Photonics Dictionary: C

The optical phenomenon in which right circularly polarized light transmitted by an active medium travels at a different velocity than that of left circularly polarized light.

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...

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric) molecules, particularly biomolecules like proteins, nucleic acids, and certain...

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.

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

Circular-ranging optical coherence tomography (CR-OCT) is a specialized imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and research to obtain high-resolution cross-sectional images of biological...

A light beam whose electric vectors can be broken into two perpendicular elements that have equal amplitudes and that differ in phase by l/4 wavelength.

Denoting a finished circular edge. A decentered lens is adjusted on a centering chuck so that its image runs true, and the lens is then edged. A circular edge is one that has been cleared out....

A parabolic, elliptical, hyperbolic or circular section created when a solid cone is intersected by a plane.