Photonics Dictionary: P

A semiconductor material in which the dopants create holes as the majority charge carrier. It is formed by doping with acceptor atoms.

Particle acceleration refers to the process by which charged particles, such as electrons or protons, gain kinetic energy and increase their velocity. This acceleration can occur in various natural...

An array of lines in the infrared region of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Their wave numbers are expressed by the equation: where represents the wave number in the reciprocal centimeters,...

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses the periscope is a long tube containing prisms at both ends and...

A phonon is a quantum of vibrational energy associated with the periodic motion of atoms or molecules in a crystalline lattice. In simpler terms, phonons are quanta of lattice vibrations in a solid...

A technique proposed for studying the atomic structure of crystals by measuring the interference pattern generated when the crystal is illuminated by a burst of finely tuned x-rays. The resulting...

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 type of laser spectroscopy used to measure short-lived isotopes by observing sudden bursts of fluorescence resulting from repetitive excitation of an atom or molecule.

A type of adsorption in which the adsorbed layer is attached to the adsorbent surface by an attractive force between the atoms or molecules rather than by a chemical bond (chemisorption).

The condition in which there are more atomic systems in the upper of two energy levels than in the lower, so stimulated emission will predominate over stimulated absorption. This condition may be...

Basically, a hydrogen atom with two alterations, positronium is the lightest atom in the universe and has an extremely light positron in its nucleus that replaces hydrogen's proton so that its atomic...