Flick (physics)

In optical engineering and telecommunications engineering, the flick is a unit of spectral radiance. One flick corresponds to a spectral radiance of 1 watt per steradian per square centimeter of surface per micrometer of span in wavelength (W·sr⁻¹·cm⁻²·μm⁻¹). This is equivalent to 10¹⁰ watts per steradian per cubic meter (W·sr⁻¹·m⁻³). In practice, spectral radiance is typically measured in microflicks (10⁻⁶ flicks).^[1] One microflick is equivalent to 10 kilowatts per steradian per cubic meter (kW·sr⁻¹·m⁻³).^[2]

History[]

In radio astronomy, the unit flik was coined by a group at Lockheed in Palo Alto, California as a substitute for the SI derived unit W cm⁻² sr⁻¹ µm⁻¹, or watts divided by centimeters squared, steradians, and micrometers.^[3] While originally used only at Lockheed, many in the radio astronomy field adopted its use.

References[]

^ Palmer, James M. "The SI system and SI units for Radiometry and photometry" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
^ Rowlett, Russ. "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement". Retrieved 10 August 2012.
^ Schlessinger (1994). Infrared Technology Fundamentals, 2nd ed. CRC Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780824792596.

This physics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This astronomy-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This standards- or measurement-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] Palmer, James M. "The SI system and SI units for Radiometry and photometry" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-08-10.

[2] Rowlett, Russ. "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement". Retrieved 10 August 2012.

[3] Schlessinger (1994). Infrared Technology Fundamentals, 2nd ed. CRC Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780824792596.

[1]

[2]

[3]