Photonics Dictionary

A photocell having an alloy junction formed by combining an indium disc with a thin wafer of N-type germanium.

Carrier injection refers to the process of introducing charge carriers (either electrons or holes) into a semiconductor material. Semiconductors are materials with electrical conductivity between...

The parallel resistance and capacitance appearing between the active guard ring junctions in a silicon photodiode.

A form of monochromator optical system consisting of two spherical concave mirrors used in conjunction with a movable diffraction grating.

The region at the PN junction in a semiconductor radiation detector where the potential energies of the two materials create an energy barrier, which results in an electrical field that depletes the...

A photosensitizing drug used in conjunction with photodynamic therapy.

A device that detects radiation by utilizing the influence of light in forming an electrical signal. It may be a phototube; a photoconductive, photovoltaic or photojunction cell; a phototransistor;...

The nonthermal conversion of electrical energy into light in a liquid or solid substance. The photon emission resulting from electron-hole recombination in a PN junction is one example. This is the...

An optical switch that controls conduction paths into and out of a junction in fiber optic and integrated optical circuits.

A laser system consisting of a planar PN junction within a single crystal of gallium arsenide. The pair of parallel, semireflective end faces produces a Fabry-Perot resonant cavity, whereas the other...

A photodiode that has been designed so that the bar of semiconductor material has a PN junction perpendicular to its length and an ohmic contact at each of its ends.

A junction between semiconductors that differ in their doping level conductivities, and also in their atomic or alloy composition.

A junction between semiconductors that differ in their doping level conductivities but not in their atomic or alloy compositions.

Indium phosphide (InP) is a compound semiconductor material composed of indium (In) and phosphorus (P). It belongs to the III-V group of semiconductors, where elements from groups III and V of the...

A semiconductor device with a semiconductor junction in which infrared radiant flux is nonthermally produced when a current flows as a result of applied voltage.

A semiconductor device with the property of conducting current more easily in one direction than the other. It has two terminals containing a single crystal of semiconducting material that ranges...

A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams of light. Interferometry is a technique that combines and analyzes...

A fiber used in conjunction with a source to excite the modes of another fiber in a particular fashion.

A wireless stereo imaging device used in conjunction with a monitor to produce a virtual interactive environment. Liquid crystal shutters in the eyewear are synchronized with the monitor at 120...

1. The basic unit of length in the metric system, equal to 39.37 in. or 3.28 ft. 2. Any device or instrument used for measuring. The term often appears in conjunction with the quantity it measures,...

An instrument capable of measuring the transmitted or reflected luminance from a very small area seen under a microscope. Microphotometers are the fundamental tools of microphotometry and are also...

A photovoltaic device that consists of multiple p-n junctions to produce a greater efficiency when in use than that of traditional single junction devices. A multijunction device is unique because...

A Peltier cooler, also known as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) or thermoelectric module, is a solid-state device that uses the Peltier effect to transfer heat between two electrical junctions. It can...

A two-electrode, radiation-sensitive junction formed in a semiconductor material in which the reverse current varies with illumination. Photodiodes are used for the detection of optical power and for...

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,...

A solid-state device similar to an ordinary transistor except that incident light on the PN junctions regulates the response of the device. It offers built-in gain and a greater sensitivity than that...

A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into electrical energy through the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect is...

The transition boundary between P-type and N-type materials in a semiconductor.

Discharge that results when a doped semiconductor crystal with a PN junction is charged with a low-voltage direct current. The dual process depends on excitation caused by electrical energy...

A transition boundary between two regions having different properties in a P-type semiconducting material.

The compression and intensification of a laser pulse of a specific width into a smaller pulse width. A spherical cavity, in conjunction with a beam compressor, is efficient for pulse amplification....

A photodiode having a conducting grid that covers the surface of the photodiode junction and intercepts and wastes some of the light. In this way, efficient optical- and microwave-frequency design...

RTSP, or real-time streaming protocol, is a network control protocol designed for controlling streaming media servers. It is used for establishing and controlling media sessions between endpoints....

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

An avalanche photodiode in which the light-absorbing area is a low-bandgap material and the PN junction is placed in an area of high-bandgap material, reducing dark current and increasing gain.

In a silicon photodiode, the dynamic resistance (dv/d1) of the junction at zero volts.

Spectroscopy is a technique used in the study of interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation. It involves measuring and analyzing how different materials absorb, emit, or scatter light,...

In rudimentary form, this technology consists of diffusion of a PN junction through a mask of silica, over which a contact is applied.

A device composed of dissimilar metals that, when welded together, develop a small voltage dependent upon the relative temperature between the hotter and colder junctions. Banks of thermocouples...

A refrigeration method based on the Peltier effect. When an electric current passes through a thermocouple of two dissimilar metals joined in two places, heat is absorbed at the cold junction and...

1. Voltage at which a PN junction begins to pass a current. 2. In a solid-state lamp, the voltage at which light is first emitted.

Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) is a powerful technique that combines Raman spectroscopy with the enhanced spatial resolution provided by a sharp metallic or dielectric tip. TERS allows...

A Ti:sapphire laser is a type of solid-state laser that utilizes a titanium-doped sapphire crystal as the gain medium. The name Ti:sapphire comes from the combination of titanium (Ti) as the dopant...

An electronic device consisting of a semiconductor material, generally germanium or silicon, and used for rectification, amplification and switching. Its mode of operation utilizes transmission...

A laser capable of generating light pulses that last only a few femtoseconds. This can be achieved by nonlinear filtering to increase bandwidth and compress the pulse or by passive mode-locking or...