Introduction.

References.

Part One The Optical Sensor Construction Kit.

2 Light Sources.

2.1 Important Properties of Light Sources.

2.2 Thermal Light Sources.

2.3 Line Sources.

2.4 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).

2.5 Lasers.

3 Photodetectors.

3.1 Photomultipliers.

3.2 Photodiodes.

3.3 Other Detector Types.

3.4 Imaging Detectors.

3.5 Detector Noise.

4 Optical Elements.

4.1 Optical Materials.

4.2 Mirrors, Prisms and Lenses.

4.3 Dispersive Elements: Prisms and Gratings.

4.4 Optical Filters.

4.5 Polarizers.

4.6 Optical Fibers.

4.7 Modulators.

References.

Part Two Optical Sensors and Their Applications.

5 Eyes: The Examples of Nature.

5.1 The Compound Eyes of Insects.

5.2 Nature’s Example: The Human Eye.

6 Optical Sensor Concepts.

6.1 Switches.

6.2 Spatial Dimensions.

6.3 Strain.

6.4 Temperature.

6.5 Species Determination and Concentration.

6.6 Surface Topography.

6.7 Deformation and Vibration Analysis.

6.8 Wavefront Sensing and Adaptive Optics.

6.9 Determination of the Sun Angle.

6.10 Determination of Age.

References.

Part Three Optics and Sensors at Work: A Laser-Spectroscopic Experiment.

7 The Measurement Problem.

8 The Physical Principles behind the Experiment.

9 Spectroscopic Setups of the Experiment.

9.1 The Single-Step Approach.

9.2 The Two-Step Approach.

References.

Summary.

Glossary.

Index.