Photonics Dictionary: C

A standard lens interface initially made for 16mm movie cameras and now used primarily on closed-circuit television cameras. It is a 1-in.-diameter, 32-thread-per-inch interface with a...

A portion of computer memory that is used for temporary storage of frequently accessed data. Substantially increases computer speed.

The three lines in the spectrum of cadmium that have the purest radiations and that were first used by Michelson to calculate the standard meter.

An inorganic compound, yellow to orange in color, that fluoresces strongly enough when bombarded by a high-current-density electron beam to be used as a high-intensity light source.

A doubly refracting mineral used to produce polarizing prisms. It is uniaxial negative and in the trigonal division of the hexagonal system of crystals. Its indices are e = 1.486, w = 1.658; its...

An optical material used in place of crown glass to produce lenses with extraordinary correction of chromatic aberrations. Its high coefficient of thermal expansion and its tendency to absorb...

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 hygroscopic powder used in the photographic process.

White, tetragonal crystals used in the production of luminous coatings.

An instrument used to measure the change of heat content of a system by measuring microwave power in terms of generated heat.

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,...

An electromagnetic device used to separate isotopes of elements based on their respective masses.

The term sometimes used to describe the sequential arrangement of components in a video system -- from transmitter to receiver.

Camera Link HS (high speed) is a standard developed for high-speed digital data transmission in machine vision and industrial imaging applications. It is an evolution of the original Camera Link...

An apparatus, designed for use with a camera, that is used to rapidly open the path from lens to film, to maintain the opening throughout exposure and to close the opening in rapid succession. The...

A resin obtained from the balsam fir, Abies balsamea, used as a lens cement.

An instrument incorporating an infrared detector assembly, used to analyze carbon dioxide gases and in medical applications to monitor air exchange in the lungs of patients on ventilators or under...

Carbonization is a process in which organic materials are heated in the absence of air, leading to the decomposition of the material and the production of carbon-rich residue. During carbonization,...

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.

An instrument consisting of a high-voltage vacuum tube used to form hard x-rays or high-speed ion beams. By partitioning the tube into separate sections, the total voltage is divided.

A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola. The image formed is free of spherical aberration and color and is located...

A type of comparator with a telescope equipped with a cross wire mounted on a vertical sliding column. It is used to measure vertical distances on fairly near objects.

Cathode radiant sensitivity refers to the ability of a photocathode to convert incident radiant energy, typically in the form of light, into an electrical signal. Photocathodes are components used in...

A term used in data processing to describe a cathode-ray tube that displays graphic or character data.

A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated filament are accelerated by a series of annular anodes at progressively higher...

Light that is directed or focused by means of curved reflective surfaces.

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and record images. CCD cameras are widely used in various applications,...

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images into electronic signals. It is a key component in digital cameras, camcorders,...

An adhesive used for bonding optical elements or for holding devices.

A rotating chamber that can be spun at different speeds to generate great radial forces used to simulate different gravity loads.

A microscope that can be used to observe and magnify microscope specimens while they are being centrifuged. The objective rotates near the periphery of the centrifuge head, and the ocular is...

Colorless crystals used in photoelectric cells and for photosensitive material in cathodes.

The breakdown of the bonds in polymer chains caused by illumination.

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...

A graph used in photography to portray the increase of a film's density as its time of exposure increases.

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital cameras, camcorders, and scientific instruments. It consists of an integrated...

A charge-injection device (CID) refers to a class of devices that manipulate and detect electrical charge within a semiconductor material. Charge-coupled devices are a specific implementation of this...

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.

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...

Chip-on-board (COB) lights refer to a type of LED lighting technology where multiple LED chips are directly mounted onto a substrate, typically a printed circuit board (PCB), without the need for...

Chirped mirrors are optical devices designed to manipulate the spectral properties of ultrashort laser pulses. They consist of multiple layers of dielectric coatings deposited on a substrate, where...

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...

A small fiber optic endoscope used in laser surgery.

A transparent powdered solid immersed in a liquid or plastic of similar refractive index but widely different dispersion; used to isolate narrow spectral regions.

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a lens or optical system, leading to a failure to focus all colors to the same...