Photonics Dictionary

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...

A filter designed to decrease the luminosity of the sky without decreasing that of the landscape in the foreground. A filter that has a depth of tint that decreases from top to bottom is used in...

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...

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...

A slot modulator in photonics 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...

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

The name of the mixture of liquid and grinding or polishing compounds used in processing optical materials.

The investigation of microstructures by an instrument that generates a narrow, highly collimated beam of x-rays.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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 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...

A laser pumped by solar radiation focused by mirrors.

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...

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...

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...

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

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.

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

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...

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...

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

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...

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.

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

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...

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

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

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...

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 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,...

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 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...

Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) is a technique that extends traditional Raman spectroscopy by incorporating measurements at different spatial offsets. This method allows for the selective...

A power intensity pattern produced by the mutual interference of partially coherent beams that are subject to minute temporal and spatial fluctuations.

Average wavelength usually determined for light-transmitting devices by taking a weighted average for each wavelength of the spectral energy distribution of incident light, transmittance of the...

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in ophthalmology, to visualize and analyze the internal structures of biological...