外文原文二2015精选.doc

外文原文二 Photoelectric Sensing Photoelectrics: The Past Albert Einstein first gave momentum to photoelectric science when he published his Nobel Prize winning paper on quanta in 1905. His theory explained the photoelectric effect, which had been observed but not fully explained by scientists for many years. It was a bold proposition that light energy travels through space in concentrated bundles (now called photons). Photons that strike a material (especially a metal surface) liberate photoelectrons, and the energy from those photoelectrons may be used to create current flow. Careful experiments by R.A. Millikan in 1914 and 1916 confirmed Einsteins theory. A growing understanding of the photoelectric effect over the next fifty years led to the development and evolution of various optoelectronic devices. The first applied photoelectric device was the photoemissive cell or phototube, whose primary application was in movie sound reproduction. The fragile nature of phototubes, however, limited their use in industrial sensing. In the late 1940s, the photoconductive cell (photocell) was developed for use in light sensing circuits. Although it was originally manufactured in a fragile glass envelope, the photocell did have the advantage of being much smaller and simpler in function than the phototube. From the beginning, photoelectric receivers took on the shape of small, round metal barrels, with a collimating lens on one end and a cable exiting the opposite end. The cable connected the photocell to a tube-type amplifier. Small incandescent bulbs, protected in matching metal barrels, were the opposing light source. These smaller and more rugged devices made beam-break (opposed) photoelectric sensing an attractive mode for many industrial applications, and were the forerunners of todays sensor designs. The key to sensing success in the days of incandescent photoelectrics was to make the photocell see the light from its source without gathering any stray (ambient) light. This