of time that a light-sensitive material is exposed to radiation.

shutter speed tester

A device used to measure the opening time of a shutter. The most common devices depend on the charging or discharging of an electrical condenser, or on the production of a curve of open area against...

side mode suppression ratio

The relation of power between center peak longitudinal mode with the nearest higher order mode.

silicon monoxide

A material used as a protective layer on an aluminized or silvered mirror. It is evaporated on the mirror as a thin layer, and after exposure to the air the monoxide tends to become silicon dioxide...

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...

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...

SIMOX

separation by implantation of oxygen

simulated annealing -> global optimization

A controlled random search process, such as generalized simulated annealing, that has been incorporated into many optical design programs as a way of helping designers find the most suitable lens...

simultaneous location and mapping

Technology that uses data from an array of sensors, one of which is commonly lidar, to solve the problem of creating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously maintaining a location within...

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 molecule localization microscopy

Single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) is a group of super-resolution microscopy techniques that surpass the diffraction limit of traditional optical microscopes, allowing for the...

single-defect model

A model that predicts laser-induced damage to thin films caused by irradiation of identical, randomly distributed film defects.

single-mode waveguide (or fiber)

An optical waveguide in which only the lowest order bound mode, which may consist of a pair of orthogonally polarized fields, can propagate at the wavelength of interest.

single-molecule FRET

Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is a specialized technique in biophysics and molecular biology used to study the distances and dynamic interactions between two...

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...

single-photon emission computed tomography

A medical imaging method in which gamma camera heads rotate about the patient to detect radionuclides, enabling physicians to monitor functions within the body such as metabolism or blood flow.

single-walled carbon nanotubes

Referred to as SWCNTs, these cylindrical nanostructures composed of a folded sheet of graphene can be used as near-infrared markers for small animal multiplex imaging. Emitting at different...

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...

singulated die

A singulated die refers to an individual semiconductor chip that has been separated or singulated from a larger wafer. This term is commonly used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. ...

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...

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...

sleeve mount -> barrel

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...

sliding wedge -> measuring wedge

A wedge in a rangefinder or heightfinder used to displace the image produced by one telescope so that it coincides with that produced by the other telescope, thus affording a measurement of the...

SLM

single longitudinal mode; spatial light modulator

slot modulator

In photonics, a slot modulator refers to a type of optical modulator that operates based on the principle of modifying the optical properties of a slot waveguide. A slot modulator is an optical...

single mode

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...

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...

SMD

surface-mount device

smear camera -> 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...

SMPTE

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

SMSR

side mode suppression ratio

SMT

surface-mount technology

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.

solar battery

A series of solar cells arranged to collect solar radiation and to generate a given amount of electrical energy.

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 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 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...

solenoid

In micropositioning, a remote positioning device in which an electric current drives a movable armature mounted on an electromagnetic coil.

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 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 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...

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 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...

Photonics Dictionary

Need Help?