Photonics Dictionary: S

An instrument consisting essentially of a photoelectric cell filtered to respond to a specified wavelength region, an amplifier of sufficient gain to provide power enough to control movement of a...

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...

The record formed on paper by a scanner.

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...

The photomicrographic recording of Schlieren effects, irregular refractions of light from optic surfaces or areas of thin, transparent specimens, generally using a reticle with parallel transparent...

A pinhole camera used to record a radioactive tracer's distribution in a subject by means of a scintillation counter or a fluorescent screen; used when a recording emulsion is not practical.

An instrument designed to measure radiation indirectly through the use of several phosphors and a photomultiplier tube. The absorption of radiation by any phosphors results in light flashes that may...

A technique for observing the decay of light emissions from sources following their pulsed excitations, based on recording the arrival time of the first photoelectron after excitation. After many...

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...

Device that uses a coherent reference wave to record the interference patterns produced by incident ultrasonic waves on an object.

A technique for obtaining improved resolution of images produced by large telescopes and distorted by the effects of atmospheric turbulence. Many individual exposures are recorded at high speeds by a...

Equipment used for chemical analysis by investigation of the spectra formed and observed in chemical activity. Of particular use are spectrographs for recording the emission spectra of substances...

A chart formed by a spectrograph; the record of the spectral range. See spectrograph.

Spectra can be conveniently recorded on photographic film or plates. The portions that are occupied by regions of the recorded developed images on the film or plate can be determined with some...

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...

The photographic recording of visible and ultraviolet spectra on an ordinary photograph.

A camera with two taking lenses and synchronized shutters. Two images are recorded simultaneously on separate frames, producing a three-dimensional image when viewed through the proper apparatus.

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of biological specimens at resolutions beyond the diffraction limit of conventional...

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...

A pulsed interferometer that permits the continuous quantitative mapping of the surface deformation of an adaptive optical element (e.g., a deformable mirror) and provides the capability for...

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...

An imaging technique in which an object moving through an interference field formed in space scatters light and is spatially recorded on a photographic film as a hologram. If the interference field...