Dark current is the constant response exhibited by a receptor of radiation during periods when it is not actively being exposed to light. It may refer to:
- Dark current (biochemistry) : The depolarizing current, carried by Na+ ions, that flows into a photoreceptor cell when unstimulated.
- Dark current (physics): The relatively small electric current that flows through a photosensitive device when no photons are entering the device.
- Dark current (chemistry) : The constant response produced by a spectrochemical receptor, in the absence of radiation.
Famous quotes containing the words dark and/or current:
“Shuttles in the rocking loom of history,
the dark ships move, the dark ships move,
their bright ironical names
like jests of kindness on a murderer’s mouth;”
—Robert Earl Hayden (1913–1980)
“The current flows fast and furious. It issues in a spate of words from the loudspeakers and the politicians. Every day they tell us that we are a free people fighting to defend freedom. That is the current that has whirled the young airman up into the sky and keeps him circulating there among the clouds. Down here, with a roof to cover us and a gasmask handy, it is our business to puncture gasbags and discover the seeds of truth.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)