Photonics Dictionary: C

Relative to the Cotton-Mouton effect, the magnetic birefringence constant that, when multiplied by pathlength and the square of the magnetic field strength, yields the phase difference between the...

The ability of particular pure liquids to doubly refract when influenced by a magnetic field with a direction that is transverse to the light beam.

The scattering of charged particles, moving through matter, by the electrostatic force exerted by other charged particles.

The quantity (C) of electricity transported in one second by a current of one ampere.

In microscopy, the chamber that is contained on a microscope slide to hold a certain amount of fluid. It is calibrated accurately to determine the number of cells and other elements while the...

1. In color development, the chemical that combines with certain by-products of the development procedure to form a dye. 2. Device for distributing optical power among two or more ports. 3. Device...

A crystal formed by covalent bonds that are generally highly directional by nature. The electric characteristics of these crystals classify them as semiconductors.

A coverslip, also known as a cover glass or cover slip, is a thin and flat piece of transparent material typically made of glass or plastic. It is used in microscopy to cover a specimen mounted on a...

A high-quality focuser that uses rollers rather than gears and offers smooth, precise motion while reducing or eliminating image shift and backlash.

The deformation of a material at high levels of stress, often associated with elevated temperatures.

Cresyl violet, also known as cresyl violet acetate or cresyl echt violet, is a synthetic organic compound belonging to the class of triarylmethane dyes. It is commonly used in histology and...

The least angle of incidence at which total internal reflection takes place. The angle of incidence in a denser medium, at an interface between the denser and less dense medium, at which the light is...

Relative to a light source, the frequency at which the source appears to fluctuate in light intensity half the time and remains constant during the other half.

A positioning slide mechanism with two rows of alternately crisscrossed cylindrical rollers.

Fine lines, wires or threads used in the focal plane of many optical instruments to point out and locate particular objects in the field of view. They were formerly made from a single strand of...

A vacuum pump in which pressure is reduced by condensing gases on surfaces cryogenically cooled to about 20 K (liquid hydrogen) or 4 K (liquid helium).

The spectrographic analysis of matter that is in a cooled state. Generally, a mechanical refrigerator is used to lower the temperature of the sample, allowing isolation and study of the sample and...

A cryostat is a device used to maintain very low temperatures, typically below the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K or -196°C) or even lower. It provides a controlled environment for...

A diode with a semiconducting material, such as germanium or silicon, for one electrode, and a fine wire "whisker'' which lies on the semiconductor, as the other electrode. The low capacitance...

A bandpass filter with piezoelectric crystal components for the passage or impedance of electrical signals of various frequencies.

A crystal that may serve as a diffraction grating if mounted effectively.

An oscillator that uses a piezoelectric crystal to control its frequency.

The internal lens of the eye. It is semielastic to permit changes in its power when focusing on objects at near distances.

Glass of special composition that is melted, formed into desired shapes, and subjected to a high-temperature treatment in which the glass undergoes a stage of nucleic formation, and a second stage,...

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite characterized by its standardized size and modular design. CubeSats are typically used for scientific research, technology demonstration, educational...

A method of resampling in which a 16-pixel neighborhood around a given pixel from the original image is used to calculate the final brightness value of that pixel in the corrected image.

A condition during laser operation when laser output can no longer be increased by additional electric current.

A lens aberration in which the focal length varies radially outward from the center of the field. It has the effect of making a straight tangential line in the object appear curved in the image,...

A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or applications. These optics can include lenses, mirrors, prisms, filters, or...

The tendency of charge carriers to spiral about an axis in a direction identical to that of an applied magnetic field that has an angular frequency formed by the value of the applied field and the...

In a cylindrical lens, the meridian parallel to the generating lines of the cylindrical surface. In a toric lens, the cylinder axis is the axis of the equivalent cylindrical surface that has been...