Cyanine Dye (Noun)
Meaning
Any of a class of dyes containing a -CH= group linking two heterocyclic rings containing nitrogen; used as sensitizers in photography.
Classification
Nouns denoting substances.
Examples
- Cyanine dyes have been used for over a century in a variety of applications including photography and biology due to their excellent fluorescent properties.
- Researchers utilized a cyanine dye to increase the sensitivity of the photographic plates and enable the detection of very low light levels.
- A common example of cyanine dye is used as a sensitizer in the production of silver halide emulsions in color film photography.
- These properties of cyanine dyes have been explored and have become very important for photodynamic therapy which relies on fluorescent molecules that produce reactive oxygen species when illuminated.
- Scientists working with a certain cyanine dye realized it made excellent laser dyes when exposed to near-infrared wavelengths, they even observed low losses at this level of amplification.