Photonics Dictionary: C

A microscope that allows examination of a small crystal and conveniently provides linearly polarized object and reference beams so that, by suitable orientation of an anisotropic crystal, the optical...

The production of visible light by infrared radiation whereby the light is produced by heat and not by any direct change in wavelength; the transformation is indirect.

A forerunner of the modern camera, this instrument had a focusable lens that produced a sharp image on the enclosure opposite the aperture but had no photosensitive material to record it.

The luminescence of an incandescent material.

In a series of amplifiers, amplification by each of the preceding output.

An image tube that functions in low-light-level conditions by virtue of its series of stacked sections wherein the output of one section becomes the input for the next.

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...

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...

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.

Light produced when a metal is bombarded with high-velocity electrons causing small amounts of the metal to vaporize and emit radiation. Also known as electronoluminescence.

An adaptation by Philips and Sony of their audio compact disc technology for optical disc data storage and retrieval. Current capacity of a disc is 0.5 to 0.6 gigabytes of information.

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...

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

The field of microscopy as applied to chemical problems and analysis.

A chemical reaction involving the production of light. The reaction of ethylene with ozone is chemiluminescent.

A small fiber optic endoscope used in laser surgery.

An instrument designed to analyze the optical effects of color.

A technique of using dyes during endoscopy to improve tissue differentiation. Dyes such as methylene blue, Toluidine blue and Lugol's solution all have the ability to stain particular types of cells....

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...

Scanning characterized by the generation of a plane or right circular cone with a vertex angle of about 180° by the direction of maximum radiation.

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...

A technique whereby two laser beams, one at an excitation wavelength and the second at a wavelength that produces Stokes Raman scattering, interact coherently in a sample, producing a strong...

A polariscope used to demonstrate strain inherent in a piece of glass.

An instrument that uses a beam of light to scan a color transparency, and three differently filtered photosensors to record the transmitted beam, as a means of producing three exposed separation...

A type of compound microscope that uses three visible wavelengths to translate details produced by invisible radiation.

Two microscopes that are coupled on a common stand, the two images being projected side by side in the field of view of a single eyepiece for comparison.

A device used for the comparison of spectra used, in turn, for the comparison of elements, such as the absorption lines in the spectra of stars and the spectra of elements in the stars being observed.

The phenomenon observed by A.H. Compton in 1923 -- that some scattered radiation possesses a longer wavelength and correspondingly smaller frequency than the incident radiation. It may be described...

A phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density level during laser materials processing. These devices direct and focus...

A microscope design that involves apertures inserted in conjugate plane positions inside the microscope, with one aperture in front of the illumination source and the other at the focal position in...

A device used to determine the location and attitude with respect to the Earth of orbiting spacecraft by detecting the difference in thermal radiance between the Earth's horizon and space.

An optical instrument, generally a polarizing microscope, that is used to determine the interference figures and optical axis of a sample crystal. Also called a hodoscope.

A converging lens with one convex and one concave surface.

An instrument used to measure the coordinates of a point on an object such as a photographic plate.

A system consisting of two or more Geiger-Müller counters, connected in coincidence with their centers on an axis. The only particles recorded are those traversing all counters, near the axis,...

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

Intense scattering in the region of the liquid-gas critical point. At this point the gas will strongly scatter all light to create a vivid opalescent appearance.

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...

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

An endoscope used for the visual examination of the bladder.

A cascade amplifier that uses a common cathode resistor to couple energy from stage to stage.

A technical specification for a consumer product drawn up by Sony and Philips. CD/I combines audio, video and text recorded as interleaved channels on a disc similar to an audio compact disc. The...

1. An eyepiece or magnifier with a scale at its image plane. That scale is placed in contact with an object, permitting direct measurement of its size. 2. Also called traveling stage and traveling...