Photonics Dictionary: C

A condition during laser operation when laser output can no longer be increased by additional electric current.

A sudden, brief increase in current or voltage in a circuit that can damage sensitive components and instruments. Preventive measures include slow-starter circuits, filtering and static control.

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.

The storage surface of an electron beam tube that is scanned by an electron beam to generate an output-signal current corresponding to the charge-density pattern stored.

A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material or a detector. The camera generally contains a lens of variable aperture...

Carrier injection refers to the process of introducing charge carriers (either electrons or holes) into a semiconductor material. Semiconductors are materials with electrical conductivity between...

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.

1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit. 2. A single unit in a device whose resistance varies with radiant energy....

A lamp that emits light as the result of the passage of an electrical current through ionized cesium vapor.

An electrical problem that occurs when voltage is not the same with respect to ground at every node of a system, causing current to circulate between nodes.

A partially filled or empty energy band through which electrons can move easily. The material can therefore carry an electric current. The term is usually applied to semiconductors.

The coupled pairs of electrons that carry supercurrents through the body of a superconductor, relative to a coherent macroscopic wave function with the superconductor.

The quantity (C) of electricity transported in one second by a current of one ampere.

An instrument that is used to detect high-energy particles by the pulse of the current formed when a particle passes through a normally insulating crystal to which a potential difference is applied.