Photonics Dictionary: C

A CIE index describing the changes in color of standard test objects when the illumination is changed from a standard to a test illuminant.

The radiation produced when a charged particle traverses a medium that has a refractive index considerably greater than unity. The moving particle has a velocity that exceeds the velocity of light in...

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...

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...

The monochromatic transparency effect produced by the immersion of a finely powdered substance (e.g., glass or quartz) into a liquid with a similar refractive index.

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

The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against surface contaminant scattering. In all-glass fibers, the cladding is...

In fiber optics, the glass that is found around the glass core of the fiber, and that has a lower refractive index than the fiber.

A mode that is confined by virtue of a lower-index medium surrounding the cladding. Cladding modes, in the terminology of mode descriptors, are equivalent to cladding rays in the terminology of...

A mechanism or device, especially a coating with a refractive index equal to or slightly greater than that of an optical fiber's cladding, that removes modes propagating through the cladding by...

The heat-treating method in which the index of refraction of glass is fixed near or at its maximum value by holding the glass for different periods at suitable degrees of heat below the range of...

A liquid, usually of a specific refractive index and dispersion, serving as an interface between two solids to form a complete light transmission system.

The light-conducting portion of an optical fiber, defined by the region of high refractive index.

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...

One of the two principal types of optical glass, the other being flint glass. Crown glass is harder than flint glass, and has a lower index of refraction and lower dispersion. Both types are used in...