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97 terms
Photonics Dictionary: C
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cathode-ray tube shield
->
Wehnelt cylinder
Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a cathode-ray tube with opposite potential, is designed to focus and control the...
cold atom
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...
cold cathode
A cathode that emits electrons, not with the influence of heat radiation, but by means of a high-voltage gradient at its surface.
cold coating
A method of applying antireflection coatings to optics that avoids the elevated temperatures normally used. A cold coating will not be as durable as a normal coating.
cold finger
A cryogenically cooled component incorporated into the Dewar of an infrared detector assembly to maintain the sensing elements at the proper temperature (77 K or colder).
cold flow
Deformation of a material caused by mechanical factors, especially constant pressure, and not attributable to thermal effects.
cold mirror
A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.
cold shield
That part of an infrared detector-Dewar assembly that limits the solid angle viewed by the sensor; it is maintained at a uniformly cold temperature so that no thermal energy is emitted. Also known as...
cold sputtering
The application of coating without heating of the substrates.
cold-light illumination
A means of illumination from which the infrared component has been removed by absorption or reflection filters within the condenser system.
COLDS
common optoelectronics laser detection system
compression molding
A method of producing large volumes of plastic optical components in which powdered or sheet plastic is pressed between heated dies.
conduction welding
A type of laser welding of thin materials using a defocused or low-power carbon dioxide laser beam. The energy is absorbed by the material through conduction and melts the material to produce an edge...
contrast threshold
That contrast level that exists between two areas whose difference in brightness is just perceivable.
crystal field
The electrostatic field acting locally within a crystal as a result of the microscopic arrangement of atoms and ions in the lattice.
curvature of field
A lens aberration that causes a flat object surface to be imaged onto a curved surface rather than a plane.
common optoelectronics laser detection system
A laser warning and countermeasure system containing a sensor that indicates the direction of a laser beam, and analytical instruments to determine pulse code, repetition frequency and wavelength.
calcium indicator
A calcium indicator is a molecule that is sensitive to changes in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations in biological systems. These indicators are commonly used in various fields, including cell...
calorimetry
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,...
carbonaceous
Consisting of, containing, pertaining to or yielding carbon.
cardioid condenser
An oil immersion condenser used to permit only light that has been diffracted or dispersed by a microscope specimen to enter the microscope. It is used in dark-field microscopy.
cascade method
A heterochromatic photometric process using successive comparison of similar chromaticities and the calculation of relative luminances of unlike chromaticities as the product of ratios of luminances...
cascade shower
A shower of cosmic rays whereby a high-energy electron produces one or more photons that convert into electron pairs, the secondary electrons producing the same effects as the primary. As the process...
case hardening
A surface heat-treating process that produces a highly stressed surface. In case-hardening of glass, a plate of glass is heated almost to the softening point and then cooled quickly in a blast of...
Casimir force
The Casimir force is a quantum phenomenon that results in an attractive force between two closely spaced uncharged conductive surfaces. This force arises from the quantum vacuum fluctuations of the...
cassette
A container designed to hold recording material (film, video- and audiotape) so that when it is loaded into a recording instrument, the recording material is threaded simultaneously.
cataphoretic effect
The attraction of particles suspended in a solution to a cathode, as a result of an electric field.
cathode dark space
The area of low-level luminance lying between the cathode and the negative glow in a glow-discharge, cold-cathode tube.
cathode-ray tube grid
->
Wehnelt cylinder
Also known as cathode-ray tube grid or shield. A cylindrically shaped electrode that, containing the cathode of a cathode-ray tube with opposite potential, is designed to focus and control the...
cell
1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit. 2. A single unit in a device whose resistance varies with radiant energy....
cement
An adhesive used for bonding optical elements or for holding devices.
cementing surface
The surface of an element of a compound lens that will produce the cemented interface. The curves of this interface are called inside curves. To facilitate cementing, the two inside curves should...
centroid
->
image centroid
Often referred to as the geometric center of a given image or image plane, the centroid of an image is a fixed point located at the intersection of all of the hyperplanes of symmetry within that...
CFA
complex field amplitude
chalcogenide
Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te). These elements are known as...
chemical microscopy
The field of microscopy as applied to chemical problems and analysis.
chemical vapor deposition equipment
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment refers to a class of specialized apparatus used in the process of chemical vapor deposition, a technique for depositing thin films of various materials onto...
chiral
Description of a particle that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.
chirality
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
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...
chuck
In the optical field, a tube to which a lens is fastened for centering.
CID camera
CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state image sensor technology. CID cameras are capable of capturing images in a...
cinetheodolite
->
phototheodolite
A camera equipped with angular scales in altitude and azimuth. The scale readings are imprinted on the film when an exposure is made. The exact point indicated by the scale readings is shown by...
CIP
cold isostatic pressing
circular dichroism
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...
coating jig allowance
->
jig allowance
Also called coating jig allowance. That margin on an optical component that is outside the clear aperture for use in holding the component in the optical thin-film coater tooling during the...
coaxial gas
A jet of inert gas along a laser welding beam's axis that cools, protects or cleans the work surface.
CoaXPress
CoaXPress (CoaXPress or CXP) is a standardized digital interface and communication protocol used primarily in machine vision and industrial imaging applications. It enables high-speed data...
coded aperture imaging
An imaging process in which the single opening of a simple pinhole camera is replaced with many openings called, collectively, the aperture. The recorded picture, which consists of many overlapping...
coded disc
A reticle carrying patterns of various forms that can be rotated in an optical beam to cause variations in the intensity of the beam. It also is used in infrared detectors to scan the object field...
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Photonics Dictionary
C
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