Photonics Dictionary

A photovoltaic cell usually sensitive to infrared radiation. It may have a copper base and a film of cuprous oxide. When it is irradiated, voltage is produced.

Piezoelectric transducers are devices that utilize the piezoelectric effect to convert electrical energy into mechanical vibrations or vice versa. The piezoelectric effect is a property exhibited by...

A PIN photodiode is a type of photodetector or semiconductor device used to convert light signals into electrical signals. The name "PIN" is derived from the arrangement of the three semiconductor...

A type of flat panel display made up of a layer of gas between two glass plates. The glass is coated with parallel conductors that form cells which, when energized, produce a gas discharge that makes...

A mixture of ionized gas and metal vapor generated by impingement of the laser beam onto a material being welded or a weld joint. The plume causes absorption and/or scattering of the incident laser...

In optics, the Pockels effect refers to the phenomenon where the refractive index of a material changes in response to an applied electric field. This effect is utilized in Pockels cells, which are...

Polymers are large molecules composed of repeating structural units called monomers. These monomers are chemically bonded together to form long chains or networks, creating a macromolecular...

A thermoplastic, self-extinguishing polymer with excellent high-temperature, low-creep and arc resistance properties.

A photographic enlarger with a fixed negative plane and a fixed paper plane, often using a roll of paper that is advanced automatically between exposures. The lens is interchangeable to suit a range...

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to measure and analyze the optical phase information of transparent specimens. Unlike traditional brightfield...

Quantum confinement refers to the phenomenon in quantum mechanics where the motion of charge carriers, such as electrons or holes, is restricted to a region of space that is smaller than their...

A photodetector in which an electrical charge is produced when incident photons change electrons within the detecting material from nonconducting to conducting states. See photoconductive detector;...

Quantum efficiency (QE) is a measure of the effectiveness with which a device or system, typically in the context of photonics or electronics, converts incoming photons (light) into a useful output...

Also known as RAMP microscopy, random access multiphoton microscopy is a microscopic technique that uses multiple acousto-optic modulators to enable faster and addressable scanning of 3D cellular...

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for high-resolution, in vivo imaging of biological tissues at the cellular level. It is particularly useful in...

A device that uses nematic liquid crystals sandwiched between fused silica substrates to change the phase of polarized light. The cell is tunable from half-wave to zero retardation because variation...

Two lenses, separated by a distance equal to the sum of their focal lengths, and retroreflecting mirror assemblies, one of which is coaxial with the lenses and the other slightly translated off-axis.

Rhodamine refers to a family of fluorescent organic dyes that are widely used in various fields, including biology, chemistry, medicine, and materials science. These dyes are known for their bright...

The light-sensitive cells on the retina of the eye that are responsible for low-resolution, peripheral vision.

Sapphire crystal refers to a transparent, single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) known as corundum. It is one of the hardest known materials, second only to diamond on the Mohs scale of...

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is highly transparent in the infrared region of the electromagnetic...

A sapphire window refers to a transparent optical component made from sapphire crystal. Sapphire is a single-crystal form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is highly prized for its exceptional optical...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications due to its exceptional optical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Sapphire...

A scientific CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) camera is a type of digital camera specifically designed for scientific imaging applications. It employs CMOS sensor technology, which...

Scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) refers to a type of image sensor technology specifically designed for scientific and industrial imaging applications. Unlike traditional...

Characteristic of dissimilar metals in thermoelectric solar cells whereby separate junctions exhibiting distinct temperatures transform incident voltage into a current.

A photoconductive cell consisting of a layer of selenium on a substrate whose electrical resistance varies with the illumination falling on the cell. Selenium cells have been replaced largely by...

A device used to measure the opening time of a shutter. The most common devices depend on the charging or discharging of an electrical condenser, or on the production of a curve of open area against...

A solid-state device, composed of silicon, that is used to convert radiation into electrical energy.

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...

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 Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is a specialized technique in biophysics and molecular biology used to study the distances and dynamic interactions between two...

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 group of solar cells that are electrically contacted and physically arranged so that they may be oriented in the direction of the sun simultaneously.

A series of solar cells arranged to collect solar radiation and to generate a given amount of electrical energy.

A device for converting sunlight into electrical energy, consisting of a sandwich of P-type and N-type semiconducting wafers. A photon with sufficient energy striking the cell can dislodge an...

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for testing and research purposes. Solar simulators are employed in various...

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 resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the smallest discernible or resolvable features in the spatial domain, typically...

Spectral flow cytometry is an advanced flow cytometry technique that expands the capabilities of traditional flow cytometry by utilizing spectral information from fluorochromes to enhance...

Gas detection measurement technique that uses a built-in capacitative microphone to calculate the amount of absorbed laser power in a gas cell according to variations of gas pressure.

The light flash, produced in flash photolysis, that is triggered within a second discharge tube by the third electrode. It is to be differentiated from the photolysis flash which is triggered within...

STED microscopy, or stimulated emission depletion microscopy, is a superresolution imaging technique in fluorescence microscopy that surpasses the diffraction limit, enabling the visualization of...

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

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...

A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various fields, such as electronics, biology, chemistry, and manufacturing, the term...