Photonics Dictionary: S

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...

An optical system that records inhomogeneities within a medium by detecting the energy refracted by that portion of the medium in which the inhomogeneity occurs. The image appears in the form of a...

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...

An optically bistable device used for photonic switching, constructed of a multiple quantum well biased by an external voltage, which creates an external field that shifts the wavelength of the onset...

Optical elements arranged with no spaces between, so that the light travels only through glass, not air.

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in ophthalmology, to visualize and analyze the internal structures of biological...

A memory system composed of a stack of holographic plates, a mode-locked laser and a rapid detector array. Ultrashort laser pulses are used to extract information from the stack. In this way, storage...

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

A technique of optical storage whereby information is encoded by molecular alterations in the interaction between the optical layer and the substrate.

Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in ophthalmology, to visualize and analyze the internal structures of biological tissues,...

A standard for fiber optic telecommunications interfaces, with a 1300-nm data link operating over single-mode fiber at data rates of 52, 155 and 622 Mb/s.

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 type of interferometer in which two coils of optical fiber are arranged so that light from a single source travels clockwise in one, and counterclockwise in the other. Rotation of the coils causes...

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...

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...

In coherence theory, an optical law put forth by physicist Emil Wolf that explains the behavior of light as it travels away from its source over large distances in space. Light spectra are assumed to...

1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The scanning takes place inside the television tube as electrons, guided by...

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful imaging instrument used in scientific research, materials characterization, and various industrial applications. Unlike traditional optical...

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

Measure of the interference fringe pattern produced by the forward scattering of light by an optical fiber; the fringe pattern is inversely proportional to the fiber diameter.

A specific type of filter designed to reduce the amount of light scattered by reflections from the edges of optical components or mounts, or from irregularities on the optical surfaces.

An instrument used to determine the absolute or relative scatter levels of optical surfaces.

The photomicrographic recording of Schlieren effects, irregular refractions of light from optic surfaces or areas of thin, transparent specimens, generally using a reticle with parallel transparent...

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...

Thin layers intended to prevent damage to plastic optics.

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a nonlinear optical process that occurs when two photons with the same frequency combine within a nonlinear material, resulting in the generation of a new photon...

Fiber optic cable that operates at the 1300-nm wavelength.

An arrangement of optical fibers in a bundle whereby the geometric configuration of the input end differs from that of the output end without changing the total area; for example, a circular bundle...

In optical character recognition, the method of dividing a string of characters into separate, distinct characters.

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and physicist Ludwig von Seidel. These aberrations describe deviations from...

In optical emission spectroscopy, the reduction in radiant power in the central portion of spectral lines arising from the selective absorption by the cooler outer vapor of the source envelope of...

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a medium, causing a change in the phase of the light due to its interaction with...

An equation that uses the wavelength of light passing through a medium, along with a set of coefficients, to calculate the medium's index of refraction. The coefficients, called Sellmeier...

A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary ray without deviation and deviates the ordinary ray due to the orientation...

The optical energy transfer between ions of differing atoms.

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

A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber approximates that of a much longer fiber under test.

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...

1. The sorting of lenses by their color. 2. In an optical system, an irradiance or brightness gradient in the image that is not present at the object.

A type of fiber optic cable that emits light from its sides along its length.

A convention that defines specific dimensions of an optical system, such as the image distance or radius of curvature of a lens or mirror, as negative or positive to facilitate calculations based on...