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36 terms
Photonics Dictionary: S
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Sagnac interferometer
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...
scanner
1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The scanning takes place inside the television tube as electrons, guided by...
scanning electron microscope
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials characterization, and various industrial applications. Unlike traditional optical...
Schlieren optics
An optical system that records inhomogeneities within a medium by detecting the energy refracted by that portion of the medium in which the inhomogeneity occurs. The image appears in the form of a...
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...
Senarmont prism
A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary ray without deviation and deviates the ordinary ray due to the orientation...
serpentine bend mode filter
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.
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.
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 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...
sine wave response
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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-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...
slide projector
An optical projection device designed to project positive color transparencies onto a screen for viewing.
sliding wedge
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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...
smear camera
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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...
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...
sonoholography
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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...
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...
spatio-temporal optical coherence tomography
Spatio-temporal optical coherence tomography (ST-OCT) is an advanced imaging technique that combines the principles of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with spatio-temporal modulation methods to...
spectral domain optical coherence tomography
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...
spectrograph
An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a prism or a diffraction grating. A concave grating requires no other means...
spheric lens
A spheric lens, also known as a spherical lens, is a type of optical lens with at least one surface that is part of a sphere. This means that the lens surface is curved in a symmetrical manner,...
spherical aberration
Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface do not converge or diverge to a single focal point. Instead of focusing to a...
spread function
The distribution of energy about the image of a point source in the focal plane of an optical system.
stadimetry
The determination of distance based upon the known size of an object and the size of its image at the image plane of an optical system.
stereomicroscopy
The use of a specialized optical microscope designed to provide a more three-dimensional view of a sample. Stereomicroscopy usually uses reflected light and provides enhanced depth perception via the...
stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy
Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of biological specimens at resolutions beyond the diffraction limit of conventional...
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...
Strehl ratio
The ratio of the illuminance at the peak of the diffraction pattern of an aberrated point image to that at the peak of an aberration-free image as formed by the same optical system.
structured illumination microscopy
Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is an advanced optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the resolution of images beyond the diffraction limit imposed by traditional light...
superresolution
Superresolution refers to the enhancement or improvement of the spatial resolution beyond the conventional limits imposed by the diffraction of light. In the context of imaging, it is a set of...
swept source optical coherence tomography
Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in ophthalmology, to visualize and analyze the internal structures of biological tissues,...
swept-source laser
A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its emission wavelength over time. This continuous wavelength tuning is achieved...
Photonics Dictionary
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