Photonics Dictionary: C

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...

A method of improving the signal-to-noise ratio of an interferogram by adding another interferogram to it.

Optical elements that have been coated with one or more layers of dielectric, or metallic material. These coatings serve to reduce or increase reflection from the surface, and to protect the surfaces...

A type of cable made up of two conductors; one conductor is inside of and concentric with the other.

A jet of inert gas along a laser welding beam's axis that cools, protects or cleans the work surface.

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...

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.

The broadening of spectral lines due to the collision of radiating particles with one another and the resulting interruption of the radiative process.

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

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,...

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.

1. The negative electrode of a device in an electrical circuit. 2. The positive electrode of a primary cell or storage battery. 3. The primary source of electrons in an electron tube, serving as the...

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...

In a laser, the optical resonator formed by two coaxial mirrors, one totally and one partially reflective, positioned so that laser oscillations occur.

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

A photoemissive detector sensitive to wavelengths up to 1 µm. It has one sharp maximum of sensitivity at 350 nm and a broad maximum at 800 nm.

A phototube having a cesium-coated cathode that has its greatest sensitivity in the infrared region.

A photoelectric detector consisting of a glass tube internally coated with a low conductance material. Voltage applied along the tube causes photoemission from the photocathode at the end of the tube...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

An optical interference coating, vacuum-deposited on a circular substrate, whose transmission characteristics may be varied by physical rotation.

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...

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...

In optics, degreasers or ultrasonic arrangements used for removing pitch, cement or polishing material from lenses during manufacture. It also may refer to manual cleaning devices used immediately...

A television system that does not broadcast television signals but transmits them over a closed circuit.

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to capture digital images. CMOS cameras have become ubiquitous due to their low...

A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.

The application of coating without heating of the substrates.

Film that produces color negatives or transparencies by the use of three emulsions, one coated over the other, that are each sensitive to one of the colors red, blue or green.

A semitransparent mirror in an optical system that combines two or more output beams into a single coaxial beam.

A type of video signal in which the luminance and chrominance portions of the signal, or the luma and chroma, have been combined according to standards such as NTSC, PAL or SECAM.

Computer numerically controlled (CNC) grinding is a manufacturing process that utilizes computerized controls and precision machining tools to remove material from a workpiece. In CNC grinding, a...

Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These mirrors are commonly used in optics for various applications, including...

A device used in broadcast CCD cameras to improve definition in heavily saturated colors by band-limiting the color difference signals after gamma correction.

A powerful and flexible machine-learning approach that can be used in machine vision to help solve difficult problems. Inspired by biological processes, multiple layers of neurons process portions of...

A corner cube, also known as a corner reflector or retroreflector prism, is a type of optical device used to reflect light or electromagnetic waves back towards their source with minimal deviation in...