Photonics Dictionary: S

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...