Photonics Dictionary: C

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...

A gas laser in which the energy-state transitions between vibrational and rotational states of CO2 molecules give emission at long IR, about 10 µm, wavelengths. The laser can maintain...

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...

The state of a liquid crystal in which the molecules are arranged in layers with their long axes in the plane of each layer. The alignment in each layer is parallel and the alignment in adjacent...

A type of spectroscopy used extensively in the analysis of biological samples. Because most biologically synthesized molecules, such as proteins, are optically active, circular dichroism spectroscopy...

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...

This type of miniaturized system, referred to as CMOS qPCR, combines microfluidic technology with an ultralow-light CMOS bio-optical sensor with LEDs as the optical excitation source to achieve...

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...

The combination of two or more different small-molecule monomers into a polymer.

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 small region within a single crystal where the molecules form a perfect lattice.