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Photocell
Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are sensors of light or other electromagnetic radiation. There is a wide variety of photodetectors which may be classified by mechanism of detection, such as photoelectric or photochemical effects, or by various performance metrics, such as spectral response. Semiconductor-based photodetectors typically photo detector have a p–n junction that converts light photons into current. The absorbed photons make electron–hole pairs in the depletion region. Photodiodes and photo transistors are a few examples of photo detectors. Solar cells convert some of the light energy absorbed into electrical energy. Types Photodetectors may be classified by their mechanism for detection: * Photoemission or photoelectric effect: Photons cause electrons to transition from the conduction band of a material to free electrons in a vacuum or gas. * Thermal: Photons cause electrons to transition to mid-gap states then decay back to lower bands, inducing p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CD-ROM Photodetector
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (such as ISO 9660 format PC CD-ROMs). During the 1990s and early 2000s, CD-ROMs were popularly used to distribute software and data for computers and fifth generation video game consoles. DVD started to replace it in these roles starting in the early 2000s. History The earliest theoretical work on optical disc storage was done by independent researchers in the United States including David Paul Gregg (1958) and James Russel (1965–1975). In particular, Gregg's patents were used as the basis of the LaserDisc specification that was co-developed between MCA and Philips after MCA purchased Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Image Sensor
An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of current that convey the information. The waves can be light or other electromagnetic radiation. Image sensors are used in electronic imaging devices of both analog and digital types, which include digital cameras, camera modules, camera phones, optical mouse devices, medical imaging equipment, night vision equipment such as thermal imaging devices, radar, sonar, and others. As technology changes, electronic and digital imaging tends to replace chemical and analog imaging. The two main types of electronic image sensors are the charge-coupled device (CCD) and the active-pixel sensor (CMOS sensor). Both CCD and CMOS sensors are based on metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) technology, with CCDs based on MOS capacitors and CMOS senso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaseous Ionization Detector
Gaseous ionization detectors are radiation detection instruments used in particle physics to detect the presence of ionizing particles, and in radiation protection applications to measure ionizing radiation. They use the ionising effect of radiation upon a gas-filled sensor. If a particle has enough energy to ionize a gas atom or molecule, the resulting electrons and ions cause a current flow which can be measured. Gaseous ionisation detectors form an important group of instruments used for radiation detection and measurement. This article gives a quick overview of the principal types, and more detailed information can be found in the articles on each instrument. The accompanying plot shows the variation of ion pair generation with varying applied voltage for constant incident radiation. There are three main practical operating regions, one of which each type utilises. Types The three basic types of gaseous ionization detectors are 1) ionization chambers, 2) proportional co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noise Spectral Density
In communications, noise spectral density (NSD), noise power density, noise power spectral density, or simply noise density (''N''0) is the power spectral density of noise or the noise power per unit of bandwidth. It has dimension of power over frequency, whose SI unit is watt per hertz (equivalent to watt-second or joule). It is commonly used in link budgets as the denominator of the important figure-of-merit ratios, such as carrier-to-noise-density ratio as well as ''E''''b''/''N''0 and ''E''''s''/''N''0. If the noise is one-sided white noise, i.e., constant with frequency, then the total noise power ''N'' integrated over a bandwidth ''B'' is ''N'' = ''BN''0 (for double-sided white noise, the bandwidth is doubled, so ''N'' is ''BN''0/2). This is utilized in signal-to-noise ratio calculations. For thermal noise, its spectral density is given by ''N''0 = ''kT'', where ''k'' is the Boltzmann constant in joules per kelvin, and ''T'' is the receiver system ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Response Time (technology)
In technology, response time is the time a system or functional unit takes to react to a given input. Computing Response time is the total amount of time it takes to respond to a request for service. That service can be anything from a memory fetch, to a disk IO, to a complex database query, or loading a full web page. Ignoring transmission time for a moment, the response time is the sum of the service time and wait time. The service time is the time it takes to do the work you requested. For a given request the service time varies little as the workload increases – to do X amount of work it always takes X amount of time. The wait time is how long the request had to wait in a queue before being serviced and it varies from zero, when no waiting is required, to a large multiple of the service time, as many requests are already in the queue and have to be serviced first. With basic queueing theory math you can calculate how the average wait time increases as the device providi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dark Current (physics)
In physics and in electronic engineering, dark current is the relatively small electric current that flows through photosensitive devices such as a photomultiplier tube, photodiode, or charge-coupled device even when no photons enter the device; it consists of the charges generated in the detector when no outside radiation is entering the detector. It is referred to as reverse bias leakage current in non-optical devices and is present in all diodes. Physically, dark current is due to the random generation of electrons and holes within the depletion region of the device. The charge generation rate is related to specific crystallographic defects within the depletion region. Dark-current spectroscopy can be used to determine the defects present by monitoring the peaks in the dark current histogram's evolution with temperature. Dark current is one of the main sources for noise in image sensors such as charge-coupled devices. The pattern of different dark currents can result in a fix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Current Gain
In electronics, gain is a measure of the ability of a two-port circuit (often an amplifier) to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output port by adding energy converted from some power supply to the signal. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal amplitude or power at the output port to the amplitude or power at the input port. It is often expressed using the logarithmic decibel (dB) units ("dB gain"). A gain greater than one (greater than zero dB), that is amplification, is the defining property of an active component or circuit, while a passive circuit will have a gain of less than one. The term ''gain'' alone is ambiguous, and can refer to the ratio of output to input voltage (''voltage gain''), current (''current gain'') or electric power (''power gain''). In the field of audio and general purpose amplifiers, especially operational amplifiers, the term usually refers to voltage gain, but in radio frequency amplifiers it usual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Specific Detectivity
Specific detectivity, or ''D*'', for a photodetector is a figure of merit used to characterize performance, equal to the reciprocal of noise-equivalent power (NEP), normalized per square root of the sensor's area and frequency bandwidth (reciprocal of twice the integration time). Specific detectivity is given by D^*=\frac, where A is the area of the photosensitive region of the detector, \Delta f is the bandwidth, and NEP the noise equivalent power in units It is commonly expressed in ''Jones'' units (cm \cdot \sqrt/ W) in honor of Robert Clark Jones who originally defined it.R. C. Jones, "Proposal of the detectivity D** for detectors limited by radiation noise," ''J. Opt. Soc. Am.'' 50, 1058 (1960), ) Given that noise-equivalent power can be expressed as a function of the responsivity \mathfrak (in units of A/W or V/W) and the noise spectral density S_n (in units of A/Hz^ or V/Hz^) as NEP=\frac, it is common to see the specific detectivity expressed as D^*=\frac. It is ofte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arises when the brain receives and perceives a sound. Acoustic noise is any sound in the acoustic domain, either deliberate (e.g., music or speech) or unintended. In contrast, noise in electronics may not be audible to the human ear and may require instruments for detection. In audio engineering, noise can refer to the unwanted residual electronic noise signal that gives rise to acoustic noise heard as a hiss. This signal noise is commonly measured using A-weighting or ITU-R 468 weighting. In experimental sciences, noise can refer to any random fluctuations of data that hinders perception of a signal. Measurement Sound is measured based on the amplitude and frequency of a sound wave. Amplitude measures how forceful the wave is. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noise-equivalent Power
Noise-equivalent power (NEP) is a measure of the sensitivity of a photodetector or detector system. It is defined as the signal power that gives a signal-to-noise ratio of one in a one hertz output bandwidth. An output bandwidth of one hertz is equivalent to half a second of integration time.The factor of one half is explained by the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem. The units of NEP are watts per square root hertz. The NEP is equal to the noise spectral density (expressed in units of \mathrm/\sqrt or \mathrm/\sqrt) divided by the responsivity (expressed in units of \mathrm/\mathrm or \mathrm/\mathrm, respectively). The fundamental equation is SNR = P/NEP. A smaller NEP corresponds to a more sensitive detector. For example, a detector with an NEP of 10^ \mathrm/\sqrt can detect a signal power of one picowatt with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of one after one half second of averaging. The SNR improves as the square root of the averaging time, and hence the SNR in this example can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Responsivity
Responsivity measures the input–output gain of a detector system. In the specific case of a photodetector, it measures the electrical output per optical input. A photodetector's responsivity is usually expressed in units of amperes or volts per watt of incident radiant power. For a system that responds linearly to its input, there is a unique responsivity. For nonlinear systems, the responsivity is the local slope. Many common photodetectors respond linearly as a function of the incident power. Responsivity is a function of the wavelength of the incident radiation and of the sensor's properties, such as the bandgap of the material of which the photodetector is made. One simple expression for the responsivity ''R'' of a photodetector in which an optical signal is converted into an electric current (known as a photocurrent) is R=\eta\frac\approx\eta\frac where \eta is the quantum efficiency (the conversion efficiency of photons to electrons) of the detector for a given wave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electron Hole
In physics, chemistry, and electronic engineering, an electron hole (often simply called a hole) is a quasiparticle which is the lack of an electron at a position where one could exist in an atom or atomic lattice. Since in a normal atom or crystal lattice the negative charge of the electrons is balanced by the positive charge of the atomic nuclei, the absence of an electron leaves a net positive charge at the hole's location. Holes in a metal or semiconductor crystal lattice can move through the lattice as electrons can, and act similarly to positively-charged particles. They play an important role in the operation of semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits. If an electron is excited into a higher state it leaves a hole in its old state. This meaning is used in Auger electron spectroscopy (and other x-ray techniques), in computational chemistry, and to explain the low electron-electron scattering-rate in crystals (metals, semiconduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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