Photonics Dictionary: S

A traveling microscope or an automatic microdensitometer used to measure the spectrum plate obtained in a spectrograph.

Sagnac interferometry is a technique used to measure rotation or angular velocity based on the principle of interference. It relies on the Sagnac effect, named after the French physicist Georges...

A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber approximates that of a much longer fiber under test.

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...

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...

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...

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by preparing a thin sample that has its faces perpendicular to the axis of the fiber, and measuring its index profile by interferometry.

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,...

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...

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...

Spectral repeatability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of spectral measurements across multiple trials or instances. It is a measure of how well a measurement instrument or system can...

A spectrophotometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the intensity of light at various wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically in the visible and ultraviolet regions. It is...

In a general sense, any one of a class of instruments used to disperse radiation, visible or invisible, into its component wavelengths and for determining or measuring the resultant spectrum. In a...

Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves measuring and analyzing how different materials absorb, emit, or scatter light,...

An instrument for measuring the radius of curvature of a spherical lens or mirror surface. It may consist of a ring resting on the surface, with a micrometer plunger in the middle of the ring to...

A measuring instrument used for surface profiling and quantifying the roughness of a material. The stylus is placed on the surface of the material at a given contact force, then is moved laterally...

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique that combines the principles of Raman spectroscopy with the enhancement provided by nanostructured metallic surfaces. Raman...

Instruments used for measuring angles and occasionally lengths on the ground. The principal surveying instruments are the level, the stadia telescope, the transit and the theodolite. Laser...

Imaging radar that increases the sweep of its along-track (or azimuth) capacity by measuring not only the time delay of the echoes returning from the microwave pulse transmitted by its antenna (or...