Photonics Dictionary

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te). These elements are known as...

A diode with a semiconducting material, such as germanium or silicon, for one electrode, and a fine wire "whisker'' which lies on the semiconductor, as the other electrode. The low capacitance...

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor commonly used in various electronic and optical applications. Germanium crystals...

Optical materials refer to substances or compounds specifically chosen for their optical properties and used in the fabrication of optical components and systems. These materials are characterized by...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is...

A photomultiplier tube (PMT) is a highly sensitive vacuum tube that detects and amplifies low levels of light. It is widely used in various applications where high sensitivity, fast response times,...

An infrared detector in which radiation passes through a doped germanium crystal, creating a voltage drop that can be measured in terms of incident intensity.

A structure consisting of a thin film of liquid crystal sandwiched between light-polarizing filters that have received a surface lubricant. Depending on motion, the transducer acts as a highly...

A scintillation crystal, also known simply as a scintillator, is a material that emits light when it interacts with ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, x-rays, or charged particles. The emitted...

A scintillation detector is a radiation detection device that utilizes scintillation crystals to detect and measure ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays, x-rays, or charged particles. It consists...

A ruggedized scintillation counter used in oil well logging. The cylindrical housing contains a gamma ray source, a crystalline scintillator and a photomultiplier tube. As the sonde is drawn through...

A device, such as a thermionic or crystal diode, that is introduced into the vision channel of a television receiver to select the signal from the intermediate-frequency carrier.

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for obtaining high-quality diffraction patterns from single crystals. This...