Photonics Dictionary

The study of chemical changes produced by radiation.

The study of the reversible conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. Electroplating is an electrochemical process.

Flow chemistry, also known as continuous-flow chemistry, is a chemical manufacturing process where reactions take place in a continuous stream of fluids (liquids or gases) rather than in batch...

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a method for detecting antigens or haptens in cells of a tissue section by using labeled antibodies to bind specifically to their antigens. IHC is used for disease...

The study concerned with the stimulation of chemical activity by laser light as a result of the absorption of photons by a molecule. Interaction of laser source with a molecular or atomic species....

The study of chemical reactions stimulated by the properties of light.

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical elements in a sample by measuring the absorption of light at...

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry to obtain IR spectra of samples. It is particularly useful for analyzing solid and liquid samples without...

Attosecond-pump attosecond-probe spectroscopy (APAP) is an advanced technique in ultrafast spectroscopy that allows scientists to study the dynamics of electronic processes occurring on extremely...

Calorimetry is a branch of science that involves the measurement of heat flow in physical or chemical processes. It encompasses various techniques and instruments used to quantify heat transfer,...

A light-sensitive detector having a chemical compound that reacts when exposed to light. It is used in photochemistry and relies on the chemical reaction to determine the amount of incident radiation.

Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In other words, a chiral object or molecule cannot be exactly superimposed onto...

Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique used in laser physics to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to high energies without causing damage to the amplifying medium. The method was first...

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric) molecules, particularly biomolecules like proteins, nucleic acids, and certain...

Cold atoms refer to atoms that have been cooled to extremely low temperatures, typically in the microkelvin (µK) to nanokelvin (nK) range, close to absolute zero (0 Kelvin or -273.15°C). At...

1. A device used in chemistry to compare the colors of solutions held in flat-bottomed tubes and viewed along the length of the tube. Often a solid glass plunger is moved along one of the tubes to...

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to investigate the optical properties of materials, particularly in the field of spectroscopy. Unlike traditional...

In chemistry, the addition of an inert substance to reduce the concentration of a species. In colorimetry, addition of white to a stimulus to reduce its saturation.

Ellipsometry is an optical technique used to characterize the properties of thin films and surfaces. It is based on the measurement of changes in the polarization state of light reflected or...

An emission spectrum is a graphical representation or a characteristic pattern of the wavelengths or frequencies of light emitted by a source, such as an atom, molecule, or celestial object. It shows...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a laboratory technique used to detect and measure the presence of specific substances, such as antibodies, antigens, proteins, hormones, or other...

A femtosecond laser is a type of laser that emits ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of femtoseconds, where one femtosecond is equal to 10-15 seconds. These lasers are capable of...

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as erbium, ytterbium, or neodymium. Fiber lasers generate coherent light through...

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to transmit light from a source to a spectrometer unit, where the light is...

The study of flames by means of a laser emitting blue light and a spectrometer to measure the green fluorescence created by the flame chemistry.

Fluorescence lifetime refers to the average time it takes for a fluorophore, a molecule that absorbs light at one wavelength and emits it at another, to return to its ground state after being excited...

Fluorescence microscopy is a specialized optical imaging technique used in biology, chemistry, and materials science to visualize and study specimens that exhibit fluorescence. Fluorescence is the...

A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a beam of accelerated electrons as the lasing medium. Unlike traditional...

A frequency comb is a precise and regular series of equally spaced spectral lines, or frequencies, that are generated with great accuracy. The term "frequency comb" is often associated with the Nobel...

FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometer is a powerful analytical instrument used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption or emission of a solid, liquid, or gas sample. It operates based...

In chemistry, a halide refers to a chemical compound containing one or more halogen atoms bonded to another element. The halogens are a group of elements in the periodic table that includes fluorine...

Hydrophilic is a term used to describe substances or materials that have an affinity for water. The word hydrophilic comes from the Greek words "hydro," meaning water, and "philos," meaning loving or...

Hydrophobic is a term used to describe substances or materials that repel or do not readily interact with water. The word hydrophobic comes from the Greek words "hydro," meaning water, and "phobos,"...

Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or identify specific components or entities. In various scientific and...

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a spectroscopic technique that involves using a laser to excite molecules or atoms, leading to their emission of fluorescence light. This technique is widely used...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by optically active substances. Optical rotation, also known as optical activity, is a...

Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in temperature. In other words, it is the production and emission of light by a...

Metabolic imaging refers to the visualization and quantification of metabolic processes within living organisms, tissues, or cells using various imaging techniques. It provides insights into the...

In colorimetry, the phenomenon in which spectrally different radiations produce the same color sensation for a given observer. In chemistry, the chemical property of two elements or molecules sharing...

Metrology is the science and practice of measurement. It encompasses the theoretical and practical aspects of measurement, including the development of measurement standards, techniques, and...

Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field that involves the manipulation and control of very small fluid volumes, typically in the microliter (10-6 liters) to picoliter (10-12 liters) range, within...

Extremely small organic and inorganic systems of molecules within a substance. In general, systems are colloidal size in spite of the large number of molecules. Photochemistry and optical...

Mode-locking is a technique used in lasers to produce ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of picoseconds, femtoseconds, or even attoseconds. This method synchronizes the phases of...

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive analytical technique that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum to study the absorption of light by molecules in a sample....

Raman spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry and physics to study vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system. Named after the Indian physicist Sir C.V. Raman...

Ratiometry is a technique used in various scientific fields, particularly in analytical chemistry and biochemistry, to measure concentrations or quantities by comparing the intensity of two different...

In chemistry, a device in which a chemical reaction takes place. In electronics, a device that introduces reactance into a circuit.