Photonics Dictionary

Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy and increase their velocity. This acceleration can occur in various natural...

A broadband, visible picosecond probe pulse capable of measuring an entire absorption spectrum in one shot.

Piezoelectric motion systems are mechanical systems that utilize piezoelectric materials to generate controlled motion or displacement. Piezoelectric materials exhibit the piezoelectric effect, which...

Acronym for profile resolution obtained by excitation. In its simplest form, probe involves the overlap of two counter-propagating laser pulses of appropriate wavelength, such that one pulse...

A noncontact sensor used in the remote measurement of position, speed or other variables of moving parts.

The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the atomic and subatomic scales. It originates from quantum theory, a branch of...

A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing and quantum information processing. Unlike classical bits, which can exist in one of two states (0 or 1),...

Rabi oscillations are a fundamental phenomenon in quantum mechanics that describe the periodic and reversible exchange of energy between two quantum states when subjected to an oscillating external...

A flexible fiber cable with a small diameter that transports light from the excitation laser to the target. Used in Raman spectroscopy, the probe is capable of obtaining high-quality data at high...

See atomic force microscope; magnetic force microscope; near-field scanning optical microscope; scanning tunneling microscope.

A high-resolution imaging instrument that can detect and measure the positions of individual atoms on the surface of a material. A very fine conductive probe is placed at a distance of 10 to 20...

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...

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...

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 diagnostic procedure that uses ultrasonic energy to probe the body and, with the help of laser beams, a reflecting membrane to produce a three-dimensional picture.

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...

Radiation emitted when a quantum mechanical system drops spontaneously from an excited level to a lower level. This radiation is emitted according to the laws of probability without regard to the...

The probability that an atom in one state will move spontaneously to a lower state within a given unit of time.

The unit solid angle subtended at the center of a sphere by an area on its surface equivalent to the square of the radius; the unit of solid angular measurement, often used in problems of...

The pattern used as a probe in morphological image processing to manipulate the size and shape of objects in an image.

Observed phenomenon in laser pulses in which a large number of excited electrons are created and in which multiphoton processes have produced seed electrons, and excited neutral atoms are...

1. In visual perception, the minimum value of stimulus that can be perceived on the average. 2. In optical detection systems, that signal level at which the probability of detection is 50 percent.

Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) is a powerful technique that combines Raman spectroscopy with the enhanced spatial resolution provided by a sharp metallic or dielectric tip. TERS allows...

A spectroscopic technique that combines the high chemical specificity of Raman scattering and signal sensitivity provided by surface plasmon resonance enhancement, with the nanoscale spatial...

A transducer is a device or component that converts one form of energy into another. It is commonly used in various fields, including electronics, acoustics, and instrumentation, to facilitate the...

An observed effect of the ability of certain atomic particles to pass through a barrier that they cannot pass over because of the required energy level, based on a law of quantum mechanics that...

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) is a phenomenon observed in certain organic molecules containing electron-donor and electron-acceptor groups that are linked together within the same...

Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) is a spectroscopic technique used to probe the chiral properties of molecules. It measures differences in the absorption of left- and right-circularly polarized...

The method of acquiring characteristic x-ray spectra from microscopic samples by use of the combination of a scanning electron microscope and x-ray spectroscopy.