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Vescent Photonics LLC - Lasers, Combs, Controls 4/15-5/15 HP

1,155 terms

Photonics Dictionary

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short-focus lens -> wide-angle lens

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to capture a broader field of view. Wide-angle lenses are characterized by their...

Systeme Internationale d'Unites, the international metric system of units.

International System of Units; step index

sidereal time

Frequently used in astronomical measurement, it is based on the diurnal rotation of a star relative to the fixed stellar system.

sign conventions

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...

silicon photodiode

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...

simplex

A fiber optic transmission system in which data can go in only a single direction.

simultaneous dual field of view

A passive infrared system that uses two line-of-sight telescopes to generate both narrow and wide field-of-view images of the same target area, which can be presented on a single split screen or on...

sine wave object

An object that has a sinusoidal variation of luminance. Its image will have a sinusoidal variation of illuminance and the only effect of degeneration by the lens system will be to reduce the...

sine wave response -> modulation transfer function

Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the modulation in the image to the modulation in the object as a function of frequency...

single attachment station

In a dual-ring local area network, a node that is connected only to the primary, active ring and not to the secondary ring that provides a backup in case of cable or system failure.

single-photon avalanche diode

A single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is a specialized type of photodetector designed to detect extremely weak optical signals, down to the level of single photons. SPADs are widely used in...

skew angle

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...

skew ray

Any ray through an optical system that is not a meridional ray. The plane created by a refracted skew ray does not contain the optical axis.

skiatron

A system employing a dark trace tube in which the opacity of the screen is varied as a function of the power of the beam.

slicing and cutting machines - for crystals, quartz, glass, etc.

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...

slow-scan television

A television system that uses a slow rate of horizontal scanning to increase its reproduction and transmittance accuracy of printed matter, photographs and illustrations.

smart bomb

A bomb guided to its target by some form of electro-optical system.

SMBus

system management bus

SoC

system on chip

solar furnace

An optical system that is designed to produce a high temperature in a specified area by the optical direction and concentration of solar radiation on that area. The system usually consists of a...

solar simulator

A solar simulator is a device used to replicate the spectrum and intensity of sunlight in a controlled environment for testing and research purposes. Solar simulators are employed in various...

solarization

1. The reduction in the developable density of a photographic emulsion that has been extremely overexposed. 2. In a laser system, damage resulting from ultraviolet radiation that degrades the lasing...

spatial intensity perturbation

A beam instability, induced by index of refraction inhomogeneities and component damage of dirt and dust particles, that exhibits exponential growth and causes both system degradation and energy loss...

spatial light modulator

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light in two dimensions, typically in the form of an array. SLMs are...

spatial resolution

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...

speckle effect

In laser systems, the granular effect that is noted when observing the expanded cross section of a laser beam.

speckle noise -> modal noise

In an optical system, noise created by mode-dependent optical losses and variations in the distribution of radiant power among the modes or relative phases of the modes. Also known as speckle noise.

spectral integral density

With respect to color photography, the measurement, at a given wavelength, of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical system containing the film.

spectral repeatability

Spectral repeatability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of spectral measurements across multiple trials or instances. It is a measure of how well a measurement instrument or system can...

spectral signature

A spectral signature, in the context of remote sensing and spectroscopy, refers to the unique pattern or characteristic spectral response of a material or object across different wavelengths of the...

spectrometer mask

A high-contrast transparency of the gas sought, or an array of exit slits that correlates with some features of the spectrum. No standardized formula for positioning, number or thickness has been...

spheric lens

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,...

spherical aberration

Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface do not converge or diverge to a single focal point. Instead of focusing to a...

spin-spin coupling

Reciprocal magnetic interaction between nuclei in a molecular system facilitated by the binding electrons of the molecule.

spinthariscope

A device through which scintillations are observed or counted through a magnifying lens system.

splice loss -> insertion loss

The total optical power loss caused by the insertion of an optical component such as a connector, splice or coupler into a fiber optic system. See attenuation.

split Stirling cooler

A cooling system used to attain and maintain desired low temperatures in infrared systems. The Stirling type is a mechanical refrigeration system capable of temperatures from 10 to 77 K.

split-image microscope

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field, distortion-free images at all magnifications with a high-intensity vertical...

spontaneous emission

Radiation emitted when a quantum mechanical system drops spontaneously from an excited level to a lower level. This radiation is emitted according to the laws of probability without regard to the...

spread function

The distribution of energy about the image of a point source in the focal plane of an optical system.

sputtering equipment

Sputtering equipment is machinery used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering. Sputtering is a method of depositing thin films of material onto a substrate surface...

stacked optical memory

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...

stadimetry

The determination of distance based upon the known size of an object and the size of its image at the image plane of an optical system.

standard thermal profile

In infrared imaging systems used for mass screening of printed circuit boards or other quality control applications, an image of an ideal component that is stored in the system's memory and then...

static beam shaping

A technique for creating optimal performance in a system by producing a specific beam irradiance distribution, usually through the use of geometric optics. A common design involves the use of ray...

stealth

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

stencil CRT image generation

The projection of the image beam by a cathode-ray tube through a mask, where it is deflected through the suitable character position in the mask and then deflected by another system to its suitable...

stereoscopic television

A television system in which the images produced appear three-dimensional.

stimulated Brillouin scattering

In Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS), an incident photon (usually laser light) interacts with acoustic phonons in a medium. The energy and momentum of the incident photon are transferred to the...

Photonics Dictionary