Definitions: C

Computer hardware or firmware that accesses character patterns stored in read-only memory and displays them at specific coordinates on a screen.

A photoelectrically controlled, alphanumeric reading device that converts characters to audible or sorting signals which can be fed to a computer, electric typewriter, tapepunch or other machine.

The angle at which a given mode propagates down an optical fiber.

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

In a charge-coupled device, the disappearance of some of the accumulated charge into the silicon during readout.

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...

See charge-coupled device; charge-injection device.

In a charge-coupled device, the percentage of each charge packet that is carried over to the next stage of the transport shift register.

A laser having a rare-earth chelate within a plastic host as the lasing material. The chelate laser is easily pumped and has a high quantum efficiency and narrow emission lines.

Any of several compounds capable of binding heavy-metal ions, thereby preventing interaction between the bound ions and the rest of the medium.

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.

A laser that relies on chemical activity instead of electrical energy to produce the pumping action necessary to form pulses of light.

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

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...

Chemical vapor deposition is a process of applying dopants to a glass bait by flame reactions of gaseous compounds. See also outside vapor-phase oxidation; inside vapor-phase oxidation.

A technique for polishing silicon in which an alkaline suspension containing silicon dioxide particles creates a soft layer of silicon hydroxide, which is then removed, leaving a surface with the...

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

The binding of gas to a surface or in matter by chemical activity.

Also known as mesosphere. A level of the atmosphere, extending from the stratosphere to the ionosphere, that is noted for its photochemical activity.

The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an oblique beam.

1. A localized fracture at the end of a cleaved optical fiber or on a glass surface. 2. An integrated circuit.

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...

Description of a particle that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.

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...

A laser whose pulses are expanded, using gratings and optical fibers, before amplification and compressed to increase beam intensity without damage to the optical train.

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 rapid change, as opposed to a long-term drift, of the emission wavelength of an optical source. Chirping is most often observed in pulsed operation of a source.

A small fiber optic endoscope used in laser surgery.

The state of a liquid crystal in which the molecules are arranged in layers with their long axes in the plane of each layer. The alignment in each layer is parallel and the alignment in adjacent...

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.

1. Attribute of a visual sensation that permits a judgment to be made of the amount of pure chromatic color present. 2. The portion of a composite video signal that carries the chrominance values,...

An instrument designed to analyze the optical effects of color.

Having the property of color.

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...

Change of sensitivity of the eye leading to changed color perception.

The ability of the instrument to separate wavelengths that are close together, numerically equal to the ratio of the shorter wavelength to the difference between two wavelengths that can just be...

The qualities of color associated with hue and saturation, but not brightness or lightness.

Proportions of standard primaries (tristimulus values) required for a color match; ratios of each tristimulus value of a color to their sum. In the CIE colorimetric system, designated X, Y and Z.

The plane diagram produced by plotting one of the three chromaticity coordinates (X,Y,Z) against another. The most common diagram is the CIE (X,Y) diagram, which is plotted in rectangular coordinates.