Photonics Dictionary: S

A crystal, glass, or quartz slicing and cutting machine is a specialized piece of equipment used in the manufacturing process to precisely cut and slice materials such as crystals, glass, and quartz...

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 double-plate device used to transmit polarized light and form interference fringes of the light, thus indicating its presence. It consists of two calcite plates of equal thickness, cut parallel to...

The cutting of pitch tooling surfaces by an optical technician to permit polishing compounds to flow across the surface of the tool.

A defect on a polished optical surface whose length is many times its width. Block reek is a chainlike scratch formed in polishing. A runner cut is a curved scratch caused by grinding. A sleek is a...

A term used to describe a convex surface having too short a radius of curvature. To correct this condition, material is cut from the outer portion of the polishing tool.

A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal practice of removing material, this process polymerizes a liquid to quickly...

Interval between cutting off a photoconductor's signal and the fall of current output to 90 percent.

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...