Photonics Dictionary: S

1. A generic term for detector. 2. A complete optical/mechanical/electronic system that contains some form of radiation detector.

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...

The movement of the eye as it focuses on details of a scene. Some imaging systems mimic this movement by small, rapid scanning motions of the sensor.

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...

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...

1. The decrease of the absorption (or gain) coefficient of a medium near some transition frequency when the power of the incident radiation near that frequency exceeds a certain value. As long as the...

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...

Second-order nonlinear optical properties refer to a class of phenomena exhibited by certain materials in response to intense light, typically in the realm of optics and photonics. Nonlinear optical...

A semiconductor is a type of material that has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. In other words, semiconductors have properties that are intermediate between...

Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) refers to the portion of the infrared spectrum that encompasses wavelengths roughly between 1,000 and 3,000 nanometers (nm). In the electromagnetic spectrum, infrared...

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...

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...

The angle at which photoelectric sensors are aligned to prevent light from being reflected back to the sensor from the object during retroreflective sensing; also, the angle a measured part is...

Structural surfaces that incorporate an embedded sensor network capable of detecting flaws within the structure.

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...

Any pyrheliometer that has a filter placed over its sensor to limit the range of solar radiation it will detect; used to determine the distribution of solar radiation over its visible and into its...

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,...

That characteristic which makes a weapon system less visible to radar, optical, acousto-optic, infrared and other military sensors.

The purest gas source of antimony, which is used in the manufacture of compound semiconductors for IR sensors and solid-state lasers.

Structural color refers to coloration in materials that is not caused by pigments or dyes but is instead a result of the physical structure of the material. In structural color, the interaction of...